BabeofBusiness.com

Building, maintaining and optimizing great Web sites takes time, effort and experience. It also takes some special tools and software – which usually have to be researched and bought from multiple sources. At the end of the day, it can be a time-consuming and expensive process – researching, buying, installing and using - for freelance Web designers and small businesses relying on limited resources and personnel. But don’t get down in the dumps just yet. One company has truly thought outside of the box - removing the barriers and bringing all of the necessary components together under one platform – a unified hosted solution. Shannon Yelland introduces us to Sitemasher, this week’s awesome start-up:

What is Sitemasher? And how does it fit into the marketplace?

SY: Sitemasher is a start-up company based in Vancouver, BC (Canada). Sitemasher provides a fully-managed, hosted Web site solution that seamlessly integrates Web site building, content management, analytics and search engine optimization (SEO) within a single platform. Our online drag-and-drop environment provides Web site designers with a rich interface for building powerful sites. And our integrated content management system (CMS) lets you manage content, user roles and approvals to control workflows and collaboration within a SaaS (software as a service) environment.

Who are the company’s founders? Have they been involved with other start-up companies?

SY: Phil Calvin is the main ideas guy, Chief Technical Officer and founder of Sitemasher. Phil recognized the converging nature of Web applications and set his sights on solving, once and for all, technology’s inherent problems with existing Web development solutions. Phil has been down the entrepreneurial road before, founding Motivus Software Ltd., a pioneer in the next-generation remote access marketplace. He also founded Softscribe Development, which primarily built industrial automation software for Rockwell Software and provided product consulting and development services.

For Sitemasher, Phil turned his entrepreneurial energy towards gathering an experienced executive team from a variety of technology disciplines with a knack for pioneering new concepts. The team includes:

• Ron Moravek, Chief Executive Officer
• Curtis Terry, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer
• Nicole Denil, Vice President of Sales and Marketing
• Eric Dorgelo, Vice President of Development
• Shannon Yelland, Online Marketing Manager

Ron Moravek and Curtis Terry were both involved with Relic Entertainment, a start-up company in the games industry, until it was acquired by THQ. Shannon Yelland was the marketing specialist at Fusepoint Managed Services (formerly RoundHeaven), a high-tech start-up company.

Who are Sitemasher’s target markets? Is Sitemasher aimed at small businesses? And why should a company choose Sitemasher over a traditional Web designer, SEO expert, and programmer?

SY: Sitemasher’s target market for the current product offering is the Web design community and in-house Web teams. The product can also be used by small to medium businesses that have an in-house Webmaster or Web designer. Sitemasher is a Web development tool that helps service providers such as Web designers and SEO experts save time and money in the development cycle. Additionally, Sitemasher replaces the need for a programmer for tasks such as database connectivity, CMS configuration and installation and SEO tweaks, leaving the programmer free to spend time on more important things, such as advanced functionality configurations and .NET module development (on Sitemasher’s developer network platform (coming in 2009)).

What’s the business model behind Sitemasher? Is it driven by advertising or is it a subscription service?

SY: Sitemasher is a monthly, subscription-based SaaS product. With SaaS, you have the benefits of full functionality without the headache of hosting, managing or upgrading software, in addition to the following financial benefits:

• No large, upfront investment in software and hardware.
• No extensive implementation services.
• No additional license, maintenance, hosting or support fees.
• No software maintenance, upgrades or installation management.
• No additional IT staff or resources required.
• It’s free to build. Plus you get 30 days free when you subscribe.

Being a start-up, how is the company funded? Does the company have a business plan?

SY: Eric Carlson of Anthem Capital became the sole venture capitalist and partner of Sitemasher in December 2007. In Eric’s words, “Anthem Capital is delighted to be a lead investor in Sitemasher. At Anthem Capital we invest in great people with great products. The Sitemasher team is fun, motivated, smart, and results oriented. Sitemasher’s Web development tool is a quantum leap towards simplifying the Web site development process. It is a boon to site developers and owners alike. We think the development community will agree in the months and years to come. So there you have it. Great people with a great product in a great space…so we are in…with bells on.”

Yes, we do have a business plan, and if we didn’t, I doubt that Anthem Capital would have funded us! *Shannon chuckles*

What are the long-term plans for Sitemasher?

SY: Sitemasher has aggressive long-terms plans to enhance and roll out different packages and features within our live Web software platform, one of which targets enterprise Web team projects. For example, in December, 2008, we plan to launch our blog features. Additionally, in the near future, we’ll launch the Marketplace, which will allow Web site developers to develop custom widgets or applications and post them for sale – it’s probably going to be a revenue share model. Web site owners will be able to search for custom applications within the Sitemasher Marketplace and buy them online for either a onetime fee or an ongoing monthly payment to the developer.

Sitemasher also plans to partner with Web site design businesses (but has no plans to be a service shop or implementer for Web sites). Sitemasher wants to support these Web design shops and will be focusing on making the Web platform better and rolling out more robust features.

What advice can you give others looking to start their own businesses?

SY: Here are some tips from my own personal insights and experiences working in start-up companies:

• Recruit a great team and look for team members that will put in the extra effort when times are tough.
• Be prepared to adjust to whatever curve balls are thrown your way through the start-up process. Step back, analyze the big picture and then tweak and analyze all variables to make it a success.
• Work on formalizing communications, company goals, policies and processes as you grow. This will help your team to work together effectively and follow the same path.
• Think long-term while juggling short-term goals.

Wise words to live by, entrepreneurs! Thanks for the advice and background (and future) on Sitemasher! I’m looking forward to tracking its growth!

Tags: Anthem Capital, freelance, how to create a Web site, Sitemasher, Web design, Web designer, Web site