Discussing Cogmap

A key element of the Internet and more so Web 2.0 is how it levels the playing field for smaller players; the power of the community provides significant leverage for even small organizations or individuals to embark on innovative activities.

Cogmap interests me for this reason too – it’s a poster child for the “one man with an idea” kind of venture, seeking to leverage on the power of the community; with the objective being to empower the members of the community. Brent Halliburton, the founder of Cogmap, sent across some information in response to email queries; I think you’ll find it interesting.

About yourself & the founding team

The founding team consists of myself and a consulting company. No Inc. I am just a sales guy that got tired of walking into a room and not understanding who I should be looking at during a presentation. I spent 6 months thinking “wouldn’t this be a great web site?” and then decided to do something about it.

What is your vision for Cogmap? How do you see it growing and moving forward?

A couple of weeks ago I launched COGMAP, the organization chart wiki. It is a graphical Wikipedia for sales people where everyone shares their knowledge of organizations to make it easier to understand them.I hope you will think that CogMap is cool technology, but to make CogMap big, I am building more than just cool technology, I am establishing vibrant community. CogMap is a tool for people to share with each other information about who does what, who is who, and how people and parts of companies fit together. If you just put in what you know about a company you want to know more about, the community will help you figure it out!

I am asking you to do three things:

1) Create or edit 3 charts - Surely you know a couple of people at a couple of different companies! Even if you can’t describe how someone fits in their organization, you can always put them in the unmapped box and then someone else can come in later and organize it.

2) Invite 3 friends - Send them a note (you could forward this one!) and get them to give it a try.

3) Send me a note with your biggest like and dislike - We have lots of ideas for CogMap 2.0 based on things that didn’t make it into this version, but the priorities will be set by demand. Help us sort it out.

What about your funding, organisation and business model?

Why do all web sites have to be businesses? Today, CogMap is a web site. Lots of sites, mine included, plan to do both ads and premium subscription services. Many people like wsj.com and LinkedIn have made that model work. Of course, right now I have neither as we are working to gain traction first. I encourage venture capitalists and potential acquirers to get in touch.

Do you think people would be reluctant to share what they know about organizations, a fear of helping the competition?

What I always tell people is that you have a choice, if you want to know more about an organization, you have to ask a question. Put what you know in and the community will help you figure out the rest. If you feel like you know an organization inside and out, then CogMapping that organization is probably not for you (unless you are looking for a convenient way to capture this data).

What about data privacy?

Most of the details about employees are already available, you just need to have money. You can buy lists from a variety of services, use Jigsaw or LinkedIn, or buy the information people disclose when they subscribe to trade rags. The information is out there, but it is only available to the well-funded. We are bringing information to the community.

As Brent remarks, it’s early days right now for Cogmap; it will be interesting to watch the evolution of the site, the tool and the business model, and how well it succeeds in gaining traction.