Micro ISV Digest

A weekly roundup of Micro ISV news, announcements and relevant blog posts.

News and Announcements

• Derek Pollard launched ScreenRest, a automatic rest timer. Via BoS.
• A new version of Surfulator was released.
• A new version of Oriador Staff Rota was released.
• Mike Rohde on the Micro ISV Show.
• New Micro ISV blog, Rodel E. Dagumampan.
• The Business of Software conference will be in San Jose, October 29/30. Sign up to the mailing list for a free copy of Eric Sink's book in "e" form.

Relevant Blog Posts and Articles

• Guide to Startups, and part 2, from Marc Andreessen.
• Three ways to succeed, from Dave Collins (MyMicroISV).
• Lessons from my Mistakes, from Neil Davidson (MyMicroISV).
• The most important assets you lose when you're over 30, from Wil Schroter.
• Failure is an option, from gapingvoid.
• The story of Xoreax, from Zviki Cohen.

Further (mostly relevant) Reading

• Carnival of Entrepreneurs.
• Business for Geeks: Recruiting, from Keith Casey.
• Drivers, from Seth Godin.
• Coping with clients.

Tags: microisv digest entrepreneurship startups shareware

Micro ISV Digest

A weekly roundup of Micro ISV news, announcements and relevant blog posts.

News and Announcements

• Kathire released wxForms, a C++ Builder plug-in for wxWidgets. Via BoS.
• Prashant released a beta version of Virtual Ant, an Ant tool for Java developers. Via BoS.
• Bob introduces us to Nick Brawn, who released Shinobi Scanner last week.
• Patrick announced the details of his next app, Kalzumeus.
• More interesting stuff from Scott Meade's Making of a Web App series.
• Safari for Windows was released.

Relevant Blog Posts and Articles

• Business for Geeks: Vision, from Keith Casey.
• Adwords Q&A, from Dave Collins (MyMicroISV).
• Start young, from Wil Schroter.
• Stumble-Bumble with EfCN.
• Business Planning: Marketing, from Startup Spark.
• By the numbers, from Alfie John.
• Office Live might be for you, from Bob Walsh.

Further (mostly relevant) Reading

• Carnival of Entrepreneurs.
• Waking Up Early, from Dave Cheong.
• Fooling VCs into thinking you have traction part 4, from Andrew Chen.
• How startup company forecasting really works, from Wil Schroter.

Tags: microisv digest entrepreneurship startups shareware

Micro ISV Digest

A weekly roundup of Micro ISV news, announcements and relevant blog posts.

News and Announcements

• Nathan Ridley released FlirtBeat, a social dating site. Via BoS.
• Gene released PDFJet, a PDF report generation tool. Via BoS.
• A new version of SmartInspect was released.
• A new version of Authorize.net component for PHP was released.
• The Gurocks announced a new partnership with EurekaLab.
• SourceGear released DiffMerge, a free Diff Tool. Via Blog.
• Crazy Busy author on the Micro ISV Show.
• Scott Meade started a new Making of a web app series.

Relevant Blog Posts and Articles

• The Profit Calculator: How much do they make?, via 37signals.
• The importance of targeted traffic, from Andy Brice.
• Copywriting for Developers, from Dave Collins (MyMicroISV).
• It's a business, not a hobby, from Bob Walsh.
• Business Planning: Competitive Landscape, from Startup Spark.
• Should you raise venture capital, from Instigator.
• How I built a web 2.0 social media site for $12,107.09, from Guy Kawasaki.

Further (mostly relevant) Reading

• Carnival of the Entrepreneurs.
• Startup Spark Entreprenuer interview (Part 2).
• A Game of inches, from Joel Spolsky.
• What your startup boss really wants from you, from Wil Schroter.
• The horror of the M&A theme song, from KnowHR.

Tags: microisv digest entrepreneurship startups shareware

Blackberry Game: Asteroid Jane

When is a launch not a launch?

Asteroid Jane, the new blackberry game Andrey Butov and I developed, just had an exclusive launch period on mobile games portal Clickgamer. It's now also available to buy directly from Antair.com:-

Asteroid Jane for Blackberry

The game sees Jane, an expert asteroid miner, on a quest to rescue her kidnapped pet, Fritter. You can see the game in action in this promotional video:-



We're proud of the game, it's fun to play and we've had some great feedback already. It's easy to pick up and play, and should appeal to casual gamers of all ages.

Clickgamer were a great help during the exclusive launch, adding all kinds of banners to their site, and promoting the video on their front page. They also designed and sent out a polished flashy newsletter to their customers. I would happily work with Clickgamer again in the future.

The development experience was also a very good one. Andrey and I found that we complement each others skill set very well. We're both excited about the other projects we have in the pipeline. If you can find another Micro ISVer who you get along with and trust, I totally recommend considering joint ventures.

If you have a Blackberry, give Asteroid Jane a try.

Tags: casual games blackberry game microisv

Micro ISV Digest

A weekly roundup of Micro ISV news, announcements and relevant blog posts. Apologies to anyone who got an old digest in their feed readers in the middle of last week. I made a change to an old post and it was published as if it was new.

News and Announcements

• Tim announced AceDRM, a document DRM system. via BoS.
• Stephane Grenier launched WhichJar.com, a Java developer resource. via Blog.
• Ian M Jones launched RBScoutSubmit, an auto FogBugz submission module for Real Basic. via Blog.
• A new version of Surfulater was released.
• Google Feedburner.
• Google Gears.
• Bill Gates and Steve Jobs video interviews.

Relevant Blog Posts and Articles

• Another one person Micro ISV, from A Shareware Life.
• Pimp My Code: Be Inflexible, from Wil Shipley.
• DIY PR, from Guy Kawasaki.
• You only need to build a $3 million company and Part 2, from Wil Schroter.
• Obsession with the competition is a luxury of the over-funded, from EfCN.
• How many startups does it take to change a lightbulb, from OnStartups.
• Sorry, Ideas aren't worth much, from Ben Bryant.
• No-one's going to steal your brilliant idea, from Secret Geek.
• The Art of 'Ware, from Bruce Webster.
• Measuring for success Part 2, from Dave Collins (MyMicroISV).
• Eliminate the barriers in your software, from Dennis Crane.

Further (mostly relevant) Reading

• Carnival of Entrepreneurs #23.
• Patrick McKenzie on SEO.
• Guy Kawasaki on Schmoozing.
• Seth Godin on marketing situations.
• Pam Slim on Truemors.
• Ze Frank on Branding.

Tags: microisv digest entrepreneurship startups shareware