Menlo Innovations

I get so impressed with ideas that just seem to make absolute sense. They are a lot rarer than what may be expected also. But recently, I was exposed to a business that has chosen to shift the paradigm. They are doing things far differently than what other companies do, but they are executing their approach and are achieving phenomenal results.

The company I am referring to is Menlo Innovations which is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Being a student at the University of Michigan, and always keeping an eye and ear out for great ideas, it was nice for me to hear of such a cool company around my neck of the woods.

Menlo Innovations is a software company that provides solutions to their customers. But they do so in a way that is not at all the prescribed method by the industry, and for that very reason, I think they are succeeding.

The origins of Menlo Innovations can be attributed to the economic decline following the tech-bubble burst of 2000. The CEO of Menlo Innovations, Richard Sheridan, was layed off at his prior job as a vice president of software development and needed to look for something to do. While he tried very hard to find a new job, his attempts were unsuccessful, and therefore, he decided to get together with a few other people and begin his own company: Menlo Innovations.

The name Menlo Innovations came from the invention factory initially established by Thomas Edison in 1876 located in Menlo Park, New Jersey.

Similar to the images of Edison's invention factory, the office of Menlo Innovations is set up as an open space in which communication and collaboration is maximized. The atmosphere is relaxed with a majority of the workers in their younger ages just post an undergraduate or graduate degree. The entire essence of the company evokes a similar feeling to the general state of Kerrytown, Ann Arbor, where the office is located.

If you know anything about Kerrytown, you already know it is the home of the famous Zingerman's Delicatessan, where people come from far and wide to buy sandwiches that cost $15 and balsamic vinigrette from Italy for $100. Across the street is Sparrow Market, yet another staple of Kerrytown. Sparrow Market is a fresh produce market that provides the inhabitants of Ann Arbor with high quality, fresh food. Just next to Sparrow Market is Monahan's Seafood which has been around for ages and has lovely fish and chips for a reasonable amount. Finally, you will find Kosmo which has some of the greatest B-Bim-Bop and original hot sauce you will likely ever have.

All of these elements combined create an atmosphere that is so unique to Kerrytown, it is hard to truly convey in words. But, amidst all of this, Menlo Innovations runs its factory just upstairs from Sparrow Market, the company itself adding to the Kerrytown atmosphere.

What makes Menlo Innovations so unique in my mind is their approach to dealing with software issues. They have established a method called High-Tech Anthropology, which aside from its excellent name, also adequately describes their method unbelievably well.

In a recent presentation I went to at their offices, a monthly "Taste of Success" meeting, in which Richard Sheridan describes why the software industry is going about their business all wrong and why Menlo Innovations has truly narrowed in on the correct approach, I was able to learn about the intricacies of High-Tech Anthropology and why it seems to work so well.

To begin, its important to understand what an anthropologist is. In the simplest sense, an anthropologist studies culture and studies individuals in that culture. One of the things that Mr. Sheridan talked about initially was how one goes out and finds information these days. He asked the crowd at his discussion, and every seat was filled, and some of the best suggestions included going to Google, the Internet, or reading about it in books.

Mr. Sheridan then took it a step further and asked how we would learn about animals. Would we go to the zoo to do so. Many of the audience members agreed, but Mr. Sheridan was quick to show the downfalls in this approach.

He explains that its important to go and study something in its natural state. See how it functions, and you have to do that up close and personal. He cares very deeply about truly getting to know his customers, how they live their lives, and what would be most beneficial to them. This is where the anthropology of Menlo Innovations comes into play, and it is such a critical element to their success.

Then, what he has done is bridged the gap between the lives of his customers and the software designers, who he has aptly named "homo logicus" because of software designers propensity to do things logically and sometimes forget about the end user in the process.

To combat this, Menlo Innovations uses a "persona web" that is designed based on a marketing approach. It focuses on targeting the largest potential user of the software. In so doing, it also personalizes the software for the developers, which makes them think twice about adding features that may be unnecessary or consider how to present those features in order to make the software as effective as possible. When dealing with projects, software developers actually refer to an individual's name who has been given a biography with certain behaviors associated with their software usage and things that that ideal person would like to accomplish.

The people that are created are fictional, but it is a really innovating means of making the project personal. Software developers are encouraged to ask themselves, "How would this feature benefit Jim or Jack or Jill" depending on the particular project at hand. Therefore, these "personas" become a decision making tool as well as a personalizing tool.

I think Menlo Innovations has really taken an innovative approach to the software industry and it really just makes a lot of good sense. I expect their company to continue to perform well as it has done so already and perhaps even shift the industry standard in the years to come.

You can read more about Menlo Innovations in this Forbes article.