If you see any errors or omissions, leave a comment and I’ll fix it.

I’ve started more than six microISVs over the last decade and, not counting the open source projects, none of them made it to market. Why? Let me tell you…

The internet is littered with the tumbleweeds and debris of startups that failed to launch. The evidence of them is right there in the blogosphere if you know what you’re looking for. It usually goes something like this.

Post #1 – Day 0: Welcome to microInitech! We’re going to change the world.
Post #2 – Day 1: Well, I’ve got everything in place to start coding…
Post #3 – Day 7: Got most of the framework built.
Post #4 – Day 20: Sorry I haven’t blogged much, I’ve been so busy!
Post #5 – Day 40: Here’s a link to a cool random web page I found.
Post #6 – (3 years later): My pet died today. I’m sad…

Now, don’t get me wrong. These are smart people with lots of talent and motivation. They didn’t fail because they were incapable. They didn’t fail because they were unable to produce a good — or perhaps excellent — quality product that would truly make someone’s life easier. They failed for one of the following three reasons.

My life goals were not compatible with the business’ needs. This is the primary reason I’ve never successfully launched a microISV. Running a business was never compatible with my goals for my life.

It’s taken me more than forty years, but I’ve finally learned to see myself from the outside. Today, I intellectually understand more about what motivates me and my actions than I ever did “growing up.” Looking back on the last decade, I clearly see that my priorities have been: me, my family, my friends, and my faith. I also see how I love helping people and I’m motivated by that “ah, ha!” moment people get when I teach them something. Lastly, I know that I love writing code, seeing it run without crashing, watching something spring forth from nothing.

I didn’t see anything in there about wanting to run a business. Did you?

Operating a microISV involves wearing a lot of hats. Just ask Bob Walsh. He’s built an entire business model around your to do list.

When I started each of my microISV projects (I really shouldn’t call them microISVs, since they were never more than an exercise in writing code), I was motivated by one of two things. I either had a really cool idea, or I wanted to make some side money and I figured it would be easy. These were the wrong reasons and that’s why I always failed to launch.

So, what are the right reasons for launching a microISV? Well, that depends on you. First, you need to figure out what your personal goals are and decide if they are compatible with the work that goes into starting a microISV. For example, you may want complete control over your work environment, from hours of operation, to location, to the dress code. This is control you’ll never possess working for someone else.

Once you know what your personal goals and motivations are, look carefully at what is involved in running a business. I mean really think about what you’re getting into. I didn’t, which is brings us to the second reason I never launched a successful microISV…

I didn’t truly understand what goes into running a business. My father-in-law owned and operated a small print shop for over thirty years. He learned that running a print shop involved more than putting ink to paper. There were taxes, accounting, suppliers, delivery, advertising, and customers. Boy, were there customers! Ones that didn’t pay. Ones that were never satisfied. Ones that needed it now! Ones that needed it better than perfect.

My father-in-law doesn’t know a compiler from an icon. But, it’s blindingly obvious to him that you’ll be doing more than pushing bits when you start your microISV. Let me list some of the issues you’ll have to deal with as your microISV goes live: piracy, data security, licensing, SEO, marketing/advertising (yes, their different), graphic design, copyright, risk management, accounting, taxes, sales, legal, hosting, web site administration, and customer support. Boy, will there be customer support!

Many of you are thinking you’re perfectly comfortable learning and doing those things, right? And, that’s the great thing about us. We’re really good at adopting new skills. Here’s the rub. You’ll be doing these things more than you’ll be coding. Let me say that again, with more emphasis…

You’ll spend more time on business operations than on creating and enhancing your product.

Let that sink in. Think about it for more than a moment. Doing paperwork for your accountant and the tax collector. Constructing marketing materials with just the right fonts and whitespace. Checking with a lawyer on the solidity of your license agreements. Listing and prioritizing risks and mitigation strategies. Sending DCMA takedown notices to copyright violators and software pirates. Answering the same customer support questions over and over and over again.

For me, I never really considered these aspects. Oh, I intellectually knew what I was doing, but I never really thought about doing them. Day after day. Which leads me to my last point.

