Business of Software

I was watching this video today. If you are a small startup (typically bootstrapped), this is a must watch. Here are some notes:

  • Keep the Momentum
  • We work on projects that are chunked in smaller bits
  • Planning is vastly over rated
  • We don’t do road maps
  • We do not write  functional specifications ( They lead to a illusion of agreement )
  • Decisions are temporary
  • Red Flag words – Need, Can’t, Easy, Everyone, Nobody). He explains each one of the words and points out how they are red flags
  • Interruption is the Enemy of Productivity ( the closer you are, the less work you get done)
  • A fragmented day is not a productive day
  • Creative people need uninterrupted chunks of time
  • Focus on Passive Collaboration (email, wikis)
  • Focus on what doesn’t change. What is going to be important Today and 10 years from now – Speed, Simplicity, Ease of Use, clarity, Reliability, Uptime
  • Underdoing (instead of overdoing the competitors)
  • Find markets where you can start on the low end and grow (Great thing about the market is the big guys do not care about them)
  • As long as you deliver more value than the price, people will pay for products
  • Follow the Chefs –  they out teach, out share and out contribute
  • what is your cookbook? You can either outspend or out teach your competition
  • Always be questioning: Why are we doing this? What problem are we solving? Is this actually useful? Are we adding value? Is there an easier way?