Powerset - a new model for venture-funded startups?

In his latest blog post, Steve Newcomb, COO of Powerset, talks about the openness displayed by his company at their recent Powerlabbers meet. At the risk of being boring - radically disagreeing with him would have been so much more interesting - I think that's a fair statement. All of the Powerset people who spoke to the assembled group, as well as those with whom I chatted afterwards, were genuine and open when talking about the technology and the company. There were several direct challenges, thinly disguised as questions, directed at the senior Powerset folks; I did not see Newcomb dodge a single question.

This type of open and direct conversation with bloggers and the tech media is refreshing. So far, Powerset has shown a mastery at managing the blogosphere - both to create buzz (see my earlier post for a comparison of search engine traffic vs buzz ) and to disarm the over-heated hype. Coupled with their Powerlabs community for product development (similar to those pioneered by Dell, Omniture et al), does this represent a new approach to building venture-funded startups in Silicon Valley: the "open kimono" approach compared to the "ultra stealth" approach?