Hot answers tagged project
13
Many of the founders of these big businesses have spent years cultivating client contacts in their previous jobs and business relationships. If they have successfully built this base of relationships, when they go independent as a new business they can draw away a certain percentage of these clients to their new business. I know a couple of different ...
8
A crowded market means opportunity -- clearly there's a large demand too.
Also over-crowded markets often enter an acquisition phase where larger players consume the smaller ones, and that's a nice opportunity for an exit or to have less, and less nimble competition.
It probably means traditional marketing will be too expensive at first because it's hard ...
6
The easiest way to answer the questions you've asked is to ask the people that might buy it. Everything else is just conjecture.
Running some Google ads is a good way to do this and it's a lot cheaper than developing a product blindly.
Testing Interest
Run an ad for keywords people might search for your product. When people click on the ad, your page ...
5
I'm an efficiency consultant, so I'm constantly evaluating project management tools for various clients. Most of them are awful and many of my clients are under-served even by the best solution available for their situation. (I specialize in working with highly-detail-oriented Type-A personalities, and at this point I'm just going to build my own solution ...
5
Just about anyone who has to find a development firm to take on a million dollar project is going to find someone with a proven track record. There was an old saying, "No one lost their job buying from IBM." Unless there are individuals at the startup who have the experience, it is going to be tough.
People signing the agreements on multi-million dollar ...
3
I think your question falls under the more general umbrella of collective intelligence - the underlying forces involved are similar. This is a very interesting area of development - how do we extend the Wikipedia model of collaboration and Creative Commons to the business world in industrial and enterprise solutions? Can we do this with patents? Taking this ...
3
I just want to add that (as a technical person), what you're looking to develop is NOT a simple product. You want:
android app
iPhone app
iPad app
web/extranet app
web/intranet app
mobile (other) app
windows forms app
That's a ridiculous amount of coding, no matter how you slice it.
Focus your idea. Make it something that you can either build or have ...
3
It's a great idea to work hard and have fun with a team. And you can do a lot in a week...
A cautionary note is that if you have a great time, it's easy to get emotionally over-committed to that v1. Maybe it'll be a great product, or maybe it'll be the makings of a great team. Get trusted, critical friends to help you discover which you have on your hands ...
3
I would say that unless you have a very big pot of money, you need to do something yourself. I think that even with a big pot of money, you should take care of critical things yourself. You should for example make drafts of the design yourself. My poibt is that it is your idea and your vision and there are only so much you can communicate to others. By ...
3
They network with the big buyers and offer them their services. You can do a similar thing, look up some VPs/CEOs/COOs/CTOs at various large or medium-sized software companies (lead411, jigsaw, linkedin can help find them) and present your services. Most of them are interested in hearing new ways to improve their processes.
3
Speaking as an old project manager myself, "projects" are one of those evergreen areas of problems... "Projects" sit in the intersection between technology & organization; and people are always looking for better solutions there. So there will always be a market for a better project management solution.
That said, marketing it will not be easy. Almost ...
3
You definitely want an implementation section - here's why.
First, while not every investor will want to see this in detail, knowing that you have a thoughtful and realistic approach to your project will give you more confidence and improve your ability to convince investors that they should invest with you.
Second, you want this as a guide to help you get ...
3
It sounds like your partner is trying to quickly get a minimum viable product (MVP) for business reasons while you are driven by other non-business goals. Further it would seem that perhaps he is better at business (at least in negotiating with you he ended up with more stock than you did) while you are better at programming. You both have skills which ...
2
Practicing HTML and CSS has nothing to do with making a site popular and "bring great traffic to it".
What information is presented THROUGH the HTML / CSS / server side language and whether such information is deemed of value to your target audience will greatly influence whether a site is popular or not.
Websites are not a Field of dreams "If you build ...
2
For software development there is a couple:
Managing Humans by Michael Lopp
Getting Real by 37 Signals
The Mythical Man Month by Fred P. Brooks
For hardware or other development, I have not really found a good one. The techniques in those three books can be applied to hardware but the interesting thing about hardware is that:
It's hard to revise in the ...
