Some personal perspective on today's iotum news

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We've had a pretty big day here.  Today iotum announced the appointment of Randall Howard as Chairman of our company, as well as an investment by VERDEXUS, his investment company.  You can read the press release on our website.  My eagle-eyed friend Luca Filigheddu guessed the news a few weeks back. 

Things are going really well.  As an example, iotum recently launched the world's first conference calling application on facebook's platform.  It took a little time to understand the levers of viral growth available to us, but we've got it figured out now.  It's grown from 15,000 to 30,000 users in the last week alone.

We've always attracted great advisors.  Randall Howard is no exception. He's the founder, and former Chairman and CEO of MKS Inc, one of Canada’s early software pioneers.   In 2000, after 17 years at the helm of MKS,  he embarked on a career as a hands on early stage investor through his vehicle VERDEXUS Inc.  He will be helping us with strategy, fund raising, and business development.  I know I speak for the entire iotum team when I say that we consider ourselves fortunate to have been able to win him over.

This afternoon I was asked by a local reporter what this means for us.  "We're at an inflexion point", I told her.  We're building momentum, we've got new investment, and we've recruited an iconic chairman who wants nothing more than to roll up his sleeves and get dirty with the rest of us. 

The future looks awfully bright from where I sit.

Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry maker Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.