Celebrating 25 Years of FinishLynx: A History of Lynx System Developers

Lynx System Developers A Startup Story

作者：马特·布拉德利

March 24, 2017,Lynx System Developers was officially incorporated on March 24, 1992 and today marks the company’s 25^th anniversary. In 1992, the company’s flagship product the FinishLynx timing system became the first photo-finish camera to produce digital race results for track and field. 25 years later, FinishLynx is the most popular photo-finish results system in the world, with thousands of customers across 6 continents and 135 countries.

But long before Lynx System Developers became a world leader in fully automatic sports timing, it was a small startup company from Massachusetts looking to capitalize on a simple idea that race results should be captured digitally. As a way to celebrate the company’s 25^th birthday, we’ll be looking back at the early days, including the people, circumstances, and technology that helped it succeed.

旧式的计时方法

多年来，奥运会等世界级赛事一直使用胶片相机来记录冲线瞬间。虽然这些相机比人工计时更精准，但价格昂贵且操作繁琐，这一点众所周知。它们只能记录很短的时间（仅几秒钟），胶卷很快就会用完，往往在所有选手都尚未越过终点线之前就已耗尽。体育计时行业依靠胶片相机维持了数十年，直到更好的解决方案出现。

创始人

Lynx公司成立于1992年，但其故事远早于此。Lynx创始人道格·德安杰利斯（Doug DeAngelis）成长于缅因州奥林顿（Orrington）这个小镇。在就读附近的布鲁尔高中（Brewer High School）期间，他连续四年担任校田径队和越野跑队的队员。 毕业后，他进入缅因大学攻读电气工程学士学位。在缅因大学就读期间，道格又在该校一级联赛田径队中奔跑了四年。他是一名中距离跑运动员，并在大四那年担任越野跑队队长。

1988年毕业后，道格来到波士顿，租了一间单间公寓，并在霍尼韦尔-布尔公司（Honeywell-Bull）担任工程师。在那里，他参与了多项具有深远影响的项目，例如开发基于“Transputer”架构的超级计算机、运行公司专有操作系统，以及在整个办公区域配置互联网接入。这些早期接触软件开发和网络技术的经历，成为道格作为工程师和企业家成长道路上的重要一步。

Doug especially liked the job because it paid for grad school classes. So at night he attended classes at MIT as a special student, which meant he earned credits but still had no guarantee of full admission. He continued taking classes and hoped to eventually be accepted into the program which he later was. At the same time, Doug also ran competitively for a local track club and attended meets around the Boston area. It was around that time when he first encountered Accutrack, the film-based photo-finish system that had been the industry standard for decades.

AccuTrack 电子计时系统

It was the summer of 1990 and the 24-year old engineer was at a local track meet planning to run. But before he could, he was asked by an official to help sort out their Accutrack timing system. Doug was told, “We have some people who need to qualify for nationals. You are an engineer, so you can figure it out. And he did. After a lot of tinkering, Doug was able to capture several qualifying times on the Accutrack’s time-stamped Polaroid film. He also quickly discovered the system’s limitations, noting, “It had a short piece of film, and when it ran out, you got no more times. Doug described his first experience with Accutrack in a 1997 interview with SportsTravel Magazine:

There were 14 guys that went under 14 minutes, and they were all looking for a qualifying time. But I only got the top five guys on film, and being a distance runner, I thought that was really sad.

Despite its limitations, Accutrack was the most popular photo-finish camera in the country at that time used by professional sporting events and Division I track programs for over a decade. NCAA track coaches Pat Henry (LSU/Texas A&M) and Craig Poole (BYU) both mentioned that their programs used Accutrack for years before investing in FinishLynx. Coach Poole also noted that BYU had an Accutrack system before he even joined the program in 1980. The system was a fixture in Division I track & field and ousting it would be no easy task.

