The process of applying ideas to practical problems; may refer to creation of a Web site, service, or software.
16
votes
7answers
1k views
Dealing with a Slow Developer
We outsourced development (out of the country) to get a prototype of our site put together. The developer estimated 8 weeks for the project, but admitted that they could not guarantee that it might ...
14
votes
11answers
1k views
How to reject Feature Requests?
How do you reject feature requests nicely especially when the feature request is made publicly via twitter, uservoice or something like ideastorm?
For us general reasons to reject are:
It's going ...
9
votes
11answers
2k views
Build in-house or outsource?
I'm working with a SaaS business with a non-technical founder/CEO and am looking for pros and cons for (1) building the software in-house vs (2) outsourcing version 1.0 to a consulting firm.
From ...
8
votes
11answers
781 views
Make my failed Web application open source?
I've outsourced the creation of Web Spy Pro (www.webspypro.com) last year.
It's a Webanalytics software that record/play the visitor mouse movements, so you can see exactly what visitors are doing on ...
8
votes
2answers
444 views
When a huge company copies your startup
What do you do when a huge online company (as dominant as say Google, Apple, Microsoft etc in their respective niche) has a big feature that's been lacking in their very popular product, and your ...
8
votes
7answers
452 views
Web developer in project, slow going, need advice
I was approached over a year ago by a "start up" offering me 10% in the company. I thought about it for a few days and said, "Sure, why not?".
I was sucked into the dream of being a part of ...
8
votes
10answers
814 views
Is hiring another software house to build my web-based app prototype a good idea?
I am starting up my web-based application business. I have an idea and already done some research on this idea. And now I want to realize it. There are two choices for me either to hire a soft ...
7
votes
10answers
623 views
Should I trust software development companies from Asia?
There are lots of sites around the internet that offer cheap labour from an offshore location. What do you think about using this type of site to speed up your local business? Is it a good idea? Has ...
7
votes
4answers
504 views
Outsourcing Website development overseas
I am in the process of outsourcing a MVP website to vendors in the asian region. Although I have no questions about the quality of programming of some of the vendors, I am concerned with the web ...
7
votes
4answers
228 views
Does it make sense for a SaaS company to also do consulting work?
As a SaaS company we have an entire team in place to do web and application development. Effectively, we have one client: ourselves. Would it make sense for us to take on consulting clients as an ...
6
votes
5answers
611 views
Finding out another start-up has the same idea
I came up with a great idea for a webapp, I've been creating design docs, project specs etc. Everything was going well until I decided to google my idea, which to my surprise came up with one result ...
6
votes
11answers
4k views
iPhone app revenue sharing between developer & sales/marketing guys
I'm a solo developer working from home who has developed an iPhone app which is currently available in the App Store. Sales & marketing is not something I know much about yet so sales have been ...
6
votes
6answers
469 views
I'm not a geek but I want to start an online business
I have no web-building background but I genuinely believe in an online business. I wish to build an online directory and I have little budget as of now.
So should I:
1. Go get educated
2. Rope in an ...
6
votes
4answers
223 views
Outsourcing Development
I've read all the posts and articles against non-tech founders, I get it. That's not my question (this time..) My question is how does everyone feel about the idea of outsourcing development to a ...
5
votes
12answers
2k views
Outsource basic webdev maintenance? (eLance vs oDesk vs Guru vs RentACoder)
I am considering outsourcing some basic webdev maintenance work.
Little tasks like: "Please add clock or other wait indicator when the AJAX is still processing." that should take less than an hour ...
5
votes
5answers
499 views
What do you do when your software with minimum features is taking forever to develop?
This will be tough to explain but....
What do you do when you are developing a software that needs to deal with large amount of variations of semi structured data from the web ?
I told myself it ...
5
votes
8answers
1k views
Do I need a web designer or developer/programmer?
I have an idea for a web startup. I really feel that it doesn't need any complicated technology, can I just use a designer instead of developer? And if I do, and my website proves popular and I want ...
5
votes
4answers
345 views
Is it possible to find an iPhone App Developer that is willing to work for a portion of the potential revenue?
I own a small software development company that gets approached many times a day with the concept of being a partner in someone’s iPhone App idea. We provide the iPhone App Development services and ...
5
votes
1answer
2k views
What should a small company charge for development of a mobile (Android) app?
The context of this question is a small web design company that wants to branch out to do mobile application development. I am wondering two things:
What average hourly fee do you charge a client as ...
5
votes
3answers
286 views
Do I need a tech co founder at this point?
Here's my situation. A year ago I outsourced a website to be built. Went into it blindly, failed miserably, lost tons of money. Moved on.
In the meantime, I've come up with a new concept for a ...
5
votes
5answers
446 views
What to do next for my online startup?
Ok so I've left my job, I've got a business plan, I have a blue ocean idea, I've spoken to a few industry people about the idea and they think its a good idea. I have a designed and paid a programmer ...
5
votes
5answers
351 views
How do you develop a startup without personally having the skillset to launch/execute it?
We are a team of 4 individuals (1 idea guy, 2 developers, 1 finance) working together to create a online communication platform website. Since the idea comes from me I formed a team of people who ...
5
votes
5answers
128 views
Developing from scratch vs customize existing solution
When working on a startup which way will be the best? Developing from scratch or customize existing projects? Which of them will you choose? Why? I am already a programmer so both of them is ok for ...
4
votes
18answers
1k views
Would you hire offshore developers?
What's your opinion? Should US-based startup hire offshore web developers to reduce costs? Is it worth it?
How would you find them? How much would you pay them per hour of work?
4
votes
6answers
222 views
A question on startup strategy - this is a real world scenario we are facing, not a hypothetical
This is an actual problem we have to decide on with our startup. Help me decide!
