I am here to inform about the Status Of our Venture Indiarealestventure.com
Still in stealth mode. Yet to get finances for a full fledged office.
What we have completed is
- a CRM to handle the complete back end operations including call management. You can connect to any other database. We are using MySQL, an opensource DB, which will charge very less on commercial deployment.
- Study of Microsoft Silverlight and customization of the latest Beta ver 3.0 is going on. We have got few pro bono workers!
- Other than real estate portals we are also involving ourselves with the customization of these CRM modules for Sharon Software Systems, Saas ventures hosted on various websites like saassystems.in, saasservices.in and saasplatform.in
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Building a team: Discussion
Building a company team is much more complex and revolves around your business plan. You need revenue projections along with employee costs to proceed. I would recommend you hire an experienced consultant to guide you or put together an advisory team/board of entrepreneurs who have started businesses and made them successful.
***
The concept plan will define your product/service and allow you to flesh out the idea. Key facets of this should at least include: a description of the website's function and a proposal of the value added to its users; a(n at least basic site map); a flowchart describing the process of building the site; and design and usability considerations.
The strategic plan will allow you to identify the business model you are expecting to employ. If done right, it should be straightforward (though sometimes difficult) to construct it in a way that connects the dots. In my opinion, every strategic plan should include: a description of your core principles as an organization (vision/mission/goals/values); an analysis of your internal resources and external market environment (not limited to your presumed customer base); strategic options and a description of your choice as well as an explanation of 'why'; a plan for implementation of the strategy - including needed resources; expectations of performance (operational/market/financial); a description of relevant metrics you can use to gauge your business' performance; and a plan for how to monitor and respond to changes in your operations and/or market.
***
Developing your team of core advisors and mentors is very important, as I'm sure you already know. It sounds like you need some advisors/mentors just for general business purposes - and at least 1 or 2 that specialize on the web side.
Just my opinion, but I'd start by scanning through your business plan to determine core areas needed to get your business going. That will help you determine what KIND of advisors you need. You are particularly looking for people with skills you don't have. As an example, I have an accounting degree, so when I was looking for core advisors, I did NOT look for an accountant, since I would fill that slot, myself. If you can interest a lawyer and someone with an accounting/finance background, that's a real plus. For web models, I'd also say a really energetic, up-to-date marketing person would be a tremendous plus. The marketing person should be very knowledgable about current and up-coming web and new media (like i-Phone, etc.), able to evaluate what is working, all the legal requirements, etc., since all of these will, ultimately, be a part of your big picture.
On the web side, someone very strong in web development from the IS side - and, if you can get two, one who is also strong on web commerce (if this will be an e-commerce site). I have discovered that some folks who are terrific at innovative web design and management aren't as strong on e-commerce, which has a lot of legal and technical areas that are vital.
Once you've figured out what kind of advisors and mentors you need - I'd say no more than 8-10 people with 6-8 people being ideal - you can start strategizing on how to get them!
Depending on where you live, an area university or your alma mater may have a program that matches graduate students in a specific area with projects. A law school may have a free law program similar to that. I live in Nashville, TN, and Vanderbilt University does both of these. It's not just for start ups - some really big companies use these services. If your alma mater has an online business connection, sometimes folks from your school might be interested and willing to help - or identify someone for you.
Another way is to become active in some organizations that people that you need are likely to belong to. I belong to the American Marketing Association for just that reason. Check FaceBook for professional listings. Some pros participate in FaceBook. Even if they aren't available for a low cost, they frequently can match you up with someone good who is - or you may find them by visiting a page frequently and observing their posts. I have met an excellent career coach through LinkedIn, for example.
Networking is a really big key, but it needs to be networking with people who have what you are looking for, not just social events and business-card-swaps. Don't be bashful about "telling your story" over and over again. Come up with a couple of short pitches (one 2 minute one and one 5 minute one) that will explain what you are trying to do. That won't bore the people who will eventually say, "Oh, yeah, I have a friend that would be interested in that" . . . or "does that" and will be willing to give you an e-mail or contact to get in touch with them. And, if they are interested themselves, they will let you know and you can go into more detail. A lot of this is really viral and on-the-spot. The big thing on networking is to have a plan. Plan 1) what you are going to; 2) who you want to talk to; 3) what you plan to say to them; and 4) what you are trying to get (contacts, etc.). You'll get better results that way.
