PBwiki

Rob Hof at BusinessWeek is reporting that Jotspot will be relaunching tonight as "Google Sites" as part of the Apps Premier Edition offering a free version and a $50/year per user with a SLA. The Google Sites site is not live as of 11:30PM Eastern. Google acquired JotSpot in late 2006 and has basically been idling as of late. Currently the Sites login page is only allowing @jotspot.com email addresses access into the system.

Google describes Google Sites as, "Create a single place to bring together all the information your team needs to share, including docs, videos, photos, calendars and attachments." It looks like these tools are meant for internal team use.

Hof believes this is a hit against Microsoft Sharepoint or IBM's Lotus Notes. Not really a fair comparison as both of these offerings are much more robust. However, could this be a direct attack at pbWiki which is widely used for team and internal wikis? And for the sharing functions for rich media, is it an attack against the white label social networking providers including KickApps, Ning, Magnify, etc?

Rex Hammock hopes that Google Sites helps people "get" wikis. I hope people never get caught up on lingo - as long as it does what they need it to, who cares what it's called.

Hof notes that company personnel may push the use of Google Sites outside of IT department approval and by the time IT gets involved, it will be too late and they will be forced to use the tool. I disagree with this but today IT has to be more proactive with forward-moving technologies than they ever have been before. The days of an AS/400 sitting in the closet are over.

One of the issues I struggle with is how much information should be shared with the public regarding your startup. Several months ago Ryan Carson shared every detail about his startup, DropSend as he was looking for a buyer. As a former accountant, I thought (and still do) this was a mistake. Sharing sensitive information should be done only when absolutely necessary and when the team leaders agree on it.

But what about general stats? Is it always wise to share the data about your startup? Remember that one person may look at it as half-full and another half-empty. I do think it's important to share data with your community and the media.

As I was using my PBwiki (CN coverage) account, I visited their blog, The Daily Peanut. Their recent stats post I think is a great example of good stats to share. The shared stats include:

• Private vs. Public wikis
• Free vs. Premium wikis (not 100% sure I like this one)
• Browser types
• SSL usage

Simple stats that provide some insight into how PBwiki users are using the tool. These type of stats can also help to start a conversation with the PBwiki community. So I ask, what do you think is the right level of stats to share with the general public?

The battle of the Wiki heavyweights continues between Wetpaint and PBwiki. Today PBwiki notes on their blog that several new features have been added to their already quite impressive lineup.

The features include:

• Spreadsheets
• Voice chat
• Event-planning
• Calendars
• Video upload

The hosted Wiki space is heating up. The days of Mediawiki and it's hard to use WikiTML are over for the average user. Last week Wetpaint launched WikiPaint (officially named Wetpaint Please Touch) and now PBwiki adds more business and organizational tools. I called 2007 the "year of the wiki" and I continue to stand by that statement. Are there other players in this hosted Wiki space that I should be reporting on? Let me know in the comments.

And don't forget to check out the startup tips from PBwiki CEO, David Weekly.

Day #15 in the CenterNetworks Startup Tips Month come from David Weekly from PBwiki.

David's Tips

Tip #1 - Do the simplest thing possible.

You're probably pretty smart so you've probably built out a very elaborate scheme / architecture / process for achieving world peace while becoming fabulously wealthy. Drop it. This big-picture kind of stuff is pure intellectual masturbation. Instead, ask yourself, almost as a joke, what the absolute simplest possible version of the idea would be - challenge yourself to something you can do in a day. You may be surprised (positively or negatively!) by the results.

Tip #2 - Write it down.

Again, you're smart, so you have all of these lists and big picture things in your head, and it all makes perfect sense. Or at least, you've convinced yourself that it does. But it's really amazing what putting things down on paper does - it forces wishy-washy things to be concrete, even if you're just writing for yourself. Write down your dreams, your hopes, your schemes. The act of writing them down is an incredibly powerful first step to making them real. Don't pooh-pooh it.

Tip #3 - Overcommunicate.

Yet again, you're smart, so everything makes sense to you. There's no need to waste time or pleasantries with business to be done; I'm sure people knew exactly what you meant. Well, not really. Many of the world's problems stem from a lack of understanding of other people, which is mostly due to undercommunication. Make sure you make crystal clear what you're thinking, all the time, to as many people as possible. Foster overcommunication in your coworkers. Note: This doesn't mean calling your ex-girlfriend twenty times a day.

Tip #4 - Learn to fall well.

Something startlingly common across physical activities is managing failure. Simply put, learning for fall well. In jiujitsu, ballet, gymnastics, ice skating, karate...even with flying helicopters, you need to learn how to gracefully fail. Don't plan on failing, but know that there's almost no way you can have a successful life without an awful lot of failure. Roll with it when it comes. When I started my company, I read up on a lot of other successful companies and found out that most of them had gotten off to pretty rocky starts.

So when I had a series of very serious challenges very early on (and ended up taking no salary for over three years) I saw that this was not some sign of my lack of luck or poor personal competence, it was a natural part of the road to success. So prepare for the worst but hope for the best and don't be afraid to screw up - because you *will* screw up. Get over it.

Tip #5 - Just do it.

You probably have at least a dozen very good reasons why right now is not the right time to start a company. You didn't just fancy them; they are real and they are scary. But in another light, it's almost a sure bet that right now is the best possible time for you to go ahead and take the leap. The future holds unknowns - children, moves, deaths, departures, increases in costs, mortgages, and debt. The present, for all its pros and cons, is at least well defined. Your lowest risk is probably right now. Don't wait, you will gain nothing in waiting. You are not too young and you do not need the "magic" idea / team to get started. Willpower, risk, and smarts will get you where you want to be.

People matter.

You're smart, you've probably read Ayn Rand, and you think competence alone will drive you. You might look down on those "networking" types who need other people in order to get jobs / deals they don't deserve. You're right and you're wrong - people will amplify whatever innate competence you have. The best is to be highly competent and very good with people. Even if you're introverted and shy, carve out time with people. Have dinner with friends, then have a dinner party where everyone brings a guest. When you talk with people, listen to them and care about them. There is absolutely no investment you can make that has returns close to what you get out of investing in and caring about people. It is satisfying and rewarding on every level.

David Weekly, 28, is a Boston native and the founder of PBwiki, the world's largest permissioned wiki host. He's a Stanford Computer Science President Scholar, has spoken at the United Nations in Geneva, taught computing in Ghana, flies helicopters, and hosts big all-night hacker parties at his house in Hillsborough. As of November, he is an uncle of a beautiful baby girl.

Earlier today Wetpaint announced that they have added the ability for private messaging for their Wiki clients. Now, PBwiki has announced that they have partnered with YackPack to provide a new widget for their Wiki clients called WalkieTalkie.

YackPack has created the WalkieTalkie, a widget that you can install on your PBwiki in about two minutes. Then, each and every human or humanoid who visits that PBwiki of yours can simply click-and-hold the YackPack button and, through the miracle of “Technology,” talk to anyone else visiting the page. It’s like an online virtual intercom and it adds the power of voice to any collaboration.

“There is something magical about hearing someone else's voice,” said Ramit Sethi, PBwiki co-founder. “It takes collaboration to an entirely different level. It's more personal and takes away the OMG FLAMER LAMO stuff that you see on IRC. It brings people closer together.”

With these communication changes, I stand firm that 2007 is more Wiki than Mashup. Of course neither of these tools, Wepaint nor PBwiki are available for install on your server, but only as an ASP model. As I noted to Ben from Wetpaint, they should package it up and offer it for a nominal fee. Just look at Vbulletin for a great example of how this can work.