Why SiMX?
SiMX is my father's company that has done some fascinating things. In 1991, my father, Vlad Bernstein, and his partner, Andrei Afanassenkov, brought a mathematical modeling package that they developed in Russia called Explorer (not to be confused with Microsoft Explorer). A fascinating piece of software, it enabled modeling of sophisticated large systems through component-driven mathematical models that operate within a user-friendly framework enabliing construction of very interesing systems. My crowning achievement was a 3-dimensional arm that I was able to construct as an 8th-grader that was described by setting up relationships between angles and points - it was simple and elegant. This was done with a little help from my father who, at the time, explained to me sin, cos, tan, which were pretty much the only new knowledge I needed to successfully complete the task. However, what blew my mind was an AI problem that was solved relatively easily using this platform: finding of an optimal path for a little cart in a maze with front and back wheels (only front wheels rotate) and proper physics.
Anyway, Explorer never took off because dad didn't have the necessary connections at the time and, by the time he made the, it was outdated as it was written for DOS. But the ideas from Explorer went into a new integration platform they called TARGET, and which was geared for rapid development of data-processing, reporting, and data-driven web-applications. Its strength lies in its ability to contruct sophisticated systems using a purely visual interface and some limited scripting that operates on high-level components. The result is that this system enabled SiMX, a tiny company, secure relationships with Fortune 500 giants and numerous smaller companies both in services and products (Client List). Basically, from my observation, if they were allowed to present, unless politics intervened, they were in. Why? Because they would show a solution that the customer was looking for in a prototype before the customer actually had to shell out any money. They are still employing this strategy in their sale of TextConverter: people submit problems that SiMX sets up for free prior to any purchase being made. Consequently, the conversion rate is ridiculously high because the client gets a solution to his problem rather than a tool.
SiMX's greatest strength, however, is also their greatest weakness. They are a tremendous develpment company, but as such, they completely failed to build sales and marketing. Despite having been trained as a C++ programmer, I switched to a marketing role for a year in an attempt set up their marketing prior to leaving to found JoVE. To be frank, I knew too little at the time and was not smart enough to set up a successful program. After a lot of failed attempts, I finally reached some measure of success, but it was a very painful and humbling process. That is when I first learned that having an amazing product is only part of the story - marketing and sales are not nearly as simple as they might seem and can make or break a business. At this point, they are well on their way, but still in need of professional marketing help. If you are interested in finding out more, please send me an email at nikita@simx.com.