I just had an all-too common conversation with the founder of a startup who had spent more than a year working with a software development company who had produced a mess. If I’m being asked to do startup software development, I’m going to push fairly hard on key questions that the startup needs to have answered before they develop anything. So why ask all these questions if I might lose a potential The mess really comes from a developer who was willing to get started on a product that was not fully thought out. I always take a very different approach in early conversations.

Imagine if you spent all that time building your business–plus risked your money–and customers hated what you built. In this program Eric Ries teaches you the lean startup ideas that saved his business when customers hated his product. Out of frustration that users weren’t installing Eric’s virtual add-on for instant messaging, he brought target users into his office and asked them to try his software. If you’re reading Mixergy, I know you routinely work hours that most people don’t know exist. Want to learn how to protect yourself from that

As organizations we have become more open and I believe this is great for businesses and their customers.  We spent time out in the marketplace talking with customers, looking at their solutions, comparing ourselves with our competition and then squirreling ourselves away in our offices designing our next set of features.  some came from our customer service, some were to improve performance / scalability from tech ops, some were bug fixes, etc.) Turn Your Organization Inside Out This is part of my ongoing posts on Startup Advice .

As noted in Pour and Stir Part I , the key to the successful execution of this strategy is managing the following equation:      The cost to acquire a customer < lifetime value of a customer This entry focuses on how you can minimize your cost per customer acquired by systematically establishing the infrastructure necessary to track the results obtained from a variety of online and offline marketing vehicles.  “I know half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, but I can never find out which half.” John Wanamaker

This is a private group of CTOs who are responsible for software development within their companies. They are generally the senior most person responsible for custom software development, database design, database administration, web development, etc. In a recent conversation with a fellow CTO, we lamented about the fact that while there's very active software development and web development going on in Southern California and West Los Angeles, yet there didn't seem to be as much of a community around it. I've helped organize the Los Angeles CTO Forum for almost 10 years.

Pasadena-based Guidance Software, which develops software used for computer forensics, announced Wednesday that it has signed on Koch Industries, Inc. as a customer. According to Guidance, Koch will use the firm's EnCase eDiscovery software on a pay-per-use basis. Financial impact of the deal was not disclosed. Koch is a diversified firm with operations in the refining and chemical, process control, financial services, and other areas.

El Segundo-based iRise , a developer of visualization software, reported Monday that Callidus Software is using the firm's software. Callidus is a developer of sales performance management software. iRise's software is used by companies to prototype and visualize their internal corporate applications, without requiring software development. Financial impact of the win was not disclosed. The firm is backed by Morgan Stanley Venture Partners and Deutsche Bank.

He also spearheaded a number of fundamental software breakthroughs, including creating the basic hardware / software architecture which resulted in the creation of the third-party personal computer (PC) software industry. Designed CD-ROM filing system and created Universal Software Bus The myth that arose to The man at left built the first personal computer. If this gentleman was such a pivotal player in the early days of the PC revolution, why is he essentially unknown to most entrepreneurs under forty years old?

Pasadena-based X1 Technologies, a developer of desktop and enterprise search software, is setting its sights on the eDiscovery market, saying this morning that it has created a new offering specifically aimed at the eDiscovery market. Cost of the new software was not released. X1 said the new software will be available in late Q1, with early X1 said it has built a solution, based on its X1 enterprise search technology and professional services, called X1 eDiscovery Search Suite. The new tool is focused on helping companies who need to produce electronic documents, due to lawsuits.

If you’re looking into project management software, I’d strongly encourage you to evaluate both and pick one depending on your requirements. I was a prospective customer and still in the decisionmaking process. We’re now in an era where the walls that separate customers from marketers have been broken. At the beginning of 2009, I began helping one of our product-oriented portfolio companies evaluate and implement a project management system.  Their Their product roadmap was scattered, and we needed to bring a level of transparency and collaboration to