Running a small software company, sharing IP, and the US banking market

Last week I talked with one of my oldest friends, Zane Rockenbaugh about his software development company, Liquid Labs. As a full disclaimer, not only have I known Zane since junior high, but I’ve also worked with and for him at two different companies.

Running a Small Software Shop

I’m always interested in talking with developers who’ve made the jump from being employed to working on their own. I often discuss the topic in my DrunkAndRetired.com podcast with one of my other friends, as in this older episode.

Zane and I talked in the first half of our video about that leap. We also discussed the IP sharing model that Liquid Labs uses to develop their software with clients. All-in-all, when it comes to “the business of software,” I think it was an interesting conversation:

Selling to Banks and Bank Fraud

Next, we talked about the specific market Zane had been working on for his first successful Liquid Labs project, FraudSweep, that is, banking. We discussed the conservative, “change only when you forced to” mentality of banking sales and how Zane and his partner figured out how to fit into the sales cycles.

Then, we talk about different methods of bank fraud that FraudSweep combats. Interestingly, for all the attention that identity theft gets at the moment, Zane notes that loss by that method of fraud doesn’t seem to be as big a loss for banks as does plain old commercial account fraud. While identity theft is terrible for the people who are afflicted by it, fraudsters manage to steal more from banks through other methods at the moment:

Thanks again to Zane for the interview and the rest of the Liquid Labs team for putting up with me barging in on their afternoon! (Thanks for the coffee, Morgan!)

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