Eco web and logo design blog

What is the core reason for creating Sprout?
At our core, we want to free people from having to think about how to get information. People shouldn’t waste their time and brain power on where information is and how to find it. So, we created Sprout to give users news and blog articles that they’ll enjoy with a minimum amount of effort. Sprout is just the beginning in our low-cognitive load, information solutions. To find out more, check out our white paper here.

What steps have you taken to bring Sprout to completion?
Well, it’s been a long road these past few months, but we’re very proud of our results. Of course, the first step was to take it from an intangible idea and put it on paper both as a spec and as a business plan. We then got a team of talented programmers together and started the long task of taking a plan and making it a reality. Like any idea, it evolved as we researched and tested our theories with an actual product.

Sprout is our company’s first offering and we’ve learned a lot about what it takes to bring a product to completion. In fact, Sprout is still in beta, with our full launch scheduled for the end of July 2008, so our development is ongoing. We’re certainly learning a lot from our beta testers.

What is next in the development process?
Right now, Sprout is in beta. We’re learning lots and Sprout gets better every day. New features depend on what feedback we get from our beta testers, so visit http://www.yoursprout.ca/sign-up.html to start enjoying Sprout beta now and so that you can give us your feedback.

What we’re really excited about is the official launch of Sprout in July.

What business model did you chose, and why?
We’ll be charging a subscription fee to use our software. We’re avoiding an ad-based revenue model. We feel strongly that people care about what they pay for and that there are too many ad-supported software applications; the market can’t indefinitely support all of them. Instead, we’ve built an application that costs a nominal fee but that provides real, ongoing value to the user.

What advice would you give to a young startup company.
1. Get support from the tech and business communities around you early and tap into them often. We’ve been blessed to have our offices at the Vancouver Island Technology Park (VITP) and are surrounded with helpful, knowledgeable business and technology experts. Being supported by those who have been there and have seen it all has been incredibly beneficial to us.
2. Know that starting a business – especially in software – is fraught with mistakes, errors and oversights. Basically, don’t lose heart and prepare to learn lots from your missteps. We certainly have.
3. Try your best to understand your customer so that you build something people actually want, even if they don’t know they want it yet. Our beta test has taught us so much about our product. It’s been a great experience for all of us.

What future ideas and concepts are coming to Sprout?
We’ve got a lot of ideas floating around about what Sprout could be in the future.
Fundamentally, we want to reach a wide array of people with Sprout and we want to improve our content offerings and our ability to deliver that content. We’re also exploring some other areas where information overload can be addressed by using our approach to information delivery.