Stepping into the dangerous world of software development can feel like walking into an unknown wilderness of terms and processes. Thankfully, you now have a book to take you step by step through getting your idea to market.
By developers for non-developers this no nonsense book will give you a strong foundation to review developers, technologies, tools and architecture and provide practical advise on how to extract the best outcomes from them.
The single most important decision you make is selecting the person that converts your idea into actual software. Everything you say or show your developer will be filtered through their own experience, preferences and explanations of how software should behave, so you need to find a good one right from the start.
Having software developed can be costly, so knowing what features and functionality is required to launch a minimum viable product (MVP), manage technical debt and being agile in the development process is critical to not wasting a lot of money.
Selecting the right technology and architecture can make sure you are developing cutting edge software which isn't bleeding edge. A good understanding of how to review the merits of technologies as well as knowing the pitfalls of bad development processes will help ensure your software development is successful.
“Don’t make the same mistake as me, read this book BEFORE you start dealing with your developer. This book could have saved me 6 months of my precious time, an embarrassing amount of development costs, and a whole lot of headaches. If you are like me, a non-techy looking to find a software developer, you must read this before you head into the dark world of software outsourcing.”
“Well written and straightforward. A great help in decoding all that techno-speak IT geeks like to confuse you with.”
“Concise, clear, and entertaining overview of what you need to know before your first meeting with a software developer. Clarifies exceeding complex problems such as pricing and platform planning. Non-technical examples and first principles make this and enjoyable and useful read to anyone. Love the illustrations too.”
“Well written, concise. Easy to read if even if you know nothing about computers. Overall a very solid book.”
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Ben has spoken at many events around the country - from corporate training sessions, to tech conferences, to post-grad university students - and continues to engage with the community concerning broader software development issues.
When not speaking, he practices what he preaches, as founder of Blackball Software and SyncHub.
He has been helping start ups and businesses get their products successfully to market for more than a decade. Each night he returns home to his beautiful wife, children, and a fat, ungrateful cat.
