31–40 of 55 posts
I have enlisted other companies within the industry to use our software before it is completed, so we can get it right before release.
My job is to help them reach required outcomes in the fastest and easiest way... this process has helped me to stop trying to imput what i think it best, which only clouds what customers really want to pay for.
It's a good point but there's a huge field of potential software and opportunity out there that we programmers are not the users of. Who should build it then?
Good point, but I think that is why there are more and more people preaching for teaching Everyone to learn coding. Education and support on how to help those users help themselves is how you can help. Anyway, there are far too few programmers to solve all the world's problems, so increasing the number of people being able to program something is a step in the right direction.
There is a way out of this echo chamber though: don't teach others to program but let them teach you about their field.
A software industry who only caters for itself (the "scratch your own itch" fallacy) is irrelevant. How many Basecamps do you need?
Although I understand the sentiment, and have followed it with a number of my projects, an aweful lot of companies build and sell software that is not necesarily useful for their own purposes (banking, financial, retail etc).
A better and more general rule, and one that has been stated millions of times is simply its really REALLY important to known and understand your client*.
The client could be a 'normal' Internet user, or could be a multi-million dollar enterprise, but unless you understand them, you can forget trying to get money out of them! (and if they are a multi-million dollar enterprise, the people you need to sell to are very unlikely to be the people that actually use the system and you absolutely do need a mature product strategy and the necesary resources to even make a single sale).
The advice in this article is dangerous for finding success and profit as an entrepreneur if your only knowledge relates to the needs of a developer. Developers are an infamously hard bunch of people to sell products to; as developers, I'm sure we've had all these thoughts: - this is cool, but I could build something better (how many 37signal open source clones are there) - this is cool, but way too expensive (Github…
I don't believe this to be true - most, if not all, developers have hobbies and interests. For example, I'm into photography, so I would much rather build a photography software that I would enjoy using rather than something to solve a carpenter's problem (just an example) that I don't really care about.
For me at least I find that the benefits for this is two-fold: one, like the author said, so that I can be my own critic as I possess the domain knowledge, and secondly, I'll be much more passionate about working on something that I care deeply about.
The advice in this article is dangerous for finding success and profit as an entrepreneur if your only knowledge relates to the needs of a developer. Developers are an infamously hard bunch of people to sell products to; as developers, I'm sure we've had all these thoughts: - this is cool, but I could build something better (how many 37signal open source clones are there) - this is cool, but way too expensive (Github…
The advice in this article is dangerous for finding success and profit as an entrepreneur if your only knowledge relates to the needs of a developer. Developers are an infamously hard bunch of people to sell products to; as developers, I'm sure we've had all these thoughts: - this is cool, but I could build something better (how many 37signal open source clones are there) - this is cool, but way too expensive (Github…
Maybe I'm unique but my needs also include stuff like food, shopping, talking to friends, driving, running, clothes, and more.
Another problem is that when developers decide to do their own startup, the only domain they really understand is software development.
I don't care about the "domain". I've got a problem and I'm fixing it. I happen to be a developer, so I can use technology to fix it.
As the OP said, you're overthinking it.
It's a good point but there's a huge field of potential software and opportunity out there that we programmers are not the users of. Who should build it then?
I really don't get this narrow self-identification of oneself as a programmer. How does being a programmer stop or exclude you from being other things? I'm a programmer, husband, musician, cook, dancer, friend, teacher, comedian, shopper, businessman, writer, house owner, movie-watcher, music fan, son who lives away from his parents, and much more.
Programming is a great skill, but not my identity.
The advice in this article is dangerous for finding success and profit as an entrepreneur if your only knowledge relates to the needs of a developer. Developers are an infamously hard bunch of people to sell products to; as developers, I'm sure we've had all these thoughts: - this is cool, but I could build something better (how many 37signal open source clones are there) - this is cool, but way too expensive (Github…
Your argument rests on the weird assumption that the only thing developers do is write code. Maybe I'm unique but my needs also include stuff like food, shopping, talking to friends, driving, running, clothes, and more. Another problem is that when developers decide to do their own startup, the only domain they really understand is software development. I don't care about the "domain". I've got a problem and I'm fixi…
You probably don't spend 8-10 hours per day eating/preparing food, nor driving, nor running etc. You may engage in those things, but you're not an expert in those domains.
The OP point was that there's many lucrative domains out there that don't have optimal solutions to their problems yet, but most people who do software all day only really understand the ins and outs of the software dev industry as opposed to, say, the funeral business and their unique needs. Yes, you probably have been to funerals, and even said "wow, i've got a need/want for better funerals", but really digging deep in to an industry takes a lot of time and effort.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your argument rests on the weird assumption that the only thing developers do is write code. Maybe I'm unique but my needs also include stuff like food, shopping, talking to friends, driving, running, clothes, and more. Another problem is that when developers decide to do their own startup, the only domain they really understand is software development. I don't care about the "domain". I've got a problem and I'm fixi…
"Maybe I'm unique but my needs also include stuff like food, shopping, talking to friends, driving, running, clothes, and more." You probably don't spend 8-10 hours per day eating/preparing food, nor driving, nor running etc. You may engage in those things, but you're not an expert in those domains. The OP point was that there's many lucrative domains out there that don't have optimal solutions to their problems yet,…
I don't agree with the notion that you have to understand the ins and outs of something to start working on it. See http://paulgraham.com/schlep.html
Do you think all of Basecamp's customers are software companies because that's the only domain 37s knows deeply about?
Funeral directors use Facebook too.
I wouldn't think "wow, i've got a need/want for better funerals". I would probably notice some specific problem and think how to solve it. If software can help, that's great, otherwise I'm not starting an undertaking business any time soon.