Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2010

Since my background includes software development, I often get the question about when to build a solution in-house, versus outsourcing it to a local company, near-shore service, or off-shore organization in China, India, or Eastern Europe. Don’t outsource your core competency. It’s like giving up control of your company.

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mashable.com

NOVEMBER 30, 2010

Brett Miller is the president of Custom Software by Preston (CSP). For more than 10 years CSP has impressed clients with highly effective software solutions and teams of multi-talented software engineers. The underlying questions to ask here are simple: Do you want to manage the small details of the project?

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ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 20, 2020

We found most unfunded or under-funded startups unable to compete with larger budgets, backed by some of the most prolific venture capitalists. Even some of the best idea-based startups are no further in process than a non-profit struggling to survive. That was before we even discussed the required software development.

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YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 13, 2018

Sales teams have been using their CRMs for basic, day-to-day-functions — such as managing customer information and tracking purchase history — for decades. In that time, CRMs have faithfully served as a place to store data, log notes, and manage contacts. GDPR compliance. Xavier was previously Director of Act!

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Up and Running

DECEMBER 24, 2020

You may already have some in mind or need to conduct a completely new analysis to better understand who you’ll be competing against in the subscription service space. Software development can be especially competitive. CTOs select their preferred software companies and vendors by referring to websites and online consultations.

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ReadWriteStart

JUNE 16, 2011

Small and medium size business owners can set up online customer support platforms that combine the backend help desk system used by agents (ticketing, knowledge management) with an online customer portal (self service, forums, idea management, voting, etc) on the front end. Toward that end, they have created two products.

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Up and Running

JANUARY 23, 2012

Finally, you need to be very clear on your basis for competing as it is likely there will be many other coffee shops where you plan on opening. For Irish developers it is important to have a global outlook from day 1. The domestic market is small and does not offer the scale software companies need.

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The Next Web

NOVEMBER 4, 2012

If Marc Andreesen is right (and I happen to believe he is) then talented software developers will soon be the most sought after type of employee for just about any company, whether that company’s main business is building software or not. Get developers involved in the hiring process. Embrace open source.

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Software By Rob

MARCH 25, 2010

What I’ve found during the last year of running the Micropreneur Academy is that once you’ve seen hundreds of websites and run fifty A/B tests you develop a sixth sense about how a site can be improved. You begin to do this almost without thinking (unconscious competence for those in know).

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View from Seed

APRIL 21, 2015

I couldn’t believe how inefficient and non-transparent the rental industry was and I knew then that I’d one day come back to take it on. But it was great experience to put yourself in an uncomfortable place to manage 90 Type A personalities. Clark: Competing through Social Networks. Prince: Business History.

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Software By Rob

JULY 22, 2010

BTW, do you have separate for lists members and non-members, for any given web app? #2 at 1:03 pm >>BTW, do you have separate for lists members and non-members, for any given web app? Despite low traffic numbers, it’s getting a good conversion rate. Next step: producing newsletter autoresponders. 2 Rob on 10.19.10

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blog.alinelerner.com

JUNE 21, 2013

When a company gets to be a certain size, hiring managers don’t have the bandwidth to look over every resume and treat every applicant like a unique and beautiful snowflake. Bemoaning that non-technical people are the first to filter resumes is silly because it’s not going to change.

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crowdSPRING Blog

JULY 10, 2014

Betting on the Ponies: non-Unicorn Investing – crowdspring.co/1jqLtKQ. 4 Mistakes New Product Managers Make – crowdspring.co/1rXNZrC. Legal Contracts for Software Developers Who Hate Contracts (w/free contract template to use today) – [link]. At Least Until You Have 50 Employees. Solar has won.

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Software By Rob

APRIL 13, 2010

Our goal is to help non-venture-backed, bootstrapped startups, microISVs and Micropreneurs. Join nearly 6,000 startup entrepreneurs by subscribing to my RSS feed. My new podcast launches today. It’s called Startups for the Rest of Us. My co-host is Mike Taber, the guy behind SingleFounder.com.

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Software By Rob

AUGUST 25, 2010

If they had done it for the money they would have stopped long before they became an overnight success five years of non-stop practice later. Heading out from school to hone your songwriting skill is not on the radar for most high schoolers. But they did it because they loved writing music. 3 Brad on 10.11.10 4 Jodo Kast on 10.11.10

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Software By Rob

JULY 1, 2010

In a traditional business this means offering non-commodity products and services. The lesson: create a written for everything in your business, even if you’re the only person doing the work. Valuable John talks about having a product that’s valuable to your customers.

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Software By Rob

JULY 20, 2010

“How to Win Friends…&# was an eye-opener for me and in fact the very first book which was recommended to me ever since I started reading books in this non-fiction genre. I agree with Dustin. But books are vastly subjective! Your site-blog looks cool…I am feeding it to my RSS. Leave a Comment Building Your Startup?

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www.joelonsoftware.com

MARCH 24, 2010

Fog Creek explicitly recognizes that many good software engineers have no desire whatsoever to do "management" or to take on a formal personnel management role. One of the purposes of the Fog Creek Professional Ladder is to create a career path with promotions for engineers who simply do not want to do management stuff at all.

