Earlier quoted context omitted.
O(n) vs O(log n)
In English s'il vous plait?
known as "Big O Notation": https://rob-bell.net/2009/06/a-beginners-guide-to-big-o-nota...
On Starting a Software Business
141–150 of 154 posts
Re: On Starting a Software Business
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
>So I don't think it's a foolproof scheme, unless your solution is also programmable/customizable, which is a lot of work. Yep, almost everyone you casually talk to about a problem domain is only casually talking about it. They'll dream, but won't let you know about the pitfalls. After you build something, the next questions are usually, "Can you change this just for us?", which is a fun task if you have 9 other cust…
So you have "advanced options", add a switch, and then change all of that. And if you do it right it's still nice and modular.
Or plugins. Then say "Hey, we now have this plugin available for only $x.xx".
Re: On Starting a Software Business
#143Consulting doesn't scale, software does. One pragmatic strategy to find product/customers: 1) Pick an industry 2) Ask someone in that industry what they use spreadsheets for 3) Build something better There is a lot of 'cybernetic' processes that are a mix of humans with domain knowledge and machines with spreadsheets for schemaless storage and querying. Generally the move is to encode the domain knowledge into code a…
I can bootstrap consulting, can't software. On top of that consulting opens door, you get very valuable insight inside certain industries and get paid for it. Also, I'm sure I'm not the only one who is not interested in the slightest in building a unicorn or dealing with investors/VCs. Building software with no clients requires capital, I'd rather keep mine for my family rather than burn it in the wind into something…
To add to this conversation, you can parlay consulting into software without a ton of problems.
Do work for customers. While doing work, try and find a shared pain point across your industry/customers. Build software for it and use your existing relationship to sell it. Or sell it and then build. Whichever.
Re: On Starting a Software Business
#144I was fortunate to see the author speak at a conference not too long ago, I really enjoyed it. Like her, I have had several bad experiences at tech companies and would just like to not ever work in one again. So I am very envious of her story and it's really cool to see how it has worked out for her and partner. (Unlike her, I don't really have contacts and I don't think I would be very good at the sales side of bein…
Yeah, I agree!
I like the people I'm working with, am paid well, have a good work environment and have interesting work to do, but for some reason I'm not happy and feel on the verge of burnout (if it hadn't happened already). I've done startups in the not too distant past and while they were a lot more stressful (and paid very little - we had some funding and had revenues but we never broke even), I was definitely happier working in my own thing. My problem is similar to yours. My personal network is good for changing jobs, but I have no idea how to make it work for consulting work or a startup and I'm really terrible at networking and find it difficult to talk to people (or at least, I find it difficult to strike up conversations - after that I'm not too bad). I also feel like my skills aren't very useful broadly speaking. Maybe it's imposter syndrome because I am good at my day to day work (which can be quite complex).
I enjoyed the article though. It gives me hope that perhaps I can push myself and improve to the point where I can make something work. The thought of going out selling is a scary one to me though.
Re: On Starting a Software Business
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was thinking a bay area network, as in "got a call from Netflix," but yes.
According to the article she was in rural Oregon at the time, and now she appears to be in Seattle.
She moved to Oregon to decompress cheaply, but was still in touch with colleagues.
Re: On Starting a Software Business
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is actually largely what we're trying to do at Sonadier.com. The basic idea is that you can build most enterprise CRUD applications with drag-and-drop forms. While we realized it before starting, we didn't fully grasp how much you need people with "computer literacy" to build these things, for lack of a better term. Just thinking about the schema of the application you need is something a lot of people can't rea…
It sounds like you may have an opportunity to offload some of that power-user/consultant content to contractors who just integrate your platform in their gigs. Or, operate a linearly-scaling in-house consultancy and have your platform be a means to optimize revenue per employee. The CRUD application is definitely not the hard part, but it can be the long part.
Spot on. We've had success with in-house consulting for medium-to-large development projects, and we're in talks with a few MSPs now to help them offer managed custom applications to their customers. In terms of long-term scaling, getting more contractors on board is our biggest priority.
Re: On Starting a Software Business
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
Actually vesting would have reduced the other partners leverage greatly. First, they would not have been an LLC, would have already been a C Corp. The partner was refusing to sign the transfer docs so they could become a C corp to leverage outside investment, and give employees option agreements. If they had been a C corp, my friend would have gained more shares with every investment, and could fully control corporat…
But even if they had been a C corp, vesting or no vesting, it sure sounds like they were both still employed so it still would have been a 50-50 equity split. Thus your friend couldn't have ordered anyone around? In order for vesting to help, someone has to be no longer employed and thus no longer accruing equity. I'm not arguing against vesting, but I don't understand your example.
A C corp can compensate my friend with more stock i.e. voting control for his massive cash investments, an LLC is quite a bit harder when they are both partners.
Re: On Starting a Software Business
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd like to hear more specific experiences on switching from working for free to $CONSULTING_RATE for the same client I helped a local business group with their website, their previous host shut down and all they had was an archive on CD, they had some quotes for 10-20 hours to get it back up and running (and then everyone wanted to charge them hosting/domain registration). I did the work for free. A couple hours imp…
This is an example of a more general problem with undercharging (or doing spec work) in any creative industry. If you don't charge what you're worth, perhaps because you're trying to be helpful or offering "mate's rates", then you may get one happy client but you'll also get underpaid. Then that client will happily recommend your (excellent value!) services to their friends and colleagues who are also looking for (ex…
I discover many years ago that if you give the client a discount rate in the beginning [1], when you switch to a normal rate, they feel ripped off instead of greatful that they got the previous discount.
[1] Like charging a startup $50 instead of $150 an hour "just until they get their funding".
Re: On Starting a Software Business
#149Consulting doesn't scale, software does. One pragmatic strategy to find product/customers: 1) Pick an industry 2) Ask someone in that industry what they use spreadsheets for 3) Build something better There is a lot of 'cybernetic' processes that are a mix of humans with domain knowledge and machines with spreadsheets for schemaless storage and querying. Generally the move is to encode the domain knowledge into code a…
I think it's possible find a useful middle-ground between consulting and product building, in the pg "do things that don't scale" sense. As the article also points out you can kill a second bird with the same stone, which is self-funding via the consulting. And then ideally via the consulting you find a niche(s), build your own processes & tooling for your niche to deliver value to clients, and then can product-ize o…
This is a great strategy.
Re: On Starting a Software Business
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
Odds are probably worse for the startup unless you have actual experience in Risk Management.
Proper risk management is serious business. "Risk" "management" in smaller businesses may just be pretended. This illusion will cost some time, focus and money to keep up. I believe that's the market referred to.
A lot of things in small companies are pretended, which I think was grandparent's point.
HR, benefits, invoicing, inventory tracking, project tracking, etc etc
And the fact that there are business providing most of those testify to how good of an idea it is (and how crappy the existing MBA-Sales enterprise solutions are).