A lot of cities have Small Business centers that provide a LOT of help with this. Check and see if there is one in your area. They are frequently free. And, many Chambers of Commerce have programs that can help, too. Some of the COC programs are free - some cost some money, but not usually very much.
***
Its a very dangerous trap "if I build it they will come". I've fallen into that trap myself in the past and paid in time and money. Validate your business model first.
Does your product address a pain point?
Is your pain point recognized?
Is the pain great enough that people are willing to pay for it? (I can't stress this point high enough)
Will the payment model support the business both in start up and as it grows?
Second prototype and model your product. You should take an iterative approach starting with detailed static mockups, framework functions, etc. and validate, validate, validate with leaders in the industries or markets you want to capture. I've found great value in paying a graphic designer to produce myriad static displays (in fine detail) so that I could "show" the functions and collect feedback early on. An additional benefit is the coding team will have a much better understanding of what the final product should look like and how it should behave. They will also insert a number of technical requirements that would be missed otherwise.
Warning... you need a graphic designer that has worked with a development team before. They need to inject realism in the static product. It would also be helpful to finalize your business requirements. What is the end product supposed to achieve. Which of course dove tails in the business modeling.
An additional point of warning. Off shoring can work very well particularly if you've managed other development projects and have a good understanding of the process, the requirements and acting as a business owner for a project. Off shoring has its negatives including language barriers, cultural misunderstandings, time zone craziness, cost barriers to face-to-face engagements and challenges in aligning business requirements to technical requirements. If you've never done this before and you want to try this approach, get someone to coach you who has experience with this.
***
Also http://www.8kmiles.com is a wonderful concept to pull in a team, virtually.
***
Do not believe in free tools, or pro bono work or free items / widgets. Build up from scratch, you might have sometime and something to show to VC's and Angels.
You can also mail me at vijayashankar dot india @ gmail for many inputs, I can share.... if you can get me some venture / angel funding for my venture http://www.indiarealestventure.com
***
The concept plan will define your product/service and allow you to flesh out the idea. Key facets of this should at least include: a description of the website's function and a proposal of the value added to its users; a(n at least basic site map); a flowchart describing the process of building the site; and design and usability considerations.
The strategic plan will allow you to identify the business model you are expecting to employ. If done right, it should be straightforward (though sometimes difficult) to construct it in a way that connects the dots. In my opinion, every strategic plan should include: a description of your core principles as an organization (vision/mission/goals/values); an analysis of your internal resources and external market environment (not limited to your presumed customer base); strategic options and a description of your choice as well as an explanation of 'why'; a plan for implementation of the strategy - including needed resources; expectations of performance (operational/market/financial); a description of relevant metrics you can use to gauge your business' performance; and a plan for how to monitor and respond to changes in your operations and/or market.
***
Developing your team of core advisors and mentors is very important, as I'm sure you already know. It sounds like you need some advisors/mentors just for general business purposes - and at least 1 or 2 that specialize on the web side.
Just my opinion, but I'd start by scanning through your business plan to determine core areas needed to get your business going. That will help you determine what KIND of advisors you need. You are particularly looking for people with skills you don't have. As an example, I have an accounting degree, so when I was looking for core advisors, I did NOT look for an accountant, since I would fill that slot, myself. If you can interest a lawyer and someone with an accounting/finance background, that's a real plus. For web models, I'd also say a really energetic, up-to-date marketing person would be a tremendous plus. The marketing person should be very knowledgable about current and up-coming web and new media (like i-Phone, etc.), able to evaluate what is working, all the legal requirements, etc., since all of these will, ultimately, be a part of your big picture.
On the web side, someone very strong in web development from the IS side - and, if you can get two, one who is also strong on web commerce (if this will be an e-commerce site). I have discovered that some folks who are terrific at innovative web design and management aren't as strong on e-commerce, which has a lot of legal and technical areas that are vital.
Once you've figured out what kind of advisors and mentors you need - I'd say no more than 8-10 people with 6-8 people being ideal - you can start strategizing on how to get them!
Depending on where you live, an area university or your alma mater may have a program that matches graduate students in a specific area with projects. A law school may have a free law program similar to that. I live in Nashville, TN, and Vanderbilt University does both of these. It's not just for start ups - some really big companies use these services. If your alma mater has an online business connection, sometimes folks from your school might be interested and willing to help - or identify someone for you.