SCENARIO
You are doing a startup. You have launched, you have customers, revenue and some traction. You are ...
4
votes
5answers
347 views
How do you discourage piracy of your software or IP?
We're reviewing/exploring anti-piracy measures for a new software product. There is a desktop and a web component. What tactics are you using to prevent/discourage piracy of your software and IP?
4
votes
4answers
571 views
Fourth co-founder but first developer
I came in as 4th co-founder with some old friends but am the only developer. I am doing all of the work right now and quit my job to work on the project. Two of the other guys are learning how to code ...
4
votes
5answers
2k views
How should a developer determine their stake in an early startup?
I am a developer that has been asked to take part in an early stage startup (no investors yet other than the principals themselves). There is some code in place for the product and I would be working ...
4
votes
3answers
382 views
Best way to get a developer working for you?
I would like to know what is the best way to hire someone to help you building a web-site. I heard about guru.com and elance but I am not convinced that I can get someone from there who can help me to ...
4
votes
10answers
518 views
How much time should we spend on the technical documentation/design?
So I'm in a little bit of a tug of war with some other cofounders on our project. We've just started out after spending alot of time on the BP and that side of things. The other developer/cofounders ...
4
votes
4answers
701 views
Do I need a CMS or should I build from scratch?
I am working on my first web application, and can't figure out whether I should use a CMS like Joomla or Wordpress, or have the site built from scratch. For some background, the site will be sort of a ...
4
votes
3answers
222 views
Core Product development not done in house? Bad?
I heard that core development of product should be done in house. I'm having a web app built by 2 reputable developers (Freelancing) here in the states, is that a bad thing? They are already half way ...
4
votes
3answers
1k views
Do you use a service for ensuring email deliverability (like Sendgrid, Postmark, etc.)? Why or why not? If so, what service?
Using an external service for delivering your emails can take a lot of load off your shoulders if deliverability is a must. Services like Sendgrid and Postmark have pre-configured, whitelisted servers ...
4
votes
1answer
2k views
Finding a client for software development outsourcing project
I have led an established IT-company in Ukraine for several years now. The company's business is in the different fields, including an outsourced software development. Currently I realize that I am ...
4
votes
3answers
821 views
How do I find an equity partner for my running start-up business?
I have an internet based business that is up and running. So far I have 556 paying clients that have used our service with no marketing dollars spent to date. It is a working concept that needs more ...
4
votes
1answer
95 views
Build an appliance
We develop a bunch of software applications. Instead of shipping the software we want to build an appliance, using generic hardware components (and Linux) and sell the appliance in the USA and India.
...
4
votes
7answers
561 views
Need to create a minimum viable product site quickly [closed]
I have a few ideas that I need to validate. Is there any offering that lets me quickly create MVP sites? I'd need:
Website design template
A way to capture user's email address so that they can be ...
4
votes
3answers
404 views
An idea to implement R&D in a software services startup
I have seen that working in a fledgling software services firm as a programmer entails a lot (in fact, all) of the time being spent working on meeting client specs and requirements on their software ...
4
votes
5answers
521 views
What software or development tools do you use to create and maintain your website?
I'm looking for more great software tools (than the ones listed below that I already use) to not only create and run a website, but to verify and maintain it. All our websites run on Unix servers with ...
3
votes
6answers
442 views
How do I share a startup reasonably?
I posted on Craig's List looking for help developing an idea into a web app. Since there's no money/funding/compensation the thinking is we would take a percentage of the company and the income it ...
3
votes
8answers
146 views
Contact Us Forms
Are "Contact Us" forms still relavant to small businesses/startups or have other more social means (facebook, twitter, etc) become the preferred method of contact.
3
votes
5answers
413 views
Checklist for starting a website [closed]
I have an idea for a startup and for it:
I've created mockups of the site and work flow diagrams.
I've registered the domain name and incorporated the company.
Actively looking for the ...
3
votes
9answers
278 views
Would you create unit tests for your application?
I don't know about you, while I agree that unit testing can reduce defects and therefore can maximize ROI in the long run, but it just takes an amount of time. Knowing that you're a startup where time ...
3
votes
4answers
286 views
To the Coders…what would you consider acceptable terms to join a new start up?
If you were approached by an idea guy (one with not much money), and lets say that the idea itself was an 8 to 10...what would you consider acceptable terms to join the start up? If you could give 2 ...
3
votes
5answers
194 views
Does it hurt to release often?
I'm a big believer of "release early, release often" but what's the limit?
Our software
Traditional - Desktop software
We are new but already got many clients
Updates requires about 15-30 mb.
...
3
votes
4answers
279 views
Looking for Guidance in running business development arm of a startup
I'm looking to join a very small company (5 employees) and run all of business development/sales and marketing. My professional experience lies in 8 years of Sales in the online media and enterprise ...
3
votes
8answers
517 views
What qualification and/or skills should I look for while hiring a web designer?
I am about to launch a website, which I got created through a freelancer. However, I am not very pleased with freelancer's performance and plan to hire someone full-time to make required iterations in ...
3
votes
5answers
466 views
What's the best way to structure software contracts for small projects?
What are the proper incentives, and workflow processes, for contract development?
3
votes
5answers
389 views
Is building a web appliation from scratch cost-effective?
I am trying to find the most cost effective approach to building a web application based in PHP. I want to know if using a PHP Framework such as, Social Engine would be best to avoid having to avoid ...
3
votes
4answers
473 views
Am I a co-founder?
I'm trying to figure out what my role is...
Backstory:
Late last year (October/November) I was asked by an acquaintance If I'd be keen to help develop a SaaS product that he & his brother had ...
