Josh Russell

UPDATE: I’ve recently started offering my time consulting on this subject, get in touch if you want to have a chat about your project!

This is just a list of the things I reckon make the right web-app to build as a startup.

Techie Stuff
1. only needs a small team. 1-3 people
2. can go from concept to live in under 3 months
3. can be bootstrapped, built in spare time
4. provides a comprehensive and flexible API
5. doesn’t need to create new technologies

External Interests

6. doesn’t rely on partners or third parties to work (or is flexible enough to switch easily)
7. is all about collecting, arranging and presenting data
8. true viral characteristics

Ideal Business Stuff

9. fills a user need
10. can be plugged into existing sites/communities
11. allows others to monetise or add value to their sites or businesses
12. (11a). bridges sites or businesses together to create new models and/or revenue streams

..And on a personal note

13. holds your interest for long enough to see it through
14. has emotional attachment for the team, you’ve got to love what you’re doing!

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.

A month ago we started talking about doing a site for the local geek/tech/web/business community here in Brighton. A week ago we quietly launched Sussex Digital on Twitter.

This weeks new section is Networks! There are a lot of groups that get together in Brighton and Sussex, many of them have sprung up in the last year. Many of which I hadn’t even heard of! Now I (and you) can keep track of it all.

We’re aiming to add a new section or feature every week for the first 6 or 7 weeks, subscribe to the minifeed to get a first peek.

All feedback would be awesome, we want the site to serve the community, so if you have any suggestions or there are things we missed, let us know..

And *big* thanks to all the people from the community who have helped us with content and ideas :)

update: we were just outed by Andy on the BNM, this might change the feature schedule!