Liam McLennan

Maybe you are like me and regularly work on multiple projects. If not, please send me a cheque for the $0.00001 worth of bandwidth you have wasted.

Sometimes a week or two can pass between looking at a project and I find when I go back to it I lose a couple of hours just trying to work out where I was up to. To solve this problem I have started a development journal for my more neglected projects. At the end of every coding session I record a few key pieces of information to help orientate me the next time I come back to it. Here is an example entry:

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2009-08-19
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WORKING ON:

Testing the graph navigator code that produces cycles. Discovered and addressed a few edge cases such as non-cyclic journeys where the shortest spanning tree visits every node.


NEXT THING TO DO:

Complete the scenarios in BuildingCyclesTests using the style of the first two already completed scenarios.


TESTS:

63 passed, 0 failed, 1 skipped, took 13.21 seconds

It is just a plain text file that I have added to my visual studio solution items so that I can edit it in visual studio.

Oct 27, 2009 |

The traditional, Paul Graham style of technology start-up is:

1. Someone has an idea
2. They try to validate their idea
3. The idea is implemented
4. The idea is communicated to the market

While the importance of step 2 has always been emphasized the weakness of the above remains that the product may not gain significant visibility to the market. The products never reach critical mass and so they fade gradually into obscurity.

Recently I have noticed a new model emerging that promises far less risk at the tail end of the product cycle:

1. Build a personal brand. This is usually done by making open-source contributions.
2. Develop a product that is related to your brand.
3. Use your brand to reach a market

The advantage here is that the market is ready and waiting and has a degree of trust in the entrepreneur. Here are some examples of development tool isvs that are using this strategy:

I am sure there are others but that is all I can think of right now. Personally, I think it is great that these people are able to leverage their excellent contributions to produce a viable business.

Oct 27, 2009 |