#fluentstream

[fluentcloud-blog]

Colorado is Entrepreneurial by Nature

You may have recently noticed the “Colorado Entrepreneurial by Nature” logo in the footer section of our website. As a company that is situated in the heart of downtown Denver, we’re very proud to display this logo. Colorado is home to some of the most innovative, entrepreneurial companies in the nation. We also have a booming business district, which only continues to grow.

Entrepreneurship has been the buzzword in the business community. In Denver, we have educational centers like the Bard Center for Entrepreneurship and work spaces that foster entrepreneurial creativity such as Green Spaces. At the FluentStream Technologies offices, our workspace is a place that not only fosters entrepreneurship, but all the things that go along with that: education, innovation, and growth.

We’re always interested in learning about other entrepreneurial companies in the area. Feel free to leave us comments about your company, your thoughts on innovation and entrepreneurship, and the direction that you feel that the Colorado business community is going in.

[fluentcloud-blog]

Leveling the Playing Field

In today’s world, there is a lot of money to be made in exclusivity. Various products and brands will each have their own restrictions on how to use them, what to use them for, and what other products/services they can be integrated with. There are a few new developments on the rise that focus on taking away this exclusivity. One of these developments is a monetary service called Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is a virtual currency. What makes this service unique is the possibility of taking away regulating power from banks and other middlemen. Perhaps, FluentStream will have to take advantage of this as a merchant in the future for our FluentCloud service.  There are many other possibilities that can come out of this; this is only the beginning.

There are also new developments underway from Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook. These are what could be known as the four giants in terms of development in the online and tech arenas.  They are also companies that bet on exclusivity, some more than others. In the end, it’s all about brand loyalty and with that comes a sense of prestige and/or status.  Take for example Google’s Wallet.

Google has created a new type of way to pay for items. With the release of smartphones containing near-field communication (NFC) technology, people will be able to pay for items with a wave of their smartphones.

Even Twitter is beginning to want users to stay at Twitter. With their recent partnering with Photobucket, it can be speculated that the company doesn’t want people clicking on links that will take them outside of Twitter. Instead, people will be able to share media and stay within the service.

Is all the exclusivity really necessary? Do people truly want to be subjected to making one definite choice in the way they use their services? While there are some people who may answer yes to that question, our hunch is that most people enjoy a little variety. Why not allow people to enjoy these services under a platform that allows for the integration of services regardless of where they come from?

We always love hearing from our readers! What are your thoughts on this subject?

[fluentcloud-blog]

Friday Photo: Here's our office building! We're located in the heart of Lower Downtown Denver. Check out our website to learn more about us!

[fluentcloud-blog]

This past Sunday, the FluentStream Team sponsored the annual Lupus Walk, here in Denver. Here are a few photos!

[fluentcloud-blog]

The Lean Startup Methodology

“More startups fail from a lack of customers than lack of product development (Steve Blank, 2011).” This is an important point to think about when discussing the meaning of “lean startups.” As a company introducing a new product, the difficulty is two-fold. You have to prove that you have customers for your product even before you officially launch it. After all, “Curiosity is the first step towards engagement (Maurya, 2009).” This is where the methodology comes in.

Traditionally, we were all taught to write business plans for new business ventures. In fact, it’s probably safe to say that nowadays business plans are out of favor. It’s almost like a necessary evil that no one really reads. So, why spend all that time agonizing? A more efficient use of your time is developing a business model. This model should really be focused on developing a customer base in order to help your business transition from a startup into a viable company.

Basically, instead of taking these traditional steps:

1.       Concept/Business Plan,

2.       Product Development,

3.       Alpha/Beta Testing,

4.       Product Launch.

You would take these innovative steps:

1.       Customer Discovery,

2.       Customer Validation,

3.       Customer Creation,

4.       Company Building (Steve Blank, 2011).

Having a good customer base establishes a revenue stream to support a concept or business.

The entire focus is on customers, customers, and customers. But, just getting to the acquisition phase is going to be difficult unless what problems your product/business will solve for potential customers can be identified. That’s going to be the first and most important step; describing what your product/business does and how it relates to your customers. Just remember: Only build what customers want.

This is what FluentCloud is all about. As a company, we wanted to create something that was user-friendly and easily scalable.  Being able to provide a service that is based on the needs of our customers makes not only our job easier, but fulfills our customer’s needs as well. 

[fluentcloud-blog]

We ♡ Denver B-Cycle

At FluentStream, we understand that happy employees are productive employees. One of the things that keep us happy is not only the upcoming warmer weather, but what that means in terms of mobility.

Denver B-Cycle is Denver’s only public bicycle transportation system (or at least that’s what we like to call it). This allows Denverites the convenience of renting a bicycle for a specified period of time to get from point A to point B a lot faster than one would on foot and a lot more environmentally friendly than one would in an automobile. With the number of locations that B-Cycles are stationed at increasing, getting around by bicycle is becoming easier and more convenient than before.

Our staff is not only fans of being sustainable, but also understands the importance of saving resources.  On their website, Denver B-Cycle answers the question, “Why do we need Denver B-Cycle?” The answer is: “The B-cycle is a magic bike: there when you need it and gone when you don’t. No more hassles with locking, maintaining, fixing, or storing your getting-around-town bike. Let the magic bike take care of all that!

About 40% of all trips made in America each day are fewer than two miles long. That’s the perfect length for a bicycle trip! A network of magic bikes located throughout Denver allows people to economically and conveniently avoid road congestion and parking problems, and reduce pollution…”

This is a classic example of saving resources. It goes along with the mantra of “Reduce, reuse, and recycle.” That’s what we’re trying to do with both our staff and our cloud communications platform, especially in terms of reducing the amount of resources we use by using what’s already available to us.

[fluentcloud-blog]

The Cloud, Our Company, and Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate social responsibility is a buzz word today among sustainability proponents and businesses concerned with their philanthropic image. For our company, we look at this in the way of social accounting and making sure that our business practices are transparent. Transparency is extremely important to us, as we always want to make sure that we can build positive relationships with our consumers.

So, what does the cloud have to do with this? Even today, most people are still ambiguous about what cloud computing or cloud communications entail. It’s a touchy subject matter, especially in terms of security and Amazon’s recent debacle. One thing that FluentStream can promise is not only consistency of service, but transparency when something does arise.

We understand that people are concerned about whether or not the cloud is ready at the corporate level, but without corporate participation, it can’t be improved. Innovation and improvement doesn’t just happen overnight; it is something that requires time and commitment. The cloud has a large degree of opportunity and can make our lives easier, especially in the business world. It’s easy to discredit something when an issue arises at an inopportune moment, but the cloud shouldn’t be discredited just yet. As technology evolves, so should social accounting and the way companies report to their consumers.

[fluentcloud-blog]

OneRepublic - Secrets

This video was filmed in front of our office on 18th and Blake!