Introduction
In February 2005, after releasing my first commercial application, I went looking for all sorts of information that would help me market, support, and improve my product. I wasn't especially happy with what I found.
There were books aplenty on starting retail businesses, restaurants, inns—you name it—except a self-funded software company. There were a few pre-Internet books, now mostly out of print, about how to start a shareware company, and there were a few books out about how to write the killer business plan that would woo venture capitalists to fund your start-up but nothing about how to define a product, develop it, support it, market it, and do all this 100 percent on the Web.
I did find one really good Web site, the Business of Software forum at Joel on Software (http://discuss.joelonsoftware.com/?biz), where a whole bunch of developers starting or running companies would offer suggestions and advice to anyone politely asking.
As plentiful as the advice was at Joel on Software, it tended to be uneven and fragmentary. I decided that if there wasn't a single good book on how to start an Internet-based software company, then I should go out there and research and write one. This is that book.
A very long time ago, before becoming a programmer, then a developer, I was a reporter. I figured that if I dusted off my old journalism habits and went looking for the information I and lots of other developers needed, I could find people out there with the answers.
What I did not figure on when I started this book was that there is real news going on here: from Boise to Bulgaria, developers are starting their own companies to bring to market their own solutions in record numbers.
For every Internet software vendor you read about who just got funded by one or another venture capital funds, there are hundreds of micro-Internet software vendors successfully building desktop applications and Web-based products, distributing their software exclusively on the Net, and building companies that start with one person and often scale up to 20, 50, and 100 employees in a few short years.
Who This Book Is For
This book is for that one developer who starts the whole thing off. One day, after yet another mind-numbing meeting at Big Company, Inc., when they've had a bellyful of working for clueless people, I want that developer to go searching with Google or browsing Amazon, find this book, and see how the pieces can come together for them to start their own, wildly successful micro-ISV.
I'm assuming you already know how to code: in fact, this is one of those rare Apress books without a single line of code! What I'm guessing you're looking for is really current, Internet-centric information about how to go from the desire to be your own boss, how to define what you want to work on, and exactly how best to code a solution through all the facets of running an online software business all the way to seeing the money roll in.
How This Book Is Structured
In a lot of ways, this book is a process book. You start at the beginning with a desire and then work through in roughly chronological order all the moving parts you need to connect to get to the point where your micro-ISV is up, running, and making money.
Here's the chapter-by-chapter rundown:
Chapter 1, "Having the Vision": The two big take-aways from this chapter are how we got to a place where micro-ISVs can be successful and how you can find a problem worth solving as your micro-ISV's first product. I'll also cover who thought up this mouthful of a term, micro-ISV, and seven rules for avoiding much micro-ISV pain.
Chapter 2, Developing the Micro-ISV Way": Once you've found the right idea, it's time to get into developing. But not so fast—developing your micro-ISV's product is unlike working at Big Company, Inc., or being a contract developer.
In this chapter, I cover those differences and look at designing your first commercial product, setting up a development environment that leverages your limited time and money to produce high-quality, customer-focused software, and finding and managing beta testers.
Chapter 3, "Presenting the Product": While you're developing away, it's time to look at your product. Your application is not your product. Your application plus your Web site, blog, documentation, installer, license, graphics, collaterals, payment processing, customer experience, and Unique Selling Proposition is your product.
Everything from finding the right domain name to how easy it is to buy your software is going to affect your sales, and in this chapter, I cover a slew of things that go into how potential customers experience your software.
You will especially take a look, bit by bit, at what makes a good micro-ISV Web site good. And I'll talk with Mena Trott, cofounder of Six Apart (makers of TypePad and Movable Type), about how to build a blog that makes friends, builds credibility, and influences potential customers.
Chapter 4, "Business Is Business": This chapter focuses on the business aspects of creating a micro-ISV business: finding the right legal structure for your fledgling firm (in the United States, in the United Kingdom, or in Australia). Once you get the paperwork out of the way, you need to focus on Getting Things Done (GTD), so I'll review the GTD approach many micro-ISVs use and talk with its creator, David Allen, about applying GTD to building and running a micro-ISV.
Chapter 5, "Focusing on the Customer": Now we get to the start of your micro-ISV show—your customers. In this chapter, I cover a systematic way of defining, finding, and marketing to your customers. I'll also cover some of the other ways you interface with your customers: email (wholesale and retail), customer support (a micro-ISV must get right), and how to set up and run a robust discussion forum about your company and its products.
You'll also look at how customers find you on the Net: Search Engine Optimization techniques, download sites, and Google AdWords. And you'll see how you can and should get the attention of reporters and editors in the mainstream media.
Chapter 6, "Welcome to Your Industry": In this chapter you'll broaden your micro-ISV horizons and take a look at what developer and ISV resources are out there that you can benefit from. Interestingly enough, several of those resources come from Microsoft, and whether you love or loath Microsoft, you can't afford to ignore them.
Chapter 7, "What Happens Next?": That's going to be largely up to you. But in this chapter you'll hear from 25 micro and not-so-micro ISVs about how their stories have turned out so far and what advice they'd like to pass on to you.
Appendix: Don't look for 200 pages of error codes and API syntax in this appendix—you won't find it. Instead, I'll recap all the links you've seen in Chapters 1–7 and recommend books for those who want to dig deeper into specific aspects of business, law, productivity, developer best practices, and online marketing.
And yes, the links in this chapter are online! (See the next section.)
Downloading the Code
You'll find all the checklists, templates, and other files for this book, as well as a page of links chapter by chapter, at this book's page at Apress (http://www.apress.com) and at my micro-ISV, Safari Software, at http://safarisoftware.com.
Contacting the Author
Got a question, or want to learn more? Please visit my blog, http://www.todoorelse.com; stop by my micro-ISV's Web site at http://safarisoftware.com; or drop me an email at [email protected].