AviMate Newsletter #2 (AviMate Improvements in Hands of Bird Breeders)

AviMate Newsletter #2 (2/24/01):

AviMate Improvements in Hands of Bird Breeders

Dear Bird Breeder,

Two weeks ago we sent the attached e-mail to customers of AviMate, the premier management software for bird breeders around the world for over 4 years. We presented the fundamental dilemma facing many software developers in niche markets namely, the need for adequate sales out of its small potential customer base. We introduced a new approach in our pursuits to upgrade AviMate to version 3 -- that of honestware "full disclosure of the facts," rather than vaporware "pretend a product is about to be released when it is not yet ready."

We offered substantial discounts to those who would order AviMate 3 immediately from our website www.avimate.com as part of our "early bird" special:

Upgrade (2 to 3)      $79.95 now       $119.95 later
Upgrade (1 to 3)    $119.95 now       $159.95 later
Full AviMate 3       $169.95 now       $269.95 later
ClutchAid 1             $29.95 now          $39.95 later
NurseryAid 1           $29.95 now         $39.95 later
AviMate 3 Bundle $219.95 now       $319.95 later
AviBookKeeper 1   $34.95 now         $54.95 later (archive comment: later canceled)

The initial results were highly encouraging. We started receiving upgrade orders within 30 minutes of sending out the e-mail! Unfortunately, this ordering level did not continue -- we are currently at only 10% of the minimum number of orders we need to complete this project as described in the attached original e-mail. So ... here's more honesty for those who have not yet ordered AviMate 3:

1. Boundaries Unlimited (BU) consists of a small team of computer experts who have a vision of making enough money from BU products to quit their day jobs and serve its customers full-time. As such, BU's internal expenses are low. BU is NOT going out
of business. This means your order money is NOT at risk -- BU will refund your order money, if it does not perform as advertised!

2. The BU folks have put their heart and soul for over 4 years in the bird breeder software niche market, developing AviMate 1, AviMate 2, and BirdSpeech 101. The financial returns at a personal level have been meager. In fact, the person responsible
for debugging the software and writing extensive on-line help systems and user manuals has received $0 income from over 6 man months of work. With that track record, the BU team collectively decided to use early bird income to pay performance bonuses to themselves. The early bird order goal is no tricky sales gimmick to make a lot of money for the company, instead it is a way to reward the BU team for hard work rendered.

3. BU's basic manpower expenses are low, but we still incur substantial costs in releasing and marketing a new product like AviMate 3. Do you realize that we have to sell over 11 upgrades just to pay for a quarter-page B/W ad in BirdTalk Magazine which runs for one issue? We are reasonably sure BirdTalk pays its workers and does not provide its services at a loss!

Many of the infrastructure improvements to AviMate 3, like improved compatibility with the newest versions of Windows and a more robust error management process, are near completion. In addition, NurseryAid, one of our Palm PDA applications, is 70% complete. As you can see, we are close to a decision point: do we go on and implement other AviMate 3 features, or do we stop?

The fate of AviMate improvements is truly in your hands. The bird breeder community should decide if Boundaries Unlimited releases a skinny AviMate 3 or a fat AviMate 3. If our early bird orders reach 50% of target in the next 2 weeks, we commit to completing fat AviMate 3. If not, we will release skinny AviMate 3 at the same advertised prices. We will refund anyone who placed an early bird order and does not want a skinny AviMate 3.

If your collective "votes" result in a skinny AviMate 3, please understand that it is not likely that we will make improvements from that point on. Most likely, our BU team resources will be spent developing software products in other markets where the potential returns are greater.

Thank you for time. I urge us to work together to find a win-win solution. We want to be your software company; we just cannot allow ourselves to go broke in the process!

Sincerely,

Alex Davidoff

President, Boundaries Unlimited, Inc.

P.S. Please forward this message to your friends and share it in your favorite news groups! Let's have the entire bird breeder community "vote" on the fate of AviMate 3 improvements! We'll keep you posted.

AviMate Order Page:
http://www.avimate.com/order.asp