Rent 9781118205556 | Starting a Tech Business : A Practical Guide for Anyone Creating or Designing Applications or S...

Summary Table of Contents Author Biography

Technology-enabled businesses offer one of today's best available means to creating wealth, and the successful application of technology increasingly separates an industry's winners from its losers. Even better, while a decade ago the barriers to creating a technology-enabled business required a pole vault, they've lowered to where a determined step in the right direction is enough to get started. There are many important things prospective entrepreneurs and business enterprises need to know to avoid common pitfalls in the fast-paced world of h... MOREigh tech business. This book provides these practical checklists and frameworks that business owners, entrepreneurs, and professionals can apply to any web 2.0 business idea, whether they are developing software and products or beginning a technology-enabled business. The book includes valuable insights on How do you prepare yourself or your company for successful systems implementation? How do you develop a best-practice user interface for your/your company's system? What are some of the most common disconnects between engineers and business people and how can you avoid them? What are the core functional roles in a technology-enabled business and what skills sets do they require? How do you identify worthwhile partnerships and invest in them enough to make them successful?

The non-technical guide to building a booming tech-enabled business Starting a technology-enabled business is cheaper and easier than ever before.

PRAISE FOR STARTING A TECH BUSINESS "Alexs book deploys decades of the best ideas towards a practical, immediately usable recipe for building technology-based businesses. I particularly liked Alexs list of challenges entrepreneurs face across the life of the venture, with playful names like The Lawn Gnome of Indolence, The Hydra of Operational Readiness, and The Whale of Scale, to name a few. I also liked the case study that Alex used throughout the book showing exactly how to use the tools in each chapter. This is a big book. But dont be daunted. It dives into the detail that is missing in most other entrepreneurship books to show you how to do it." -TOM KOSNIK, Professor, Stanford University "Some books on high tech flirt with the details, but this one goes all the way. Alex shows how attention to a highly manageable set of specifics dramatically increases the effectiveness of a tech venture."-JAN LINDNER, former CTO, Sierra Online Games (a division of Vivendi) "Readers of this book will steer clear of many, many bumps on the road to success." -SCOTT HOFFPAUIR, CTO, BroadSoft "Starting a Tech Business is both a primer for first-time entrepreneurs and the book experienced execs should keep handy too." -MARK VOGL, Executive Director, Bay Area Video Coalition Starting a technology-enabled business is cheaper and easier than ever before. Starting a Tech Business supplies the tools prospective entrepreneurs and managers need to avoid common pitfalls and succeed in the fast-paced world of high-tech business. Get practical checklists and frameworks that business owners, entrepreneurs, and professionals can apply to any web-based business idea. Youll learn how to move a product idea to market quickly and inexpensively-and to tap into the stream of wealth that a tech business can provide.

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction xiii

Who Should Read This? Why? xiii

What Is a Technology System? xv

Leveraging Industry Shifts xvii

What Will I Get out of These Chapters? xviii

Who Is the Author? xxvi

Chapter 1 The Idea: Confront the Lawn Gnome of Indolence 1

Conception 1

Reality Testing 3

Footprint 25

Platforms 26

Engaging Moonlighters 28

Beta Customers 30

Checklist 33

Specialty Reading by Topic 33

Chapter 2 The Strategy: Saddle the Racehorse of Blind Progress 35

What Strategy? 35

... MORESquaring the Four Ps 36

Company Strategy 40

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