Accutrack 于 1972 年首次获得专利，其设计相对简单。相机通过一个直接对准终点线的小型垂直狭缝捕捉图像。它利用弹簧驱动系统，以恒定速度将 3×5 英寸的宝丽来胶片拉过镜头，从而生成运动员冲过终点线的连续图像。 该系统内置时钟，精度可达^百分之一秒，并采用了一套巧妙的机制，可在最终冲印出的照片上叠加时间戳。

寻找更佳的会议时间安排方式

Doug timed meets with Accutrack for several months and was constantly plagued by the system’s shortcomings. The Polaroid film was expensive and had to be reloaded after every race. Oftentimes, the film jammed, starts were inconsistent, or images would come out poorly. And because Doug was declared the de facto photo-finish expert, everyone blamed him for these issues. He knew there had to be a better solution for timing meets one that that didn’t make him look so incompetent. So he searched for a way to reproduce the slit-scan camera with digital images instead of film. He sketched out a proof-of-concept and the early idea for FinishLynx was born. Here’s a look at the actual notebook idea from 1990:

From FinishLink to FinishLynx

During this time, Doug continued to work at Honeywell-Bull and take part-time courses at MIT. He focused largely on engineering, but saw potential in a business class called New Enterprises. New Enterprises was and still is a popular class at MIT’s Sloan School dedicated to creating business plans for startup companies. New Enterprises alumni have gone on to found companies like Hubspot, A123 Systems, PillPack, and Ministry of Supply.

Doug first tried to join the class in the fall of 1990, but part-time students had the lowest priority and he couldn’t get an exception. He tried again the following semester with a different professor named Eric von Hippel. After some begging and many assurances that he had a great startup idea, Doug convinced von Hippel to let him join. It was in this course that Doug’s notebook idea for a Digital Accutrack began to really take shape. He partnered with classmates Kate Farrington (another runner from Maine) and Rob Alexander to help build a business plan from the ground up. In fact, it was Kate who suggested they change the name from FinishLink to the now trademarked FinishLynx.

The group project was such a success that their professor”the same one Doug begged for a spot in class encouraged them to pursue the idea further. The team members went their separate ways after the semester, but Doug continued tinkering. He used his network at MIT to help transform FinishLynx from a class project to a viable product.

道格后来结识了柯克·西格尔——一位擅长编程的麻省理工学院本科生，以及迈克·西霍拉斯——一位熟悉数字线扫描传感器的麻省理工学院机器人实验室研究生。当时这三人都未曾料到，他们最终将把FinishLynx打造成一家成功的企业。 时至今日，柯克和迈克依然深度参与公司的产品开发，而道格则继续担任公司的总裁兼首席技术官。

三人达成协议后便投入工作。道格负责开发固件，柯克编写界面程序，迈克则设计硬件。那是1991年的夏天，团队花了数月时间研制原型机，希望能于1992年2月的田径全国锦标赛上首次亮相。道格坚信届时他们一定能让原型机顺利运行。

向跑步精英推介FinishLynx

在全国锦标赛前夕，道格联系了一位名叫鲍勃·波德卡米纳的美国田径协会官员兼软件开发人员，请他协助组织一场现场演示。鲍勃在田径界颇具影响力。他不仅是国家规则委员会的成员，而且他的 赛会总务 软件更是首批基于计算机的赛事管理程序之一。它为Hy-Tek和MeetPro等现代软件开辟了道路。鲍勃证明了自己是一位重要的盟友，他组织的演示让道格得以接触到该运动领域中极具影响力的关键人物。但有一个问题。尽管经过数月的进展，团队仍然无法看到相机原型机拍摄的任何图像。道格回忆起在预定演示的前几天发生的一个重大产品里程碑：

Two days before the event [we] finally saw image. It was of Kirk’s girlfriend walking through the dining room. She was upside-down and it lost about every other picture of her, but it was a breakthrough. 9 hours before the system was actually to be shown in New York, it was demo-able. So the only computer actually owned by Lynx (and a rather innocent looking box) were loaded into the back of the car.

