Do it yourself
I have a little story to tell that I hope will inspire someone to pursue an entrepreneurial goal. I came across a notebook recently. I don’t remember exactly when I used this one, but it was somewhere around ’97 or…
Tag lessons
Complementary Jobs
Early in my career, I decided I was going to build a web site to compete with one that I used, but had some problems with. It seemed like something I could pull off part time, while continuing with my…
Technical Choices Matter
When you start a project, one of the early choices you need to make is what technologies to use. You use tools that will support your efforts, not get in your way. For Trovz.com, I went with PHP on the…
Get Your Core Users Early
Trovz.com taught me that it’s important to get some core users early. But how do you get them, and how do you make use of them? First things first: what does a core group of early users do for you?…
User Interface Design isn’t for everyone
I’ve always known that the visual aspect of software is important, but most of my software development career has been building behind-the-scenes components that no user ever saw. I knew good user interface design was important, I just didn’t know…
Productivity = Skill * Commitment * Tools
It’s very difficult to start up a company part time. I’m not saying it can’t be done, but it’s tough. This simple equation popped into my head earlier: Productivity = Skill * Commitment * Tools Early in our effort, we…
Beginning with an End
In April 2007, I started work on what became Trovz.com, a site to help people lend, rent, and buy stuff. On August 19th, 2009, I threw in the towel. I think my first lesson came even before I got started…