Whether you are an independant developer or a company, you can't just do your own thing and make programs that you find cool. You have to consider the microenvironment and the macroenvironment in which you operate, to adapt and take advantages of emerging opportunities and to minimize potential threats.
Your microenvironment consists of actors that affect your ability to produce effectively in your chosen markets. Those actors are...
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I had to take a marketing class in my last year. At first, I didn't see the point for a software developer to learn those things, but then I realised that it's very important. I am sharing here, the key points I am keeping, regarding how marketing applies to the software business. I hope this note would be of some interest to both (aspiring) programmers and marketers.
Now there is a lot that could be said on that topic, here I just try to stick to the key points, and as it’s still a lot of information, I would rather not send it all at once. Instead I would spread that as small blog articles.
Let's first define "Marketing". It can be defined in many ways but it's basically the achievement of corporate goals through meeting and exceeding customer needs better than the competition. Indeed, the marketing concept is a philosophy of business that puts the customer and customer satisfaction at the center of things.
Why should developers care about it?...
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5 years ago, if I was told that I could run a blog, I would not have believed it. As a software engineer, I was spending more time designing and writing programs. However, a priori, nothing suggested that I could write good articles too....
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If you are not into programming, I need to start by telling you that a programming language is basically an artificial language (system of communication) designed to communicate instructions to a machine, typically a computer.
Now there are a lot of programming languages out there. Some are more popular than others, some are more recent, some are more powerful to some extent.
In an ideal world, each programming language serves a specific purpose. So an engineer should be able to adapt to the on going project and choose the optimal technologies. But the truth is,...
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One of the hidden differences between outstanding Success Stories and the average Joe stories, lies in a huge sacrifice. This is also referred to as "losing an arm". This is indeed about some irreversible loss and the pain endured at the time of execution would be unbearable for most of us.
You will not find a single person who has accomplished a monumental work without giving up something generally considered very precious. In many cases, they decided to "lose an arm" in order to make their dreams come true. They ultimately accepted a physical or emotional pain that most of us would not have accepted. Sometimes they put up with it over several years....
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This goes to those who haven't decided yet what they are going to do in life.
It's important to start thinking about it now, no matter how old you are. You better start early because it takes time, effort and dedication to improve one's skills and to reach goals. The earlier you start, the more time you have to mess up (and you will probably mess up on the way).
To decide about what to do, there are basically 3 things you need to consider:...
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Let's start with the dark part of this post. When you decide to start running a blog, you are likely to fail before the end of the first three months. It is not easy to write, and moreover, to write things that interest others. Professional life and personal constraints (family, schedule, etc.) are often the first causes of slacking. In the same vein, one can also note the useless pressures and deadlines that we impose upon ourselves. For example, some may start by committing to writing at least one article every day at a given time. This is not really necessary because you need a minimum degree of inspiration to write. And when you don't have it, you should have a way to get it....
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I spend a good deal of my time trying to understand what is unusual about successful start-ups founders and product creators, that is, what is special about their way of doing things. Hence we can infer some attitudes and "design patterns" that are often found among these people. Here is a (non-exhaustive) list of traits that I have noticed in these people....
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A few years ago, I could easily spend hours sitting in front of the computer, watching photos on Facebook or on Hi5. That's right, if people publish their photos, the whole point is that we can watch those indeed.
Sometimes I went on profiles of people I didn't even know! When I was asked what I was doing, I used to answer: I look at people's prosperity! Actually, I was a little envious!
I have so many projects running through my mind, so many dreams still unrealised, that sometimes I have these "down" periods, when I feel that everyone is happier than me and that I am running late! Not specifically late with regard to others, but mostly late on the vision that I have for myself!
I envied those who were able to reach some of my dreams and who don't always realise that they are privileged! I also envied these people who enjoyed their youth in the fast lane because, stuck in my perpetual "school-house-sleep" routine, I might not have had any interesting story to share with my children!
But at least, it's fortunate that I happen to be the prime confidant among my connexions. Therefore, for lack of better insight, I would still have the experience of others as a reference point!
And then one day I realised that no one ever photographs their bad times!...
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J'ai toujours espéré qu'un jour j'aurai l'occasion de transmettre tout ce que j'ai appris. C'est à peine si je semble trouver du temps pour ça, vu que vivre selon mes propres paroles signifie forcément que je n'ai absolument pas le temps de les détailler. Mais au moins, je peux prendre un bref moment pour dire quelque chose en passant....
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