Micro ISV Digest

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

News and Announcements

• Ryan Smyth jumped into his Micro ISV (Renegade Minds) full time. Via BoS.
• Neo Syne was looking for feedback for Induspreneur, an indian entrepreneur networking site.
• Steph released a sample of his new ebook.
• 47hats promotional postings: Fast Spring and EC Suite. Also, YCombinator for Micro ISVs.
• Amazon EC2 now offering static IPs.
• Adobe launched Photoshop Express.

Relevant Blog Posts and Articles

• Software startup lessons (part 3), from Lavablast.
• 7 questions I'd ask a Startup, from OnStartups.
• Selling software, from Andrew Clarke.
• "Flacking" effectively on a startup budget, from FoundRead.
• Choosing a development stack, from Andy Brice.
• Giving it up to get more done, from Web Worker Daily.
• The making of an indie (part 4), from Joe Indie.
• Revisit your design ideas, from Jon Chase.
• Helium Foot Site++ plus, from Keith Alperin.
• Download sites are useless, from Patrick.
• Progress updates from Brian Manley, Neville Franks, Visual Hint, Phil (summary: don't throw away your Mary Poppins gags just yet :)).

Further (mostly relevant) Reading

• The psychology of entrepreneurial misjudgment, from pmarca.
  Or, shorter version from VentureHacks.
• Brain research for Micro ISVs, from 47 hats.
• Ev Williams, do as he says and as he does, from FoundRead.
  (see Ten Rules for Web Startups)
• 25 paths to an insanely popular blog, from Skelliewag.
• Is it possible to make a living making indie or casual games, from Grey Alien Games.
• Core principles for rapidly attaining creative flow, from PSDTuts.
• Very short stories, from Wired.
• Carnival of Business and Entrepreneurship.

Tags: microisv digest entrepreneurship startups shareware

Micro ISV Digest

A weekly roundup of Micro ISV news, announcements and relevant blog posts. The last section ran away from me a little.

News and Announcements

• Brian released Copy 2 Web, a web based clipboard service. Via BoS.
• Dan H released RoboShutdown, a system task automation tool. Via BoS.
• Craig B launched Introspectrum, a website monitoring system. Via BoS.
• Greg launched Verifilter, a compliance assistance service. Via BoS.
• Web Worker Daily points to Lefora, free hosted forums.
• The venue, date, and pricing for the Business of Software 2008 conference was announced.
• Hurry, while stocks last: Andy Brice is on special offer until the end of March.

Relevant Blog Posts and Articles

• Software startup lessons Pt 2, from LavaBlast.
• How to innovate right now, from Scott Berkun.
• The top 5 worst case scenarios for solo entrepreneurs, from Business of Software.
• The disruptive micro ISV, from 47hats.
  And, PR for Micro ISVs.
• Thinking about Micro ISV websites, from Tim Haugton.
• Above the fold, from Praveen Angyan.
• A foundation or an anchor, from KC.
• 12 steps to find founder's gold, from FoundRead.
• The Codemasters disasters series 1 2 3 4, from Bruce on Games.
• Progress updates from Patrick and Brian Manley.

Further (mostly relevant) Reading

• How to spark up your media releases, from HomeBizNotes.
• Question your work, from 37 signals.
• A creative entrepreneur who "gets it", from Pam Slim.
• Tidbits from Warren Buffet, from On Startups.
• Martian Headsets, from Joel On Software.
• A closer look at screenshot pages, from Bugninja.
• Animated Gifs, from Andy Brice.
• The making of an indie (part 3), from Joe Indie.
• On Writing and you, from Skelliewag.
• Carnival of Business and Entrepreneurship.
• The internet, that'll never take off.

Tags: microisv digest entrepreneurship startups shareware

Learning from mistakes

Learning from past mistakes always makes a good topic, and the series running on Bruce on Games is no exception. Bruce is sharing some of the disasters he experienced while working at Codemasters. Even if you have no direct interest in the games industry, you can find some good general lessons and anecdotes here.

The first post was about Club Football, an attempt to take on the mighty FIFA and PES, by building upon an existing engine from a management game. The USP was that there was a different product for each major team. Here are some of the general software business lessons I picked up on.

Forced Productization of a module: We've probably all looked at a script, or a tool, or a small chunk of our software, and started to think there could be another product there. It's always tempting, and it probably works out sometimes, but it's always worth checking your enthusiasm. In any successful product, the coding is only part of the battle, and even if half of the code is already written, it's always harder than it looks to actually finish it. To be fair, based on the comments on Bruce's post, this may not have happened in the Club Football case.

Lack of clear target market: 17 different editions, 17 different markets, 17 different budgets... clearly this isn't something a Micro ISV would attempt, but it's worth bearing in mind when considering a few different versions or target markets for a product.

Choice of USP: Read Bob's ebook :).

The second post is about Dragon Empires, an MMORPG that never made it. The development began with a small team updating an existing product, but as time went by the team and the budget kept growing. In the end it consumed years and millions. The dominant concept seems to be money, both lack of and too much (or more generally, the control of resources).

This made me think about things like when to buy components or tools (when being too cheap often ends up costing you), and about managing a development scope, making sure you have a clear release target and stay focused on that track (when not being cheap at all ends up costing you). Make the first mistake in your Micro ISV and you end up spending a year re-inventing numerous wheels, or trying to carve a rose with a chainsaw. If you make the second mistake, you end up spending many years building some bizarre evolution of your original idea, and you'll be lucky if you ever release anything.

[I used the word "cheap" to mean "keeping a tight eye on resources", both financial and otherwise... I've never been embarrassed to be cheap when necessary, but if that word has too many negative connotations for you, substitute frugal, prudent, economical, disciplined... whatever you like...]

