Business of Software Blog

Jessica Livingston to speak at Business of Software 2008

I recently read Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days by Jessica Livingston. Jessica interviewed a whole bunch of really interesting people (Steve Wozniak, Ray Ozzie, Mitch Kapor and 29 other entrepreneurs) and has written up the interviews in this collection. It’s fascinating to read the stories of other people’s experiences as they make it big. The book has 53 reviews on amazon.com with an average rating of close to five stars.

I tried to give away an eChapter of Jessica's book away on my conference web site, but for various reasons that fell through.

However, Jessica has published interviews with Steve Wozniak and Joel Spolsky online. You can go to the Founders at Work web site to read them.

Jessica is also one of the founders of Y-Combinator, which is early stage venture capitalism done the way it should be. It's one of those things I wish I'd thought of.

Jessica has kindly agreed to speak at Business of Software 2008. Other speakers include Seth Godin, Joel Spolsky, Eric Sink and Jason Fried. Registration isn't open yet, but subscribe to the RSS feed if you'd like to be kept informed.

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Redefining obvious

I love it when software just works. When you use it and it does exactly what it should do. When it's obvious.

I love it even more when software redefines obvious. Before you use the software, you have one idea of what obvious is. Once you've used it, your mental model has changed, forever. Your world flips, and you can't flip it back again.

Google maps is like that. Of course online mapping should let you pan and zoom by dragging the map. It's obvious: how could anybody think otherwise? But others - multimap, for example - failed to see the obvious.

Apple's iPhone is like that. Of course you should be able slide your photos with your fingers, and of course your photos should rotate as you rotate your phone. But it took Apple to spot the obvious.

The Nintendo Wii is like that. Of course gaming shouldn't be restricted to joysticks and controllers with lots of fiddly buttons.

Amazon is like that. Of course you should be able to buy a book with a single click.

Redefining obvious is hard though. It doesn't just happen: it requires a lot of hard decisions, and a lot of hard work. It can be thankless too: once you've redefined the obvious, it can be trivial for others to copy.  Everybody told Jeff Bezos that one-click shopping was dumb (his developers wanted to put in a 'Are you sure?' confirmation screen). He did it, and then everybody told him it was obvious.

At Red Gate, I think we've done a similar thing with a product we've just released. On a lesser scale than Apple, Google, Nintendo and Amazon, but I'm still proud of what the team (David C, Lionel, David L, Ben, Marine and Heather) have achieved.

SQL Data Generator generates test data for SQL Server databases. It's a task ripe for automation, but it's deceptively difficult to do. Many people - including Microsoft - have tried and, I would argue, failed.

Here are a few of the things that I think make SQL Data Generator special:

• If your column is called FirstName then of course you should populate it - by default - with data like 'Bob', 'Alice' and 'Chuck', and not 'QRICg', 'WKOlg%' and 'ERgaU*'.
• Similarly, columns called email probably contain e-mail addresses, country will contain countries, and so on. Of course.
• If you have a constraint OptOut ='Y' or OptOut='N' then of course you shouldn't try to fill it with As and Bs and Cs.
• You should be able to run it out of the box. Of course you shouldn't have to fiddle around with lots of configuration details just to get going.

In their modest way, I think these features redefine obvious.

If you're a SQL Server professional I hope you'll download the tool (you can find out more at http://www.red-gate.com/products/SQL_Data_Generator), try it out and then think to yourself "What's the fuss? That's obvious."

Exactly.

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Damn you Steve Jobs: how Apple destroyed my capacity for rational thought

My toaster caught fire a few weeks ago. I've been thinking about getting a new one. I've read the Which? consumer reports, and know that the cheaper ones are actually better than the more expensive ones. That was reinforced by one of Seth Godin's recent blog posts, where he describes the world's worst toaster in all its microprocessor glory. I'm not quite ready to make a decision yet though. I'll do a bit more research, ask some friends what toasters they use, and then buy one on Amazon (I don't like shopping and I don't like crowds).

Hopefully you're getting a feel for the type of consumer I am. Spontaneous is not my middle name.

So how the heck did I come back from town on Thursday afternoon with a shiny new MacBook Air?

The Grand Arcade, Cambridge's new shopping centre, opened on Thursday morning. I was in town, and thought I'd take a peek. I wanted to see what they'd done in the 8 years it had taken to plan and 3 years to build. Besides, it was on the way to my car.

It's an impressive place. A cathedral built of stone, glass, steel and timber. A different class to the misguided 1970s shithole of a shopping centre it abuts. Most of the shops were empty, or not yet fitted.

And then I saw the Apple store. I'm not sure what drew me in. I've managed to walk past Apple stores in London, San Francisco and Newport Beach without succumbing.

