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>> Our diagnosis is that individual developers do not pay for tools. > I know this first hand, building a developer tool startup and failing to reach any level

>> Our diagnosis is that individual developers do not pay for tools. > I know this first hand, building a developer tool startup and failing to reach any level of revenue. Just because your startup failed doesn't mean an entire category is unsustainable. I've been living from sales of a developer tool for the last 10 years, and there are plenty of other paid developer tools out there that show developers absolutely do pay for developer tools. Now, maybe some of the startups have unrealistic expectations. A Python documentation reader probably wont turn into a billion dollar revenue company no matter how smart it is. But I'm pretty sure there is a market for dev tools. Maybe the market is smaller, or harder to crack than you thought, but saying "there is no way" isn't going to help anyone.

origin_path 4y ago
Could you talk a bit more about your success? What does it do, what pricing model do you use, how long did it take you to acquire customers, do you feel it's worth it? Asking for a friend, of course.
- newaccount74 4y ago
  I don't want to talk about it in detail, because I am trying to stay anonymous on HN. It's a Mac app, pricing model is perpetual license with paid upgrades for major new versions (every 3-5 years). Customers are roughly 50% individual devs and 50% companies who buy for their employees, and a bunch of educational licenses, but I don't earn much from them. I got initial traction by being mentioned by some popular bloggers and twitterers, but I only started making a full time income after two or three years. I think marketing is mostly word of mouth, and lots of people using the trial version who eventually buy a license, but for the most part I have no idea how people find my app. As for whether it's worth it -- it's a cushy job, I can take care of my kids and don't need to worry about putting in enough hours, because nobody cares how much I work. On the other hand it does get somewhat boring after 10 years. I've been hearing the same feature requests and ideas for improvements for 10 years. My customers are all the same average tech dudes like myself. Sometimes an interesting bug shows up, and when I track it down that's the highlight of my week.
  - origin_path 4y ago
    Thanks! Very thought provoking.

origin_path 4y ago

Could you talk a bit more about your success? What does it do, what pricing model do you use, how long did it take you to acquire customers, do you feel it's worth it? Asking for a friend, of course.

newaccount74 4y ago
I don't want to talk about it in detail, because I am trying to stay anonymous on HN. It's a Mac app, pricing model is perpetual license with paid upgrades for major new versions (every 3-5 years). Customers are roughly 50% individual devs and 50% companies who buy for their employees, and a bunch of educational licenses, but I don't earn much from them. I got initial traction by being mentioned by some popular bloggers and twitterers, but I only started making a full time income after two or three years. I think marketing is mostly word of mouth, and lots of people using the trial version who eventually buy a license, but for the most part I have no idea how people find my app. As for whether it's worth it -- it's a cushy job, I can take care of my kids and don't need to worry about putting in enough hours, because nobody cares how much I work. On the other hand it does get somewhat boring after 10 years. I've been hearing the same feature requests and ideas for improvements for 10 years. My customers are all the same average tech dudes like myself. Sometimes an interesting bug shows up, and when I track it down that's the highlight of my week.
- origin_path 4y ago
  Thanks! Very thought provoking.