On demo day, Doug showed off the prototype and delivered his pitch to several influential members from the running community. Unfortunately, many of those people didn’t see the technology’s potential at the time. But Tom Jennings, a well-connected agent and track coach, absolutely loved the system. Tom was a former runner from Cal State Long Beach who went on to start the Pacific Coast Club, arguably the first professional track club in the nation. When Doug met him in 1992, Tom was also coaching in Hanover, New Hampshire at one of the best high school programs in the country. As a long-time coach and agent, Tom knew everyone in the sport, including event organizers, athletes, and broadcast TV contacts from NBC & ABC. This new FinishLynx system offered Tom a chance to eradicate film-based timers like Omega and Accutrack with faster, cheaper, and more reliable technology. Plus, he knew that the real-time digital results images would be a radical new tool for announcing and televising live events like the Millrose Games. Tom shared his thoughts from that original demo:

The meet was at Madison Square Garden. Doug was holed up in a room at a hotel across the street. He usually slept in his car in those days. So it was quite an investment. Anyway, Howard Schmertz was the meet director of the Millrose Games. So him and Walt Murphy from NBC saw me in the hallway and said, You’ve got to see this.’ The minute I saw it, and the description of how quickly it produced results, I knew right then that it replaced Omega. And Omega had the accounts of those major meets in 1992. At that time, indoor track was big Madison Square Garden, Boston Garden, places like that. It was a different ballgame. I knew immediately the television ramifications. So within a day, I knew I was going to be out of the agent business and into the timing business. I actually joked with Schmertz from the Millrose Games, ˜Just wait. [FinishLynx] will be timing your meet next year.’ Just sort of a joke, and it actually came to pass.

汤姆（和道格）都清楚，这标志着一件大事的开端。

正式开业

On March 24, 1992, Lynx System Developers officially transitioned from a sole proprietorship into an S Corp and they were off to the races. Soon after, Tom gave Doug a $1500 deposit and became the company’s first customer. Tom and his son Roger proved to be the kind of early-adopters and evangelists that helped Doug propel FinishLynx into the meet timing mainstream.

首款 FinishLynx 原型机

第一代FinishLynx原型机使用传真机上的黑白CCD传感器来捕捉数字图像。这些图像随后通过同轴电缆传输，由一个小型外部盒子进行压缩和处理，再经由SCSI接口发送至基于DOS的个人电脑进行分析。该相机以每秒800帧的速度捕捉500行8位像素（生成约400KB/秒的数据）。  早期系统非常简陋，确实存在不少怪癖。但它确实能用。FinishLynx相机的性能主要受限于与其连接的计算机规格。1992年，个人电脑仍处于相对初级阶段。它们价格昂贵，且缺乏处理持续传输的高质量比赛图像所需的处理器、内存和硬盘空间。 作为参考，道格当时的个人电脑配置为：4MB内存和20MB硬盘。这与我们今天动辄以千兆为单位的速度和以太字节为单位的容量相去甚远。此外，由于早期的笔记本电脑性能不足以运行FinishLynx，道格不得不把台式电脑（和显示器）来回搬运到比赛现场。 尽管如此，该系统的数字化成绩图像相较于胶片系统无疑是一大进步。因此，在鲍勃·波德卡米纳以及汤姆和罗杰·詹宁斯的协助下，道格奔波于全国各地，在任何愿意接待他的赛事中（甚至包括一些不愿接待的赛事）演示FinishLynx。

斯坦福邀请赛及后续赛事

首次重大赛事演示是在加利福尼亚州的斯坦福邀请赛上。这对这家年轻的初创公司来说是一个关键时刻，因为这是道格首次有机会将FinishLynx与Accutrack进行直接对比。虽然Accutrack仍是该赛事的官方计时系统，但FinishLynx作为备用系统运行，且所有计时数据完全吻合。 甚至有几场比赛中Accutrack系统出现故障，最终由FinishLynx提供了官方成绩。这是一场真正的实战考验，而Lynx系统表现得极为出色。

