Hi,
Welcome to Roll Call, a newsletter about the state of policy and technology in public safety, and the people shaping it. If you’d like to sign up, you can do so here. Or just read on…
This is it! This is the last stop. If you want to get off Mr. Anhoury’s Wild Ride, now is your last chance.
Still aboard? If you’re reading this, you are now liable - responsible, even - for what happens next.
After this, we’re hitting 2020 at ramming speed. After this, we will be equipped with a purpose, a dash of hope for 2050, a budding understanding of the tools involved, and a glimpse of the muscles of power. Plus we have a rough sense of the cultural narrative with the 2019 elections and IACP. We’re ready.
Today we set the final piece of Roll Call’s foundation. It’s time to name names. With the shared context built so far, we can map out which companies are competing, on what fronts, where moats are defensible or not, and how the fitness landscape will change under different environmental pressures and parameters.
This will become a valuable tool for those of you who are in the arena:
If you are an operator at one of these companies, this will remove some of the known unknowns from your work. If you’re selling, this project will give context on competitors and respective long-term visions for public safety. If you’re working on product, you’ll have a leg up on build/buy/partner discussions, as well as key jobs to be done that other companies can’t compete with you on.
If you work at an agency, a city department, or a PSAP, this can dramatically cut down the effort spent researching products and companies before beginning the procurement process. Aspiring command staff and department heads will see what’s really happening across public safety tech and be able to match companies and products to your specific needs and goals.
If you are an interested neighbor, this will give you confidence that your hometown is on the right track or alert you that it is in need of change, based on the visions for the future offered by the companies here. For the savvy, it will also provide insight on which companies are likely to increase or decrease in value.
The Map
“What a useful thing a pocket-map is!” I remarked.
“That's another thing we've learned from your Nation,” said Mein Herr, “map-making. But we've carried it much further than you. What do you consider the largest map that would be really useful?”
“About six inches to the mile.”
“Only six inches!” exclaimed Mein Herr. “We very soon got to six yards to the mile. Then we tried a hundred yards to the mile. And then came the grandest idea of all! We actually made a map of the country, on the scale of a mile to the mile!”
“Have you used it much?” I enquired.
“It has never been spread out, yet,” said Mein Herr: “the farmers objected: they said it would cover the whole country, and shut out the sunlight! So we now use the country itself, as its own map, and I assure you it does nearly as well.”
- Lewis Carroll, Sylvie and Bruno Concluded (1895)
To avoid Mein Herr’s problem, today I present a simplified map of the entire landscape: the mountains, valleys, and coasts, without showing every stream and tree. As constructed:
The map flows left to right: pre-incident to incident to post-incident.
Ovals indicate ownership, with the principal company titling the grouping over the acquired cos.
Venture capital and private/growth equity groups are boxed in orange, and connected to their funded companies by a black line.
Green dotted lines indicate strategic partnerships. There is a group of four in the top left quadrant, as well as individual lines connecting pairs of companies.
Going forward, we’ll zoom into specific sections and unpack the ideologies, competitive forces, policy hurdles, and execution challenges these companies are facing. For those of you who are not first responders, you will need to become a paid subscriber to Roll Call for competitive analysis beyond the 30,000 foot view. I promise significant value in this project.
Thank you, and Happy Holidays! If you enjoy this newsletter, please share it, forward it to your friends, or just sign up here.
-MA