A York tech tycoon has launched another software business.

Michael Gould has created business planning software firm Kaledeidoscope, which aims to help smaller firms.

The 58-year-old is best known as founder and CTO of Anaplan, which began in York in 2006 but is now headquartered in San Francisco and was sold in 2022 for £10.4bn.

Kaleidoscope aims to help firms decide what products to offer, plan stock levels, to understanding production costs and managing cash flow, it offers a simple, affordable and powerful solution that allows businesses to plan and operate effectively.

RECOMMENDED READING:

The company’ says it's mission is to streamline the processes of analysis, forecasting, and planning in a complex and uncertain world, allowing businesses to focus on what truly matters.

The software aims to help decision-makers gain a clearer understanding of their world, whether in business, philanthropy, government or beyond and explore possible futures that lead to better, more informed decisions.

Its staff are working with small businesses in a unique early adopter program, offering complimentary access to the planning tools in return for providing feedback on user experience.

Michael said: “I finished with Anaplan intending to start again because I recognised that there was an unsolved problem. It was always my intention to build a system where users can create a logical data model that naturally reflects what is happening in the real world, and we made some progress toward that at Anaplan. But we found that the system still wasn’t a match for the complexity of the real world. This time around we have a good idea of how to solve this.

“We’ve also recognised that most modelling software out there is not accessible to smaller businesses. They can’t afford to bring in external consultants to implement such complex, heavy-duty systems. So initially we’re trying to provide a modelling platform for these smaller companies.”

One of the ways Kaleidoscope intends to make this accessible to small businesses is by providing out-of-the-box templates, so that businesses can get started easily. However, they are approaching it differently than it’s been done in the past.

Michael explained: “This has been tried many times over the years in our industry, but it has never been done successfully. Out-of-the-box solutions are either too simple - trying to solve only the most basic things that everyone has in common - or too complex - trying to do everything for everyone. 

"We recognised that users need to be able to assemble their solutions from smaller building blocks that plug together, so they can get to a solution that really works for their business. This is a problem that just hasn’t been solved, either in spreadsheets or any of the bigger enterprise systems”

One of Michael’s missions is to help businesses replace the use of spreadsheets when it comes to business planning.

He said: “Spreadsheets are incredibly easy to get started with, but then they quickly become very complicated if you’re trying to plan your business with them. That’s why we want Kaleidoscope to replace the use of spreadsheets for business planning.”

“We are taking our time to get to the point where we have a product that starts to get traction in the market. This is in contrast to a VC funded company that expects very fast growth by ramping up the sales team and engineering team, and is only focused on bringing the next customer deal.

“Our approach involves improving the product until it begins to sell itself. It will take a longer time to get there, but we believe the product will be better.”

Kaleidoscope is a fully remote UK-based firm, with 18 staff. It is hiring.