Another way is to become active in some organizations that people that you need are likely to belong to. I belong to the American Marketing Association for just that reason. Check FaceBook for professional listings. Some pros participate in FaceBook. Even if they aren't available for a low cost, they frequently can match you up with someone good who is - or you may find them by visiting a page frequently and observing their posts. I have met an excellent career coach through LinkedIn, for example.
Networking is a really big key, but it needs to be networking with people who have what you are looking for, not just social events and business-card-swaps. Don't be bashful about "telling your story" over and over again. Come up with a couple of short pitches (one 2 minute one and one 5 minute one) that will explain what you are trying to do. That won't bore the people who will eventually say, "Oh, yeah, I have a friend that would be interested in that" . . . or "does that" and will be willing to give you an e-mail or contact to get in touch with them. And, if they are interested themselves, they will let you know and you can go into more detail. A lot of this is really viral and on-the-spot. The big thing on networking is to have a plan. Plan 1) what you are going to; 2) who you want to talk to; 3) what you plan to say to them; and 4) what you are trying to get (contacts, etc.). You'll get better results that way.
A lot of cities have Small Business centers that provide a LOT of help with this. Check and see if there is one in your area. They are frequently free. And, many Chambers of Commerce have programs that can help, too. Some of the COC programs are free - some cost some money, but not usually very much.
***
Its a very dangerous trap "if I build it they will come". I've fallen into that trap myself in the past and paid in time and money. Validate your business model first.
Does your product address a pain point?
Is your pain point recognized?
Is the pain great enough that people are willing to pay for it? (I can't stress this point high enough)
Will the payment model support the business both in start up and as it grows?
Second prototype and model your product. You should take an iterative approach starting with detailed static mockups, framework functions, etc. and validate, validate, validate with leaders in the industries or markets you want to capture. I've found great value in paying a graphic designer to produce myriad static displays (in fine detail) so that I could "show" the functions and collect feedback early on. An additional benefit is the coding team will have a much better understanding of what the final product should look like and how it should behave. They will also insert a number of technical requirements that would be missed otherwise.
Warning... you need a graphic designer that has worked with a development team before. They need to inject realism in the static product. It would also be helpful to finalize your business requirements. What is the end product supposed to achieve. Which of course dove tails in the business modeling.
An additional point of warning. Off shoring can work very well particularly if you've managed other development projects and have a good understanding of the process, the requirements and acting as a business owner for a project. Off shoring has its negatives including language barriers, cultural misunderstandings, time zone craziness, cost barriers to face-to-face engagements and challenges in aligning business requirements to technical requirements. If you've never done this before and you want to try this approach, get someone to coach you who has experience with this.
***
Also http://www.8kmiles.com is a wonderful concept to pull in a team, virtually.
***
Do not believe in free tools, or pro bono work or free items / widgets. Build up from scratch, you might have sometime and something to show to VC's and Angels.
You can also mail me at vijayashankar dot india @ gmail for many inputs, I can share.... if you can get me some venture / angel funding for my venture http://www.indiarealestventure.com
Building a team: Discussion
Building a company team is much more complex and revolves around your business plan. You need revenue projections along with employee costs to proceed. I would recommend you hire an experienced consultant to guide you or put together an advisory team/board of entrepreneurs who have started businesses and made them successful.
***
The concept plan will define your product/service and allow you to flesh out the idea. Key facets of this should at least include: a description of the website's function and a proposal of the value added to its users; a(n at least basic site map); a flowchart describing the process of building the site; and design and usability considerations.
The strategic plan will allow you to identify the business model you are expecting to employ. If done right, it should be straightforward (though sometimes difficult) to construct it in a way that connects the dots. In my opinion, every strategic plan should include: a description of your core principles as an organization (vision/mission/goals/values); an analysis of your internal resources and external market environment (not limited to your presumed customer base); strategic options and a description of your choice as well as an explanation of 'why'; a plan for implementation of the strategy - including needed resources; expectations of performance (operational/market/financial); a description of relevant metrics you can use to gauge your business' performance; and a plan for how to monitor and respond to changes in your operations and/or market.
