You are here: Diigo Home > Messages > "Getting Real" Digest
A great way to build software is to start out by solving your own problems.
The key here is understanding that you’re not alone. If you’re having this problem, it’s likely hundreds of thousands of others are in the same boat. There’s your market. Wasn’t that easy?
Read Only
When you solve your own problem, you create a tool that you’re passionate about. And passion is key. Passion means you’ll truly use it and care about it. And that’s the best way to get others to feel passionate about it too.
Read Only
Read Only
glad to see someone among us actually reading this. great!
Read Only
you mean reading the message or the original source?
Read Only
"Getting Real" (which is not very realistic enough though)
Read Only
Read Only
Outside money is plan B
The first priority of many startups is acquiring funding from
investors. But remember, if you turn to outsiders for funding,
you’ll have to answer to them too. Expectations are raised.
Investors want their money back – and quickly. The sad fact is
cashing in often begins to trump building a quality product.
Read Only
Constraints force creativity
Run on limited resources and you’ll be forced to reckon with
constraints earlier and more intensely. And that’s a good thing.
Constraints drive innovation.
Read Only
Read Only
Launch on time and on budget
There’s a myth that goes like this: we can launch on time, on
budget, and on scope. It almost never happens and when it does
quality often suffers.
If you can’t fit everything in within the time and budget allotted
then don’t expand the time and budget. Instead, pull back
the scope. There’s always time to add stuff later – later is eternal,
now is fleeting.
Read Only
Here are the benefits of fixing time and budget, and keeping
scope flexible:
Prioritization
You have to figure out what’s really important. What’s
going to make it into this initial release? This forces
a constraint on you which will push you to make
tough decisions instead of hemming and hawing.
Reality
Setting expectations is key. If you try to fix time, budget,
and scope, you won’t be able to deliver at a high level
of quality. Sure, you can probably deliver something,
but is “something” what you really want to deliver?
Flexibility
The ability to change is key. Having everything fixed
makes it tough to change. Injecting scope flexibility
will introduce options based on your real experience
building the product. Flexibility is your friend.
Read Only
Read Only
We realized project management isn’t about charts, graphs,
reports and statistics – it’s about communication. It also isn’t
about a project manager sitting up high and broadcasting a
project plan. It’s about everyone taking responsibility together to
make the project work.
Read Only
Read Only
The bakery
American business at this point is really about developing an idea, making it profitable, selling it while it’s profitable and then getting out or diversifying. It’s just about sucking everything up. My idea was: Enjoy baking, sell your bread, people like it, sell more. Keep the bakery going because you’re making good food and people are happy.
Read Only
Read Only
Read Only
