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How I Created a $350M Software Company Knowing Nothing About Software

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Re: How I Created a $350M Software Company Knowing Nothing About Software

#41

Post by hoodoof »

matwood wrote: post #17
iolothebard wrote: post #13

I live in a world full of people that love talking about doing things, but very few of them actually do anything. This is how I moved to SF. Talked about doing a startup with friends. Move out there and they'd all rather smoke weed and get drunk than work on our project. Happens in every facet of life as well. People talk about going to Europe, but never go. Talk about getting in shape, but never exercise, etc. Dream…

So true. I have a similar story, and can add that people use all sorts of things to not work on the project. Smoking weed and drinking are common, but I have found analysis paralysis to be very common in smart people. Executing is hard for a number of reasons, and the hardest to get over is that you'll likely prove your idea sucks and was just braincrack [1]. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sHCQWjTrJ8 (contains…

>> you'll likely prove your idea sucks and was just braincrack

Are you reading my mind?

Re: How I Created a $350M Software Company Knowing Nothing About Software

#42

Post by jtwaleson »

dalacv wrote: post #20

For those reading this article and wondering about a niche area that is in need of innovators: LIMS - Laboratory Information Management Systems. Here's the deal. Most manufacturing companies (think Big Pharma, Petrochemical, Chemical, Widget manufacturing, anything really) measure quality. Those quality measurements are probably done in a laboratory. Every laboratory generates data. All that data needs to be managed…

That's exactly what I am working on right now. Good to see someone having the same idea.

Re: How I Created a $350M Software Company Knowing Nothing About Software

#43

Post by soared »

serge2k wrote: post #27

> I’ve always wanted to make a lot of money, have people pay a lot of attention to me and do a lot of exciting things. I just never knew how. What's the equivalent of a clickbait headline when it's in the article?

The title when I repost this to reddit tomorrow?

Re: How I Created a $350M Software Company Knowing Nothing About Software

#44

Post by Animats »

danieltillett wrote: post #37
Animats wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, he made a significant observation - the industry was operating at a high price point which was no longer justified due to advances in technology. That's a classic opportunity. The incumbents in the field won't want to drop their prices by an order of magnitude, even if the technology allows it. Especially if they have an expensive in-house sales force. This is a huge advantage for a startup. This happened to copi…

John you make a very good point. Look for industries where the current market has not kept up with advances in technology due to the business structures of the incumbents. Even if they want to change they can't (e.g Kodak). Hearing aids might fall into this category, but unlike the others on your list you need to deal with the FDA. The FDA should really be called the IPA - Incumbent Protection Agency.

For hearing aid industry disruption, see iHear.[1] Unfortunately, they run on Kickstarter time. (Like mañana, but without the sense of urgency.) They just slipped their delivery date from Q1 2016 to Q2 2016.

[1] http://www.ihearmedical.com/

Re: How I Created a $350M Software Company Knowing Nothing About Software

#45

Post by joshstrange »

I hate to judge a book by it's cover (or an article by it's title) but good lord... All it's missing is "this one weird trick".

Edit: Ok now that I've read it I can say I judged it fairly. Survivorship bias to the max... This guy got lucky and the article doesn't really touch on anything he did that you wouldn't already expect...

Re: How I Created a $350M Software Company Knowing Nothing About Software

#46

Post by dalacv »

doom2 wrote: post #35
dalacv wrote: post #20

For those reading this article and wondering about a niche area that is in need of innovators: LIMS - Laboratory Information Management Systems. Here's the deal. Most manufacturing companies (think Big Pharma, Petrochemical, Chemical, Widget manufacturing, anything really) measure quality. Those quality measurements are probably done in a laboratory. Every laboratory generates data. All that data needs to be managed…

Interesting. But is part of that also that many labs may be stuck on older gen operating systems that newer software would need to support? Thinking of a recent visit to a hospital that was running WinXP on their machines.

Hospitals run their own version of LIMS called LIS (Laboratory Information Systems - go figure). The common practice is to partition off your lab network behind a firewall. The reason is because many of the instrumentation vendors still run their instrument control software on legacy OS versions and cannot be upgraded, as well as the fact that the operation of these systems can be critical to the organization and there is usually little to no redundancy due to cost. That being said, there is no reason that a modern LIMS/LIS system cannot be integrated with these legacy systems. In fact, that is usually what happens: An organization's central IT group puts just enough money in the budget to upgrade to the latest version of the LIMS, but doesn't include any costs for upgrading of instrumentation control software.

Re: How I Created a $350M Software Company Knowing Nothing About Software

#47

Post by dyoder »

Short version: Convince great software developers to work mostly for stock options ($150K for 3 employees) and “harass [them] into programming day and night,“ while selling promises that they will need to back up with working software.

Not an original strategy.

Re: How I Created a $350M Software Company Knowing Nothing About Software

#48

Post by dookahku »

6stringmerc wrote: post #4

Interesting article and impressive to see that kind of tenacity. Truly that's a take-away from the full perspective. The other take aways, for me, aren't nearly as complimentary. 1. Want to make a lot of money? Find an out-dated system where grunt labor is worth a lot less than the technology the grunt labor uses, and target this gap mercilessly (call centers) 2. Act like every other shady, fly-by-night, asshole sale…

So how do I find these opportunities?

I imagine I have to leave the house and talk to people but where do I go? To whom do I speak?

Re: How I Created a $350M Software Company Knowing Nothing About Software

#49

Post by dalacv »

danieltillett wrote: post #34
dalacv wrote: post #20

For those reading this article and wondering about a niche area that is in need of innovators: LIMS - Laboratory Information Management Systems. Here's the deal. Most manufacturing companies (think Big Pharma, Petrochemical, Chemical, Widget manufacturing, anything really) measure quality. Those quality measurements are probably done in a laboratory. Every laboratory generates data. All that data needs to be managed…

As someone who has sells a LIMS module for DNA sequencing the problem is the people that run theses systems do not like change. You need a scientific background to run these labs, but the work is very routine. The personalities that gravitate towards being a lab manager are the personalities that really, really, really like systems to stay the same. It is a very tough sell to get them to use something new no matter h…

You are correct. Change is slower in this industry. That can be both a curse and a blessing. For validated environments (FDA-regulated industries such as Pharma), it can be downright glacial.

Re: How I Created a $350M Software Company Knowing Nothing About Software

#50

Post by dalacv »

dejv wrote: post #25
dalacv wrote: post #20

For those reading this article and wondering about a niche area that is in need of innovators: LIMS - Laboratory Information Management Systems. Here's the deal. Most manufacturing companies (think Big Pharma, Petrochemical, Chemical, Widget manufacturing, anything really) measure quality. Those quality measurements are probably done in a laboratory. Every laboratory generates data. All that data needs to be managed…

I am doing something like this (aimed to QA/contract laboratories), it is in pivot phase with first customer, replacing pen and paper system (for laboratory doing 500 samples a day). Let me know if you want to check it out.

That is definitely the way to go. Get a real-live customer and build up the system for them.
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