
Ask HN: I want to create a successful software company. What is my roadmap? - nazz
I am currently in college studying software development. Please answer my question as if I have no previous knowledge of the startup environment.
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codegeek
It depends on how you define "successful". Lot of definitions:

1\. Building a six figure revenue for solo bootstrapped founder. Work from
anywhere, no team and make enough to live comfortably and travel the world.

2\. Build a small company with 1-10 million in revenue. Need a small team for
that. Possibly some Angel funding.

3\. Build a 10+ million revenue company. Need bigger teams and possibly VC
funding for quick growth.

4\. Build a 100+ million revenue company. 1000s of employees. Almost
definitely need VC funding.

5\. Build the idea behind a company, create a product that shows tremendous
traction and then SELL to another company. Profit for founders even though no
real value created over a long time.

Take your pick. Each option may have a different path. I would love to be in
the 4th one and still working on how to get there :)

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nazz
Thank you. This is interesting. Is there somewhere to read about examples of
each?

~~~
codegeek
Haven't found a lot myself but I came across this interesting article by a VC.
Talks about the type of customers you need to go after depending on what you
want to achieve.

[http://christophjanz.blogspot.com/2014/10/five-ways-to-
build...](http://christophjanz.blogspot.com/2014/10/five-ways-to-
build-100-million-business.html)

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joelennon
There is no one size fits all answer to this question. What’s your definition
of success? Owning your own business that pays you an above market salary and
allows you to live comfortably and independently? Or do you see success as
growing to being a huge global corporation? Do you want to start a company
that targets consumers, small to medium businesses or large enterprises?
There’s a ton of other factors that have a huge impact on a potential roadmap
for success.

One bit of advice I’d offer is to know going in that software development is
likely to be the least of your problems when running a software company -
especially for a software engineer. Your real challenges lie in sales,
marketing and customer relations. If you’re not successful at these aspects of
the business, it doesn’t matter how good or bad your product or code is.

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SQL2219
Been there. It is hard. Live like a pauper. Think B2B. Software is really
about solving someone's problems. Don't be a solution in search of a problem.
You need to work somewhere first, as you will see opportunities everywhere.

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Sylarv
That's the wrong focus. You're trying to reverse engineer success. Start from
the bottom. Have a problem you want to solve with software. Then gather people
together to solve that problem together, create a product out of the solution,
market it and sell it.

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muzani
YC playbook covers most of
it:[http://playbook.samaltman.com/](http://playbook.samaltman.com/)

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soulchild37
Assuming you already have a software product, read
[https://kalzumeus.com](https://kalzumeus.com) article on how to sell more
software/ run a software business.

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ryosua
[http://www.ryanyosua.me/how-to-start-a-lean-
startup/](http://www.ryanyosua.me/how-to-start-a-lean-startup/)

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itamarst
Go read everything on
[http://stackingthebricks.com](http://stackingthebricks.com)

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du_bing
Find a problem and solve it, to make people really need you.

Find a place to sell your solution, to make people really see you.

That's business.

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mabynogy
You can try to apply the YC's slogan to your neighboorhood ("Make what people
want").

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perseusprime11
Stay close to your customers, and always test your ideas before you scale.

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mindcrime
Read _The Four Steps to the Epiphany_ by @sgblank.

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tga
Superseded by _The Startup Owner 's Manual: The Step-By-Step Guide for
Building a Great Company_, also by Steve Blank.

[https://www.amazon.com/Startup-Owners-Manual-Step-
Step/dp/09...](https://www.amazon.com/Startup-Owners-Manual-Step-
Step/dp/0984999302)