***
Developing your team of core advisors and mentors is very important, as I'm sure you already know. It sounds like you need some advisors/mentors just for general business purposes - and at least 1 or 2 that specialize on the web side.
Just my opinion, but I'd start by scanning through your business plan to determine core areas needed to get your business going. That will help you determine what KIND of advisors you need. You are particularly looking for people with skills you don't have. As an example, I have an accounting degree, so when I was looking for core advisors, I did NOT look for an accountant, since I would fill that slot, myself. If you can interest a lawyer and someone with an accounting/finance background, that's a real plus. For web models, I'd also say a really energetic, up-to-date marketing person would be a tremendous plus. The marketing person should be very knowledgable about current and up-coming web and new media (like i-Phone, etc.), able to evaluate what is working, all the legal requirements, etc., since all of these will, ultimately, be a part of your big picture.
On the web side, someone very strong in web development from the IS side - and, if you can get two, one who is also strong on web commerce (if this will be an e-commerce site). I have discovered that some folks who are terrific at innovative web design and management aren't as strong on e-commerce, which has a lot of legal and technical areas that are vital.
Once you've figured out what kind of advisors and mentors you need - I'd say no more than 8-10 people with 6-8 people being ideal - you can start strategizing on how to get them!
Depending on where you live, an area university or your alma mater may have a program that matches graduate students in a specific area with projects. A law school may have a free law program similar to that. I live in Nashville, TN, and Vanderbilt University does both of these. It's not just for start ups - some really big companies use these services. If your alma mater has an online business connection, sometimes folks from your school might be interested and willing to help - or identify someone for you.
Another way is to become active in some organizations that people that you need are likely to belong to. I belong to the American Marketing Association for just that reason. Check FaceBook for professional listings. Some pros participate in FaceBook. Even if they aren't available for a low cost, they frequently can match you up with someone good who is - or you may find them by visiting a page frequently and observing their posts. I have met an excellent career coach through LinkedIn, for example.
Networking is a really big key, but it needs to be networking with people who have what you are looking for, not just social events and business-card-swaps. Don't be bashful about "telling your story" over and over again. Come up with a couple of short pitches (one 2 minute one and one 5 minute one) that will explain what you are trying to do. That won't bore the people who will eventually say, "Oh, yeah, I have a friend that would be interested in that" . . . or "does that" and will be willing to give you an e-mail or contact to get in touch with them. And, if they are interested themselves, they will let you know and you can go into more detail. A lot of this is really viral and on-the-spot. The big thing on networking is to have a plan. Plan 1) what you are going to; 2) who you want to talk to; 3) what you plan to say to them; and 4) what you are trying to get (contacts, etc.). You'll get better results that way.
A lot of cities have Small Business centers that provide a LOT of help with this. Check and see if there is one in your area. They are frequently free. And, many Chambers of Commerce have programs that can help, too. Some of the COC programs are free - some cost some money, but not usually very much.
***
Its a very dangerous trap "if I build it they will come". I've fallen into that trap myself in the past and paid in time and money. Validate your business model first.
Does your product address a pain point?
Is your pain point recognized?
Is the pain great enough that people are willing to pay for it? (I can't stress this point high enough)
Will the payment model support the business both in start up and as it grows?
Second prototype and model your product. You should take an iterative approach starting with detailed static mockups, framework functions, etc. and validate, validate, validate with leaders in the industries or markets you want to capture. I've found great value in paying a graphic designer to produce myriad static displays (in fine detail) so that I could "show" the functions and collect feedback early on. An additional benefit is the coding team will have a much better understanding of what the final product should look like and how it should behave. They will also insert a number of technical requirements that would be missed otherwise.
Warning... you need a graphic designer that has worked with a development team before. They need to inject realism in the static product. It would also be helpful to finalize your business requirements. What is the end product supposed to achieve. Which of course dove tails in the business modeling.
An additional point of warning. Off shoring can work very well particularly if you've managed other development projects and have a good understanding of the process, the requirements and acting as a business owner for a project. Off shoring has its negatives including language barriers, cultural misunderstandings, time zone craziness, cost barriers to face-to-face engagements and challenges in aligning business requirements to technical requirements. If you've never done this before and you want to try this approach, get someone to coach you who has experience with this.
***
Also http://www.8kmiles.com is a wonderful concept to pull in a team, virtually.
