Checking form...
So the Lightning Talk entries are in… I try to make a point on NOT looking at them as they come in as they are a HUGE distraction. And then we start to go through them all… The Lightning Talks provoke a combination of guffaws, ‘Aha’ moments, giggles, sighs of disbelief (did Frank Slickman really submit […]
When it comes to tales of the diva-ish behaviour of rock stars, the rumour that Van Halen had a rider that demanded a bowl of M&Ms without any brown ones is infamous, but is it true? Could anyone be that much of a prima donna? According to Dan and Chip Heath’s new book, Decisive, How […]
Such an entertaining reminder that sometimes asking an expert isn’t the best way to work out how to do something. Balsamiq’s Peldi is a pretty phenomenal cook in his own right but when he made this delicious dish for us recently he told us that it was a recipe from his Grandmother who is the […]
I came across this guest post from last year today and thought it worth repeating – thanks to Joe Corkery and Zuly Gonzalez for sharing. ‘This is a guest post from Joe Corkery. Joe is Vice President of Business Development at OpenEye Scientific Software in Cambridge, MA. Remarkably, Joe has been with OpenEye for nearly 13 […]
Whenever I hear Paul talk I hear two things: Some of the best, most straightforward advice on selling in the software business you’ll ever hear. The soothing tones of my native Yorkshire. He makes me homesick. Paul’s ability to demystify sales and turn it into an understandable, even fun process, has made him a firm […]
Joel Spolsky doesn’t really need any introduction does he? No. A long time and partner and supporter of the Business of Software Conference, he used to partner with us on putting the conference together until he realised, very smartly, that software is his future and running conferences is for schmucks… He is always a welcome […]
Remember that amazing Professor Clayton Christensen talk at Business of Software 2011 about life, marketing and the jobs that people hire products to do? You could almost hear the pennies dropping as he talked about the importance of understanding the job that your product does. Before we tell you a little bit more about Chris […]
This was another incredibly well-received talk at Business of Software Conference last year – for good reason. Bob Dorf has earned his startup chops, is entertaining, highly experienced and has seen a whole lot of successful and unsuccessful businesses. More importantly though, he has spent a huge amount of time thinking about why he was […]
“So when it comes to matters of style and perspective and creative work, we find the, ‘Wisdom of the Crowd’ does exactly the opposite. It cuts away the interesting edges, leaving you with something bad.” Jason’s talk at Business of Software Conference 2012 was typically funny, insightful and thought provoking. Jason Cohen, CEO of WP […]
Adii Piennar, founder and CEO of Woothemes was one of last year’s Business of Software Conference speakers. Watch his talk (with transcript) about running a global business from the edge of the world here. Adii’s company, Woothemes celebrated it’s 1,000,000th download this week but Adii has moved on… Adii Pienaar… When I was a kid, […]
To celebrate the 1,000,000th download of Woothemes, we thought it would be nice to share Adii Pienaar’s Business of Software Conference talk from 2012. Stay tuned to the blog too as Adii shared some news with me last week when I caught up with him in London that he will share in a guest blog […]
This is a talk about some of the big challenges founders face when their ideas take off. Not the challenges of growth that people usually discuss – hiring, operations etc – but the challenges that growth bring to your own personal identity, your values and principles and those of your company. Can the principles you […]
A wonderful, short, readable, helpful eBook from Mike McDerment, CEO of Freshbooks and Donald Cowper. (You might remember Mike’s talk on the litany of product development mistakes he made at Freshbooks a couple of years ago at the Business of Software Conference). Take a look – remember, it is an ebook and it’s free so take […]
This is an hilarious and actionable talk from Dan Lyons, aka Fake Steve Jobs, aka technology editor at Newsweek when he spoke at Business of Software. He left shortly afterwards to become Editor-in-Chief at ReadWrite but by the end of the year he was working for a company that most Business of Software attendees will […]
Instead of doing that really important thing that you should be doing, have a look at this instead. It gives you some great ideas for making yourself more productive, less stressed and probably, less of an a**hole about work. In a world where many talk about the insane hours they have to work in order […]
