How to get super rich and never have to work again

(Well, not really. Keep in mind that you’re reading a post by someone who is not rich and works like a dog almost every day.)

Here’s an interesting book if you’re curious about how successful technology companies get started: Founders at Work: Stories of Startups’ Early Days by Jessica Livingston.

Founders at Work is a collection of interviews with 32 people who started, or helped start, super-successful companies like Adobe, TiVo, Blogger, Yahoo!, and more. It also includes interviews with people who founded not-very-successful-but-made-the-founders-super-rich companies, like Hotmail and Lycos. (Yes, I know, some people will disagree with me about those companies not being successful. Hotmail has had serious problems, and I think Lycos’ domain name expired yesterday. Just be glad I didn’t put Apple on that list!)

These types of books always interest me, because I am one of those individualist entrepreneur types. I don’t ever expect to “hit it big,” because my focus is always on narrow niches, but it’s still fun to read about people who, often enough, created extremely successful businesses without really trying to.

For example, PayPal began as a PDA application and initially told customers they didn’t want it to be used to pay for auctions. They eventually abandoned the initial goals of PayPal and now everybody uses it to pay for auctions.

Then there are the companies that almost collapse under their own initial success, like Blogger. Prya Labs didn’t set out to create a new “sphere” (as in blogo-), but when it did, had lots of users and no way to make any money off them. They had to lay off practically the entire company and run on fumes until someone with lots of money (Google) came in and made the one guy who stuck around super wealthy.

There are, of course, several companies represented in the book who did exactly what they set out to do. But that’s boring.

And there’s the occasional founder who was so wrapped up in what was happening to him that he doesn’t know what was going on around him: like Steve Wozniak (aka the Woz) who is still convinced that the Apple II set all sorts of records that it didn’t, and thinks Commodore passed on acquiring Apple when in fact Steve Jobs tried to push Jack Tramiel too hard and lost the chance. But I digress.

I can certainly recommend reading this book. At the very least, you’ll learn that nobody ever got rich because of a book or blog post they read, and most of the ones who do get rich don’t stop working after their bank accounts overflow.

Software Industry Conference 2007 Mini-Review

Last week, we packed up the family and drove to Denver for SIC 2007. The Software Industry Conference is an annual conference geared towards independent software developers and vendors.

As usual, there were some very helpful sessions. Dave Collins and Thomas Wetzel convinced me to give Google AdWords yet another try with their insights. There were several sessions about blogging, newsletters, and podcasting as marketing vehicles, with Bob Walsh, Phil Schnyder, and Michael Lehman making several appearances on these topics. Nick Bradbury, author of the excellent TopStyle, had a great presentation on effective user interface design and the difficulties of keeping software simple while still satisfying the needs of power users.

David Intersimone of CodeGear had a session on native code development. I have to say I was a bit disappointed that he didn’t make more of a pitch for using Delphi. He showed off some of Delphi’s features, but his session seemed to be more of an overview of the development options for Windows, rather than one really driving home the benefits of native code development with Delphi. But it was great to see CodeGear at SIC, because it shows that they understand the importance of reaching out to independent developers rather than just focusing on enterprise customers like Borland has been doing for the last several years. Spending time talking with David was a highlight of the conference for me.

There are plenty of sessions I didn’t mention simply because there are too many for one person to attend.

SIC isn’t just about sessions, it’s also about networking and schmoozing.  It’s nice to have an opportunity to spend time with people in the same industry, as being an independent software developer often means spending your days behind a computer without “realspace” interaction with your colleagues. I had a great time meeting new people, and especially catching up with people I’ve met at previous conferences.

Industry Awards at SIC

The Shareware Industry Awards Foundation presents several awards each year at SIC during an awards banquet. Last year, my wife and I attended the banquet and decided that we could save some money by skipping it the next time and eating out at a restaurant instead. So this year, a group of us drove out to Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse where we enjoyed some good steak and excellent company.

Upon our return, I was informed that I missed my own award presentation! I didn’t believe it at first, because I assumed Bible Software was too much of a niche market to even put me in the running. But nobody was pulling my leg — SwordSearcher received the People’s Choice Award for the Hobby & Personal Interest category. I was stunned — I didn’t ask anyone to vote for me, I didn’t mention it in a single newsletter. I didn’t even vote for myself! The People’s Choice Awards are voted on by thousands of people across the internet on major websites like CNet, Tucows, and PC World. So that was exciting.

SwordSearcher People's Choice AwardHere’s a picture of the award. It’s much heavier than it looks and takes up a good deal of space on a shelf. Always thinking about getting the word out, I promptly wrote a press release announcing the award.

A big thank-you to the folks who put on the conference. I hope to be able to attend again next year in Boston.

Delphi 2007 Update 1: CodeGear Delivers

A while back I blogged about my major disappointments with Delphi 2007. I’m happy to say that the problems D2007 had, which prevented me from using it for project development, seem to have been adequately addressed with CodeGear’s first service pack.

To wit, I’ve just used Delphi 2007 Update 1 to compile what I hope to be the next release of Daily Bible and Prayer — version 2.1, a small update. I was able to do all of the .1 development in D2007 without anything holding me back, and the finished product works as it should. If all goes well, DBAP 2.1 will be released (as a free update) later this week.

America Alone

Reading list: America Alone

Mark Steyn makes a compelling argument that Europe is already lost to Islamofacism, and the Islamofascists didn’t need to bomb a single pizza parlor to do it.

Steyn’s book is all about demographics. His argument is nigh unanswerable: if the folks in your country are reproducing at a rate lower than is necessary to even sustain your population, and you have a cradle-to-grave welfare state that requires you to have workers to tax, you’re going to have to let them come in and they will eventually own the place. This is already happening all over Europe.

Steyn also makes a solid case for something most of us already understand intuitively: our culture is superior to theirs. If you’re intent on holding to the indefensible position that all cultures are morally equal, you won’t like what you read in Steyn’s book.

All-in-all an excellent read. Steyn has a good sense of humor that fills every page. Even though he’s discussing what amounts to a coming New Dark Ages, you’ll find yourself giggling all the way through.

America Alone is easily the best political book of the year.

Forum Software: vBulletin is better than phpBB

On Forum Software:

I like vBulletin.

I recently upgraded my SwordSearcher User Forum from phpBB to vBulletin, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the process. My phpBB board was getting hammered by spammers and administrating the board was just a major chore because of the way phpBB is set up.

Not so with vBulletin. Handling administrative tasks is just so much easier. This is definitely another example of “getting what you pay for.” Just because something’s free (as in phpBB) doesn’t mean it’s a good deal.