这种在大型赛事上进行现场（通常未经授权）演示的策略，帮助FinishLynx迅速在田径界传播开来。数月间，演示活动遍布全美各地的赛事，包括加利福尼亚、亚利桑那、新泽西和路易斯安那等地。其中包括路易斯安那州高中锦标赛、NCAA第三分区锦标赛，以及在德克萨斯州奥斯汀举行的、全国电视转播的NCAA第一分区锦标赛。 在此过程中，FinishLynx吸引了众多新关注者，包括潜在客户、合作伙伴、投资者以及竞争对手。所有人都清楚地意识到，道格（以及他所推广的FinishLynx系统）确实拥有独一无二的特质。

达成若干重要里程碑

1992年对这家年轻的初创公司来说堪称辉煌的一年。Lynx从2月份仅有一个半残的相机原型机，到12月份完成了第五笔销售。在这期间，道格和公司都经历了几个重要的里程碑。那年夏天（在全国巡回演示期间），道格从霍尼韦尔-布尔公司那份安稳的工作中请了假。 几个月后，他获得了麻省理工学院导师的批准，暂停了研究生研究工作，全职投身于FinishLynx。道格意识到公司这种单打独斗的自力更生模式难以持续，于是开始为Lynx的下一阶段增长做准备。

1992年11月，道格签署了位于马萨诸塞州沃本的一栋无窗办公楼的租赁合同。他还与同街区一家家族经营的PCB组装厂——惠特曼产品公司（Whitman Products）签订了制造协议。这终于让道格不必再在自己的卧室里组装系统了。就在同一个月，Lynx还聘请了首位全职员工凯特·法灵顿。 凯特是麻省理工学院（MIT）小组项目的创始成员之一，非常适合负责公司的市场营销、开具发票和客户关系。大约在这个时候，道格、柯克和迈克还为FinishLynx系统准备了第一项联邦专利。尽管在成立的第一年里有这些新的开支，公司仍然实现了盈利。

势头渐起，首批客户

到1992年底，Lynx System Developers已获得了首批5位客户。到次年7月，该公司已售出25套Lynx系统。以下是FinishLynx前20笔销售及其背后的故事： 

