We have been discussing among ourselves about open sourcing Hiitch for a while now. When we say open source Hiitch, we mean both the server and the client code. A totally complete and open desktop social networking platform that others can use, extend, customize and redistribute on their own. Can open source really help us compete or is it the end of us? We have only recently come to an agreement that open source is an option that we will seriously consider in the near future. We have put into Hiitch our heart & soul and we are unsure if open source is a right move at this stage.

Why do we want to open source Hiitch?

• We envision Hiitch to become a free but personal social networking platform that everyone will use to meet new friends and stay connected. No barriers!
• We want to move the development fast enough to challenge the current market players and existing technologies.
• We desire a vibrant development community that will keep innovating with us.

Our biggest problem now is that we do not have the financial resources to fulfill all or any of the above goals. My argument for open source is that we can allow others to build smaller networks of their immediate social circle and then build software to connect these smaller social networks together to form a mega network of independent networking peers. We can achieve this with little or no cost at all using open source approaches. The open source community has already shown that the last two points is workable so I will not elaborate more on it.

What are our fears of open sourcing Hiitch?

• It scares away potential investors and greatly reduces our value as a commercial company.
• The open source community do not see a need for such a product and hence no vibrant development community.

The worse thing to happen is that we cannot financially support ourselves to innovate and develop ground breaking software for the social networking messes. Merely selling value added services on top of a free software platform is also not an easy approach. We also worry that a geek community cannot attract enough normal average users for which a life style application like Hiitch is build for.

Feel free to share your views with us on this matter.

Nope it is not our birthday but the launch of Hiitch beta. After several months of private testing, we have decided that it is time to show the world our baby software. Hiitch is a desktop software that notifies almost anything that interest you. It is also a social networking software that securely connects you with your friends and loved ones.

Do bear with our current short commings as you journey with us. We promised that our services will get better as we go along. Go ahead and download a copy for yourself.

Have you noticed the cool widget on the right side of our blog? It’s our new Shout! widget. This web widget collaborates with Hiitch on the desktop by aggregating live shout messages from our members at real time. We hope to use this concept widget to bridge the distinct line between web and desktop applications by delivering a seamless and interactive solution across both platforms.

To interact with Shout!, you need to install Hiitch first. If you are an existing Hiitch member, simply type a message into your Hiitch shout box or change your display picture. The widget will catch those changes and display it live. Shout! widget allows your web buddies to check out new and cool people on Hiitch without the need to access it.

You can grab this widget for free right now on our community page and display it on your blog, personal website or social network profile.

I have been reading a few local Singapore blogs about the state of our entrepreneurship in the country. Yes, if you did not know, Hiitch is also a local production. I am guessing that not many local people out there read our blog or even know about Hiitch. So if you are one of those rare ones, we salute you. By the way, if you have mistaken us for a million dollar startup then I am sorry, you are looking at the wrong blog. Hiitch is what many locals will call a $1 company. Actually, as of now we are close to a $3000++ company. We are poor as hell, I must admit. Anyway, everyone has to start somewhere. We have just started our effort to raise some money for our work so if you have got some to spare, feel free to venture with us.

The idea Singaporean startup that I have gathered from my readings, talking to other well established Singaporeans and writing business proposals to local BAs (business angels) or VCs (venture capitalists) are of this sort. The entrepreneurial criteria that I am about to describe is to ensure a sure win for the local investors. If you are one of those that meet these criteria, we salute you. You are on your way to major success in Singapore!

Founder requirements:

Founder must have graduated from Harvard/Stanford/Cambridge/… or one of those ranked world top 10. However, NUS (National University of Singapore) or NTU (Nanyang Technological University) is acceptable but not preferred. No name universities or polytechnics are definitely out. Apparently, many Singaporeans believe that good education equals talent. No good education means no talent. Parents are preferably rich, I mean that the founder must have already invested a significant amount into the company. Significant amount must be no less than half a million or so. IQ must be above 140 or a Ph.D will suffice. Must at least have one successful venture before. If you do not have any prior successes, you must have at least 10 years of relevant working experience. Mediocrity in your working experience is not acceptable. Resume must have big company names and you must have held important positions in the company. And no, being a project manager at Ah Beng Pte Ltd is not considered working experience. If you have won any significant awards before, those will aid you. Significant awards mean awards given from an accredited organization such as NASA and etc. Our pompous, I mean our local cream of the crop organizations are also acceptable. OK, if you have at least these few requirements in place, your are considered safe to at least have the investors take at look at your resume.

Business plan requirements:

Your company must have the potential to conquer its intended market which must be at least as big as North America/Europe/China/India within 3 years. And no, the local Singapore market is not considered large enough. Technology under development must be no simpler than rocket science. This requirement of technology is a bit tricky to lay down. Most local investors are looking at creating the new time travelling machine or something like that. A web 2.0 startup is too simple to be considered a real technology. By the way, be prepared to explain what web 2.0 means, unless you are getting our government to invest because they are already working at web 3.0. And yes, it must be patentable. Profit for investors must be at least 50 times the money invested. Yes, local investors understand that high risk equals high profit. But local investors will also tell you that their air tight requirements is not about low risk but no risk, I mean reducing and managing the risk. Our investors have learned from their foreign counterparts that if you have the first mover’s advantage in your business plan, the chances of success is even higher. So unless your company have the world’s first, you may not have the edge that they are looking for. Also be sure to describe in detail your competitors. To be the world’s first but yet have competitors is a concept beyond me so you are on your own for this one. If you manage to figure out who your competitors are, you must include their plan, concept, strategy, strength and weakness. On top of that, you have to show how you are one up from them in your plan. One thing you cannot be without is figures. Our investors love figures. Make sure your financial forecast is well dreamt up, I mean projected. If there is one thing our investors want is a detailed business plan, so make sure you have at least 60 pages or more. Your business proposal must have the feel of a book or at least appear to have that same amount of effort put in. Be sure to have a hardcopy to be sent to them and yes, it must be colored! If your business plan have these criteria listed, you are all set to prepare for your presentation.

Unfortunately, we do not match up to those requirements. However, we are not discouraged. We are looking for a different kind of investor then those found locally. We want investors who will invest in us and not merely our idea. Investors who understand that we are the people who can and will deliver success and not the idea itself. Investors who will work with us and help us reach greater heights by guiding us to pursue our dreams. They will understand that both groups are taking risk in the venture and not just themselves. They will see themselves as part of the team and not as a revenue generating task master. Most importantly, they will realize that we are not about being the elite, but about passion, commitment, determination and hardwork.

If you are just another Singaporean average Joe company like us. If you are doing your best in pursuing your own dreams like us. Drop us a shout here and let us know you are also out there, Cheers!

Event matching keeps you informed of events that you care about in real time. This new feature will track feed items from eventful and automatically notify you of upcoming events that matches your profile settings. When an event is found, it will be send to your inbox under “Autosuggestion”.

You can refined the events matched by telling Hiitch to filter out those events that you don’t wished to receive. Check on the “Don’t suggest these type of events anymore.” and Hiitch will drop the keyword used for monitoring these events.

Tips:

You can request Hiitch to generate more accurate matches by making sure the following fields on your profile are set correctly.

• Country
• City/State
• Zodiac Sign
• Occupation
• Interest

Use keywords instead of long sentences when you state your interest.