Sessions at Business of Software 2010 with video

Unscheduled

• Are you afraid to truly make an impact?

  by Seth Godin

  The opportunity for linchpin organizations and the people who run them.

  The opportunity for software people is to realise that you have the most scaleable, useful, valuable thing there is. Software site at the top of the Hierarchy of Value.

  Coverage video

• Building A Great Software Business: Notes From The Field

  by Dharmesh Shah

  Dharmesh is obsessed by code and making customers happy. In this talk at Business of Software 2010, Dharmesh talks about why venture capital is neither necessary, not evil, how value is created, why user experience is EVERYTHING and how Hubspot developed its key metric, the 'CHI. - Customer Happiness Index.

  Coverage video

• Do Worry... Be Happy!

  by Giacomo 'Peldi' Guilizzoni

  One thing they don’t tell you about quitting your job to become a startup CEO is how much you’re going to worry about things.From “Should I really quit my cushy job?” and “What if someone steals my idea?” to “How can I keep a global team working as a unit?” and “How long before people notice that I really don’t know what I’m doing?” - the list is long and ever-changing. ;I’ll share some stories and tricks that I’ve used to overcome my fears, and how I’ve learned to welcome these feelings as a sign of imminent personal growth.

  Coverage video

• From Bootstrap to $60m. What I've learnt.

  by Scott Farquhar

  Atlassian has been a successful software bootstrap, right up until we took $60m funding from Accel Partners in July 2010. Scott packs some of what he's learnt about running a software company into thirty minutes. You'll hear about how to pick a business model, how to get free marketing, how we hired 32 people in 6 months, and how we built a workplace that has won numerous HR awards.

  Coverage video transcript

• I sold my business and gave the money away

  by Derek Sivers

  Derek A/B tests his possible talks with the audience before talking about how and why he grew one of the most successful online music distribution businesses in the world. Why did he sell it and why has he given the money away?

  Coverage video

• Marketing to minorities

  by Patrick McKenzie

  Patrick's unique and insightful take on how to market software to underserved minority groups like non-techies, non-Americans and even - shock - women.

  • Marketing
  Coverage slide deck video

• Selling sales to Techies

  by Paul Kenny

  If you are a founder or technologist in a software business and leave sales to the sales team, you need to watch this.

  Coverage video

• Six ways to work out whether advice is helpful to you

  by Jason Cohen

  “That’s how it is done”, is bullshit. Make up your own rules & understand all advice comes with its own prejudices.

  Coverage video write-up

• Stuff I learned selling my business to Microsoft

  by Eric Sink

  Over the years, we’ve been approached by several parties interested in acquiring our company. I learned a lot from those discussions, even though none of the deals happened. And then I found out how little I knew. Microsoft acquired the assets of our Teamprise division in November 2009. Taking a deal all the way to closing was, er, very educational. I obviously can’t share any specifics about our deal, but I learned a lot about M&A that I think may be of interest to others looking to sell a small software firm to a big company.

  Coverage video

• The number one goal of your website

  by Paul Kenny

  "The Primary Goal of Your Website" - What's the primary goal of your website? Not to sell software. With most visitors returning multiple times before making a purchase, your primary goal should be to draw visitors back to your site. In this talk, Rob looks in-depth at why this is the case, and how to make it happen.

  Coverage video

• The Primary Goal of Your Website

  by Rob Walling

  What's the primary goal of your website? Not to sell software. With most visitors returning multiple times before making a purchase, your primary goal should be to draw visitors back to your site. In this talk, Rob looks in-depth at why this is the case, and how to make it happen.

  • Customer Retention
  Coverage video

• The science of lean startups

  by Eric Ries

  Most software projects fail. Most startups fail. Most new products are never used. But it doesn’t have to be that way. The Lean Startup is a disciplined approach to imagining, designing, and building new products. By testing our assumptions earlier, faster, and with more rigor, we can stop wasting people’s time.

  • Lean Startups
  Coverage video

• What have I learned in 40 years of developing software products that people use?

  by Dan Bricklin

  Dan’s DNA is embedded in software across the world and across the decades. What has Dan learned about software along the way? Think about the ‘job’ that people will hire the software to do. Software is being used as an alternative to employees.

  Coverage video

• Why culture matters

  by David Russo

  The founding leadership in a business sets the world view, the tone for the culture that decides whether a business will succeed or fail in the long haul. Culture is set from the start, you can't change it and if you try, you will destroy value in your business. Here is the proof.

  Coverage video