Great stuff anyway, I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.

Tags: marketing microisv games

Micro ISV Digest

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

News and Announcements

• Richard released Tudumo, GTD software for windows. Via BoS.
• TN released RIATest, an automated testing tool for Flex. Via BoS.
• There's a Facebook group for ISV Developers, if you're into that kind of thing.
• Sunil Tanna has been posting some great details from his pricing experiment on BoS.
• Praveen Angyan launched an interesting new blog where he'll post the outcome and progress of various optimization/A-B testing experiments: The Micro ISV optimization blog.
• Planet Micro ISV got a facelift.
• Jeff Atwood on choosing the Micro ISV adventure.
• The return of Bob's weekly site review.
• Stephane Grenier released his new ebook: How to generate traffic to your website (see reviews and comments).

Relevant Blog Posts and Articles

• Software startup lessons (part 1), from LavaBlast.
• Making enough money to quit the day job, from TJ.
• How do you distinguish yourself from your competitors, from EllisLab.
• Realistic expectations for making money in your startup, from Pam Slim.
• What startups don't need to spend money on, from Wil Schroter.
• Startup tips for the early, early days, from OnStartups.
• So you want to be a SaaS-y founder, from FoundRead.
  And, Get your startup out of pre-revenue.
• On Power outages and 50 hour weeks, from 47hats.
• Recruiting a developer entrepreneur, from Software by Rob.
• Progress/Product updates from Jon Chase, Dennis Crane, Joel Marcey, Brian Manley, Keith Alperin.

Further (mostly relevant) Reading

• Silverlight for Micro ISVs, from 47 hats.
• Code as a liability, from Tim Haughton.
• Carnival of Business and Entrepreneurship.
• Consulting Q&A, from Christopher Hawkins.
• Why we disagree with Don Norman, from 37signals.
• 12 ways to tap into an endless well of creativity, from PSDTuts.
• Digital River Developer Resource.
• FriendFeedFeed.

Tags: microisv digest entrepreneurship startups shareware

Micro ISV Digest

Very few announcements but too many good links, so I've mixed up the format a little for this week.

mISV News, Progress, Musings

• John released SendMeScreens, a tool for monitoring a child's internet/PC usage. Via BoS.
• The updated Planet Micro ISV introduced me to a few new ISV blogs this week, and eliminated a few duplicates from my Google Reader. Make sure you check it out if you haven't been there lately.
• Brian Manley launched a 7 day Startup blog for copy2web. He didn't quite make it, but it's still a good read.
• Stephane's Traffic Generation eBook is due today.
• The Class of '07 March update, and Going the Extra Mile, from Chris.
• Mix08 musings from Bob Walsh, be sure to watch the Steve Balmer/Guy Kawasaki video.
• Regsoft scam, from Patrick.

On Strategy, Failure

• Perfectionists are losers, from EfCN.
• Optimise for now, from 37 signals.
• Micro ISV Anti-Patterns, from Josh Volz on 47hats.
• My 10 Un-tips for starting right, from FoundRead.
• Good lessons in one graceful failure, from FoundRead.
• Lessons Learned running an SaaS business, from Instigator.
• Products or services, from Web Worker Daily.
• Sunk costs, quitting and the value of your brand, from Seth Godin.
• The dangers of a startup democracy, from FoundRead.
• The kids have no money, from Cliffski (bonus interview link)
• Self publicity, selling your game on your own, from Jake World.

Nuts and Bolts

• What the books don't tell you, from Andrew Duffy.
• 5 Tax Season tips for small business owners, from Startup Spark.
• Get better results by flipping the funnel, from Nick Hebb.
• Leaving the Day Job (Health Benefits), from Paul Lefebvre.

Everything Else

• Carnival of Business and Entrepreneurship.
• What if every entrepreneur had to tell the truth, from Wil Schroter.
• Why Great Writing doesn't matter online, from Skelliewag.
• How to save money running a startup (plus revision), from Jason Calcanis. Plus Response, from 37 signals, and further comment from Web Worker Daily.
• 1000 true fans, from Kevin Kelley.

Tags: microisv digest entrepreneurship startups shareware

Micro ISV Digest

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

News and Announcements

• TN released RIATest (Beta), a test automation tool for Flex. Via BoS.
• Carmen Ferrara launched Presio. Via Blog.
• Adobe Air and Flex 3.0 were released (view from WWD).
• Google Sites launched.
• Bob Walsh Interviewed David Allen (Getting Things Done).
• Patrick got a new Bingo Card Creator site, blogged about the design outsourcing process.
• Alex Williams hung up his mISV hats.
• Paul Lefebvre left his day job to focus on his mISV.
• Floyd Price (Codespaces), is taking over Planet Micro ISV from Baruch. Via BoS.

Relevant Blog Posts and Articles

• 10 reasons high tech companies fail, from High Tech Strategies.
• Why Startups Fail, from OnStartups.
• Surviving and thriving in an under-served niche, from Skelliewag.
• Sharpening your skills: Starting a business, from Harvard Business School.
• Keep it simple, stupid, 37 signals in Wired Magazine.
• The great digital certificate rip off, from Andy Brice.
• Secret Classroom review, from Bromley.
• Bob's Bits du Jour results.

Further (mostly relevant) Reading

• Free! Why $0.00 is the future of business, from Wired.
• Thought of the day: Perfection is the enemy, from FoundRead.
• John's guide to earning an income from a free and open source project.
• 9 paths to indie game greatness, from Gamasutra.
• Carnival of Business and Entrepreneurship.

Tags: microisv digest entrepreneurship startups shareware