(If you have an announcement of interest to your fellow microISV, indies or startups, please email me at bob.walsh@47hats.com with the word digest in the subject.)

News and Announcements

• Joseph Thibault, Partner, Coursefeeds.com, is recruiting beta testers for a January launch of his new Learning Management System. (via email)
• Hector Sosa, PainlessSVN, has released PainlessSVN 1.1.0 and is offering readers of this blog 50% off when they type “discount47hats” as their promo code at http://www.painlesssvn.com.
• Joel Roggenkamp, bestattendance.com, has launched his microISV with Attendance Management System (http://bestattendance.com) is an easy way for community organizations to track attendance without the bells, whistles and cost of competitors.
• Jeff Lewis, Consultutah LLC, has relaunched site for SharpAuthorize.com. SharpAuthorize does one thing and does it well: It makes it fast and easy for developers to add credit card processing through Authorize.net to their .NET based application.
• Gareth Hayter, Slyce Software, has just launched the beta version of Visual NHibernate, a visual designer and mapping tool for creating and editing new and existing NHibernate projects and is looking for testers. Visual NHibernate reduces the learning curve for new users and increases productivity for .NET developers using the leading open-source object-relational mapper (ORM) framework.
• Show #48, of the Startup Success Podcast is one podcast you don’t want to miss: I interview Don Dodge, now of Google, on both the strategic developer/startup ramp ups you see in 2010 and how Google will be going head-to-head for enterprise wins for the company’s browser, cloud and mobile platforms. You’ll find The Startup Success Podcast at iTunes.

Relevant Blog Posts, Podcasts, Videos and Articles

• Andrew Chen, makes a good point in Benefit-Driven Metrics: Measure the lives you save, not the life preservers you sell

And…

• This week’s microISV Digest is sponsored by StartupToDo.com: Focused action and discussion save you precious bootstrapping hours. Be Successful Faster with StartupToDo.com.

(With 2010 just one month away, I need your feedback on what – and whether – the MicroISV Digest should be. Please comment on this post what you’d like to see it cover more, less or differently. And apologies for missing last week – by the time I could get to it, it was Thanksgiving here in the US.)

(If you have an announcement of interest to your fellow microISV, indies or startups, please email me at bob.walsh@47hats.com with the word digest in the subject.)

News and Announcements

• Pietro Polsinelli, Open Lab, is launching not one but two web apps. First up, Patapage – Patapage is a way of adding services to web sites by adding buttons. There are buttons for adding a wiki-like layer to your pages, and also comments, image galleries, contact forms, rating, retweet, Google or Twitter searches, windows on other websites, annotated feedbacks, with more services on the way.
  Also in beta is BugsVoice – an online error reporting service for web developers and maintainers combining friendly error pages, collecting exceptions, and user feedback. (via email)
• James Avery and Rob Conery have launched TekPub, a technical screencast site, mainly targeting .NET developers. I watched the Linux for Softies: Setting up Apache with Rails: #1 Introduction and Installation. free sample and was seriously impressed. Looking forward to seeing Coder to Developer 2009, another freebie on the site. James by the way is the co-author of Windows Developer Power Tools: Turbocharge Windows Development with More Than 140 Free and Open Source Tools – one of my favorite .NET productivity books. (via Twitter)
• I’m going to have to interview this guy one of these days. He’s seriously productive. Steve Cholerton, Arten Science, has announced the R10Office Productivity and CRM Suite for Small Businesses, Individuals, Clubs and Groups.
• Charles O’Dale, Senomix Timesheets, has released a new version of his product: streamlining the networking so that this desktop app (Windows and Mac) can easily track time spent by distributed/virtual teams, regardless of private networks, VPNs and the like. (via email)

Relevant Blog Posts, Podcasts, Videos and Articles

• Bryan Smith, The Art of Software , has penned an interesting post, “C. Profit” or “What’s a Facebook User Worth?”. It might not be as much as you think.
• This will get you thinking: Build a system, not a product.
• Google is changing. I’ll be posting again on this soon, but Danny Sullivan is the Man when it comes to search, so you might want to read: Google’s Personalized Results: The “New Normal” That Deserves Extraordinary Attention and Google Launches Real Time Search.

