If you've read through some of my posts, you probaby get the idea that I'd like to be on my own, that I'd like to make a software product useful enough that some group of people (hopefully a large group) would buy it. And if you didn't get that idea, well there it is.
Upon embarking on that course years ago, it became my goal to be the best at the tasks that most people find boring. For example, documentation, online help, electronic packaging, testing, customer support, and selling through a website. Do those things well and I've reduced the obstacles to somebody buying a product. Indeed, I've helped them move along even faster to the buying decision.
Am I the best? No, but I can produce something that looks and feels good. And when it comes to actually writing the software, I'm not the best but I can find a good way to get anything done. My attention to detail (i.e., being anal retentive) helps a lot in all these things.
But through the years of working at this, I've always felt there was something I lacked. At first, it was the Really Good Idea for a product.
Why was I missing that? Why do people need products? They need to solve a problem and it can sometimes be solved by software. In solving the problem, it'll either make them money or save them money.
The next thought was "Sean, you don't have interaction with People Who Have a Problem Needing Solving". For most of my working years, the idea was already in place as an actual product. Coming along after the fact, I had plenty of exposure to customers who had questions, issues, or recommendations. But it was after the fact. There was no newness or the spark of beginning from scratch.
So the question became, "Why don't I have interaction with People Who Have a Problem Needing Solving?"
In looking for the answer, I get a big slap in the face.
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Sean Winstead
Tags: Customers, Products