2
SourceForge and GitHub are two websites where people get together to work on open source projects. They both have the most important features you need to collaborate both on design and on code.
Before you start writing code, you can collaborate on design using freely available tools like:
Wikis - for collaboratively editing requirements documentation and ...
2
Given your description (I use basecamp, have used FogBugz in past) Basecamp would work, but I think refining your needs some will get you to a better software fit.
When you say project management, do you mean:
collaborative discussion replacing email (Google Wave might be better - see ...
2
You're a consultant for investment banking firms. Ask for a quote for one of your potential customers.
You could ask the customer to save you the trouble and tell you what they were quoted. Not sure how they plan on negotiating a price. They're just inviting you to make a very high offer knowing they'll want less. Eventually, they have to comeback with, I ...
2
Will you be the developer on it or the visionary?
Many Clipboard applications are there for users to download for free as well as paid. Just make sure that you either have a edge on why yours is better...is it UI Design? Is it Features? Is it Price?
If you are the developer on it, then no problem, code till you have the features you think it ...
2
If you're not taking a salary, I think you could reasonably ask for equity as (equivalent to or close to) a co-founder, say up to 33%.
If you're taking payment, your equity negotiation position is much harder. Founder equity is a reward for the high risk taken. If you're taking payment, you're not taking on any significant amount of the risk - you get paid ...
1
Yoohoo Vegas here we come . . . . .
I have been part of teams that have done this and I have found the experience to be worth every minute and every dime. I would/will do it again in a heart beat. In fact I recommend that every team (real or virtual) try to do this at least once a year.
Here are the primary benefits we/I experienced:
Collective Action: ...
1
You dont need a technical co founder, and you dont need a big pot of money. What you need to do is hire a highly technical person to help you plan the software.
This person can be someone with high level software architecture experience, a former CTO, a just your basic super nerd. You can pay them as a consultant to write you a spec, and then in the long ...
1
Start by talking with them and gauging interest. Just because you think it is a great idea does not mean they will want to invest time and resources into your idea. How much equity and/or cash they will want to develop your idea will depend on their level of interest.
Terms of the contract can be determined when you have more information.
Google Apps ...
1
First, you might want to top up your view of the subject with the related area of "open innovation." You'll find there are specific companies, industries and technology areas where collaborating on innovations is either locally present or is the norm.
Somewhat related is the idea of a cluster - where a particular geography becomes home to a variety of ...
1
Scott Kurnit (founder of About.com back in the day, well respected industry vet) was just interviewed in Business Insider on the subject of why Corporate Joint Ventures are generally doomed to fail, specifically talking about the ongoing questions about the future of Hulu:
SCOTT KURNIT: JVs Like Hulu Are Slow-Motion Train Wrecks
The point being - joint ...
1
I suggest you use http://kickstarter.com or a similar website to make a proposal and gather some funding. This will enable you to more easily manage your project and set achievable goals, even hiring programmers if you need to.
In second place, you should start the project and host it somewhere public (let's say github) and try to spread it via twitter, ...
1
What your first commentair said. The thing is that "projects" are no common denominator for anyone. What binds people together is rather "skydiving" or "gardening". Projects just isn't an interest.
So, find what kind of area you want to get into, and see if you can find a forum or community for this online. Here you may find your innovators and early ...
1
While I definitely appreciate your business goals with the site, I have a little experience with FB, so I can add a little info for you. First, I would note that they're billing practices are interesting, if not creative. If you choose to run some ads on FB, be very wary of the dates and terms, even going so far as to take screenshots to verify what you've ...
1
I don't know how it is going in other places, but I see in my environment that big companies usually gives only their names and give the real work to somewhat smaller subcontractors. But those smaller subcontractors are still large enough to do just some paperwork and pass on the real work.
At the third or fourth level, there are really small noname ...
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