October 2, 2006

Guide to starting a software company

The good folks at 37 Signals have this excellent blog post about the kinds of things that people who start up software companies torment themselves about.

Favourite quote:

Allocate your fear properly
When it comes to building a web app, some things create more fear than they should…

Fear: It won’t scale
Truth: You’re not going to be Google overnight.

Fear: Too many bugs
Truth: As long as they don’t wipe the database, you can live with most bugs for a while.

Fear: Too few features
Truth: You can always add features later.

Fear: Never go down
Truth: Once-in-a-while downtime won’t scare people away.

Fear: It’s too simple
Truth: Simple solutions are fine if they get the job done.

Fear: They’ll copy us
Truth: It’s about the execution, not the idea.

Fear: We must sound serious
Truth: Trying to sound serious all the time makes you bland and unremarkable. It’s ok to be playful and have personality.

Posted by Mark at 4:40 PM | Comments (0)