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Software By Rob

AUGUST 11, 2009

The Differentiators The areas that kill the most time when consuming open source software are: Installation process Documentation Support Usability I’m sure we can all point out a handful of open source projects that have decent documentation and decent usability. How to Compete Against Open Source Competition | Software by Rob [.] #2

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Software By Rob

OCTOBER 29, 2009

The Findings Five days later Patrick had 250 responses and enough information to decide on a name, but let the survey run because he was receiving solid information from the other (non-naming) survey questions, as well as leads who were interested in being notified when the app launched. Product naming is hard. Subscribe via RSS On Twitter?

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Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 28, 2017

But once entrepreneurs have their initial team and product in place, a few smart advisors around the table and the social proof required to attract great talent, why would they raise additional dilutive equity capital if they can raise non-dilutive capital through the sale of tokens? Are VCs going to be competing with crypto hedge funds?

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Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 28, 2017

But once entrepreneurs have their initial team and product in place, a few smart advisors around the table and the social proof required to attract great talent, why would they raise additional dilutive equity capital if they can raise non-dilutive capital through the sale of tokens? Are VCs going to be competing with crypto hedge funds?

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A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

NOVEMBER 7, 2017

, but informally I’ve observed the following things, which follow a pattern that can be identified and counteracted: The initial marketing channel quickly saturated , so growth stalled at a non-zero but unsustainably-low rate. The initial marketing channel was sustainable for a while , but got wiped away due to external forces.

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YoungUpstarts

JULY 23, 2014

The companies that ‘rent’ these products on a SaaS basis enjoy the highest standard in software without the costs, risks and tech quandaries of in-house development. This Levittown model is the future of payments software. The build-it-yourself era of payment software development is coming to a close and for good reason. “We

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Software By Rob

OCTOBER 15, 2009

A Weeding Out of Sorts What’s happened as the press has turned its attention to the next big thing is that the long-tail of blogs, the thousands of new blogs created each day by non-techies looking to announce what they ate for lunch has waned, and they have now gathered on Facebook or Twitter to talk about that important second meal of the day…among (..)

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Software By Rob

JANUARY 12, 2010

Startups aren’t here to build a brand – they’re not Proctor and Gamble or Versace…as a startup you’re here to acquire customers, and non-targeted traffic is almost worthless. You’re falling into the “any traffic is good&# trap.

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YoungUpstarts

MARCH 15, 2016

It is very important to know and acquire the technical skills required to be successful as an Android Software Developer. While Android apps can be developed using a number of different technologies, most roles are for development using Java and Android Studio in the Integrated development environment (IDE).

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blog.captainrecruiter.com

MARCH 8, 2012

If you want to build a business that requires software, be prepared to invest a little money. I recently met a junior software developer working for $200/week + room & board at a business geeks house. The business geek needed a working software prototype and the programmer needed experience.

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www.virtuosimedia.com

MARCH 8, 2012

Look at the market size and the number of competing products. Software development is like an iceberg – 90% of it is under the surface. If you require a non-disclosure agreement for me to simply even hear your idea, I’m going to walk away unless you’re a Steve Jobs or Bill Gates type of figure.

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andrewchenblog.com

MARCH 10, 2010

This technical debt is the non-strategic result of doing a poor job. For startups, this shouldn’t be a huge problem because you should have a product person who manages the whole experience and can resolve the public good problem. they want to focus on, which they need to exaggerate each feature each week. See [link].

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news.ycombinator.com

SEPTEMBER 16, 2011

Anyway, the way to manage that is still to execute better. Our value is built on the non-technical stuff, which relies on a network of people and resources that have taken years to develop. This isnt trivial - believing in the projections and selling your passion and networking to find investors are all really hard. Zuckerberg.

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A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JANUARY 11, 2010

Then one day I read a comment on Darren Rowse’s blog by a guy who created a point system to keep himself blogging, consistently, and motivated and I was electrified by the idea putting “actionable guides and discussions” together with “measurable progress you could see, share, and compete with in a friendly way.”

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Software By Rob

APRIL 21, 2010

at 4:43 pm I’d love to write an automated comment moderator, which downvoted or otherwise penalized brainless and non-constructive comments. This post was cool to reflect on how much I’ve learnt and am still learning about myself, and people… thanks! #9 9 Chris Pearce on 05.02.10 10 Tim Cull on 05.06.10

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Software By Rob

DECEMBER 23, 2008

Consider this the Year in Review for Software by Rob. Some choose consulting, but many more inevitably decide to build a software product. Having been on the developer side of the coin a number of times, here is my take.&# Join nearly 6,000 startup entrepreneurs by subscribing to my RSS feed. Check out my book Like this post?

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Software Review Software Product Technical Review 27

Software By Rob

OCTOBER 14, 2010

We probably got some people on our mailing list who were actively looking for a team management solution in February, but not as interested when we launched beta in April. My first SaaS web app ( https://amberleafapp.com ) launched a few months ago, in completely the wrong way: non-existent marketing, no pre-launch mailing list, etc.

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Software By Rob

AUGUST 5, 2010

You own a wall of books, or perhaps a Kindle or iPad bulging at the edge of its hard disk with non-fiction you’ve earmarked for future reading. Pop vs. non-pop business books isn’t the problem, it’s the attitude that there are ‘secrets’ to getting rich other than the obvious: work hard, be smart, and be lucky. #12

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infochachkie.com

DECEMBER 5, 2011

Google is not descriptive of the company’s search core competency nor was it particularly easy to pronounce, spell or remember when the site was initially launched. Amazon – While arguably better than the company’s initial name, “Cadabra.com”, “Amazon” does not convey the company’s initial core competency of online book sales.

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