And…

• This week’s microISV Digest is sponsored by StartupToDo.com: Focused action and discussion save you precious bootstrapping hours. Be Successful Faster with StartupToDo.com.

(With 2010 just one month away, I need your feedback on what – and whether – the MicroISV Digest should be. Please comment on this post what you’d like to see it cover more, less or differently. And apologies for missing last week – by the time I could get to it, it was Thanksgiving here in the US.)

(If you have an announcement of interest to your fellow microISV, indies or startups, please email me at bob.walsh@47hats.com with the word digest in the subject.)

News and Announcements

• Martin Kleppmann, Go Test It, has announced his startup will be acquired by Red Gate Software: plenty of good lessons to learn there and congratulations Martin! (via email)
• Radomir Mladenovic and his small team have launched LogDigger. LogDigger simplifies and accelerates the process of reporting bugs in a Web application, complete with usage history, form data, annotated screenshots and server logs. (via email)
• Show #46, of the Startup Success Podcast features (by pure coincidence) an interview with Martin Kleppmann, founder of Go Test It. Martin offered a 30% discount to SSP listeners. You’ll find The Startup Success Podcast at iTunes.

Relevant Blog Posts, Podcasts, Videos and Articles

• If you are struggling to define your software product, here’s one post you don’t want to miss: The First Thing That Matters: Product/Market Fit. By my new favorite blogger, Ash Maurya.
• Just stumbled upon this new service: looks like a great way to make your site and blog more memorable: TypeKit.

And…

• This week’s microISV Digest is sponsored by StartupToDo.com: Focused action and discussion save you precious bootstrapping hours. Be Successful Faster with StartupToDo.com.

(If you have an announcement of interest to your fellow microISV, indies or startups, please email me at bob.walsh@47hats.com with the word digest in the subject.)

News and Announcements

• Jacob Gorban, Apparent Software, has launched Cashculator – the Mac way to track your cash flow. Cashculator is a different kind of personal finance application – instead of focusing on the past and logging previous transactions, it focuses on future by forecasting your financial situation, helping you make better financial/business decisions. (via email)
• Torsten Uhlmann, AGYNAMIX, is looking for feedback on his web site for Simidude, his great cross-platform network clipboard utility. (via BOS.)
• Two Startup Success Podcasts to catch up with: Show #44, Cathy Tullysmith, Opscotch (and Tech eCards). Bob and Pat talk to Cathy Tullysmith, founder of Opscotch about her new startup to help companies manage a helpdesk. Opscotch is a pure SaaS system that’s incredibly easy to try, so if you are interested, go to http://www.opscotch.com/ and check it out.
  And then we have Show #45, Backing up your code, startup coworking in Seattle. Pat and Bob talk with Scott Wisniewski, founder of Transactor.com about his just about released backup software that works automatically to backup your Windows code and Mike Koss, founder of StartPad.org, a coworking facility in Seattle on what developers get out of going back into the office – but on their own terms. You’ll find The Startup Success Podcast at iTunes.

Relevant Blog Posts, Podcasts, Videos and Articles

• Last week I was at the Business of Software Conference 2009 in San Francisco. I can tell you right now, if you run a software business you want to be at BofS2010. Period. Why? Well this post, and this post, this post, and this BOS thread will give you a tiny taste of what you missed this year.

And…

• This week’s microISV Digest is sponsored by StartupToDo.com: Focused action and discussion save you precious bootstrapping hours. Be Successful Faster with StartupToDo.com.

(If you have an announcement of interest to your fellow microISV, indies or startups, please email me at bob.walsh@47hats.com with the word digest in the subject.)

News and Announcements

• Nick Koranda, MeMo, is looking for feedback on their redesigned web site for their text message reminder service. (via BOS.)
• Dmitriy Gorbachev, Accio Intellectum LLC, is looking for feedback on their web site and their just-released product, IMAlerts for SharePoint. (via BOS.)
• Show #43 of The Startup Success Podcast is up. Pat and Bob interview Renn Vara, co-founder of SNP Communications about the challenges and opportunities startup founders now face when it comes to dealing with the media and communicating their message. On iTunes.