***
Do not believe in free tools, or pro bono work or free items / widgets. Build up from scratch, you might have sometime and something to show to VC's and Angels.
You can also mail me at vijayashankar dot india @ gmail for many inputs, I can share.... if you can get me some venture / angel funding for my venture http://www.indiarealestventure.com
***
The concept plan will define your product/service and allow you to flesh out the idea. Key facets of this should at least include: a description of the website's function and a proposal of the value added to its users; a(n at least basic site map); a flowchart describing the process of building the site; and design and usability considerations.
The strategic plan will allow you to identify the business model you are expecting to employ. If done right, it should be straightforward (though sometimes difficult) to construct it in a way that connects the dots. In my opinion, every strategic plan should include: a description of your core principles as an organization (vision/mission/goals/values); an analysis of your internal resources and external market environment (not limited to your presumed customer base); strategic options and a description of your choice as well as an explanation of 'why'; a plan for implementation of the strategy - including needed resources; expectations of performance (operational/market/financial); a description of relevant metrics you can use to gauge your business' performance; and a plan for how to monitor and respond to changes in your operations and/or market.
***
Developing your team of core advisors and mentors is very important, as I'm sure you already know. It sounds like you need some advisors/mentors just for general business purposes - and at least 1 or 2 that specialize on the web side.
Just my opinion, but I'd start by scanning through your business plan to determine core areas needed to get your business going. That will help you determine what KIND of advisors you need. You are particularly looking for people with skills you don't have. As an example, I have an accounting degree, so when I was looking for core advisors, I did NOT look for an accountant, since I would fill that slot, myself. If you can interest a lawyer and someone with an accounting/finance background, that's a real plus. For web models, I'd also say a really energetic, up-to-date marketing person would be a tremendous plus. The marketing person should be very knowledgable about current and up-coming web and new media (like i-Phone, etc.), able to evaluate what is working, all the legal requirements, etc., since all of these will, ultimately, be a part of your big picture.
On the web side, someone very strong in web development from the IS side - and, if you can get two, one who is also strong on web commerce (if this will be an e-commerce site). I have discovered that some folks who are terrific at innovative web design and management aren't as strong on e-commerce, which has a lot of legal and technical areas that are vital.
Once you've figured out what kind of advisors and mentors you need - I'd say no more than 8-10 people with 6-8 people being ideal - you can start strategizing on how to get them!
Depending on where you live, an area university or your alma mater may have a program that matches graduate students in a specific area with projects. A law school may have a free law program similar to that. I live in Nashville, TN, and Vanderbilt University does both of these. It's not just for start ups - some really big companies use these services. If your alma mater has an online business connection, sometimes folks from your school might be interested and willing to help - or identify someone for you.
Another way is to become active in some organizations that people that you need are likely to belong to. I belong to the American Marketing Association for just that reason. Check FaceBook for professional listings. Some pros participate in FaceBook. Even if they aren't available for a low cost, they frequently can match you up with someone good who is - or you may find them by visiting a page frequently and observing their posts. I have met an excellent career coach through LinkedIn, for example.
Networking is a really big key, but it needs to be networking with people who have what you are looking for, not just social events and business-card-swaps. Don't be bashful about "telling your story" over and over again. Come up with a couple of short pitches (one 2 minute one and one 5 minute one) that will explain what you are trying to do. That won't bore the people who will eventually say, "Oh, yeah, I have a friend that would be interested in that" . . . or "does that" and will be willing to give you an e-mail or contact to get in touch with them. And, if they are interested themselves, they will let you know and you can go into more detail. A lot of this is really viral and on-the-spot. The big thing on networking is to have a plan. Plan 1) what you are going to; 2) who you want to talk to; 3) what you plan to say to them; and 4) what you are trying to get (contacts, etc.). You'll get better results that way.
A lot of cities have Small Business centers that provide a LOT of help with this. Check and see if there is one in your area. They are frequently free. And, many Chambers of Commerce have programs that can help, too. Some of the COC programs are free - some cost some money, but not usually very much.
***
Its a very dangerous trap "if I build it they will come". I've fallen into that trap myself in the past and paid in time and money. Validate your business model first.
Does your product address a pain point?
Is your pain point recognized?
Is the pain great enough that people are willing to pay for it? (I can't stress this point high enough)
Will the payment model support the business both in start up and as it grows?