I didn’t really want success. I just wanted to create something. I love writing software and occasionally I get an “itch” to write something. It runs on a cycle of every two years or so. I see a gap in the market for something I now I can create, so I create it. When I’m working on it, it consumes me. I think about it all the time. I talk about it with my wife. I show it friends and colleagues. I draw up business plans. I design marketing websites. I start writing blog entries.

Then, a funny thing happens. I get close to finishing and the fire dims. The need to create is satisfied. I lose focus and interest. I can only assume this is how artists feel when they sculpt and paint.

My microISV never launches. I add to the litter. Another tumbleweed on the internet.

Well, that was depressing!

My purpose in writing this is not to discourage you. I want to open you eyes. One day, you may find yourself wondering why you can’t seem to get your microISV launched. One day, you may wonder why it’s launched but no ones buying. Or, you may be there already.

If you are, you need to ask yourself. Am I doing this for the right reasons? Are my personal goals in line with the business? Do I really want to succeed? Am I spending my time on the right things. (Hint: if you’ve already launched, its probably not time to focus on coding).

Once you know you’re launching a microISV for the right reasons, you can focus on doing the right things. There are countless resources available to get you to the chasm and across it. Find those resources. Stretch your limits. Build new skills. Succeed.

Your microISV doesn’t have to be another tumbleweed.

For information about research into microISV operations, visit the microISV Research Alliance website, where you will find links to popular microISV resources.

My goal is to do at least two of these a day. That number should be manageable, until I reach the books section. I’ll probably skip the books and review the other sites first. Then, I can go back and read each of the recommended books and offer up my opinion on the content.

I see three real benefits of this exercise. One, the visitor gets more information up-front on the Alliance website, saving time and clicks. Two, I learn more about the listed resource and its contents. Three, I create more fodder for search engines and long-tailed queries related to microISVs, hopefully driving more traffic my way.

The 2010 microISV Pain Point survey kicked off this week. Leading up to the survey, I was required to pass through the Institutional Review Board, under the Office of Human Subjects Research. Let me tell you, it wasn’t quite the experience I expected.

First, I submitted something called a Request for Determination form. This is the IRBs opportunity to say it is not human subject research and that you’re done with them. That’s not how it worked out for me.

The first response was to inform me that I forgot to attach a copy of the survey. I immediately emailed them a copy of the questions, the terms and conditions, and some screen shots. Two weeks later I received a message informing me that it was indeed human subjects research. I now needed to fill out a protocol form. The good news? My protocol would be reviewed as “Exempt.” This meant they were assuming I would be exempt from federal regulations (i.e.- no animals, children, etc.).

I filled out a protocol form, obtained the signatures of my advisor and department head, and sent it off to the IRB.

A week later they emailed me to point out that I mixed up the roles on the form; I had listed my advisor as the principal investigator. Luckily, they accepted the change as a simple email and I didn’t need to go get new signatures from everyone.

The next day I got an email saying I had not included an Information Sheet. The Information Sheet informs the research subjects of their rights, compensation, privacy, etc. They also needed samples of the forum posts I would be making to solicit respondents. I filled out an Information Sheet and sent it in the next day with a sample forum post.

Of course, some of the documents I sent in looked similar to other document, so later that day the IRB asked for clarification of which document was for what purpose. I ended up sending a new copy of all the required documents, four in all. Of course, I forgot to send an updated copy of my forums post, so the next day I sent that in too, bringing the document total to six.

Twelve working days later, I received an official response to my request: additional information is needed. Reading the reviewer’s comments and reviewing the forms, I decided to simplify the request and resubmit it to the IRB. Of course, getting the required signatures required a few days work, but we got it sent in finally.

Ten working days later, I received approval to go ahead with my survey.

All in all, the survey launched three weeks after I’d hope for. In the end, that turned out for the best, but it was still annoying.

Lessons Learned

1. Start early.

2. Start early.

3. Start early.

I couldn’t uninstall Avast or the SCToolBarButton from my shiny new MacBook Pro. Dragging the icons from the application folder did nothing.

Let me clarify. Clicking the Applications folder on the Dock and dragging the icons from the pop-up window to the Trash had no effect.

Since having the two programs didn’t seem to affect anythings, I just left them. Then today, I noticed them again and decided to give uninstalling another go. And, lo and behold, I hit on the way to do it. Can you guess what I was doing wrong?