The store was packed, but buzzing rather than heaving. People were playing with banks of iPhones, iMacs and MacBooks. I'd already read about the MacBook Air. With its missing ports, low capacity hard drive and lack of horsepower it simply isn't a serious laptop. Only hardcore Apple fanboys and poseurs would be gulled into paying double the price of a proper laptop for such a toy. Sure, it fits into an envelope, but who carries their laptop around in an envelope?

But seeing it - and touching it - was a different experience. It was sexy, sleek and cool. But there was more to it than that: it was a social experience too. In the same way that horror films are scarier, and comedies funnier, when you're surrounded by strangers in the darkness of the cinema, playing with the MacBook Air in public, surrounded by like-minded strangers in the hubbub of the store, somehow heightened the emotional experience. And then there was an element of nostalgia, the evoking of long-buried memories of being ten years old, programming the BBC Micros on display in high street shops - the only place I could get my hands on them.

So I bought one. I had to.

The whole caboodle - the shop and the computer - have clearly been designed with one thing in mind. They're built to bend your mind; to anaesthetise the rational, logical, decision making apparatus of your brain and place it at the mercy of the irrational, emotional, animal bits you cannot control. Derren Brown and L. Ron Hubbard are amateurs in Steve Jobs's shadow.

And if Steve Jobs can perform this mind trick on me, he can weave his spell on you too. So beware.

There's another lesson here too. Most people have already got enough stuff. They're not going to buy even more stuff because they need it. They're going to buy it because they want it. To stand above your competitors, it's not enough to compete on feature lists. Provoke an emotional, visceral reaction. Make people yearn for your products.

PS I bought the 1.6GHz version. No way was I going to pay an extra £850 for 200 more megahertz and an underperforming SSD drive. I didn't go that weak-kneed.

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RSS feeds I subscribe to

A few days ago I mentioned that Seth Godin's is one of the few RSS feeds I subscribe to. That begs the question: what are the others? Here is my list:

Seth Godin (http://feeds.feedburner.com/typepad/sethsmainblog)
Simple-Talk (http://www.simple-talk.com/feed/)
Bruce Schneier (http://www.schneier.com/blog/index.xml)
Larry O’Brien (http://www.knowing.net/SyndicationService.asmx/GetRss)
Guy Kawasaki (http://feeds.feedburner.com/guykawasaki/Gypm)
Slashdot (http://rss.slashdot.org/slashdot/eqWf)
Wired (http://www.wired.com/rss/index.xml)
Xkcd (http://xkcd.com/rss.xml)
Boing Boing (http://feeds.feedburner.com/boingboing/iBag)
Joelonsoftware (http://www.joelonsoftware.com/rss.xml)
The unofficial Paul Graham feed (http://feeds.feedburner.com/PaulGrahamUnofficialRssFeed)
The BBC (http://newsrss.bbc.co.uk/rss/newsonline_world_edition/front_page/rss.xml)

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Setting up your own software company: not as glamorous, or easy, as you think

Andrew Clarke has got a great post about setting up on your own, over at Simple-Talk. Here's an excerpt:

I knew from experience that this was something that any good programmer had to get out of his system. There is a deep-set fallacy that if software is well-written, and full of features, then it will sell. This is like saying that a well-performed song will get to the top of the singles chart by sheer merit. The analogy is fairly close, because in both cases one has to hit the zeitgeist, the spirit of the age. Quality helps one's chances, but is, by itself, insufficient.

You can read the rest at the following URL:

http://www.simple-talk.com/opinion/opinion-pieces/selling-software/

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Coding standards: die, heretic scum

Geeks - the good ones, anyway - get passionate about the smallest things. Should braces sit on a line by themselves, or be next to the if clause? Is dynamic SQL better than stored procedures? XSLT - good or evil? I'm often reminded of this Emo Philips sketch:

I was walking across a bridge and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump. So I ran over and said "Stop! Don't do it. There's so much to live for!"
He said, "Like what?"
I said, "Well, are you religious?"
"Yes"
I said "Me too! Are you Christian or Buddhist?"
"Christian."
I said, "Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?"
"Protestant."
I said "Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"
"Baptist."
I said, "Me too! Are you original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?"
"Reformed Baptist Church of God."
I said, "Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915?"
He said, "Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915."

I said, "DIE. HERETIC SCUM!" and I pushed him off.

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Seth Godin to speak at Business of Software 2008

When Simon and I first set up Red Gate eight and half years ago, neither of us had a clue about marketing. We had to learn fast. One of the first books I read about marketing was Seth Godin's Permission Marketing. Here's how Seth explains introduces it in his blog:

Permission marketing is the privilege (not the right) of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who actually want to get them.

