Interview with Jason Curtis, CEO of PeerConnect

We are focused on web and Internet communications and we represent a family of patents called HyperShip. The patents are owned by a company called HyperSpace Communications. Those patents span a proprietary peer-to-peer technology that is being used by a number of clients. Which is currently being tested by the Federal Government for use by the Social Security Administration, which will be using it to move information in and out of their data center.

HyperSpace Communications is the holder of the patents for the technology and we are their business development arm. Similar to what we do with our partners, they have outsourced their sales and business overhead to PeerConnects. Instead of starting one business we actually started two. We wanted to keep the technology the separate from the business development aspect.

This technology is extremely secure and also works with verification systems such as the United State Post Office’s Electronic Post Mark (EPM). The system also works with Public Key Infrastructure, which is an encryption between two parties. It ensures that only a given recipient can read or understand the data that they have received.

You can run partner programs between a network of suppliers and vendors that provides for real-time information in a secure format.

GE, AT&T, SBC, etc run Value Added Network (VAN), which provide this type of functionality without the security that HyperShip delivers. They run the VANs off of private wires within their own networks.

It allows a company to utilize the publicly available Internet while ensuring the same level of security and trust that they would receive using a Value Added Network.

Our system allows hospitals to develop networks with insurance providers; financial institutions to create trading partner networks, etc. We create an armored car for information and let it go out on the Internet.

We view this as a multi-billion dollar industry. With our reliability and security our system allows companies to become HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, Paper Work Reduction Act of 1996, etc. compliant. Our system ensures the information privacy that is driving the federal regulations.

We have focused on areas where there is federally mandated change. We work with our partner HyperSpace Communications to sell into the Federal Government, the Canadian Federal Government, and the Medical and Financial Markets.

We have focused on looking at how we can maximize our core knowledge base, so we outsource everything. Not having received funding we have to ensure that all our costs are contained, and truly focus on our core competency. We have the ability to move quickly and make decisions that allow us to be responsive to our clients.

We are looking for areas where there are disruptive changes required to meet new regulations. Due to the negative perception that peer-to-peer technologies have in the market place we hve look to sell to industries where there is a mandated change. The big companies are offering the typical solution and are not cost effective for the end client.

When we first started to sell to this market we found that individuals were very afraid of peer-to-peer technologies. Two years ago Napster was in the headlines, and we were referred to the Business Napster in a local headline. We realized that due to the disruptive force of our technology that it was going to be a long selling process.

Knowing what we did we decided to launch a service that was much easier to communicate and would provide for cash flow in the short term. We were looking for something that was communication and web oriented and came up with VIDITalk. VIDITalk is a video and email technology. Users can send a video to email recipients with the use of a web cam and any email service. Instead of attaching the video to the email, the user uploads the video to our server and places a link within the email that allows the recipient to download the file via the Internet.

This provides us an excellent way to develop a client list with a technology that is simple to understand and utilize. This client base provides the stability that we need to continue to develop HyperShip.

We are new era startup, with being focused on keeping our costs as low as possible. We stay focused on understanding the technologies that we represent and ensuring that we have the right partnerships to target this market opportunity. We have development partners, Human Resource partners, Sales partners, etc. For every function of our business we look for partners that are within our network that can provide those services better than we could internally. We could run our own computers, but why would we when we can have someone do it for us who has been focused on that service for the last five years.

It lets us be agile and make changes quickly. We don’t have to shed resources in order to adapt to a changing market place.

We license the technology to end clients for use of the HyperShip suite of data communication products as well as to resellers. We feel that it is important to keep the model as simple as possible.

Once you have a viable products and service, then it comes down to the strength of the partnerships you set up. This is true for internal relationships between the different players that come together to form a company, as well as external partnerships. You have to ensure that external partnerships have clear a clear understand of the mutual goals and objectives.