Second prototype and model your product. You should take an iterative approach starting with detailed static mockups, framework functions, etc. and validate, validate, validate with leaders in the industries or markets you want to capture. I've found great value in paying a graphic designer to produce myriad static displays (in fine detail) so that I could "show" the functions and collect feedback early on. An additional benefit is the coding team will have a much better understanding of what the final product should look like and how it should behave. They will also insert a number of technical requirements that would be missed otherwise.
Warning... you need a graphic designer that has worked with a development team before. They need to inject realism in the static product. It would also be helpful to finalize your business requirements. What is the end product supposed to achieve. Which of course dove tails in the business modeling.
An additional point of warning. Off shoring can work very well particularly if you've managed other development projects and have a good understanding of the process, the requirements and acting as a business owner for a project. Off shoring has its negatives including language barriers, cultural misunderstandings, time zone craziness, cost barriers to face-to-face engagements and challenges in aligning business requirements to technical requirements. If you've never done this before and you want to try this approach, get someone to coach you who has experience with this.
***
Also http://www.8kmiles.com is a wonderful concept to pull in a team, virtually.
***
Do not believe in free tools, or pro bono work or free items / widgets. Build up from scratch, you might have sometime and something to show to VC's and Angels.
You can also mail me at vijayashankar dot india @ gmail for many inputs, I can share.... if you can get me some venture / angel funding for my venture http://www.indiarealestventure.com
Friday, June 19, 2009
True entrepreneurs vs. "get rich quick" vs. cool sites with no revenue.
After reading through several posts both in this group and plenty others geared towards startups/entrepreneurs/web 2.0,3.0 etc. I had some thoughts...
Having worked with a lot of startups and talked to 100X more than that, there's some very clear distinctions between the true entrepreneurial startup, and someone who just has a cool idea for a site but no business behind it.
First off, building a cool site, lets say a new Twitter application, with absolutely no revenue possibilities doesn't make you an entrepreneur. It makes you good at building sites that are "neat". Sure people might come to your site. Throw up a few Google ads, maybe make a few dollars. Really though, sustainable business? Have a growth strategy? It's easy to put on paper "our site will continue to grow at an exponential rate" and associate higher and higher ad revenues with this, but in reality, if it's that great, someone will copy it. And chances are, it's just not that great, sorry.
The get rich quick companies almost aren't worth discussion. Their blatent posts in attempts to lure anyone willing to throw money at them are laughable. It's sad to think people still get drawn into pyramid schemes and ideas of grandeur that really wouldn't take long to think about in terms of a business, and realize there's nothing there. I've often found anyone who contacts me with the more passion and enthusiasm than actual information and conceptual facts about their business, doesn't have one. It usually goes hand in hand with them talking extensively about how much money everyone involved is going to make, and that alone should be why I should or anyone should be involved. Sorry guys, I've been around the block enough times to spot you a mile away.
True entrepreneurs, these are the guys and girls that keep me going. Passion, spirit, dynamic, an actual business model, experience in the industry they are entering are just a few traits. They know how to command a team, have realistic ideas about what it takes to start a company, how long it takes to really ramp up revenues, and what expenses they'll incur.
Any thoughts? Agree, disagree, think I'm a startup snob? I'm the first one to admit I am, but when you are amongst a sea of fools, you have to have some qualifiers to find those rare few.
True entrepreneurs vs. "get rich quick" vs. cool sites with no revenue.
After reading through several posts both in this group and plenty others geared towards startups/entrepreneurs/web 2.0,3.0 etc. I had some thoughts...
Having worked with a lot of startups and talked to 100X more than that, there's some very clear distinctions between the true entrepreneurial startup, and someone who just has a cool idea for a site but no business behind it.
First off, building a cool site, lets say a new Twitter application, with absolutely no revenue possibilities doesn't make you an entrepreneur. It makes you good at building sites that are "neat". Sure people might come to your site. Throw up a few Google ads, maybe make a few dollars. Really though, sustainable business? Have a growth strategy? It's easy to put on paper "our site will continue to grow at an exponential rate" and associate higher and higher ad revenues with this, but in reality, if it's that great, someone will copy it. And chances are, it's just not that great, sorry.
