Interesting article in the October 2007 Communications of the ACM entitled “Current Issues Faced by Technology Entrepreneurs”.  (Nice how that usage of the word “issues” can now show up in the title of an article in a scientific journal.  But I digress.)
 

The link to the article is here – http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1290963&jmp=abstract&coll=Portal&dl=ACM&CFID=38204135&CFTOKEN=22949127, but unfortunately like most ACM stuff, this isn’t free.

Anyway, the highlight of the article is its evolution of the traditional Technology Acceptance Model into a new concept:  the Technology Acceptance and Market Success Model (TAMSM).  The TAMSM (I wish I could at least find their block diagram somewhere on the web, but again it doesn’t seem to show up anywhere free yet) is broadened to include success metrics for a post-bust, post-bubble IT start-up.  That is, we’ve been through the bubble, we’ve been through the bust period immediately following when no money was available, now we’re here. 

The TAMSM includes the following features:

       -          Availability of financial resources, skilled employees and co-founders in the same   geographical area, and potential outsourcing
       -          Creation of “products perceived to be easy to use and useful”
       -          Presence of a suitably educated customer base with the ability and intention to use the product

No, this isn’t new information, but it is a new way to look at the TAM, and “models” in general can be a good way to make even obvious concept memorable.

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