Micro-ISV

MicroISV/Startup Bootcamp is for experienced developers who are ready to fire their bosses and start their own software or web companies. Taught by Bob Walsh, author of Micro-ISV: From Vision to Reality and co-moderator of the popular Joel on Software Business of Software forum, this class will be digging deep into all those things besides coding you need to come to grips with to successfully sell Mac and Windows commercial software or launch a profitable software as a Service Application.

Class activities alternate between lecture, Q & A, and group activities, such as explaining the value of your product in 20 seconds. Because of the nature of the class and your involvement in it, all participants will need to agree to a Non-Disclosure Agreement prior to the first session.

This is not a theory class, nor will it cover the arcane arts of securing Venture Capital or Angel Investor funding.

What You’ll Learn

Upon completion of Micro-ISV, the student will be able to:

MicroISV/Startup Bootcamp

• Define an initial product
• Develop and connect with a market that wants that product
• Avoid some of the revenue pitfalls along the way
• Leave class with a completed first draft of a microISV/startup business plan

Section	Contents

MicroISV/Startup	Click to Show

MicroISV/Startup	Click to Hide
Introduction	Who am I - who are you?
Class Roadmap	Expectations – what’s real, what’s not
Defining your Value	Start at the beginning: define your hook Define your hook exercise
The Business Side	Deciding what kind of business entity you are Taxes/Bookkeeping: a basic intro
Your domain name	Company name or product name? Business Web Hosting Considerations
The ins and outs of Payment Processing	An opinionated history of payment processing for microISVs
Positioning your product or service	What problems do you solve? Who has these problems? How do you connect to these people?
Tech support as marketing	A comprehensive trusted system Dealing with difficult customers Building evangelists one issue at a time
Your startup/microISV Business Plan – the important bits	Your monetization plan Revenue Models License Purchase Advertising Supported Subscription based Other models
Operating Budget	Getting real about revenue and expenses
SWOT analysis	Recognizing your strengths; confronting your weaknesses, identifying your competition.
Productivity for startups/MicroISVs	Email is not your friend Keeping informed Your Decision Log GTD in your microISV/startup
Variations on delivering applications	Open Source integration Information sites
Your conversation plan	Blogging Why you need a product blog Defining your product’s blog and resisting the urge to write your own Social networking Why twitter matters Your customers’ social networks Leveraging what you do
Getting from where you are to where you want to go	Yes you do need a life Family, friends, and coworkers Look before you leap – but leap!

Requirements