OK - my critical analysis of the demo...
Well, here is my first thought - WOW. Very in-depth but some backround first:
As my name suggests, I'm a IT Guy. More specifically, I'm the IT Manager for my company. I work mostly in the network infrastructure side and stratigic planning. I'm not a programmer in any way. Maybe some scripting and old world knowledge but no programming or advanced Excel experience (my wife knows much more than I in Excel). Also, I'm a beginner trader so training is important. That's why Spooz appealed to me and why I became a shareholder. I'm ready to learn more about options, futures, and market analysis so Spooz seemed to fit the bill to help me learn efficeintly.
Ok - on with the impressions and thoughts about the product. I can't describe how incredible it was to to see so many different feature add-ins available. Features that I have absolutely no idea about. As a average trader, a lot of these anaylsis features are way above my comprehesion. This is where their training will have to come in. You can make SPT as complicated or as simple as you want. You can make it look as simple or as complicated as you want - all it takes is basic knowledge of Microsoft applications (Fonts/color, etc).
I feel that right out of the box, I will be able to put together my portfolio with some basic analysis in about 30 minutes. Trading is a snap. We traded some hypothetical futures in a few seconds.
They have so many templates to choose from - things like the energy sector or grain or oil. All right there and ready to go.
ok - time for the devil advocate: There will be an initial impression by some that the interface is unpolished. This is simple due to it being in Excel and you're limited in display options. It looks like Excel - not its own product. Now you can make the display show any info you want - but it still has that speadsheet feel to it. I'm glad the software is free and that it's the service you are paying for. If it helps someone make money, the look of it won't mean a thing. Now the upside to this is that the everyday Joe Trader shouldn't be spooked by some fancy looking interface that they have no idea how to operate. Like I said, basic Microsoft application knowledge is all you need - although it is not just limited to Microsoft Excel.
There is still some programming left to be done and that worried me a bit. I would have liked to see it fully completed by this point. They do have about 12 developers working on it so I have no doubt they will hit the official release date (Which, by the way, sounded like it was going to be earlier than expected - Paul kinda danced around a bit.)
I hope they develop a more professional looking demo. Now, this demo was probably put together last minute to address all the shareholder questions being posed to Paul in the last couple of days so I'm not too concered about it. But if you are going to show it to a room full of suits, it needs a little more polish. Basically, it was a GotomyPC connection for the demo.
I really liked what I saw - more because of the immensly in-depth templates and features you can add into it than anything else. Paul truely believes, and I also, that this product has the potential for at least 50,000 users which he says would put the company around the $500 million to $1 Billion in sales mark (if I understood that right).
Hedge gurus that know excel will have a field day customizing exactly what they want to see and how they want to see it. Trading large volumes of multiple items is a simple click.
I need to go pick up the kids so I will have to end it here. I will try and post more later on.
All in all - I wish I had more money right now!
ITGuy
ITGuy
"When we are able to put aside our differences, only then may we say we've evolved."
