Negonation Update – 7 August 2006

The search for financing continues… through a blog?

We have set ourselves the task of raising €200,000 to finance the first stage of Negonation. When talking to potential investors, the pre-money valuation we ask for is €1,800,000. This means that the post-money valuation (after the €200,000 investment) of Negonation will be €2 million and we will deliver 10% of company shares. What are the reactions to that valuation? Most investors say that it’s high (no-one has yet said that it’s low ) although they are willing to talk.

Recently, we managed to get three investors to raise a total of €140,000 . We need €60,000. So, if you have some savings, I’m sorry but all you can invest is €60,000. No, seriously, if you’re interested or know of anyone who may be interested in this type of project with that valuation, now is the time.p

In such a risky project like Tractis and at the start (completely uncertain), we all know that those valuations are merely mental lucubrations. I doubt that the current investors or those who are considering entering believe that Tractis is worth 2 million euros. They simply believe in the idea, the people, the potential, etc. and are willing to accept that valuation in order to participate in the opportunity. By the way, I would like to comment this with you: high valuation? low valuation? a 2.0 bubble? advice? not much money? too much money? other people seeking financing? etc.

The beta continues: launch of the Wiki Feedback

This week, the 1,000 beta subscriber barrier was broken. We’ve already invited 80 and this week another 100 will enter. This weekend we launched a wiki in http://feedback.negonation.com. The idea is that beta testers tell us about bugs that they find, and provide comments, suggestions and ideas for the future. Comments are welcomed. We also have an email address (feedback@negonation.com) if you want to talk about something in private although we prefer, as far as possible, to talk “in front of everybody” in the wiki. Many thanks to the first courageous people who have dared to participate.

Of all the pending tasks in the development, we are more concerned with the working of Internet Explorer (the only browser that is giving us headaches) and the contract editor (which will experience substantial improvements). This week we are having the monthly employee meeting in Valladolid and they will undoubtedly be the two main subjects.

Collaborators: We need more help

There are already 13 of us in development and around 10 in the legal profile. Some are heavyweights. The level of the conversation in signatures_negonation@googlegroups.com is growing dangerously… . People are also joining on the business and translation sides. We are very pleased with our current collaborators (in fact, we plan to give you a pleasant surprise shortly ), but we need more help: Tractis is an enormous task. We would like to have 25 developers by September (the work and number of components and ideas keep on growing: tractis-hq, tractis-identity, tractis-api…), we still need native English translators to translate the application!! and we’re preparing a legal wiki to boost the legal side after the summer. What are you waiting for?

By David Blanco
Saved in: Announcements, Entrepreneurs, Tractis, Venture Capital | 1 comment » | 7 August 2006