This is just a list of the things I reckon make the right web-app to build as a startup.
-
Techie Stuff
- only needs a small team. 1-3 people
- can go from concept to live in under 3 months
- can be bootstrapped, built in spare time
- provides a comprehensive and flexible API
- doesn’t need to create new technologies
- doesn’t rely on partners or third parties to work (or is flexible enough to switch easily)
- is all about collecting, arranging and presenting data
- true viral characteristics
- fills a user need
- can be plugged into existing sites/communities
- allows others to monetise or add value to their sites or businesses
- (11a). bridges sites or businesses together to create new models and/or revenue streams
- holds your interest for long enough to see it through
- has emotional attachment for the team, you’ve got to love what you’re doing!
External Interests
Ideal Business Stuff
..And on a personal note
In the past I’ve chosen the wrong projects to follow, and more recently I’m presented with a very long list of potential ideas to make a go of. I hope the above list will help in the very early “where do I start?” stages of a startup web-app.
Comment with your additions or things you think aren’t that important, this must be something many of us have to deal with, how do we make the right choice? And conversely sometimes we can have the best idea in the world and just start blindly building without taking some important aspects into consideration, pause for a second and evaluate before getting caught up in the excitement.
UPDATE: (blatant plug) I’ve recently started offering my time consulting on this subject, get in touch if you want to have a chat about your project!
UPDATE 2: (another blatant plug) I think we’ve met these points with likeGinger.
Comment by Hendrik Mans
September 22, 2007 @ 2:41 am
Hey Josh,
pretty much agree with all of those except numbers 10 to 12 — they’re really not _that_ important. It was a hard lesson to learn, but I now realize that not thinking outside of our own little engineering box is a common mistake we crazy tech people like to make. Of course we’re all looking at places like Facebook, YouTube, Google etc, thinking “yeah, widgets and APIs are the sauce”, but these things really don’t matter that much to *most* people.
I really like plentyoffish.com as an example. Seriously, that site “sucks”. But it’s crazily successful, both in terms of user count as well as financially (supposedly tens of thousands of $ each month through AdSense and pay-per-lead referal links — and it’s run by a single person). It does get number 9 right big-time, of course. Most of the time, it turns out, the user needs waiting to be filled aren’t mashuppable widgetry microformatfeedthingmajigs.
That and #14 are probably the most important points. If you don’t love your own project (or business), it will show. If you do, it will, too.
Oooooooh, all this startuppery talk is making me so excited. :P Looking forward to the next Farm meetup. (I’m the big German guy who attended something like two months ago, maybe you remember me.)
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October 22, 2007 @ 11:54 pm
[...] made me think of putting forward these points was an article I read. It’s by Josh Russell who offered a very good list of pointers for a web-app startup business. Although his points are [...]
Comment by Philip Wilkinson
November 2, 2007 @ 12:57 pm
Great post Josh – nailed a couple of points there. Three that stood out for me:
1: doesn’t rely on partners or third parties to work (or is flexible enough to switch easily)
2:is all about collecting, arranging and presenting data
3: can be plugged into existing sites/communities
The thing that changed over the years for me in developing businesses is that you can’t generated a single walled garden site anymore and instead have to go with the flow and join the customer on their journey. Kelkoo was all about getting people to the site and out again (relying heavily on partners and collecting data). Now, with Crowdstorm it’s all about being in front of people wherever they are when researching products (facebook, twitter, firefox search bar, a blog site, expert review site) and letting them interact with the product review platform.
Perhaps one thing to add:
-Have a goal and ensure the business helps to achieve this (is it to make lots of money, to change the world, to have a better quality of life for a while….)
Comment by Toki
April 3, 2008 @ 6:32 pm
Thank you for your perfect ideas,josh.
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April 6, 2008 @ 11:55 pm
[...] made me think of putting forward these points was an article I read. It’s by Josh Russell who offered a very good list of pointers for a web-app startup business. Although his points are [...]
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October 22, 2008 @ 12:06 pm
[...] For some more technical stuff about building things online, here’s my list of what it takes to build the perfect webapp. [...]
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April 3, 2010 @ 11:14 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Josh Russell. Josh Russell said: @benwerd point 6. on my post from a while back :) http://bit.ly/di5jEO – The Perfect Webapp Startup [...]