Web App Autopsy: Read Me Before Starting a Startup

# Don't launch your webapp in December, unless you're doing it to make January's sales look particularly good. # Language choice doesn't matter: pick the one you like and get on with building it already. # 1% is a pretty consistently advertised figure for the conversion from free to pay accounts. Only inflate this number if you're about to do a dog and pony show for a VC, otherwise you will only have yourself to blame when you manage to achieve 1%. # The one number that's missing here which would help to provide a sense of scale is the actual user base of each app. It's almost like pulling a Michael Moore: the murder rate in the US is way higher than in Canada (they have 10x the population, but sssssh! Don't tell anyone or the numbers are less impressive!) # Remember that, along with a bigger user base comes a higher support cost. Look at RegOnline's support calls/day compared to even FeedBurner's.