Signals that you aren't ready to build
If you're a non-technical founder, meaning you are not the person who can write the code to solve your problem, there are concrete signals that you are not...
Bet-Driven Development
No matter how you build software (or anything for that matter), you're making bets. You're wagering that a specific amount of effort placed here will yield...
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Building vs. Buying software (for non-technical business owners)
Code is a liability. Like a car, its usefulness may offset the cost of purchase and maintenance. But it will require maintenance. The more critical the...
Natural Project Planning: Part 5 - Target Acquired
You’re finally here. You've defined the "Why" behind what you're doing. You've envisioned what success looks like. You brainstormed all the ideas possible....
Natural Project Planning: Part 4 - Fill in the blank
After we've brainstormed several ways to get our desired result, we must begin sorting through these ideas. Inevitably, you've come up with big ideas that...
Natural Project Planning: Part 3 - There’s a storm a’comin
Brainstorming is the third phase of natural planning. This makes sense because after you’ve decided why you’re doing something and have pictured the outcome,...
Natural Project Planning: Part 2 - Seeing things
So you've laid out the principles and purpose of your project. The People™ understand the "Why". Nice! ...now what? Now is the fun part: we start seeing...
Natural Project Planning: Part 1 - The "Why"
Your brain is a wildly efficient planning machine. It can take problems like, "I am hungry" and analyze hundreds of variables to quickly figure out the...
Just Don't Do It
One of the great productivity tips I ever internalized was the art of not doing something. Too often, we're so preoccupied with can we do it, and how we'll...
Why are we building this?
My co-founder and I have turned down over $125,000 in potential project revenue in the first month of our software studio. Are we just shit business owners?...
Quick quotes won't cut it
While reviewing a project discovery call with a prospect today, I highlighted an interesting risk that came up during our discussion. The gentleman mentioned...
Squashing Scope-Creep
Software projects get expensive without clarity. That is—without a specific, measurable goal—costs will quickly bloat. "Scope-creep" is the name we give to...
Questions to avoid hiring a bad developer
Below are 3 questions crafted to give a glimpse at the experience of the developer you're interviewing. Senior developers with projects under their belts...
How to hire without sinking your software project
Hiring a software developer who can successfully deliver a software project is a near-Herculean task riddled with uncertainty. The stakes of failure...
Simple is not Easy
"Simple" does not equate to "Easy". Most 6-year-olds can attest to this, as they labor over the arduous task of cleaning their room. Simple can be harder...
Be damn serious about what you do
Last week I talked to a provider, let's call him Jim. Jim offered to help me set up some online ads, in exchange for $6,000 US Dollars, spread across 3...
0 to 1 is the hardest
Far too often, software is optimized prematurely. We have lots of cute phrases to warn developers of this tendency: “YAGNI (You Ain’t Gonna Need It)”, “KISS...