The Rise and Fall of a Software Startup

Between 1998 and 2002, the authors founded and subsequently managed Omni-Vista, Inc., a software startup based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This chapter is the story of how the events surrounding this company unfolded. It starts with a quick glimpse of the final days of the company, then does a rewind back to the beginning of the story and the backgrounds of the two authors. The chapter contains seven stories that run in parallel, each detailing the events with respect to a different aspect of the company. It also presents some of the lessons learned by the authors in the course of the rise and fall of the software startup. The lessons include: sell a simple product before you sell a feature-rich one; and do not move into fancy offices if you have nobody to impress.