The art of creating software is changing. Need a website? You (and yes, I mean you) can launch one in 5 minutes. Need an app? You can launch that today as well. Do you need to add a task on your Google Tasks list every time a new lead schedules a call with you? You can do that too. And you don't need to contact Google and ask them to set up a custom API. They wouldn't respond to you anyways. But you wouldn't need to contact Google to accomplish that. The tools have been created, they are available to you, and you can set it all up in minutes.
The art of creating software is changing. Are you changing with it? Are you reviewing $100,000 proposals for an untested piece of software? What happens when you get that piece of software in 5 months and it's missing that feature you were dying for, it's slow as molasses, and no one but you and your loving spouse use it? Hard-earned profit in the garbage. Time wasted. Dreams tattered.
The art of creating software is changing. Are you changing with it? Are you starting with a one-trick tool? What is the one thing your software must do for it to be valuable? Take the minimum viable product and remove the glitz and glam. Forget the "this would be cool" feature that's proposed right before launch. Don't talk about colors. Don't argue over font or spacing or the punctuation. Software is a tool. It does something. It doesn't have to look pretty. What must your software DO? How does it make life simpler? How does it benefit others? One sentence. No run-ons or "ands". What is the one thing your software must do to be valuable?
The art of creating software is changing. Are you changing with it? Are you starting with a one-trick tool? Are you building it with low-code technology in one week? Your website should not begin by typing a <!DOCTYPE html> tag. Your app should not start in XCode. Children build houses with Lego instead of cards because a brick is brick when you need a brick. You don't need to create your own brick. Just use the bricks that you can buy and use today. The faster you build, the faster you can tear down and build again. Search for a technology that will allow you to build your software online. Point and click. Then find an expert in that technology. Hire them and launch your software in a week (not months) for a tenth of the proposals the other agencies are pitching you.
The art of creating software is changing. Are you changing with it? Are you starting with a one-trick tool? Are you building it with low-code technology in one week? Are you launching, marketing, and then pivoting? If you build it, they will not come. If you build it, and share it, they may come. If you build it, share it, and convince them life is painful without it, they will come. If you build it, share it, convince them life is painful without it, and make it more valuable based on their feedback, they will stay and invite their friends. Share your software! You must. Your team needs it. The people you are trying to help need it. Listen for feedback. Demand it. BEG for it. Feedback is gold. Set a goal for feedback. Aim to get 100 pieces of feedback if your target market allows it. Not 10. Not 2. 100. Pivot too quickly and you risk becoming a tweaker. Don't tweak something based on every response you get. Listen for common themes. Then make updates knowing the changes will make the software more valuable. This is reinvesting in a validated idea. If you can't reach your goal for feedback, try another marketing strategy. Nothing? Try again. If it's all crickets, don't rebuild the software. Shifting things around won't help anything. It only makes the death slower. Be honest and set a date to quit if nothing changes. Exhaust all your marketing efforts up until that date. In the end, pivot. If the launch was a success, take what you've learned and make the software better. If it flopped, take what you've learned and apply it to your next great idea.
The art of creating software is changing. Are you changing with it? Are you starting with a one-trick tool? Are you building it with low-code technology in one week? Are you launching, marketing, and then pivoting? Will you share it?
Learn and challenge yourself, your team, and your clients to build their next piece of software in one week. You will be happier, saner, and wealthier for it.
