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Bootstrapping a Software Product

speakerdeck.com

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Re: Bootstrapping a Software Product

#4

Post by raphinou »

I will possibly bootstrap a software product in the near future, but the hard part for me is to decide in which market I can find a niche.

I find it hard to develop a new solution in a crowded market. I want to develop a product I am convinced of, but doubt often gets in the way, especially if the market is crowded.

I also wonder how these services get their first paying customers.

Re: Bootstrapping a Software Product

#5

Post by speg »

raphinou wrote: post #4

I will possibly bootstrap a software product in the near future, but the hard part for me is to decide in which market I can find a niche. I find it hard to develop a new solution in a crowded market. I want to develop a product I am convinced of, but doubt often gets in the way, especially if the market is crowded. I also wonder how these services get their first paying customers.

I am going through the same thing. Everyone says enter an existing market because you already know people are willing to pay for it. But I am afraid that the existing solutions have soaked up all the customers. How am I supposed to get those customers?

Re: Bootstrapping a Software Product

#7

Post by rexreed »

Great slides! In one chart he shows what the level of his pre-Sifter salary was and it seems that the current app hasn't quite met that level, or am I reading it wrong? It would be great to see some actual revenue numbers here, but I can see why the OP wouldn't want to disclose that.

Re: Bootstrapping a Software Product

#8

Post by rgbrenner »

speg wrote: post #5
raphinou wrote: post #4

I will possibly bootstrap a software product in the near future, but the hard part for me is to decide in which market I can find a niche. I find it hard to develop a new solution in a crowded market. I want to develop a product I am convinced of, but doubt often gets in the way, especially if the market is crowded. I also wonder how these services get their first paying customers.

I am going through the same thing. Everyone says enter an existing market because you already know people are willing to pay for it. But I am afraid that the existing solutions have soaked up all the customers. How am I supposed to get those customers?

"existing solutions have soaked up all the customers"

Please think of a case where this has happened to you as a customer.

As an example: I've been leasing servers for over a decade. The industry is mature, is worth billions each year, and has plenty of competitors. I've leased servers from many companies, big and small.. one even that had 2 people working there.

Sometimes I had requirements that only large companies met, and other I did not have such requirements, and considered smaller companies.

Customers are constantly leaving and signing up at all of the large services (for a variety of reasons -- customer service problems, fees, inability to meet a new requirement, etc, etc, etc). I challenge you to find a provider that does NOT have some unhappy customers. You'll get your chance when they leave and are looking for a new provider.

Re: Bootstrapping a Software Product

#9

Post by adambenayoun »

speg wrote: post #5
raphinou wrote: post #4

I will possibly bootstrap a software product in the near future, but the hard part for me is to decide in which market I can find a niche. I find it hard to develop a new solution in a crowded market. I want to develop a product I am convinced of, but doubt often gets in the way, especially if the market is crowded. I also wonder how these services get their first paying customers.

I am going through the same thing. Everyone says enter an existing market because you already know people are willing to pay for it. But I am afraid that the existing solutions have soaked up all the customers. How am I supposed to get those customers?

Going after a new market often require much more resources than going after an established market. You'll need to spend a lot of time branding yourself and educating your users about your services.

What often works well for people is to enter a market that already exists and to understand the problem the existing solutions don't address.

By focusing on these problem and solving these extremely well, you'll be able to attract a small subset of users who will want to pay for your service rather than your competitors.

You'll have plenty of opportunity to steal customer from your competitors (there's no way someone can address 100% of the market).

There are plenty of markets that are ripe for disprution.

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