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Ask HN: I want to create a successful software company. What is my roadmap?

41 points by nazz 9y ago

I am currently in college studying software development. Please answer my question as if I have no previous knowledge of the startup environment.

soulchild37 9y ago
Assuming you already have a software product, read https://kalzumeus.com https://kalzumeus.com article on how to sell more software/ run a software business.
muzani 9y ago
YC playbook covers most of it:http://playbook.samaltman.com/ http://playbook.samaltman.com/
SQL2219 9y ago
Been there. It is hard. Live like a pauper. Think B2B. Software is really about solving someone's problems. Don't be a solution in search of a problem. You need to work somewhere first, as you will see opportunities everywhere.
mindcrime 9y ago
Read The Four Steps to the Epiphany by @sgblank.
- tga 9y ago
  Superseded by The Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-By-Step Guide for Building a Great Company, also by Steve Blank. https://www.amazon.com/Startup-Owners-Manual-Step-Step/dp/0984999302 https://www.amazon.com/Startup-Owners-Manual-Step-Step/dp/09...
du_bing 9y ago
Find a problem and solve it, to make people really need you. Find a place to sell your solution, to make people really see you. That's business.
joelennon 9y ago
There is no one size fits all answer to this question. What’s your definition of success? Owning your own business that pays you an above market salary and allows you to live comfortably and independently? Or do you see success as growing to being a huge global corporation? Do you want to start a company that targets consumers, small to medium businesses or large enterprises? There’s a ton of other factors that have a huge impact on a potential roadmap for success. One bit of advice I’d offer is to know going in that software development is likely to be the least of your problems when running a software company - especially for a software engineer. Your real challenges lie in sales, marketing and customer relations. If you’re not successful at these aspects of the business, it doesn’t matter how good or bad your product or code is.
mabynogy 9y ago
You can try to apply the YC's slogan to your neighboorhood ("Make what people want").
itamarst 9y ago
Go read everything on http://stackingthebricks.com http://stackingthebricks.com
codegeek 9y ago
It depends on how you define "successful". Lot of definitions: 1. Building a six figure revenue for solo bootstrapped founder. Work from anywhere, no team and make enough to live comfortably and travel the world. 2. Build a small company with 1-10 million in revenue. Need a small team for that. Possibly some Angel funding. 3. Build a 10+ million revenue company. Need bigger teams and possibly VC funding for quick growth. 4. Build a 100+ million revenue company. 1000s of employees. Almost definitely need VC funding. 5. Build the idea behind a company, create a product that shows tremendous traction and then SELL to another company. Profit for founders even though no real value created over a long time. Take your pick. Each option may have a different path. I would love to be in the 4th one and still working on how to get there :)
- nazz 9y ago
  Thank you. This is interesting. Is there somewhere to read about examples of each?
  - codegeek 9y ago
    Haven't found a lot myself but I came across this interesting article by a VC. Talks about the type of customers you need to go after depending on what you want to achieve. http://christophjanz.blogspot.com/2014/10/five-ways-to-build-100-million-business.html http://christophjanz.blogspot.com/2014/10/five-ways-to-build...
perseusprime11 9y ago
Stay close to your customers, and always test your ideas before you scale.
Sylarv 9y ago
That's the wrong focus. You're trying to reverse engineer success. Start from the bottom. Have a problem you want to solve with software. Then gather people together to solve that problem together, create a product out of the solution, market it and sell it.
ryosua 9y ago
http://www.ryanyosua.me/how-to-start-a-lean-startup/ http://www.ryanyosua.me/how-to-start-a-lean-startup/

41 points by nazz 9y ago

I am currently in college studying software development. Please answer my question as if I have no previous knowledge of the startup environment.

soulchild37 9y ago

Assuming you already have a software product, read https://kalzumeus.com https://kalzumeus.com article on how to sell more software/ run a software business.

muzani 9y ago

YC playbook covers most of it:http://playbook.samaltman.com/ http://playbook.samaltman.com/

SQL2219 9y ago

Been there. It is hard. Live like a pauper. Think B2B. Software is really about solving someone's problems. Don't be a solution in search of a problem. You need to work somewhere first, as you will see opportunities everywhere.

mindcrime 9y ago

Read The Four Steps to the Epiphany by @sgblank.

tga 9y ago
Superseded by The Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-By-Step Guide for Building a Great Company, also by Steve Blank. https://www.amazon.com/Startup-Owners-Manual-Step-Step/dp/0984999302 https://www.amazon.com/Startup-Owners-Manual-Step-Step/dp/09...

du_bing 9y ago

Find a problem and solve it, to make people really need you. Find a place to sell your solution, to make people really see you. That's business.

joelennon 9y ago

There is no one size fits all answer to this question. What’s your definition of success? Owning your own business that pays you an above market salary and allows you to live comfortably and independently? Or do you see success as growing to being a huge global corporation? Do you want to start a company that targets consumers, small to medium businesses or large enterprises? There’s a ton of other factors that have a huge impact on a potential roadmap for success. One bit of advice I’d offer is to know going in that software development is likely to be the least of your problems when running a software company - especially for a software engineer. Your real challenges lie in sales, marketing and customer relations. If you’re not successful at these aspects of the business, it doesn’t matter how good or bad your product or code is.

mabynogy 9y ago

You can try to apply the YC's slogan to your neighboorhood ("Make what people want").

itamarst 9y ago

Go read everything on http://stackingthebricks.com http://stackingthebricks.com

codegeek 9y ago

It depends on how you define "successful". Lot of definitions: 1. Building a six figure revenue for solo bootstrapped founder. Work from anywhere, no team and make enough to live comfortably and travel the world. 2. Build a small company with 1-10 million in revenue. Need a small team for that. Possibly some Angel funding. 3. Build a 10+ million revenue company. Need bigger teams and possibly VC funding for quick growth. 4. Build a 100+ million revenue company. 1000s of employees. Almost definitely need VC funding. 5. Build the idea behind a company, create a product that shows tremendous traction and then SELL to another company. Profit for founders even though no real value created over a long time. Take your pick. Each option may have a different path. I would love to be in the 4th one and still working on how to get there :)

nazz 9y ago
Thank you. This is interesting. Is there somewhere to read about examples of each?
- codegeek 9y ago
  Haven't found a lot myself but I came across this interesting article by a VC. Talks about the type of customers you need to go after depending on what you want to achieve. http://christophjanz.blogspot.com/2014/10/five-ways-to-build-100-million-business.html http://christophjanz.blogspot.com/2014/10/five-ways-to-build...

perseusprime11 9y ago

Stay close to your customers, and always test your ideas before you scale.

Sylarv 9y ago

That's the wrong focus. You're trying to reverse engineer success. Start from the bottom. Have a problem you want to solve with software. Then gather people together to solve that problem together, create a product out of the solution, market it and sell it.

ryosua 9y ago

http://www.ryanyosua.me/how-to-start-a-lean-startup/ http://www.ryanyosua.me/how-to-start-a-lean-startup/