Ridgeware, Inc.
A Delaware Corporation

Business Plan for Seed Funding
November , 1998


Prologue

Can you believe that the Internet is virtually only five year old?  What an amazing time this last 5 years has been and how the presence of the Internet has accelerated connectivity between what used to be called "personal" computers.

Many of us ponder this financially proverbial question:
What's the next step in this connectivity revolution?

All of us know that if we can effectively answer this question, that is predict the future (and act on this prediction), we will be pushing the wave, not just riding it or paddling to keep up with it.  Pushing the wave is what it's all about, but the wave only goes in the direction it is already inclined to go.

The main thrust in this business plan is somewhat simple, in the sense that it now seems painfully obvious to its author and completely inevitable.  Therefore, disclosure of the concepts is not made indiscriminately.  Above and beyond any NDA which has been signed by the reader, the author must rely on the reader's basic integrity not to disclose or discuss the material to anyone who does not have an immediate need to know in helping you discern whether or not to give Ridgeware, Inc. its seed funding.

If you have not yet signed an NDA or if you think the NDA is lacking in its coverage of my rights as author/inventor of the technology embodied in this business plan, please fill in the gaps with your integrity as a human being and know that if we work together, we will both come out ahead.

Thank you,

  Joe Kuefler {"Keef"ler}


Executive Summary

The explosion of connectivity has allowed corporations to work more effectively world-wide than ever before.  The Internet and web browsers which make use of the Internet have had an impact in virtually every aspect of business, but I wish to focus the reader's thoughts on how the Internet (and corporate Intranets) have enabled a corporation to function better as a unit: bringing people closer to people and people closer to the information they need to operate effectively.



Globally distributed sales offices were prevalent even before the current trend in 

Corporations have always had distributed sales offices around the globe.

Companies which have sales offices scattered across the entire global can now stare at the same piece of information on their computer screen (a web page) at the same time and without any discrepencies concerning the content.

This has enabled a meriad of new possibilities.  To mention just a few:
the "definitive" price lists and data sheets can be put in a central location on the web
competitor information can be seen directly and instantaniously on the web
the actual list of competitors can tallied more comprehensively than ever before

However, with the greater connectivity comes the greater expectation of even more connectivity.  Corporate databases and corporate/enterprise applications remain something which is by-in-large locked within the walls of a corporate campus.  It is certainly possible to enable "web front ends" to some of these systems, it is not at all