1. 汤姆与罗杰·詹宁斯——太平洋海岸俱乐部（1992年4月21日）
   汤姆和罗杰随后创立了Flash Results，这是一家高端赛事计时公司，多年来一直担任Lynx System Developers的官方服务提供商。 如今，Flash Results已成为全球最高效且最值得信赖的服务商之一，负责为奥运选拔赛、美国田径协会锦标赛、泛美运动会以及无数场NCAA赛事等顶级赛事提供计时服务。他们目前拥有21台FinishLynx摄影机、数十台显示屏，以及ReacTime和ResulTV等其他产品。此外，他们在重大赛事中仍会展示Lynx的品牌标识和标牌，这让道格感到非常高兴。
2. 布莱恩·斯普林格——Springco Athletics（1992年9月28日）
   布莱恩·斯普林格于1982年创立了SpringcoAthletics，这是一家专门生产田径设备的制造商。在转而使用（并转售）FinishLynx系统之前，布莱恩曾是西海岸地区跑步和自行车赛事的主要Accutrack计时员。他还曾使用过Omega Hawkeye系统，这是FinishLynx早期的一家竞争对手。 Springco公司多年来蓬勃发展，最终于2003年与Venue Sports合并，成立了VS Athletics。如今，VS Athletics已成为美国最大的田径设备供应商之一，并至今仍在转售Lynx系统。
3. 亚利桑那大学（1992年9月28日）
   亚利桑那大学田径队是该公司首个NCAA客户，这在当时是一件非常重大的事情。那时，一位名叫弗雷德·哈维（Fred Harvey）的年轻助理教练大力推广了FinishLynx系统。 哈维教练最终于2002年成为该项目的主教练，并带领“野猫队”连续十余年跻身全美前25强。该项目拥有多台EtherLynx和IdentiLynx摄像头，至今仍在使用该技术。 
4. 肯·普拉特——普拉特系统公司（1992年9月28日）
   自1992年成为第4位客户以来，肯·普拉特已在新英格兰地区开辟了一个坚实的计时服务市场。肯的计时服务公司——普拉特系统（Plattsys）——每年承办多达150场赛事的计时工作，且发展势头不减。 肯一直是业内最早采用新技术的先行者。他不仅是首批使用FinishLynx计时系统的用户之一，也是早在1996年就率先采用RFID芯片计时技术的先驱之一。 肯本人也是一位狂热的跑者，已完成惊人的43场马拉松，其中10次成绩在2小时40分以内。肯补充道：“Lynx光电终点系统彻底革新了全球体育赛事的计时方式。我们很自豪能成为最早的投资者之一。” 
5. 普莱西德湖奥林匹克地区发展局（1992年12月17日）
   普莱西德湖的 奥林匹克地区 发展局（ORDA）是田径项目以外的首个客户。该组织最初由纽约州于1981年成立，旨在管理和利用1980年冬季奥运会遗留的场馆设施。 他们购置了一套用于室内速度滑冰赛事计时的系统，菲尔·鲍姆巴赫指出，ORDA选择Lynx是因为它“运用新技术解决了老问题”。此次销售拉开了Lynx与滑冰界之间日后紧密合作关系的序幕。1995年，Lynx与国际滑冰联盟达成合作，并为速度滑冰世锦赛提供了多年的计时服务。
6. 渥太华狮子田径俱乐部（1993年1月19日）渥太华狮子田径俱乐部是一家位于加拿大渥太华的计时服务机构及非营利性田径俱乐部，隶属于渥太华大学和卡尔顿大学。作为加拿大规模最大的田径俱乐部，该俱乐部拥有1500名运动员和40多名教练。目前，狮子俱乐部每年主办20多场赛事，并为该地区另外60多场赛事提供计时服务。 Lynx计时服务是该俱乐部的重要收入来源，该项目持续培养出一批高素质的运动员、教练和计时员。前狮子会计时员雨果·拉克鲁瓦（Hugues Lacroix）目前在Lynx担任计时与赛事承包商。雨果负责创建新的技术支持资源（如视频和快速入门指南），并奔走于世界各地，为包括中国举办的“世界翼装飞行联赛”在内的各类赛事提供计时服务。
7. 路易斯安那州立大学（ 1993年2月16日）路易斯安那州立大学是NCAA体育界的一支劲旅，其田径项目是第一分区历史上最成功的项目之一。1992年，该项目由一位名叫帕特·亨利的年轻教练执教。在道格进行现场产品演示后，亨利教练淘汰了学校原有的Accutrack系统，并率先投资了FinishLynx。 如今，路易斯安那州立大学拥有多台摄像机（包括Vision、Fusion和PRO型号），并在所有东南联盟（SEC）赛事中使用Lynx系统。2004年，当亨利教练离开路易斯安那州立大学转投德克萨斯农工大学时，他确保该校购置了属于自己的高端FinishLynx系统，该设施也因此成为测试新产品创新功能的重要场所。
8. Brigham Young University (2/17/93) BYU was a long-time Accutrack customer and hosted collegiate and high school meets for years. In 1993, legendary BYU track coach Craig Poole purchased FinishLynx to help improve the quality and efficiency of their meets. Coach Poole said, FinishLynx worked with us to make the system a perfect fit. They were accessible when we needed them and were willing to do anything to upgrade and add to the system to make our operation successful. Poole is now retired, but BYU still owns and operates several Lynx cameras. The track program is now managed by Doug Padilla, a former Olympic runner, assistant coach, and friend of Lynx. Doug Padilla also founded a company called Runnercard that provides online race registration services to local events.
9. 奥德萨初级学院（1993年2月26日）尽管奥德萨学院曾有幸成为该系统的第九家用户，但该项目最终因预算削减而受影响，现已不再举办自己的田径比赛。奥德萨似乎是本列表中唯一一家不再积极使用该系统的机构。
10. Daktronics (3/16/93) Daktronics is the world’s largest manufacturer of displays and scoreboards. Back in the 90s, when most display companies were building digit boards, Daktronics was creating full matrix video boards. That meant a single video board could handle data and graphics for any sport or application. This presented a huge opportunity for FinishLynx to add value by sending customized race data to the displays. So the two companies began a strong symbiotic relationship and Daktronics helped install FinishLynx systems at major venues and events around the world. This sale in March 1993 was the first third-party resale for Lynx and the beginning of a 24-year relationship with the scoreboard titan.
11. Jack Moran,RaceBerry JaM (3/17/93) Jack Moran is a timer and software developer from Minnesota who has been servicing road races and track meets since 1980. His scoring software, Apple Raceberry JaM, has been used at thousands of events and was an early Hy-Tek competitor. Jack still times about 75 races per year and his ARJ software integrates nicely with FinishLynx to time, score, and publish results. When asked how he originally found Lynx, Jack said, I subscribed to the triple cast of the [1992] Barcelona Olympics. Once in a while they would show images of the finish. I was scoring track meets timed by Accutrack and thought ˜I’ve got to get one of those.’ I mentioned this to Bill Thornton, the St. Olaf track coach, and he told me about FinishLynx and said he’d give up his priority so I could start using it.
12. 印第安纳州立大学（1993年3月22日）印第安纳州立大学是“赛道记录员”（Clerk of the Course）软件的早期用户，也是NCAA赛事中FinishLynx与CotC系统集成的积极倡导者。
13. 杜兰大学（1993年3月22日）其田径队是路易斯安那州立大学（LSU）的主要竞争对手。
14. 宾夕法尼亚接力赛 (1993年4月13日) 这是美国最顶尖的田径赛事之一。时至今日，该赛事依然是Lynx新技术的重要试金石。
15. Daktronics（1993年4月15日）又一笔转售。
16. 俄勒冈田径俱乐部（1993年4月19日）
17. Elite track club in Eugene, Oregon, Tracktown USA.
18. HS Sports（1993年4月21日）是该公司的首个欧洲客户，目前仍是其长期合作的英国经销商。Lynx最初是通过Daktronics与这家英国公司建立联系的。HS Sports还为Seiko提供了关键的引荐。
19. 布朗大学（1993年5月7日）该公司首个常春藤联盟客户。
20. 缅因大学（1993年5月7日）——道格的母校。黑熊队加油！
21. Fédération québécoise d’athlétisme (5/17/93) Athletics governing body in Quebec, Canada

