Blue Sky On Mars

Thoughts on Building Software Products
February 17, 2005

Estimating the market for your software

by Kevin Dangoor

A follow-up to Starting a Micro ISV, In The Beginning….. there was nothing:

Estimating the market for a specific softare product can be hard, because public data is usually quite scarce. You just have to look around and scoop up whatever data you can.

I read a great article (I don’t have a link offhand, sorry) about a guy who started a new software company by writing up the datasheet and sending it out to the types of companies that would buy that sort of software. Then, he solicited feedback. Would you buy it? How much would you pay? Which features appeal, and which don’t? By talking to potential customers, he was able to come up with a product that nicely fit a market niche.

So, the baseline is something along the lines of: how many potential customers are there? what are they using now, and will they switch? how much money do they have?

You might think: I’m going to revolutionize the way charities keep track of their volunteer staff. There are lots of charities, and right now everything is done with pen and paper. Of course, they don’t have any money, but…

Or how about this scenario: millionaires are having trouble “getting good help these days”. Word of mouth isn’t cutting it and newspaper ads aren’t doing it. So, you can make software to manage the recruitment and activities of personal staff of these people (could be similar to what was envisioned in the last example). There’s a fairly small market of people for that. But they have a lot of money to spare!

those types of questions just tell you if there is a market. then you need to find your Free Prize so that you have a Purple Cow.

By the way, you’ll get all of the answers and eliminate all of the risk. Some of it is just guesswork. If you’re not comfortable with that, you won’t end up starting a business.

February 17, 2005

Ian Landsman on starting a software company

by Kevin Dangoor

I swear I’m not linking to this article because Ian mentioned me. Ian Landsman, who is in the process of starting up UserScape, wrote a great article for anyone considering starting a software business: Starting a Micro ISV, In The Beginning….. there was nothing. Ian has been following many of the same sorts of people that I have, and the advice he gives is much of the same sort of advice that I would give, only he has written it up in a much better article than the ones I’ve posted so far.

So, if you’re even halfway thinking about starting a software business, read this article right now. And do go to Amazon and buy Purple Cow (and Free Prize Inside!). While you’re at it, you should sign up for Seth Godin’s blog, because he generously provides useful marketing tips every day. You’ll note that Ian didn’t write about the technology choices you’ll have to make. That stuff will work itself out… it’s the product positioning, marketing and fit-and-finish kinds of things that will really take the effort.

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February 17, 2005

Legal Guide for Bloggers

by Kevin Dangoor

Update, June 14 2005: The EFF has released their Legal Guide for Bloggers. While the information below is still relevant, their guide is far more detailed and covers many more issues. Go there instead. Thanks!

As more stories start arriving of they can’t do that.

Have you been accused of copyright violation for including quotes as part of your criticism? The concept of Fair Use provides a defense against this, and fair use provides guidelines for what you can and can’t do. Here’s some good advice and the four tests of fair use. If you’re doing real commentary on someone else’s work and not making a profit from it, you’re in pretty good shape as far as fair use goes. Just don’t cut and paste the whole thing.

Are you being accused of defamation, libel or slander? If you’re writing something unpleasant about someone, be sure that you can back it up. Mitch Ratcliffe has an excellent article with links to many resources regarding defamation and staying in the right when you’re writing.

Have you been told you can’t photograph something? In some cases (like being on private property), you really aren’t allowed to photograph without permission. If you’re in a public place, however, the law is on your side.

Have you been told you can’t include that recording in your podcast? Sadly, at this juncture, I think you’re in murky territory. Unless you essentially set yourself as an internet radio station and pay the significant statutory rates, it is unlikely you can include a whole song in your podcast. Including portions of songs and commenting on them should still be covered as fair use, however.

Legal threats against blogs will only increase over time. Freedom of speech is a huge right that we enjoy here in the US, and knowing where to draw the line will let you write almost anything on your blog with complete confidence.

February 17, 2005

Being more productive with email

by Kevin Dangoor

Merlin Mann has five fast email productivity tips, such as “shut off auto-check”. These are good tips and are very important if you want to stay productive despite an increasing flood of email. I also think that shutting off auto-notification is a good idea for RSS readers, but that’s a topic for another day.