About

This blog contains posts about enterprise products and services including SharePoint, Yammer, and Office 365. I also write about running a startup, web apps, and software development in general.

Recent posts

More

Thoughts on Microsoft, enterprise software, and my various projects.

My startup is one year old and no one is using it

05/22/2013

Yet I still think it’s a big success. Why? Because the product (PartnerPulse, a way to find, review, and compare Microsoft partners) is infinitely stronger than it was 10 months ago.

I work full time. I actually work much more than full time. I freelance as an IT consultant, write for a number of IT publications, and also run a technical copywriting company. Throw in a 9 month old daughter and an addiction to running marathons and my free time is pretty limited.

In what time I do have, I’ve built PartnerPulse from the ground up on my own. I don’t code for a living, but can just about hold my own with PHP (yep I’m one of those guys). I’ve had to learn a fair bit of new stuff to get the site where it is today (CRON jobs, geo-location searching, responsive design techniques) but I’ve just about kept on top of it.

In addition I’ve had to juggle all the other demands of a startup business. I work on marketing, publicity, comms, support for those that are using the site today,  and more. I have roadmaps, bug lists, press releases, the seeds of tech site coverage. All of this could be a full time job, for more than one person, if it paid like a full time job.

So getting the site to where it is today has taken a long time. But I’m proud of its current state. The site has evolved massively. The business model has shifted a few times (and is still shifting). The design has got better, the interface slicker, the performance quicker  PartnerPulse needs Microsoft partner companies to sign up and use the site, for it to be a success. Many have done this, but a tiny fraction of what the site needs to be useful. Yet I’m OK with this.

I can’t work on the site any more than I am already. If 10,000 companies had signed up on day one, 9,500 would have left on day two. The product wasn’t ready. If 10,000 sign up tomorrow, then you know what, I’m ready. If they sign up next month, even better.

This process of gradual iteration can’t, and won’t, go on forever. At some point the core product will be ready for wider consumption. I will then need to make a decision - switch to a real startup mentality where cash flow and security are placed on the line or walk away.

But this last year, I’m glad I had the time to slowly mould  my product with my loyal (albeit it small) user base. In the long run I hope it will benefit them, me, and the 100,000 companies who will soon sign up.

Founding a startup on your own is a terrible idea

05/20/2013

Why? It’s simple really. There is no one to talk to.

Even the most single minded, intelligent, creative people benefit from someone to talk to. Someone to bounce ideas off. Someone to talk about new features with. Someone to poke when you have a light bulb moment about marketing in the middle of the night.

You might disagree with the responses you get. You might agree with them, and still not act upon them. But the simple act of discussion is powerful enough in itself. It will make you think. It will make you question your business/feature idea/coffee choice in ways you might not otherwise have done. You might be challenged, mocked, praised, humoured, or pacified. But all of these things are preferable to simply getting trapped in your own head on a single track or train of thought.

Running a startup, one at any stage but especially very early on, is hard work on your own. Hard work in lots of obvious ways, but also mentally. It can be a very lonely experience. Doubt about your idea is never far away, spluttering out from the back of your mind every time you find a bug in your code or see another email go ignored.

You could talk to employees, if you have any. You could talk to someone outside your business. You could ask your wife, girlfriend, or mother. But frankly no one cares as much as you do. Nor should you really expect them to. And if they don’t care as much as you, their answers probably won’t be as useful. Or mean as much to you.

(Generally speaking this is true, though occasionally a complete stranger can give you the best feedback/appraisal in the world.)

To find someone who cares as much as you do, who shares your passion for whatever it is you are doing, is difficult. But they are generally known as a “co-founder”.

How do I know all this? I’m running a startup on my own right now, and have been for a year. I’m always looking for someone to talk to.

© 2013 Chris Wright | Thoughts on Microsoft, enterprise software, and my various projects.