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On Being a New Entrepreneur – A Conversation with Phil Ramsey of QEDMethods

Phil newly minted entrepreneur with a deep background in project management and building content management systems for the legal, education and publishing industries. Phil launched QEDMethods to consult to the world and eventually take it over. He is navigating the world of consulting and building the company slowly and on the verge of a big breakout.

I was able to spend some time with him recently and here is a transcript of our interview:

Steve: How did you get the idea for QEDMethods?
Phil: QEDMethods is a natural evolution for me.  I have been designing and developing electronic publishing solutions since 1990 and online publishing solutions since 1995.  In this field, I have helped deliver many subscription-based online publishing solutions for the top publishers in the world.  These solutions range from the simple need to have an online publishing presence to solutions that handle millions of hits and require high availability.

Steve: For the uninitiated, could you explain what QED means?
Phil: My background is in mathematics, and when a mathematician finishes a proof, they write “QED” which is Latin for “quod erat demonstrandum” or “which was to be demonstrated”.  This is very math geek of me, but I thought it reflected what QEDMethods is about; to develop solutions that work and will continue to work.

Steve: You have many services on your web site that QEDMethods offers. It could do only one, which would it be and why?
Phil: I’ve always been an electronic publisher; now days this can also go by the names of “new media” or “online publishing”.  Online publishing is not easy, and what might surprise many people, is that the interface and security can be the easiest and most straight forward pieces to implement.

Developing and designing your data so it’s useful for many purposes and easily rebranded can prove to be the most difficult task.  This requires someone to not only envision the current project, but also provide input on future projects.  The goal is to allow customers to take their current dataset and build new products without having to redevelop the data.  This lets them focus on interface and feature requirements without having to worry about the data.

Project Management can also be very fun and rewarding.  I’ve found that several teams that are looking for people to impose a structured environment onto an unstructured “Wild West” environment.  As a mathematician I see this as a mapping issue, where you need to figure out how to map the new defined structure onto the existing team (this usually requires delicate negotiations on both sides).

Steve: You are a Network Solutions customer. What services do you use and why do you like them?
Phil: I am a Network Solutions customer, but only for domain and DNS management.  I handle the servers on my own.  While Network Solutions might be more expensive, in my experience, it is easier to manage domains via NS vs someone like GoDaddy (I have had to transfer a domain from GoDaddy and it was a nightmare).  I have developed solutions using NS servers and email systems and I found them very easy to implement.

Steve: As a new entrepreneur, what do you find are your greatest struggles as you try and grow?
Phil: Getting people to believe in you.  In my previous life I have designed many high-end sites, none of which I can leverage as examples for QEDMethods.  Those first few contracts are tough to get.  Once you get them show your customers your skill and dedication.  While I want to make money, I also want to make sure my customers realize that their success is more important than my comfort.

Steve: What is your philosophy on being an entrepreneur?
Phil: Customer first and deliver quality products.  It bothers me that customer and quality have been replaced with “get the job done quickly and cheaply”.  I need to be doing something that I am proud of, something that I could show my mother and give her a cheesy smile while showing it.

Having said that I do believe that products can be delivered quickly and cheaply and maintain high standards.  There are many open source solutions now that are very solid.  In my past I developed a solution for one of the top publishers in the education market.  This customer had been waiting months for a large COTS provider they had contracted with to come in and provide a very expensive solution, due to our size and knowledge we were able to come in and provide a solution within a month and at a fraction of the cost that they were originally quoted.

Steve: What would you like to see happen over the next 18 months for QEDMethods?
Phil: The next 18 months for QEDMethods will be critical we do have some contracts in place, but these aren’t pushing us.  We have excellent developers we can call on and would like to be able to find a project that will not only cause us to work hard, but also cause us to scratch our heads and figure out a solution.

Steve: Sometimes I like to close an interview with a “Do This List”. So for you, what are the top five things an entrepreneur you have said “I will never do that again”?
Phil: As a service-oriented business, we’ll cross the road for a quarter, so while there are things I might not want to do again, I’ll probably do it.  I would try to avoid contracts where I’m just billing hours while it pays the bills, I don’t feel it’s very honest work.
My top five list would be:

1. Idea – What does the market need that you can offer.
2. Can you afford it – If you are bootstrapping your effort, then you need to be prepared to live without much income.
3. Contacts – What sort of contacts do you have and how can you leverage those contacts for future contracts.
4. Network – The technology community in the DC area is very strong and very friendly, and they are constantly holding networking events.
5. Don’t Panic – This is my favorite quote from the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.  You’ll want to panic, but don’t.
6. Have Fun – I know you mentioned 5 items for this list, but number six would be to laugh and have fun.  Life’s too short to not be having fun.

If you would like to learn more about Phil, check out his blog or visit the QEDMethods site.

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