David Heinemeier Hansson is famous for being the guy that invented Ruby on Rails and running 37Signals; I have mixed feelings about Rails personally (great for some things, not so great for others, but then that applies to pretty much every technology), but this presentation he did on making money as a tech startup is very good indeed – insightful yet very amusing.
He presents in an online context for the most part but as he says himself, the principles apply to all kinds of product. It also dovetails in nicely with what I was saying a few days ago about open source and business, in that there are similar arguments about not believing the hype we’re often sold by high-profile business news stories.
Found via Matt Asay.
September 8th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
This sounds right up your ally Steve. I think you’re prime to take this approach and create products based on OGRE. On your terms, solving problems you think are important, your way and making the kind of time commitment that suites you best. I’ve always thought so really.
The startup business he describes here is similiar to the one we started at Realmware with the Visual3D.NET product. The business and demands have grown however, and the tough part for us right now is cashflow since we are still in beta with only a small handful of customers and trying to keep the dev team in tact so we can finally make a public release. Having a global team in a virtual office presents communication challenges that require extra time and effort. Especially on the creative problem solving side.
His last point for developers about working fewer, but more productive hours in a day is a gem. It doesn’t account for a number of exceptions like short deadlines, and sudden emergency fixes, but as a general work rule I think it’s great advice. It dovetails with his earliar point about the work habits you set for yourself and your startup, like long hours, are the habits you’ll tend to trap yourself into as the company grows.