Relevant Blog Posts, Podcasts, Videos and Articles

• Nothing stands out this past week, but I’ve started reading Matthew Cornell’s “Where the !@#% did my day go?” ebook. While I was an early beta tester, I’m really impressed with how professional, useful and thought-provoking the finished ebook is. I plan to review it soon here, in the meantime…

And…

• This week’s microISV Digest is sponsored by StartupToDo.com: Focused action and discussion save you precious bootstrapping hours. Be Successful Faster with StartupToDo.com.

(If you have an announcement of interest to your fellow microISV, indies or startups, please email me at bob.walsh@47hats.com with the word digest in the subject.)

News and Announcements

• Edwin Yip, WritingOutliner.com, has released a new Microsoft Word add-in: Writing Outliner. This add-in supports writers working on book-length projects in a variety of ways: multiple document projects, mind map-style brainstorming and research material management. Where was this when I needed it?! (via email)
• Steven Cholerton, ArtenScience, is looking for feedback on his new CRM application that he releasing soon. (via email)
• Jay Cincotta, Gibraltar Software, has integrated with PostSharp to enable post-compile instrumentation injection – logging and application monitoring without having to write any extra code. (via email)
• Bob Walsh, 47Hats, has launched StartupToDo.com (a training/productivity community for startups and microISVs). StartupToDo.com is all about helping you succeed faster by providing specific and detailed Guides that save you time and frustration, Site Reviews that make the process easy and valuable to both reviewers and review requesters, and connecting you with other startups and microISV who share your values and interests.
• Ian Hunter has released his new Windows photo cropping and printing application, PicCrop, and is looking for feedback (via BOS)
• Liam McLennan, Eclipse Web Solutions, is looking for feedback on his new web app, TheFastWay.net. (via BOS)
• No show this week, as we mentioned in last week’s show #39 of the Startup Success Podcast. We will be posting a mercifully short interview with me re StartupToDo.com. Regular shows commence again next Monday.

Relevant Blog Posts, Podcasts, Videos and Articles

• nothing worth noting.

Finally!..

• Thanks to the over 100 people who helped me better execute the 1.0 version of StartupToDo.com!

(If you have an announcement of interest to your fellow microISV, indies or startups, please email me at bob.walsh@47hats.com with the word digest in the subject.)

News and Announcements

• Chris Randall, Devenius, Inc., has launched a new tool for SQL Server DBA’s and developers: SnipStorm. SnipStorm lets users store, share and recommend T-SQL code. (via email)
• Liam McLennan, Eclipse Web Solutions, is looking for feedback on its mobile routing solution, (via BOS)
• Justin Vincent has launched Tweetminer, a new Twitter utility, and is looking for feedback on his site and product. (via BOS)
• Ruben Gamez, is currently in beta with his product Bidsketch (http://www.bidsketch.com), and has just acquired a complementary product, SixCentral with the goal of combining the two products. (via email)
• In show #38 of the Startup Success Podcast Bob and Pat talk with Gabriel Torok, founder and president of PreEmptive Solutions, a Java and .Net obfuscator company that’s going in a new direction: instrumenting your software so you can really see how customers use your app without running afoul of privacy concerns. Gabriel has some excellent advice for startups in general; this is one episode not to miss.

Relevant Blog Posts, Podcasts, Videos and Articles

• This news post, Feds launch Apps.gov; Cloud computing players salivate, caught my eye: when the federal government adopts a trend it truly has reached the late adopters.

Further (mostly relevant) Reading

• Three years ago Aaron Patzer had a prototype and an idea that VC after VC turned down flat. A week ago, he sold Mint.com to Intuit for $170 million. I’m totally not surprised: Aaron was kind enough to let me interview him about how he built Mint for The Web Startup Success Guide. Here’s the short version of the story of how he did it, in his own words.

Finally!..

• The private beta of http://startuptodo.com (a training/productivity community for startups and microISVs) continues; hopefully between today and the next MicroISV Digest we will launch!

(If you have an announcement of interest to your fellow microISV, indies or startups, please email me at bob.walsh@47hats.com with the word digest in the subject.)