When I first joined the BoS team last year and was told about the Lightning Talks I was startled. I thought that Lightning Talks would be a contradiction in terms for the reserved and introverted software crowd. As soon as I started watching the first talk I was hooked – I have so much time for the […]
So many people have asked us how we select speakers, or how they propose speakers for Business of Software Conference that we thought we would offer some thoughts that are relevant, not just to Business of Software specifically, but to any approach or submission to a conference. We have seen some terrible proposals and some […]
This is a guest post by Jennifer Rullmann. Jen is a developer-turned-entrepreneur based in the Washington, D.C. area. Her company makes Convey, software that plugs friendly, cost-saving user guides into your application with very little effort. She blogs about creating delightful companies and software at Software Smitten. ——————————————————————————————————————————— Every startup begins life with infinite choices, and there […]
This is a guest post by Paul Pedrazzi. Paul is a novice coder, aspiring designer, and professional product manager at companies like PeopleSoft, Taleo and Oracle. Paul blogs at http://craftedresonance.quora.com. ——————————————————————————————————————————— The Business of Software is easily my favorite conference of the year. It is held annually in Boston. The next event is October 28–30, […]
So rather than write an introduction myself to Gail Goodman, CEO of Constant Contact‘s talk from the Business of Software Conference last year – ‘The Long, Slow, SaaS Ramp of Death’, I will introduce it with some words from Patrick McKenzie, Kalzumeus Software and @Patio11 on Twitter. Patrick, if you don;t already know him, is a […]
Stop what you are doing and watch this is you are involved in making software. Most people have been doing it all wrong. The inspirational Kathy Sierra kicked off the Business of Software Conference 2012 with this brilliant, brilliant, talk. Not only some of the smartest advice anyone has given about how to approach software […]
Blessed are the disruptors (pirates) for they shall be less of a pain in the backside than the incumbents (bandits) who can get into all sorts of nasty little habits. Here is our experience at Business of Software for having a phone number so sales people can call us and make terrible pitches for products we […]
While this was the last talk at Business of Software 2012, we are publishing it first as Dan Pink is just releasing the book - To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others- and despite not being published until December 31st it is already a number one bestseller. Nice work Dan. Like it or […]
All of the talks from the 2012 Business of Software Conference are now online. Over the course of the next year we will make the majority of them available as videos and transcripts to everyone via the blog. All attendees to the 2012 conference have been given passwords to access all of the talks now […]
Over the years we have accumulated a great deal of really useful content from BoS conferences: guest blogs as well as talks. But we know a lot of you come here for the presentations, so we have decided to index everything from 2011 and earlier here to make the search easier (of course, all talks […]
At the end of a packed 2.5 days in October we asked the attendees if they could sum up their BoS experience. Here are their responses – uncensored. Thanks for the feedback: where we can, we will tighten things up. And some of you definitely need more sleep. It was an action-packed thrill ride. I’m […]
This is a summary of Noam Wasserman‘s Business of Software 2012 presentation. Startup Failures Most startups fail. Let’s accept that. However, there are things we can learn about these failures that can move the chances in our favor. Looking at the failures in VC portfolios will give us some insight. 35% of failures are due […]
This is a summary of Noah Kagan‘s Business of Software 2012 presentation. Rogue Marketing Strategies Contests Relevant location $0 partnerships Sponsor niche sites Free things/inbound marketing Build a relationship Marketing is only good if your product doesn’t suck. Kagan pyramid for exceptional You’ll make the most money when you don’t focus on money. The Kagan […]
This is a summary of Peter Bauer’s Business of Software 2012 presentation. Founding and scaling principles According to Peter, the four principles to a successful company are: Build something with friends Deal constructively with fears about success Never allow an investor to change the chemistry or assert their agenda above that of the company Clear […]
This is a summary of Jason Cohen‘s Business of Software 2012 presentation. Metrics – You’re Doing it Wrong The way you’re approaching metrics in your business is wrong. How you’re using data is wrong, because the tools you’re using are wrong. When asked to guess how many jelly beans are in a jar, individual answers […]