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I worked for a financial publishing company that prides itself on being more technically advanced than its competitors. (The nice thing is, it's easy to be ahea

I worked for a financial publishing company that prides itself on being more technically advanced than its competitors. (The nice thing is, it's easy to be ahead of the curve technologically in the financial services industry.) Shortly before I left, the CEO started adamantly insisting that it was, in fact, a tech company. It was a nice thought, but underscored how much he did not understand about what that would actually mean. You're not a tech company just because you employ a few people who know what Angular is.

mooreds 11y ago
What makes you a "tech company"? I took some time to try to think of what defines a tech company, and it's hard to draw the lines. Would be interested to hear what you think.
- exelius 11y ago
  Anymore, every company that's not a "tech company" is trying to become one. Turns out the market values standard interfaces and APIs, even if they're locked behind API keys and business agreements. Technical competency (specifically around APIs and internal platform development) is no longer optional. It's not something you can just outsource to a vendor either; it's got to be a core part of your operating model or else your competitors will steal your clients by being easier to integrate against. This means that many companies we think of as "tech companies" will need to redefine themselves in terms of the problems they solve. This has started to happen as well - Amazon is a merchant, Microsoft is a business services company, Apple is a consumer electronics company and Google is an advertising vendor. Their tech platforms all exist to support their core businesses - not the other way around. Incidentally, this is why "Google" became "Alphabet" -- new products under the "Google" umbrella were being tainted by its revenue base (and thus, internal political power base - he who controls the revenue makes the decisions) in advertising. Customers just expect a technology-enhanced experience in each of these areas.
- draw_down 11y ago
  Simple, tech companies sell technology. The company I was speaking of sells investment advice, and they have a couple webapps they made.
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cwisecarver 11y ago
drivers?

mooreds 11y ago

What makes you a "tech company"? I took some time to try to think of what defines a tech company, and it's hard to draw the lines. Would be interested to hear what you think.

exelius 11y ago
Anymore, every company that's not a "tech company" is trying to become one. Turns out the market values standard interfaces and APIs, even if they're locked behind API keys and business agreements. Technical competency (specifically around APIs and internal platform development) is no longer optional. It's not something you can just outsource to a vendor either; it's got to be a core part of your operating model or else your competitors will steal your clients by being easier to integrate against. This means that many companies we think of as "tech companies" will need to redefine themselves in terms of the problems they solve. This has started to happen as well - Amazon is a merchant, Microsoft is a business services company, Apple is a consumer electronics company and Google is an advertising vendor. Their tech platforms all exist to support their core businesses - not the other way around. Incidentally, this is why "Google" became "Alphabet" -- new products under the "Google" umbrella were being tainted by its revenue base (and thus, internal political power base - he who controls the revenue makes the decisions) in advertising. Customers just expect a technology-enhanced experience in each of these areas.
draw_down 11y ago
Simple, tech companies sell technology. The company I was speaking of sells investment advice, and they have a couple webapps they made.

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cwisecarver 11y ago

drivers?