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Eric Sink on Starting Your Own Software Company
prostoalex writes "The topic of starting your own software company was recently brought up on Ask Slashdot as a way to fight current employment trends. Eric Sink from SourceGear, who shared his software company-building experience before has written a new article published on MSDN. Getting started with your own software company suggests several simple steps to evaluate your abilities, count your estimated expenses and then start the software company, if the idea still seems feasible."
In all fairness to Apple and MSDN/MS....
Browsing through the docs at Apple is like visiting a good friend's reading room.. things are how you expect them, already picked over, and some pages already dog eared. There are a few dozen or maybe a hundred volumes, all on topics that interest you.
Visting MSDN is like visiting the Library of Congress. It's all there, it's just a matter of finding it all.
Point being, metaphor aside, that MS is responsible for a LOT more software than Apple is, and even when you figure in hardware, it is a large deal bigger job to manage all that info for MS. And it's not just volume, they have to keep mounds of info for products that haven't been sold commerically in over a decade.
It's a big job for Microsoft. Maybe Apple does a better job, but if you multiply the amount of info Apple needed to carry by about 50 or 100 times you'd quickly see that MSDN is not too shabby. It's pretty close to on par with offerings from competitors like Sun and/or IBM.
- Ideas are worthless
- Know Yourself
- Understand the business
- Seed capital
A startup can be rewarding, but risky, difficult, and challenging. If you're going this route, be prepared for the difficulties and determined to make it succeed.It's all about execution. The idea by itself is worth nothing.
Are you really prepared to do what it takes to force this company to succeed?
You may not need a business plan, but you need to understand your product, competitors, and where your cash will be going during the first several quarters.
Initial financing is difficult to acquire for a risky new startup and, even if you do find it, you'll end up working with little or no salary for the first several months.
He's not an M$ employee.
Drill baby drill - on Mars
I am an INTP. The Myers-Briggs test is remarkable...I recommend everyone (especially INTP) read it so they can understand the common traits (both good and bad) of their personality.
/.er to me!
INTP is a very unique group...only 1% of the world's population. But it probably accounts for at least 75% of programmers.
Slashdot readership I would estimate as high as 50%.
Idealistic...fascinated by complex abstract concepts (computers)...and of course doesn't always shower enough...sounds like a
Absolutely. The one thing you don't need to have as a contractor is a good idea of something that other people might be interested in. You just work on what your customers find interesting and important. If all goes well, you can transform that into stuff that's interesting for you as well (that's why they hired you).
Also, the one thing that counts more than anything else for a contractor is your contacts. You should build them before you actually start to depend on them financially, e.g. while you study. Actually, it doesn't take much conscious effort. It just happens if you spend long enough among technically oriented people.