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Editor’s Note: The early invoices are a bit tricky to track down, so there may be some discrepancies with dates. There also are some notable Lynx influencers absent from the list, like Fred Patton of Phoenix Sports Technology and Philippe Collet from Matsport. According to Doug, there were many people who received quotes or demoed the system, but didn’t actually buy their own until later. But it’s important to note that people like Fred and Philippe were and still are an essential part of the company’s growth.

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两个重要主题

在撰写本文的过程中，我们有幸采访了许多早期用户，以深入了解FinishLynx创立初期的故事。我们听到了许多引人入胜的轶事，涉及道格（Doug）、早期产品演示，以及20世纪90年代初赛事计时行业的现状。这篇文章显然无法完整呈现我们在采访过程中收集到的所有引语和轶事。 但其中有几个关键主题揭示了Lynx为何能够取得早期成功，并进而将这一成功转化为可持续且盈利的业务。首先，Lynx抓住了个人电脑革命的机遇，真正颠覆了基于胶片的赛事计时行业。其次，道格对产品和客户充满热忱，始终致力于提供更多价值。

1. 颠覆光电终点行业

我们采访过的每个人都明确表示，即便是最早期的FinishLynx系统，也比胶片式终点摄影机有了显著改进。渥太华雄狮队主教练安迪·麦金尼斯是在新罕布什尔州的达特茅斯接力赛上首次见到FinishLynx的，当时该设备由道格和罗杰·詹宁斯操作。安迪多年来一直使用一台老式的胶片计时器，他认为FinishLynx是优化其服务业务的良机。安迪指出：

œ在经历了数十年的欧米茄湿片相机——那时往往要等上好几分钟才能看到成像——以及Accutrack宝丽来相机经常出现曝光不足或裁切掉关键身体部位的情况后，我抓住了这个机会，将[FinishLynx]带回渥太华。这简直太棒了。我们非要拥有它不可。它似乎拥有无限潜力，能让这项运动走出“黑暗时代”和暗房。

Anyone with experience on the old Accutrack or Omega film systems saw how innovative FinishLynx was at the time. Brian Springer from Springco, who worked closely with the founder of Accutrack, was interested in FinishLynx immediately. He recalled, It was an advance in technology. It was great. You could get the results. You could print them out. You could read them right there in front of you. You could do it all. Brian eventually switched from Accutrack and became a key promoter of FinishLynx on the west coast, timing premier races like the Sunkist Invitational in Los Angeles.