The get rich quick companies almost aren't worth discussion. Their blatent posts in attempts to lure anyone willing to throw money at them are laughable. It's sad to think people still get drawn into pyramid schemes and ideas of grandeur that really wouldn't take long to think about in terms of a business, and realize there's nothing there. I've often found anyone who contacts me with the more passion and enthusiasm than actual information and conceptual facts about their business, doesn't have one. It usually goes hand in hand with them talking extensively about how much money everyone involved is going to make, and that alone should be why I should or anyone should be involved. Sorry guys, I've been around the block enough times to spot you a mile away.
True entrepreneurs, these are the guys and girls that keep me going. Passion, spirit, dynamic, an actual business model, experience in the industry they are entering are just a few traits. They know how to command a team, have realistic ideas about what it takes to start a company, how long it takes to really ramp up revenues, and what expenses they'll incur.
Any thoughts? Agree, disagree, think I'm a startup snob? I'm the first one to admit I am, but when you are amongst a sea of fools, you have to have some qualifiers to find those rare few.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Developers
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Developers
If you want to achieve your highest aspirations and overcome your greatest challenges, identify and apply the principle or natural law that governs the results you seek. How we apply a principle will vary greatly and will be determined by our unique strengths, talents, and creativity, but, ultimately, success in any endeavor is always derived from acting in harmony with principles to which the success is tied. This advice comes from Steven Covey in his best-selling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. If you haven't read this book yet, you must. It's about effecting change from the inside out for success in both your personal and professional life by aligning your values with principles through practicing seven habits. Before reading this book, I felt like a passenger on a career freight-train. like something put in motion that I was powerless to control. What I was practicing in my career, my habits, was misaligned with my values, and my values were misaligned with unmovable principles. Although I was powerless over the career train, I came to realize I had the power to choose which train I was on. So here I am at a company that allows me to follow my passion: developing software.
The 7 Habits book is broadly focused, and it made me think about habits specific to my profession. What do those software developers that I consider effective (if not brilliant) have in common? What values drive their decisions and what habits do they practice that make them successful? Here are the seven habits that I think effective developers practice:
Passionate
The most brilliant people I've worked with are passionate about what they do. They aren't driven by money and fame and, I say this with tongue in cheek, if they didn't have families to feed, would develop software without compensation. If I had two candidates for a development position, I'd rather hire a less-experienced person with passion than a more experienced person without. If you aren't passionate about software development, find what you are passionate about and follow that path.
Able to Learn, Unlearn and Re-learn
I believe that learning is an extension of passion, and effective developers operate in a continuum of improvement and innovation. They learn from their and others' mistakes and don't apply old solutions to new problems just because they worked before. Effective developers follow technology, but are careful to not let new approaches become solutions looking for a problem.
Balance Principle and Practice
Principle and practice are the Yin and Yang of software development. Effective developers don't design impractical solutions for the sake of principle and don't implement solutions without overarching values. They are willing to compromise based on time, cost, scope and quality constraints, but can also obtain compromise from others based on sound principles.
Keep It Simple Software (KISS)
Effective developers implement the simplest possible thing that will work while not painting themselves into a corner. They don't implement anything more than is needed right now, remaining mindful about what might be needed in the future. Effective developers know that the less moving parts there are, the less likely it will break and favor elegance and simplicity over convoluted cleverness.
If You Don't Know the Answer, Know Someone Who Does
Software developers aren't renown for their social prowess, but some of the most effective developers I know are excellent at networking. If you give a random 100 question test to a group of people, no one individual will score 100%, but collectively, with few exceptions, the group can answer all the questions correctly. There is so much technology, so many areas of speciality, you can only be an expert on one, maybe two subject areas. Effective developers know the limit of their knowledge, aren't afraid to admit when they don't know something and have many friends and colleagues in their network they can reach out to for help.
Focus on Value
Effective developers understand the forces driving the project, its stakeholders and their goals. Using this knowledge to guide their decision making, they focus on delivering tangible value to their customers over anything else. Effective developers prioritize work based on its value--the so called "bang for the buck," and avoid projects and features they don't believe in.
Puts the Needs of the Many Before the Needs of the One
I've seen small teams accomplish extraordinary things; it's amazing what "two guys and a laptop" can accomplish. Call it teamwork or synergy or whatever you like, when a group of people put common goals before their own, they converge like light into a laser beam. Contrast this with the arrogant, rogue and cowboy developers who go against team standards or design intents because "that's how I do it" or "that's how you should do it." The message they are really sending is "I am smarter than the team."