It recognizes the new power of the best consumers to ignore marketing. It realizes that treating people with respect is the best way to earn their attention.

Seth has gone on to write a total of 7 books, and has released the most popular eBook of all time. I only subscribe to a handful of RSS feeds, but his is one of them. If you want to get ahead in the Business of Software then you should subscribe to Seth's RSS feed too.

So, I'm really chuffed to announce that Seth is going to speak at Business of Software 2008.I've been wanting to hear him speak ever since I first came across Seth back in 1999, and it looks like my wish will finally be granted.

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Speak at Business of Software 2008

I've had quite a few people e-mail me to ask if they can speak at Business of Software 2008. Unfortunately, most of the main speaking slots are either full or I've got somebody in mind for them.

However, it would be cool to give other people the chance to speak too. Last year, we had a Software Idol contest, which worked quite well. This year, Joel suggested that we do a Pecha Kucha contest.

I hadn't heard of this, but it's a great idea. The rules are strict: you show 20 slides, speak for 20 seconds on each slide, and then sit down. According to this Wired article on Pecha Kucha the result is to 'transform corporate cliché into surprisingly compelling beat-the-clock performance art.'

If you'd like to take part then follow the instructions on the Business of Software 2008 Pecha Kucha page.

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Business of Software 2008 - date, venue and pricing announced

The date and venue for Business of Software 2008 have been finalised.

It's going to be held in the Seaport hotel, on the Boston waterfront. This is a fantastic, independent hotel in a magnificent location. We've negotiated a special rate of $239 / night for the conference. You can find out more about the hotel at www.seaportboston.com

The dates are September 3rd - September 4th.

The full price 2-day pass will be $1,795, but early-bird price tickets will be $1,395.

Last year's conference was great (94% of attendees gave it a 4 or 5 star rating), but this year's is going to be better. The speakers so far include Joel Spolsky, Eric Sink, Richard Stallman, Dharmesh Shah and Jason Fried. I'm hoping to announce another *big* name speaker shortly.

The conference is going to sell out quickly. If you came to Business of Software 2007 then you are guaranteed a place if you book before April 12th. Plus you'll get a special price of only $1,195 as a token of my appreciation for taking a bit of a risk and supporting the conference last year. I'll e-mail you separately about this in the next few days.

If you didn't come to last year's conference then general registration will open on April 14th.

The best way to stay up to date with announcements is to  subscribe to the RSS feed. Alternatively, you can sign up to very occasional e-mail updates at www.businessofsoftware.org

I hope to see you in Boston!

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Top 5 worst-case scenarios for solo entrepreneurs

Today's guest post is by Heather Johnson. Heather is a freelance business, finance and economics writer, as well as a regular contributor at Business Credit Cards, a site for business credit cards and best business credit card offers. Heather welcomes comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address heatherjohnson2323@gmail.com

If you are planning on going freelance, starting your own company or investing in any other kind of business opportunity without help, you may be feeling apprehensive… and rightly so. There is no such thing as a risk-free moneymaking opportunity, so a little fear is healthy. However, you will never gain anything without sticking your neck out, so it's best you face your fears head on and plan accordingly.

Below are the top five worst-case scenarios for solo entrepreneurs:

1. Your Business Flops – You may find that a business just completely dies right out of the starting gates. Of course, that doesn't mean you should give up immediately. Depending on your situation, a lackluster beginning could indicate that a) you need an overhaul in your business plan or b) this isn't going to work out and you need to cut your losses.
2. You Are Sued – Your newfound entrepreneurship could be doing gangbusters, but that success can be easily threatened when someone gets litigious. Be sure to cover your bases on the business end of things before this happens. In other words, you need access to both a trusted attorney and accountant.
3. You Lose a Major Client – Some businesses draw a majority of their income from one or two major clients. Having your eggs in one basket could be a dangerous thing for an entrepreneur, so be sure that you keep your clients happy and that you have a plan in case they ever decide to end your working relationship.
4. You Incur Massive Amounts of Debt – Everyone has debt, but a business owner can really rack up the balance when operating a startup. Don't rely on credit cards and don't get involved with business loans you can't handle.
5. You Go Bankrupt – Ouch. That could be the worst possible scenario for anyone, not just those who are starting their own business venture. As I mentioned above, however, you need to make sure you don’t get in way over your head with loans and debt.

What is the best defense against these worst-case scenarios? A shrewd business sense and a practical business plan. It takes a certain type of rebel to venture on your own, but don't be foolhardy about it. Treat your business like a business, remain honest and don't take on more than you can handle. That way, even a substantial bump in the road can be one you will take in stride.

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