

Engineers: Build businesses not apps - briandoll
http://emphaticsolutions.com/2010/12/10/build-businesses-not-apps.html

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thetrumanshow
Or, build apps, lots of them, keep them alive, find distribution channels to
push them through (platforms), improve the winners, sideline the losers, find
a niche, build apps for the niche, keep slugging away at it, build up a
portfolio of complementary things.. and then build a business out of it.

I mean, its very very hard to get it right the first time and hit one out of
the park, so you have to try a million tiny things to find some things that
stick. The trick is knowing when you're on to something and when you need to
double-down. If you can't do that yourself, get outside people involved when
you think you have something. If everyone walks away disinterested, you may
not have anything yet... keep going.

~~~
zacharycohn
"Or, build apps, lots of them, keep them alive, find distribution channels to
push them through (platforms), improve the winners, sideline the losers, find
a niche, build apps for the niche, keep slugging away at it, build up a
portfolio of complementary things.."

Isn't that a business? :)

~~~
thetrumanshow
When the first deposit from a paying customer hits your bank account, or the
first serious investor opens their wallet to validate you, or you convince
some innocent wide-eyed soul to quit their job and join you, then you can call
it a business. Before that, I'd just call it an expensive hobby.

~~~
dholowiski
Yikes. I have several expensive hobbies on the go right now.

~~~
thetrumanshow
App Engine and Heroku have recently taken a couple of my projects
infrastructure costs down to nil... so it is getting less expensive. However,
the opportunity costs are still eating me alive. :)

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tomjen3
That will always be the case. Just know that the opportunity costs of not
doing it will be a little bit higher.

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tlrobinson
This is the counter point to business types saying "I have an idea, all I need
is a coder to build it"... "I have an app, all I need is to turn it into a
business"

~~~
jk8
It is also good to partner up with someone who is good at building business.

~~~
phlux
There should be an App for that!

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bherms
I've noticed this with lots of engineering type people... We love to build, to
push boundaries, test limits, apply new ideas and technology, but don't
generally like to think about all of the other stuff because it doesn't seem
quite as cool or exciting.

I'm launching a business soon and I must say, there's a lot more that goes
into it than I expected from the get go. Pricing plans, the front-facing
website -- what information goes on it, how do I sell it, what do I focus on,
etc -- logo, business cards, hosting options, funding, lawyers, incorporating,
beta testing, etc... There's so much extra stuff involved and decisions to
make.

It's really not for everyone though; so engineers, keep building apps if thats
what you like to do. If the other stuff excites or interests you, then do
that. Just know that if you want to build a business, there's a lot of extra
crap you'll have to do that is gonna either suck, or if you're like me, excite
you even more.

~~~
arethuza
I'm not sure that it's because the other stuff isn't "doesn't seem quite as
cool or exciting", I've realized that the buzz associated with fixing bugs or
implementing new features is addictive because of the _immediate_ feedback and
associated warm glow of self satisfaction when all the unit tests are green,
the bug is fixed or that cool new feature is added.

I've only realized this fairly recently and I know that it means a significant
changes in my behavior is required....

~~~
bherms
I'm guessing you came to that realization from actually having to do it? I was
just saying that sometimes the prospect of having to do all of that "extra
stuff" in the beginning isn't enticing. Once you get going you find that it is
actually addictive and exciting (for some).

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vic_nyc
The author makes a very good point, yet I fail to see practical advices about
how to tackle the "business" side of things.

In the Milo.com example, it seems they succeeded because they were able to
establish relationships with the big retailers. Yet I doubt that, had the
author picked up the phone and called these retailers, he would have had any
luck. It's possible, but business deals seem to be a lot about
"relationships". Would the solution be to partner with a business person?
Maybe, but how would you go about finding that person? They should be someone
with knowledge and relationships in the particular business area (here,
retailers), and yet it seems most of the successful business partnerships seem
to have been between people who knew each other for a while (e.g. college
friends, etc), probably because trust is essential. And yet in that case, it
seems very difficult to find a matching relationship between the people
involved and the "business idea" / "epiphany".

It would be interesting to learn about how an engineer can learn more about
the business-side of things, and how to successfully partner with business
people.

~~~
dazzla
Establishing a relationship could be signing up for their affiliate program
and making use of its product feed. Pretty low barrier to entry.

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dangrover
This is something I realized last year.

It turns out the same kind of detail oriented "hacker"-minded thinking that
goes into coding can be applied to a lot of other things. Just takes patience
and the willingness to be a beginner again.

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geekfactor
Or my related self-admonition: build the business before you buy the domain
name.

There are better and cheaper ways to keep track of good ideas than a GoDaddy
account!

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jcromartie
Been there. I had the "that was my idea" moment a few days ago when I saw
<http://skillsapp.com/> which is something I had been toying with in my mind.

The thing is, as with apps, there is always room for competition. So what if
someone "takes" your idea first? You can execute on it too and build something
worth paying for; maybe even a better one.

~~~
phlux
>So what if someone "takes" your idea first? You can execute on it too and
build something worth paying for; maybe even a better one.

Meta-ration (meta iteration?)

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_pius
_Get the giant retailers first, where there is huge impact with a single
business integration._

Though this wasn't the point of the article, this sector specific point is
worth considering for any online business trying to do "local."

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grammaton
Interesting, if somewhat standard issue, article - however, it seems to me
that the author wasn't really building an app at all. A shopping portal with a
search function - whoop dee doo. Might be an interesting business, but at this
point that doesn't qualify as an app so much as it qualifies as a remedial
exercise any halfway competent webdev could throw together in a day or two. It
seems to me the "build businesses not apps" crowd tends to confuse businesses
that use technology with businesses that ARE technology. The two are very
distinct businesses with very different sets of requirements.

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jk8
With the advent of the app stores on mobile phones, I think it is possible to
generate revenue (and profits too) by creating apps. Someone who is a game
developer can build a business writing games for all the mobile platforms. If
your business is not writing (and selling) games, I think you need to partner
up with different players to increase the value of your service.

I think the app stores are letting us developers test our little apps without
a business in the foreseeable future, which I think is great. If the app is a
success then we can think of building a business around it.

