>> Askozia®PBX – The Intuitive Embedded PBX Solution <<
Michael Iedema
Gründer im Inkubator: Michael Iedema B.Sc. CS
Projektpate: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Diederich Wermser
Ziel: Die Leistung von „Asterisk” benutzerfreundlich bereitzustellen. Indikator für ein gutes Produkt sind die rund 90.000 Downloads.
Idee: Die Entwicklung und der Vertrieb herunterladbarer Module, um spezifische Kundenwünsche im Bereich der IP-Telefonie zu befriedigen.
Fördermittel: Gründercampus Plus „Verwertungs-SpinOff” (beantragt)
Weitere Informationen finden Sie unter: www.askozia.com
Askozia®PBX
INTERVIEW mit Michael Iedema
1. Mr. Iedema, which business idea do you have to become an entrepreneur? What is unique about it?
I’m am taking a solidly developed Open Source product and adding value by not only providing development and consultation services but also partnering with hardware manufacturers to provide complete, tested solutions.
What’s special about this is the base product, Askozia®PBX. It is currently the only Asterisk® based telephony system which targets embedded hardware and provides an intuitive, consumer-oriented configuration interface.
2. What made you want to be an entrepreneur?
I’ve always had an aversion to working for large companies and I strongly feel that programming is a creative process, if not an art form. There are definitely advantages in working for a bigger programming house but I get goosebumps thinking about being locked into maintaining a module of someone else’s source code for the next 20 years. There are always exceptions to the rule but I’m an odds man.
3. Every new entry into the market takes time. How are you planning to finance your run up phase?
Our run up has already been partially financed by IKT, a communications research institute here on campus. Dr. Wermser, the director of that institute, looked over my proposal for this project near the end of 2006 and has been a solid supporter ever since both in the capacity of an investor and, more importantly, a mentor.
4. Which challenges have you already had and how did you overcome them?
Running the project in a community friendly yet commercially viable way has been (and still is) the biggest challenge. The community around this project is invaluable. It is the reason Open Source software works. Without them it would be impossible to thoroughly test AskoziaPBX. Without them it would also be impossible to have the project translated into so many languages. These are real people using your software which provide incredibly valuable feedback and feature ideas.
A subset of this community is also making money from AskoziaPBX by installing it for customers, selling hardware with it preinstalled, etc. The real trick is to provide valuable services to this subset so that a piece of that generated revenue can filter back into the project.
5. You will be working part-time in the Incubator at the Entrepreneurship Center, how did you find out about us?
I believe it was mentioned at a Team Meeting at IKT some time ago. On a separate occasion I heard from a friend who was going to propose his own idea here. To be honest, I don’t remember who got the ball rolling but suddenly we had a meeting scheduled and away we went.
6. In the Incubator, the focus is on establishing your business ideas. Which measures do you think are important for this?
Myself and others at IKT have been living in AskoziaPBX for the past three years. To get an external view of the situation helps immensely.
Not only for business opportunities but also for marketing materials, etc. Discussing and explaining things definitely helps me to better understand them.
7. What’s up next for you?
Currently I’m finishing up the first 2.0 Release Candidates. It’s been nearly 18 months between 1.0 and 2.0 and I’m looking forward to a lightened development load (at least for the first couple days!). After 2.0 is released, marketing and business opportunities take priority. I’m very excited to have a finished product after all this time. Presenting at conferences is much more enjoyable when all of your features are in-hand and not vaporware.
8. What tips would give to other founders?
Don’t expect an amazing product or service to sell itself. It will eventually, but not until other people have heard about it and understood what it can do for them.
