Moving from programmer to entrepreneur
ianlandsman.com
Moving from programmer to entrepreneur
1–10 of 61 posts
Re: Moving from programmer to entrepreneur
#2"Code is 5% of your business"
Really? Of the business yes, but for the product too (beautiful code is reflected in a beautiful product)?
Re: Moving from programmer to entrepreneur
#3As a single founder I am sort of confused about these things too.Here is what my plan is -> Basically become a code monkey for a first four-five months and do minimal promotion marketing.Once MVP is ready then do full time marketing pitching and fix bugs once in a while.If you get funded hire more people and more coding.
Anyone see a problem with that approach?
Re: Moving from programmer to entrepreneur
#4As a single founder I am sort of confused about these things too.Here is what my plan is -> Basically become a code monkey for a first four-five months and do minimal promotion marketing.Once MVP is ready then do full time marketing pitching and fix bugs once in a while.If you get funded hire more people and more coding. Anyone see a problem with that approach?
I feel like if you cut off time programming and spend that time working on building hype you might be able to earn a bunch more of customers earlier, which might turn out to be the difference between not needing external funds and needing them. Or the difference between being able to getting them and not getting them, if that's what you want.
Anyway best of luck!
Re: Moving from programmer to entrepreneur
#5As a single founder I am sort of confused about these things too.Here is what my plan is -> Basically become a code monkey for a first four-five months and do minimal promotion marketing.Once MVP is ready then do full time marketing pitching and fix bugs once in a while.If you get funded hire more people and more coding. Anyone see a problem with that approach?
I feel like if you cut off time programming and spend that time working on building hype you might be able to earn a bunch more of customers earlier, which might turn out to be the difference between not needing external funds and needing them. Or the difference between being able to getting them and not getting them, if that's what you want. Anyway best of luck!
Thanks for the advice.Can you please point me towards where I can find some knowledge about building hype.I have seen some companies do this (Recent Example - LightTable).
In my case my product is really different and I dont know how I can get people to understand what it is without actually getting them to play with it.My belief is that my MVP will be the best tool for building hype.
Re: Moving from programmer to entrepreneur
#6As a single founder I am sort of confused about these things too.Here is what my plan is -> Basically become a code monkey for a first four-five months and do minimal promotion marketing.Once MVP is ready then do full time marketing pitching and fix bugs once in a while.If you get funded hire more people and more coding. Anyone see a problem with that approach?
My approach (if you haven't already) would be to essentially get pre-sales. Cold call potential customers, or talk to people, with your 30-second elevator pitch. Get to the point where people tell you they want to buy your product as soon as it's available-then build, iterate, etc.
Re: Moving from programmer to entrepreneur
#7"Code is 5% of your business" Really? Of the business yes, but for the product too (beautiful code is reflected in a beautiful product)?
Please name a few products that adhere to that principal :)
Re: Moving from programmer to entrepreneur
#8I have to disagree with the first points:
1. Code is 5% of your business: no, it isn't. If you have a watchmaking company, is making watches 5% of the business? Marketing, sales, and operations are only important as long as you have a quality product.
2. Design is everything: it can used to great advantage, but let's keep it real. There are plenty examples of successful "gray boxes" applications, don't confuse aesthetics for usability. We are here on HN, aren't we?
Re: Moving from programmer to entrepreneur
#9As a single founder I am sort of confused about these things too.Here is what my plan is -> Basically become a code monkey for a first four-five months and do minimal promotion marketing.Once MVP is ready then do full time marketing pitching and fix bugs once in a while.If you get funded hire more people and more coding. Anyone see a problem with that approach?
Bro, you need to read this book: http://www.startupbook.net – http://www.amazon.com/Start-Small-Stay-Developers-ebook/dp/B...
That mentioned 4-5 months will, statistically, be for nought if you don't do the important marketing/prep work ahead of time.
Re: Moving from programmer to entrepreneur
#10As a single founder I am sort of confused about these things too.Here is what my plan is -> Basically become a code monkey for a first four-five months and do minimal promotion marketing.Once MVP is ready then do full time marketing pitching and fix bugs once in a while.If you get funded hire more people and more coding. Anyone see a problem with that approach?
My approach (if you haven't already) would be to essentially get pre-sales. Cold call potential customers, or talk to people, with your 30-second elevator pitch. Get to the point where people tell you they want to buy your product as soon as it's available-then build, iterate, etc.
Build a really cool marketing website, an awesome promo video, then buy google ads to test how many people click the 'sign up' button that says 'Coming soon - give us your email here so we can let you know when we launch.' Divide amount spent on ads by number of emails and you have a cost of acquisition. See how this compares to potential ad income / user monthly cost. If the latter is higher than the former, you have a quantitatively-substantiated profitable business model, and you should then talk to an investor/angel.