Conclusion
These seven habits give me something to work towards and keep me focused. I only had room for seven habits in this article, and I'm sure you can think of many more or define effective in your own way. The important thing is to take a value-driven approach to your software development career and do intentional things that move you towards your definition of success.
--
Regards
Vijayashankar
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Developers
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Developers
If you want to achieve your highest aspirations and overcome your greatest challenges, identify and apply the principle or natural law that governs the results you seek. How we apply a principle will vary greatly and will be determined by our unique strengths, talents, and creativity, but, ultimately, success in any endeavor is always derived from acting in harmony with principles to which the success is tied. This advice comes from Steven Covey in his best-selling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. If you haven't read this book yet, you must. It's about effecting change from the inside out for success in both your personal and professional life by aligning your values with principles through practicing seven habits. Before reading this book, I felt like a passenger on a career freight-train. like something put in motion that I was powerless to control. What I was practicing in my career, my habits, was misaligned with my values, and my values were misaligned with unmovable principles. Although I was powerless over the career train, I came to realize I had the power to choose which train I was on. So here I am at a company that allows me to follow my passion: developing software.
The 7 Habits book is broadly focused, and it made me think about habits specific to my profession. What do those software developers that I consider effective (if not brilliant) have in common? What values drive their decisions and what habits do they practice that make them successful? Here are the seven habits that I think effective developers practice:
Passionate
The most brilliant people I've worked with are passionate about what they do. They aren't driven by money and fame and, I say this with tongue in cheek, if they didn't have families to feed, would develop software without compensation. If I had two candidates for a development position, I'd rather hire a less-experienced person with passion than a more experienced person without. If you aren't passionate about software development, find what you are passionate about and follow that path.
Able to Learn, Unlearn and Re-learn
I believe that learning is an extension of passion, and effective developers operate in a continuum of improvement and innovation. They learn from their and others' mistakes and don't apply old solutions to new problems just because they worked before. Effective developers follow technology, but are careful to not let new approaches become solutions looking for a problem.
Balance Principle and Practice
Principle and practice are the Yin and Yang of software development. Effective developers don't design impractical solutions for the sake of principle and don't implement solutions without overarching values. They are willing to compromise based on time, cost, scope and quality constraints, but can also obtain compromise from others based on sound principles.
Keep It Simple Software (KISS)
Effective developers implement the simplest possible thing that will work while not painting themselves into a corner. They don't implement anything more than is needed right now, remaining mindful about what might be needed in the future. Effective developers know that the less moving parts there are, the less likely it will break and favor elegance and simplicity over convoluted cleverness.
If You Don't Know the Answer, Know Someone Who Does
Software developers aren't renown for their social prowess, but some of the most effective developers I know are excellent at networking. If you give a random 100 question test to a group of people, no one individual will score 100%, but collectively, with few exceptions, the group can answer all the questions correctly. There is so much technology, so many areas of speciality, you can only be an expert on one, maybe two subject areas. Effective developers know the limit of their knowledge, aren't afraid to admit when they don't know something and have many friends and colleagues in their network they can reach out to for help.
Focus on Value
Effective developers understand the forces driving the project, its stakeholders and their goals. Using this knowledge to guide their decision making, they focus on delivering tangible value to their customers over anything else. Effective developers prioritize work based on its value--the so called "bang for the buck," and avoid projects and features they don't believe in.
Puts the Needs of the Many Before the Needs of the One
I've seen small teams accomplish extraordinary things; it's amazing what "two guys and a laptop" can accomplish. Call it teamwork or synergy or whatever you like, when a group of people put common goals before their own, they converge like light into a laser beam. Contrast this with the arrogant, rogue and cowboy developers who go against team standards or design intents because "that's how I do it" or "that's how you should do it." The message they are really sending is "I am smarter than the team."
Conclusion
These seven habits give me something to work towards and keep me focused. I only had room for seven habits in this article, and I'm sure you can think of many more or define effective in your own way. The important thing is to take a value-driven approach to your software development career and do intentional things that move you towards your definition of success.
--
Regards
Vijayashankar
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