As mentioned in the last post, the focus of icecondor is on the RSS reader part. Documentation was written this week to show the steps to adding an RSS feed on the G1.

A lunch and learn event at the OTBC happened this week. The focus was on vetting the potential market and pricing the product. Reaching customers is critical. Icecondor to date has 33 "active installs" and no way to reach them. The new version put on the market today has one important addition - a menu option called "Feedback". Any android user will come across this menu as one of the first things they do with the app. Selecting feedback sends the user to the browser and to getsatisfaction.com/icecondor

while I am not looking for outside investment on this project, i use evalution points from bigpaperblog.com as they become available. These are some points from the "entrepreneurs who get it" post.

• Clear revenue model

  The definition of revenue model changes from person to person, so I'll take my stab. Google built the android marketplace for developers to display and sell their apps. IceCondor has a feature-limited free version and a full $2.99 version. The market and the credit card processing and bill collection is outsourced to google. The iPhone app store and portland-area iPhone development houses have proven that some apps can do well.

• Demonstrated market need (pre-orders, active sales pipeline, specific feedback from clients

  The market need so far has been very low. I feel communication with the customer is critical and icecondor will change to meet the needs of the customer, even if its focus changes drastically. I firmly believe that location services is an emerging market and the smartphone platform is a fantastic place to execute.

• Hefty metrics (site traffic, income, user accounts, clients, partnerships)

  the metrics I keep are a daily count of the android client downloads, correlated with event information such as a new version release or a blog post. Also, icecondor.com has a log file of every web hit it has received. I am currently looking for software to turn the log into a usage graph.

• Impressive prior/relevant experience

  Technology experience, i have plenty of. The freedom and the associated perils of being self-employed have been managed well, if i do say so myself, over the past 5 years, being a freelance software developer. Including budgeting, taxes, lead generation, and skill acquisition.

• Demonstrate grasp of accurate business assumptions in conversation

  Hit me up for lunch and we'll talk. You're buying.

• Prior quantifiable success at a past job/company (sold company for X, managed budget of $XMM)

  I managed a student computer lab of 10 employees while working at Reed College, with a modest budget. This project is self-funded using the proceeds from a successful software programming contract in 2007.

• An intriguing concept that appears to specifically marry a marketable solution with a valid market need

  I've written in past blog posts about this.