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It's because the hardest parts of software involve connecting with other systems and soliciting your custom requirements. Imagine if you wanted to buy a custom

It's because the hardest parts of software involve connecting with other systems and soliciting your custom requirements. Imagine if you wanted to buy a custom car, but you wanted an "off the shelf from walmart" experience. "Hello, I'd like to buy a custom car." "Ok great, we have many over there." "Yes but you don't have any pink ones with cool designs" "Well, we could make you a pink one, but what design would you like to see on it?" "I don't know, maybe a Nascar design. Oh, no, what about a Harry Potter design?" "We can do that for you, but it will take a few weeks and you'd have to put a deposit" And now you aren't selling things off the shelf.

deleted 5y ago
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jahewson 5y ago
Perfectly describes the experience of a startup staring to sell to enterprise!
- JoshTriplett 5y ago
  Except that the "Oh, no, what about" comes later, and repeatedly.
  - squeaky-clean 5y ago
    "Here's your Harry Potter car!" "Who are all these teenagers in robes on my car? I don't see Gandalf or Legolas or Gimli anywhere!"
- Jaruzel 5y ago
  I had exactly this experience many many years ago when I was just starting out. I'd written a small tool that enabled pop-up messages between [Windows] users on a network. It was protocol agnostic - as long as the users had a shared file area, it would work. This was back in the day when even internal email was new and mostly non-existent in the workplace. I sold it as shareware originally, but then a Big Fish came along and said 'we want a licence for 1,000+ users, but can you come in and meet us to discuss'. Seeing this as a pivotal moment in my entrepreneurial career, I agreed to meet them. Five minutes into the meeting they started rattling off a long list of features they would like added (for no extra fee). Somewhat shocked, I numbly agreed in principle that I'd look at implementing them for the next release. Once I had time to think about it, I realised that as a one-man-startup there was no way I could implement their requests, and had to back out of the deal. And that's the problem. The people with money assume they can ask for whatever they like and have no concept that sometimes it's simply unprofitable for the little-guy to deliver it.
  - hutzlibu 5y ago
    "The people with money assume they can ask for whatever they like and have no concept that sometimes it's simply unprofitable for the little-guy to deliver it." Thats a question of negotiating, isn't it? They can ask for whatever they like and you can reply with whatever you like. And then you find a agreement, or not. The problem in your case seems to have been more lack of confidence and experience on your part, because like you said, selling a licence for a existing product is something very different, from making a contract about new features. Otherwise a little guy can grow and hire more people to help him with a big contract, if this is what he or she wants.
    - Jaruzel 5y ago
      > The problem in your case seems to have been more lack of confidence and experience on your part yeah, I was like 23 at the time, and totally inexperienced. Had it happened now, 20+ years later, the conversation would have been totally different.
- tarsinge 5y ago
  "We are looking for an economic daily driver. Please find our written requirements": unrealistic mix of a F1 car and a semi-truck.
  - jsiaajdsdaa 5y ago
    If we just JIRA hard enough, we can break the laws of physics and propel a semi-truck at 187 MPH using only an electric battery and bike chain.
murukesh_s 5y ago
>"Hello, I'd like to buy a custom car." How did you even get that Qs coming? For a bootstrapped startup selling to enterprises figuring that out itself is half the battle
- jsiaajdsdaa 5y ago
  You are very right :) If you don't have an existing relationship with people who have budgets, my only guess is to have a blog that attracts inbound leads. I'd imagine x% of leads don't have a budget or buying desire though.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

jahewson 5y ago

Perfectly describes the experience of a startup staring to sell to enterprise!

JoshTriplett 5y ago
Except that the "Oh, no, what about" comes later, and repeatedly.
- squeaky-clean 5y ago
  "Here's your Harry Potter car!" "Who are all these teenagers in robes on my car? I don't see Gandalf or Legolas or Gimli anywhere!"
Jaruzel 5y ago
I had exactly this experience many many years ago when I was just starting out. I'd written a small tool that enabled pop-up messages between [Windows] users on a network. It was protocol agnostic - as long as the users had a shared file area, it would work. This was back in the day when even internal email was new and mostly non-existent in the workplace. I sold it as shareware originally, but then a Big Fish came along and said 'we want a licence for 1,000+ users, but can you come in and meet us to discuss'. Seeing this as a pivotal moment in my entrepreneurial career, I agreed to meet them. Five minutes into the meeting they started rattling off a long list of features they would like added (for no extra fee). Somewhat shocked, I numbly agreed in principle that I'd look at implementing them for the next release. Once I had time to think about it, I realised that as a one-man-startup there was no way I could implement their requests, and had to back out of the deal. And that's the problem. The people with money assume they can ask for whatever they like and have no concept that sometimes it's simply unprofitable for the little-guy to deliver it.
- hutzlibu 5y ago
  "The people with money assume they can ask for whatever they like and have no concept that sometimes it's simply unprofitable for the little-guy to deliver it." Thats a question of negotiating, isn't it? They can ask for whatever they like and you can reply with whatever you like. And then you find a agreement, or not. The problem in your case seems to have been more lack of confidence and experience on your part, because like you said, selling a licence for a existing product is something very different, from making a contract about new features. Otherwise a little guy can grow and hire more people to help him with a big contract, if this is what he or she wants.
  - Jaruzel 5y ago
    > The problem in your case seems to have been more lack of confidence and experience on your part yeah, I was like 23 at the time, and totally inexperienced. Had it happened now, 20+ years later, the conversation would have been totally different.
tarsinge 5y ago
"We are looking for an economic daily driver. Please find our written requirements": unrealistic mix of a F1 car and a semi-truck.
- jsiaajdsdaa 5y ago
  If we just JIRA hard enough, we can break the laws of physics and propel a semi-truck at 187 MPH using only an electric battery and bike chain.

murukesh_s 5y ago

>"Hello, I'd like to buy a custom car." How did you even get that Qs coming? For a bootstrapped startup selling to enterprises figuring that out itself is half the battle

jsiaajdsdaa 5y ago
You are very right :) If you don't have an existing relationship with people who have budgets, my only guess is to have a blog that attracts inbound leads. I'd imagine x% of leads don't have a budget or buying desire though.