Rod is in town and this morning I had a chance to meet him face to face. I’ve been talking about SaaS in general and Xero in particular for a few months now, so I guess he wanted to address some specific issues I’ve raised previously in posts, and to explain to me where he sees Xero now and in the future.
I’ve always said that for a HiTech startup to be successful it need to have both technical skills and business ones – clearly Xero has a team that encompasses both of these areas. While it may be anathema to my geek readers, a mediocre technology executed with high level business nous will always outperform a killer-ap executed with poor business skills.
Xero has, in my opinion, both a compelling technology story, and an impeccable business pedigree. As such they have a better than even chance of success.
As a postscript I did find it funny that, during a later presentation to the Cii, Rod decided to buy pizzas. The Hell Pizza sign on screen was just to difficult so he resorted to a phone call – web usability 101!
