May 10

Written by: Steve Erbach
Saturday, May 10, 2008 9:44 AM

For the millions of programmers out there,
this book speaks to YOU!

Mr. Smolin's book isn't for the Sergei Brins or the Linus Torvalds of the world. If you think that the author is going to reveal the most sure-fire software development environment that will have the greatest chance of acceptance in the marketplace, you'd better look elsewhere. Actually, there IS no elsewhere because there is no such source that can deliver on such a claim. Those that think that Mr. Smolin should have shown Java or C# examples in his book are entirely missing the point: this is a book that shows EVERY factor a developer should consider BEFORE releasing his much-beloved software to an unsuspecting public.

The development environment particulars have no bearing on the business of selling software. Do you really believe that a jewelry shop looking for something to help keep track of all the parts needed for jewelry design really cares one way or another whether your program is written in C# or Cobol?

If you're looking at this book for guarantees, you won't find any. Software writing is a business, and anyone that indulges in wishful thinking is lost right from the start. Some feature you've written that you think is just the coolest thing you've ever seen in any program ever may be the one thing that annoys a potential buyer so much that he'll pass your cool program right by without a second thought.

The 67 pages of interviews take up about a third of this book. I was charmed, informed, and bemused by them all at once. The interviews in this book read like direct transcripts from the tapes. There seems to be little editing; nothing, say, like "Ten Questions for Lotta Miles" in People Magazine. But the flow is very natural and Mr. Smolin makes an engaging interviewer. He felt it important enough to devote such a large portion of his book to the interviews because it serves up a huge dollop of authenticity.

None of his interview subjects have household names. Sure, an interview with the founders of Google or with Bill Gates would certainly have increased the general public's interest in this book and helped the sales considerably. But what do you really expect from an interview with a top flight software developer that hasn't been seen before? Interviewing people that made a go of it by marketing a small, targeted software product to a limited market is going to be a heck of lot closer to the experience of anyone who reads this book; that is, someone who's looking to target a small market with a software product!

The "secret" to success in software development is the same as it is in every business: work hard, pay attention to what your customers say, get the details right, work hard, keep promoting your product, make sure to have enough capital at the start and keep your fiscal house in order, keep up with your taxes, work continuously on improvements to your product, work hard, watch your competitors like a hawk, don't let yourself become discouraged, keep on top of your billing, don't borrow too much money, and work hard.

Mr. Smolin's book covers them all. If you don't have a head for business, this book isn't really going to give you one. Well, NO book is going to give you that, thousands of business-oriented book titles to the contrary.

But what this book DOES give you is -- believe it or not -- a step-by-step guide to bringing your software to market. There isn't anything magical here. No, let me re-phrase that: there IS magic here, magic in the down-to-earth principles that Mr. Smolin writes about so clearly.

Yes, you've heard them a hundred times, but have you drawn them to your bosom and made them a part of your everyday life? If you want to know what this book is really all about, take these words from the section in Chapter 1 called "What This Book is Really About", contemplate them, absorb them, and realize that there really is no other way:

"This book is really about getting to your first day in business.

"It is about taking that raw idea you have for a program and creating a saleable product. And setting up the support system you need to make your business hum.

"If you're going to do this thing, you have to be ready for some tough days. But nothing worthwhile ever comes easy. Sometimes what it really takes is stupid, blind obstinacy -- the drive to keep going, stubbornly solving one problem at a time until you get the brass ring."

The magic comes from what Judith Martin calls "the alchemy of the spirit"; the realization that you can, indeed, make a go of it if you just keep at it with "stupid, blind obstinacy", and keep your eye on the road ahead. Why should success involve anything more than what other successful people have done to become successful?

Here, in brief, are most of the steps that Mr. Smolin covers:

1) Define your product
2) Analyze it and create a system specification
3) Build in security
4) Design
5) Make program navigation consistent and smooth
6) Choose a platform
7) Decide whether to write it yourself or hire someone
8) Consider deeply the point-of-view of the user
9) Test
9a) Test some more
9b) Keep testing
10) Pricing and pricing options
11) Business considerations that lead to success
12) Financing options
13) Legal issues: copyright and ownership
14) The business type: sole propietor, corporation, etc.
15) Insurance
16) Software piracy
17) When to stop programming and sell the product
18) Writing a manual
19) Packaging
20) Going one step at a time

Some of these things are treated more-or-less in the form of a to-do item on a checklist, like insurance. You won't find a list of the best software product insurers in the land within the book...it's just another one of those things you must deal with if you're actually going to make a business out of your brilliant software.

Smolin's style has a light touch, particularly in the interviews. If you're somebody with little to no sense of humor, then this isn't the book for you. If you believe that business topics should be treated with seriousness and stodgy attention to every last stinking detail, then this isn't the book for you. Not that it's a laugh riot, mind you. Smolin slips in the persiflage at the right moments, I think, to keep you mindful of the fact that business can be fun and that a bit of humor helps you overcome the self-doubt that can come with the inevitable business setbacks.

In "From Program to Product", Smolin treats the building of a software business, with all the attendant worries, obstacles, and triumphs, as if he's giving you advice from a very close friend who really wants you to do well. I truly wish that I'd had this book when I started my own software business. I'd still be in it ... and thriving.

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