In cinematography, the time-lapse technique is used to accelerate the evolution of an object. The development of a city skyline, the busy bustle of a crowd, or the ethereal motion of rushing clouds: each has been used to give the impression of transformation in an onslaught of activity. In my mind’s eye, the dramatic growth of the Internet along with the development of software startups that has accompanied this growth in the last few years is nothing less than a time-lapse of technology.
When we started Point2Point Group years ago, I would never have anticipated just how explosive this growth would be. Granted, at the time I was more focused on implementing products and building marketing campaigns for our client than analyzing the growth strategies that would define the future of business. Yet the signs were there. In 2004, a little company named Facebook was about to launch. Another newcomer, LinkedIn, had convinced me to start my profile as a way to network with colleagues and clients. And Twitter was but a glimmer at Odeo.
Now, several years and thousands of frames later, I too am one of the pixels in the time-lapse view of software startups on the Web. Today, I analyze, develop, and propose ways in which my clients should leverage new media technologies to enhance their product strategies and manage their respective business offerings.
And the technographic photo continues to evolve. No sooner has one offering come into focus than a newer, trendier one starts to take shape in this image. So I continue to bring out my virtual eyepiece to hone in and understand how a new offering may help or hinder my clients’ product positioning or how it may be leveraged as a competitive advantage.
My presence in this vast photo evolves with the every new collaboration, every new idea I learn, or every new post I share. I hope the frames I attach to this macrocosmic picture are insightful and encourage others to insert their experiences. In the words of Henri Cartier Bresson, the father of modern photojournalism, “I want only to capture a minute part of reality.”