A developer's perspective on entrepreneurship

Tips for starting your own business

Presented at http://ridethelightning.doorkeeper.jp/

Also see http://www.tokyodev.com/2014/04/10/resources-developers-business/ and http://www.tokyodev.com/2014/04/17/creating-company-japan/

Transcript

1. A developer's perspective on entrepreneurship
 Tips for starting your own business Paul McMahon Doorkeeperגࣜձࣾ @pwim
2. About Myself • Came to Japan on Working Holiday Visa and got job as developer at small Japanese company in 2006 • Founded consultancy in 2008 • Founded Doorkeeperגࣜձࣾ in 2013
3. Start by Freelancing • Similar to a salaried position in that you are exchanging your time as a resource for money • Unlike salaried position, you only get paid when the company needs you, so you get paid more per unit of time • Good opportunity to practice customer development, negotiation, and other business skills
4. Don’t make a company unless you need one • You can get pretty far on ݸਓࣄۀ (sole proprietorship) • A company has higher overhead and more complex taxation • You can self-sponsor an engineering visa with sole proprietorship (more kosher then having a company you create it) • http://www.tokyodev.com/2014/04/17/creating- company-japan/
5. Products don’t need to be applications
6. If you do make a web app, make it paid only • This forces you to build something that is actually valuable • Do customer development before software development • Get 10+ people to commit to paying you $50+/ month • Having less users is a good thing when you’re starting out
7. Learn from others • Famous entrepreneurs aren’t so useful (you’re not going to be Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg) • I find developers who have had small scale success more relevant: see Jason Cohen, Rob Walling, and Patrick McKenzie • http://www.tokyodev.com/2014/04/10/resources- developers-business/
8. Thanks • paul@doorkeeper.jp • @pwim • http://www.tokyodev.com/