与大多数成功的初创企业一样，Lynx System Developers 的崛起似乎也得益于时机与运气的一种独特结合。道格的跑步背景、他在波士顿与 Accutrack 的偶然相遇、他在霍尼韦尔-布尔公司（Honeywell-Bull）的网络工程项目，以及他在麻省理工学院（MIT）与柯克和迈克的机缘巧合，这些因素共同促成了 FinishLynx 的开发。当时的技术和网络生态系统也为这家年轻的公司提供了有利的土壤。 20世纪90年代初，个人电脑的性能终于足够强大（且普及度足够高），足以支撑一套可行的基于计算机的赛事成绩系统。 FinishLynx 依托的是由个人电脑普及以及 Windows 等用户友好型操作系统所催生的通用硬件和接口。这使得 FinishLynx 价格亲民且易于使用，从而吸引了足够数量的早期用户。但仅靠时机还远远不够。要将一个校园项目转变为盈利且长存的企业，还需要付出巨大的努力。 

2. 对产品和员工的承诺

创始人对产品念念不忘，这很正常。但有人辞去工作，开车环游全国进行产品演示，在多数人看来简直是疯了。这种对产品和用户的理想主义般的执着，正是 Lynx 故事中不可或缺的一部分。 所有的演示、展会、会议、波折以及客户反馈，都是公司发展所必需的。这不仅是因为它们让产品变得更好，更是因为它们帮助道格培养了建立稳固业务所需的人际关系。

道格始终与客户紧密合作，共同实现新功能和产品构想。他亲赴各类赛事现场，协助排查故障，并深入了解公路自行车和赛艇等运动的复杂细节。他与柯克和迈克通力合作，开发出更优质的硬件设备，以满足赛马和赛车运动等新应用场景的需求。而早期用户也以实际行动回报了这份投入，他们不仅成为产品的测试员，更成为了该品牌的推广大使。 例如，来自Flash Results的罗杰·詹宁斯常根据他在汉诺威赛事计时中的经验，提出新的软件功能建议。当Lynx完成更新后，罗杰便会驱车两小时（单程）亲自去取一份新软件。这种做法看似不合常理，但当你意识到他们是在共同解决问题时，便会豁然开朗。Lynx系统开发公司正是依靠罗杰这样的早期用户支撑起来的，他们与道格一样对技术有着近乎痴迷的热爱。

在路易斯安那州立大学“烤”电脑

道格早期结识的另一位用户是路易斯安那州立大学的一位田径教练，名叫帕特·亨利。如今，帕特·亨利已是德克萨斯农工大学的名人堂教练，手握35个NCAA全国冠军（其中27个是在路易斯安那州立大学期间获得的）。但当时，他只是一位愿意尝试道格这项新技术的年轻教练。 亨利教练分享了关于他第一次见到道格的故事。当时他在路易斯安那州立大学举办一场使用Accutrack系统的田径比赛，道格主动上前向他演示FinishLynx系统。亨利教练说：

This guy walks up to me saying I’ve got this camera I’d like to try.’ He takes out this little cylinder and says I think we can get a picture.’ So we had the Accutrack system set up and he was putting his camera right along with it. I think we shot the gun once at a test in the morning and he burned up a computer. So we were walking towards my office and Doug said, ˜Can I look at your computer? I think I can get a piece off of it and make my computer work.’ It was the secretary’s computer and it was Saturday morning, so I told him it was fine. I went into my office and came back out and saw this guy had taken the computer apart. There were pieces on the ground and on top of the desk. And I thought, what in the heck have I done? Doug said, It’s OK, I’ll get it back together.’

