Running a Software Business on 5 Hours A Week

I appreciate the point that running a software business is only 10% development and 90% business. "If you want to spend your time writing code, go work for Google."

This hits close to home as I am gradually learning that I provide far more value to the world by using my knowledge to have others do technical implementation than if I were doing it myself. For someone who loves code, it's a painful transition. But I think you can learn to love business just as you learned to love code.

Well documented-- but enough to quit his day job and growing every month.

I acknowledge the fact that a product is more likely to be successful if it is made simpler. And I face the difficulty of trying to create a complex product every day. Hence his advice:

"Are you considering starting up a business because you wish to work on wonderfully interesting technical problems all of the time? Stop now — Google is hiring, go get a job with them. 90% of the results of your business, and somewhere around 90% of the effort, are caused by non-coding activities"

But... then who is eligible to build a complex product? Like writing a database from scratch, or some other complex piece of work. I think a startup should also be able to do it somehow.

What's your point? He's not saying every company should work this way. He's saying "this is a way to do it that works when you have other time constraints".

In Patrick's case, doing it this way got him from full-time job to full-time startup entrepreneur without taking a dime of money from anybody but his customers. We'll see what he comes up with after a few years of doing it full time.

Finally, writing a database from scratch? Crappy business to get in to even if you're full time!

Patrick has been writing about his competition for awhile. He has not cornered the market on bingo cards.