By Shaylene Keiner, founder and president, HeadHunters NW

Using Wiki as a collaborative forum for organizations
Recently I was able to sit down with Ray King, CEO of the local company AboutUs to learn about the Wiki world and AboutUs.

A Wiki is a special type of website that allows visitors to edit and expand the wealth of its content. However, it is much more than that: it is a way to work together to build knowledge, things and connections. A fundamental value of Wiki is People, People, Technology, People.

AboutUs was born out of the need for bigger and better information. King noticed the “about us” page on most websites is a lonely, mostly forgotten page, not really looked at except getting contact information and a static introduction. It was then – in collaboration and believing that learning about an organization is important – that they felt they could take the “about us” pages and link them together with their logical neighbors. In addition, they could provide two-way communication between the organization and its constituents.

AboutUs feels that introducing an organization to the world is best done in a collaborative format. “Organizations can log on and say this is what we do and others can log on and say this is what we think you do,” King stated. “When work is done collaboratively, it becomes clearer and it is better quality. We all succeed on the shoulders of others.”

AboutUs and the Wiki way
When visitors go to the site, AboutUs wants them to log in and make their first edit. “When you make your first edit, it is transformative,” says King. “Many people do not know they can edit. When they hit save, then they see the site changes right then, something clicks in their mind. From there, AboutUs wants the visitor to make a personal page, make any organizational changes and then start to link the pages of interest together. Soon these visitors are collaborating with other people from across the world who have similar interests. As visitors come down this funnel of engagement, the site can show them ‘the builder’s high.’ Beyond the builder’s high, it is very rewarding to connect with other people and we sometimes make decisions with others,” stated King.

“Every industry has issues, and using Wiki they can talk about what the issues are together. If there were fifty people together and they were collaborating, the odds are they would probably come up with better ideas faster than working individually on an issue. Wiki is not about ‘we’ve got to vote and decide on one way.’ It is about collaborating and coming to a consensus. It is transforming because it is a very satisfying experience,” said King. “This way people have more buy-in and solve more problems together.

“Working the Wiki way is a transparent mode. Everyone can see the way decisions are made. It is working and collaborating with people you do not know. It is powerful when you write something and a person who lives 6 time zones away makes a change in it. You would never have had the opportunity to collaborate with them,” shared King.

Complaints we hear
AboutUs is committed to educating its visitors and helping them to learn to use this potentially powerful site. As with most new things, there are growing pains. Some common complaints are:

• “You published my home address or private information.” To this, AboutUs responds that they publish what is already on WhoIs but are happy to take it down and will also provide instructions to those individuals on how to remove the information from WhoIs. King stated that most people do not realize their information is already out there and are appreciative of the assistance.
  
• The second most common complaint is: “You copied my copyrighted information off my site.” At AboutUs, they take a snippet of information off an individual site to help describe the site. King says it is fair use, and many other sites do the same; but again, AboutUs is happy to take down anything that someone may feel is under their copyright.
  
• The third common complaint is: “We do not want people to write about us.” As most of us realize, none of us can control what other people say. At AboutUs, they are trying to do this in a positive manner and you can respond to your critics the Wiki way.

Ray King as an entrepreneur
King started his career while at MIT designing the first multi-user PC-based financial management system for the architectural and engineering community and then started a company called Semaphore, Inc. In 2000, he sold the company to Deltek, Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTK). He then moved to Portland to co-found SnapNames, which provides domain-name alert and auction services. Following SnapNames, he founded AboutUs to build collaborative areas of information on the Web. He is committed to building a bigger and better space for the whole world.

King shared that he has learned valuable lessons at each turn. At Semaphore, he learned how to run a business with over 2,500 clients, 110 employees and 4 offices – quite a crash course. Although SnapNames was a more playful enterprise, raising money right up front created a different type of pressure. AboutUs is really something he is enjoying the most. “We get to work with people all over the world, it’s exciting, it’s fun….if I wasn’t enjoying myself it would be overwhelming. I am lucky to have great people around me who are collaborative. We are running this company as a ‘do-ocracy’ where people opt into the work that interests them most. It hardly feels like traditional work.”

Advice for other entrepreneurs:
When asked for some advice for our readers who are entrepreneurs and how he went from an idea to a living, breathing company, King shared the below thoughts.

Each business King has started was born out of a real need felt by someone. He also has looked for and recognized where the “edge” of the envelope is. He then tries to identify the next 2 or 3 steps and do that before others do – taking concepts and technology and driving them to the next level.

In the area of technology and Internet, he says you can start out without a lot of capital, unlike manufacturing, for example. Prototyping your idea, and some nights and weekends is enough to begin and show the concept.

Angel financing is a great next step. It is harder to raise venture capital here and Portland is a smaller city. King shared that he has had great luck with angel investors here, though. To be successful he says you need to clearly articulate what you are trying to accomplish. “I think the ability to raise initial round is straightforward,” stated King.

When pressed with how he originally got in touch with angel investors, it was clearly due to communication and networking. Portland has a number of tech events and organizations. “Go to the events and talk to folks: InnoTech, OSCON, Bar Camp, Wikimania, just to name a few,” said King. “It is a smaller city and it is pretty easy to get to know people. When you need a lawyer you ask the people you know. It’s the same with investors. Go meet with them; they like to support local companies, especially if it is in their area of interest. You don’t need too many; by definition, the ‘angel’ round is small.”

Where do you see AboutUs going?
“When you look at Wikipedia, they document the notable people and notable events and they do that well. In their final form, they could reach a state of what is important in most languages. At AboutUs, we are open to everyone, not just notables. In our final state, we are connecting real people, those who are not notable. We are in constant flux. The end state is where AboutUs is being used for collaboration. When people are building, deciding, doing work together in a way that is constructive. That people come to use our site to do their work and do it in a Wiki way using Wiki values. That would be our nirvana.”

Facts about AboutUs:

• AboutUs is headquartered in Portland
  
• Its office in Pakistan has 16 employees
  
• Wiki guru Ward Cunningham, inventor of the concept of Wiki, is now CTO
  
• 2 companies who helped Ray get started: eNom and Name Intelligence
  
• AboutUs currently employs 33 people company-wide

About the author
Shaylene Keiner has been a successful recruiter in the Pacific Northwest since 1997, specializing in accounting and finance. She is the founder and president of HeadHunters NW, founded in 2004, which provides high-quality expertise on a referral-only basis. The expectations of board members and shareholders have never been higher, and HeadHunters NW is exceeding such expectations by identifying, recruiting and securing top talent for bottom-line profits. For more information on HeadHunters NW, visit www.headhuntersnw.com. To contact Keiner, email shaylene@headhuntersnw.com.