亨利教练进一步谈到了他对道格的第一印象：

I actually thought there was something wrong with him. I knew he was from MIT. So of course I had faith in the fact that he knew what he was doing. But I’m a track coach and when I saw stuff like that, I start thinking, Oh my gosh, what have I gotten involved with here?

尽管开局并不顺利，道格还是利用借来的零件在比赛前成功修好了电脑。随着电脑恢复正常运行，他得以展示这套系统，并完美地记录了比赛结果。他还给亨利教练留下了深刻的第一印象。路易斯安那州立大学（LSU）随后不久便购置了一套系统，于1993年2月成为第7位客户。据亨利介绍，多年来两人一直保持着良好的工作关系。他说：

From day one, Doug has always been a trustworthy guy, a person that backed his product. If you had an issue, Doug would even come down to see what he could do to fix it. And on top of that, I’ve just had a good relationship with Doug off the track,I’ve always felt like he was a friend.

这个故事完美地诠释了那种对产品及其用户都怀有的罕见热忱。多年来，这份热情通过强劲的销售额和更牢固的客户关系带来了丰厚的回报。即使在25年后的今天，仍有许多早期客户是Lynx销售团队无法接触的。 道格至今仍坚持亲自维护这些客户关系。毫无疑问，这是他保持行业领先地位、为新产品和商机汲取灵感的一种方式。但更重要的是，这让他有机会与那些早期用户保持联系——正是这些用户帮助Lynx System Developers发展成了今天的模样。

结语

According to Doug, the original goal of FinishLynx was to create not just a replacement for film-based photo-finish, but also a comprehensive software package that would make the operations of running an athletic event a much simpler and faster thing. Over the past 25 years, Lynx has continued building products to achieve that goal. While EtherLynx cameras remain the core competency, products like ResulTV, ReacTime, NetExchange, IdentiLynx, LaserLynx, and FieldLynx have all been added to address new needs and pain-points in the market.

多年来，Lynx 光电终点相机也取得了长足的发展。第一代 800 fps 的 Silver Bullet 早已被新一代基于以太网的Vision 相机所取代，这些相机比以往任何时候都更强大、更易于使用。Vision PRO是迄今为止最先进的计时相机，最高拍摄速度可达 20,000 fps，并具备 EasyAlign、LuxBoost、电子滤镜控制、内置备用电池、机载水平仪等丰富功能。

Lynx System Developers 始终致力于开放式架构设计，通过集成以太网、串行和 USB 连接设备，帮助计时员构建可定制的结果网络。这也意味着与外部制造商合作，以确保与大量第三方设备（如记分牌、风速计、起跑系统、芯片系统和比赛计分程序）的兼容性。

如今，FinishLynx在全球6大洲135个国家拥有数千名活跃用户。此外，还有50多家合作伙伴和数百家服务提供商，协助我们在世界各地的赛事中推广Lynx。他们使用15种不同语言版本的Lynx软件，涉及数十个体育项目（从跑步到猎鹰竞速）。 这一全球网络意味着，您比以往任何时候都更容易联系计时员以获取建议或服务。这也意味着，在竞争日益激烈的市场中，Lynx必须比以往更加努力，以提供必要的资源、支持和产品。但我们正致力于实现这一目标。

感谢所有早在多年前就支持FinishLynx的早期用户，是你们让FinishLynx声名鹊起。也感谢一路以来加入Lynx大家庭的每一位伙伴。正因为有你们，这家来自马萨诸塞州的小型初创公司才得以成长为一家实力雄厚、盈利可观且富有社会意义的企业。让我们共同期待未来的25年。

Lynx System Developers 使命宣言：

将目前在顶级体育赛事中应用的技术推广至更广泛的市场。

To overcome the problems often associated with these technologies low reliability and high cost”via elegant product development.

随着产品日趋成熟，我们将通过确保卓越价值并持续采纳客户反馈，使我们的产品脱颖而出。

感谢阅读。请在社交媒体上分享这篇文章，帮助传播FinishLynx的故事。