It turns out that my Mac wanted permission to perform the delete. For some reason, the username/password prompt doesn’t show up when you follow the steps above. The correct way to uninstall either of the applications is to click the Applications folder, click Open in Finder, then drag the icon from the Finder window to the Trash. The operating system will ask you to authenticate, after which the programs are gone.

Simple really.

The real question is… Is this an indication of the vital importance of social media? Or it a false positive?

I’ve had mixed reactions to the survey.  Some microISVers have had plenty to say on the topic; time will tell if they have anything to say on the survey.  Others have been harder to read and I’m not sure if they’re interested or not.  I really appreciated the first microISVer I spoke with over breakfast.  He bluntly asked “What’s in it fo me?”

I told him about the prizes.  I described how the responses would be turned back around and given to the community, perhaps opening new market opportunities.  And, I explained how what I’m doing is not oriented toward a commercial venture; everything we produce will eventually find its way back into the hands of microISVers (for free).

Every person I speak with helps me polish my “sales pitch” for the survey.  Perhaps, by the time the conference is over, I’ll have it down to a science.  Of course, by then, I’ll be too exhausted to speak.

My homepage (index.php) started redirecting to the page I had just created. Since the page had been deleted, what I actually saw was my 404 page. Uncool!

I tried changing to the default WordPress 3.0 theme, but that didn’t fix the problem. I disabled the All-in-One SEO pack, but that didn’t help either. Out of desperation, I disabled every plugin, and — viola! — it worked.

I reenabled everything but Redirection and everything was still working. So, the Redirection plugin was the culprit. I reported the issue. We’ll see if it gets fixed.

Note: If you add a parameter to the request, like http://usefullittlethings.com?x=y, the problem goes away.

Update: I’ve given up waiting on a fix from the author. I uninstalled the plugin and replaced it with the Simple 301 Redirects Plugin from Scott Nelle.

First, the Alliance does not need to be an independent legal entity; It can simply exist as a “persona” of one of the member universities. Since, at the moment, Auburn is the only member, then Auburn will in essence be the Alliance. Once I move on to another university, I’ll move Alliance operations there. In fact, having the Alliance as an operation under a university gives us several benefits, including having many administration functions at our disposal.

Second, we don’t have to worry about intellectual property rights being restricted. Since Dr. Umphress is acting on behalf of Auburn University, they are co-owners of any intellectual property we generate. On the other hand, since I am not being paid by the university or using significant university resources, I fall outside the intellectual property restrictions and am, therefore, a co-owner. In other words, from a legal standpoint, Dr. Umphress, Auburn University, and I all have right to do whatever we like with the generated intellectual property. Of course, from an ethical and professional standpoint, we will act as collaborators and agree on the uses of the intellectual property, so as to eliminate surprises.

Lastly, we talked a great deal about money. The discussion brought into focus several vague ideas I’d had about research funding. Let me break them down.

Option 1 – Corporate Grants – A private business may choose to “invest” money in our research in exchange for things like licensing rights, steering committee membership, early looks at data or report, etc. This is very common throughout the university system and is the easiest to formalize. The difficult part is negotiating with the business on what they’ll get for their money. The other challenge is deciding exactly how to divide up the money among member labs.

Option 2 - Membership Dues – Individuals in the microISV community might be encourage to “join the Alliance” for a small membership fee. This would be something akin to a micro-corporate grant. They would get access to certain benefits like data access, free publications, conferences, etc. I both like and dislike this idea, since I’d like the Alliance to be as inclusive as possible. Besides, microISVers have precious little money to start with.

Options 3 – Angel Investors – This would be the simplest, since we would be getting a grant with few or no strings attached.

Option 4 – Venture Capitalist Grants – When I spoke with Bob Walsh, he indicated there are more than a few VCs looking for the next Twitter or Facebook. I believe the biggest challenge VCs face is locating a high potential microISV before it had that explosive growth, because, once it explodes everyone wants in. If we build a strong community of microISVers, VCs may want access to that community and may be willing to provide grants for that access. Of course, this is all speculation at this point, since I haven’t actually spoken to any venture capitalists about it.

So that’s a quick summary of our meeting. As it stands, the only remaining hurdle to a full launch of the Alliance is getting IRB approval of the Pain Point survey. Once that’s done, we’re full steam ahead!