
Ask HN: Is it practical to start a 1-person Micro ISV these days? - augb
I know of Mike Perham&#x27;s SideKiq Pro [1] and Andy Brice&#x27;s Perfect Table Plan [2]. These are along the lines of what I mean by &quot;a 1-person Micro ISV&quot; (they are not Software as a Service (SaaS) providers). These types of businesses, <i>seem</i> to be few and far between, though. Any advice or thoughts on how to go about selecting a first product for an ISV would also be appreciated.<p>[1] http:&#x2F;&#x2F;sidekiq.org&#x2F;products&#x2F;pro
[2] http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.perfecttableplan.com&#x2F;
======
mperham
OSS helped because I could build it in my spare time with little investment or
risk. I spent the first two years building Sidekiq and Sidekiq Pro and was
able to build up an audience by blogging and tweeting.

I spent 15 years working at various startups and earned little more than a
typical dev salary in the end. Today I'm making several times my previous
salary so the business has been a big success for me.

As for visibility, I'm happy owning my own little niche of Ruby background
jobs. I don't advertise or market much, just provide the best product I can,
support it every day and developer word of mouth does the rest.

~~~
augb
So, would you still do a similar approach if you were starting out today?

Edit: fix grammar

~~~
mperham
Absolutely. I would change a few things (my pricing model should have been
subscription-based from day one) but on the whole the business has wound up
almost exactly where I intended it to be.

~~~
augb
Thank you. This is helpful.

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Mz
I have asked around previously. I didn't get much response. I posted a short
list to my blog:

[http://micheleincalifornia.blogspot.com/2015/10/bicycles-
on-...](http://micheleincalifornia.blogspot.com/2015/10/bicycles-on-
information-super-highway.html)

This list is not just software vendors. Some are webcomic artists. I was
interested in any really tiny web operation actually making enough money to
support the people running it.

I suspect the lack of response is partly due to low visibility and/or a desire
to lie low. Small shops that don't want to grow into big corporations do not
necessarily want excessive attention and also may not be well known enough (as
a Micro ISV specifically) for other people to confidently say "Yup, this
qualifies." A small shop doesn't need tons of traffic and money to support the
few people working on it and may view excessive exposure as a bug, not a
feature.

~~~
augb
Thank you. Your list is particularly helpful.

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jventura
I'm trying to build a 1-person business for quite some time, going back and
forth between ideas. Sometimes I think I would like to implement a desktop
app, sometimes I feel web apps would be better, sometimes I just want to quit,
etc.

In the last couple of weeks I've been finally building my product as a web
application mainly because of these factors: currently I have more experience
on web development that desktop development; I use a lot of SVGs and tables
and they are easier to do on HTML; I have my source code in Python and C and
it is a pain to distribute Python; cross-platform desktop development tools
are not great nowadays (Qt is the only serious option and it sucks); I would
have to distribute lots of libraries with my application.

The way I see things now is, if you really want to test the market for
something and you can use a web app, do it. It is easier for you to control
the updates, iterate faster to improve your idea, and have better
discoverability. It is less painful for a prospective client to click on your
URL than thinking on downloading and installing your application. The funnel
for web applications is smaller than for desktop apps [1], and that is really
important when you want to test your application.

Later in the game, after you have a stable idea and enough loyal clients, you
can always move to the desktop or mobile if that's the case. This is what is
happening with all major SaaS nowadays, they start on the web and eventually
go to the desktop when they reach some maturity (Evernote, Slack, etc...)

[1] [http://www.kalzumeus.com/2009/09/05/desktop-aps-versus-
web-a...](http://www.kalzumeus.com/2009/09/05/desktop-aps-versus-web-apps/)

~~~
augb
> I'm trying to build a 1-person business for quite some time, going back and
> forth between ideas. Sometimes I think I would like to implement a desktop
> app, sometimes I feel web apps would be better, sometimes I just want to
> quit, etc.

I empathize with what you are going through.

> The way I see things now is, if you really want to test the market for
> something and you can use a web app, do it. It is easier for you to control
> the updates, iterate faster to improve your idea, and have better
> discoverability. It is less painful for a prospective client to click on
> your URL than thinking on downloading and installing your application. The
> funnel for web applications is smaller than for desktop apps [1], and that
> is really important when you want to test your application.

Perhaps you are right. I do wonder, though, if there is a place for a desktop
offering. Balsamiq Mockups [1] started as a desktop app, if I remember
correctly. The plus to an installed app (especially if it is a single
executable along the lines of Go, Rust, Swift, etc.) is the customer data can
stay with the customer, performance can be quite good without the need to
scale the backend, operations can be simpler, among others. (Many of the
downsides are already addressed in patio11's article you referenced.)

[1]
[https://balsamiq.com/products/mockups/](https://balsamiq.com/products/mockups/)

------
ahazred8ta
FWIW there are 22K google hits on MicroISV and variations -
[https://www.google.com/search?q="Micro-
ISV"|"MicroISV"|"μISV...](https://www.google.com/search?q="Micro-
ISV"|"MicroISV"|"μISV")

[http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/Micro-
ISV.html](http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/Micro-ISV.html)

[http://www.microisv.com/](http://www.microisv.com/) (defunct)

[http://www.singlefounder.com/the-day-the-microisv-
movement-d...](http://www.singlefounder.com/the-day-the-microisv-movement-
died/)

------
a-ron
I don't know. I think the "gold rush" period is over, probably was a while
ago. Seems like everyone wants to start their own micro-ISV or SaaS or
whatever, but I'm projecting. And I'm jaded because I've failed a few times at
these things and have a sour taste in my mouth about their viability these
days.

I think those of us looking to start something really want certainty that
whatever thing we're thinking of building will be successful. I think it can
be, but it takes more grunt work selecting the right thing to build.

To answer your question, yes. Go do it then come back and tell us how it go.
And good luck.

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sixQuarks
There are lots of successful 1-person online businesses, but they are not
software businesses per se. HN has a huge bias towards apps/software, we only
hear from coders/technical people. When it comes to Saas apps, there aren't
many examples run by solo entrepreneurs.

The vast majority of successful 1-person businesses are run by non-technical
people and are more content-driven then software driven.

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baccredited
>Is it practical to start a 1-person Micro ISV these days?

I don't think so. I've launched a few 1-person SaaS companies in the past, and
some were popular (but not profitable). I've settled on earning a salary and
investing as much of that salary as possible.

I still get the urge to build stuff, and I still do, but I now look at it as a
hobby.

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iatek
IME, the person's idea for the first product is the reason they start the
micro ISV in the first place. I don't know of anyone who started an ISV, and
then thought of a product.

~~~
augb
Just to clarify ... I am not seeking to start a micro ISV without an idea. I
am wondering if this approach is practical to pursue. If it is, there may be
ideas/possibilities I have not thought of. When looking through SaaS-colored
glasses, everything starts to look like a SaaS. :)

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lj3
RAD Game Tools seems to be doing just fine.

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sharemywin
apps could be ISVs. A lot of software is going Saas because the cost per
customer tends to get pretty high unless you can get cheap traffic. List on a
popular top 10 list or rank high for a keyword.