News and Announcements

• Dan Gravell, elsten software, is looking for feedback on its music management application, bliss. They are also looking for beta testers. (via BOS)
• Milos Tanasijevic has launched DupeTrasher, that will identify and locate duplicate files on your Windows PC. I’ve got 4 pcs and three networked hard drives I need to run through this! (via BOS)
• Scott Carpenter, InvoicePlace, found a nifty interactive “expert system” online for (Australian) startups/microISVs who need to broaden their working knowledge of Intellectual Property Laws as they pertain to them. 1Place expert system ( via TechNation Australia.)
• Atul Godbole, LogicNC Software, has launched Crypto Obfuscator For .Net. Here’s the gist: “Crypto Obfuscator combines powerful techniques such as symbol renaming, control flow obfuscation, resource and assembly encryption and decompiler & disassembler protection to provide the very best protection to your .Net code against reverse-engineering. Additionally its metadata reduction, assembly & resource compression and dependency embedding functionality simplifies and reduces the deployment of your software.” (via email)
• In show #37 of the Startup Success Podcast Bob and Pat talk with Ginevra Kirkland, Six Apart Community Manager, about how to care for, nurture, advocate for and grow an online social community. Ginevra has been a Community Manager at Six Apart (makers of the TypePad blogging service) for over five years and is way ahead of nearly all of us on the Social Media curve. Note: Ginevra was kind enough to offer a 15% off discount code for TypePad for Startup Success listeners.

Relevant Blog Posts, Podcasts, Videos and Articles

• Brian Swanson over at Purple Ant pointed out a post over at Rands in Repose: Your People. I gave it a quick read, stopped, and read it a second time with my brain set to ‘record’. Also check out from the same source: Managing Humans. And the Nerd Handbook!

Further (mostly relevant) Reading

• Don Dodge has an excellent post out, Rules for evaluating startups and suspending disbelief. Want to know how VC’s/Angels look at your startup? Read this post.
• A good wrapup on the state of self-employed health care insurance availability today: Do Health Insurance and Self-employment Mix?

Finally!..

• On a very personal note, after 2+years of working on this idea, the private beta for http://startuptodo.com (a training/productivity community for startups and microISVs) began today. Wish me luck!

(If you have an announcement of interest to your fellow microISV, indies or startups, please email me at bob.walsh@47hats.com with the word digest in the subject.)

News and Announcements

• Steve Cholerton, Arten Science, has one of his products up for a prestegious UK award. R10Cipher is a finalist in the 2009 UK IT Industry Awards, in the Information Security Product category. Way to go Steve!
• In show #36 of the Startup Success Podcast Bob and Pat talk with Michael Grosse, First Vice President – Wealth Management, of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney on the realities, perils and opportunities that come with startup funding. This is a whole new level of play for most developers, and Michael gets down to specifics of what happens after you get the money.

Relevant Blog Posts, Podcasts, Videos and Articles

• A number of people took umbrage with The New York Times story, PING: Using ‘Free’ to Turn a Profit – case in point: The bar for success in our industry is too low by Jason Fried of 37signals.

Further (mostly relevant) Reading

• Paul Graham doesn’t post that often, but when he does, it behooves you to read it. His latest, The Anatomy of Determination is in my opinion a must-read if you want to venture through the heart of darkness to emerge successfully on the other side.

(If you have an announcement of interest to your fellow microISV, indies or startups, please email me at bob.walsh@47hats.com with the word digest in the subject.)

News and Announcements

• Sven Heimberger, Next Iteration Ges. f. Software Engineering mbH, is looking for feedback on their site and new software, Instant Review for Visual Studio. (via BOS)
• Stack Overflow is more than just programming answers: check out “Developing a software idea into a business” and especially Clay D. Nichols answer. (via BOS)
• [A last minute add] David House, Well Built Software, Llc., has just released a FogBugz iPhone client named Bugztopia. It features multiple account support, automatic filter lists, customizable issue list and all of the action types for issues including resolve, close, email, reply, etc. Available on the AppStore for $4.99 – or email David (david@wellbuiltsoftware.com) and he’ll send you a promo code.
• In show #35 of the Startup Success Podcast Bob and Pat talk with Matt Mickiewicz, founder of 99designs. 99designs is shaking up the graphic arts industry for emerging and established companies. Matt candidly talks about how 99designs is structured, their strategic direction, and how a crowdsourced business works. Matt’s also the cofounder of SitePoint – a leading IT/graphics site.

Relevant Blog Posts, Podcasts, Videos and Articles

• Short and sweet: 10 Tips For Founders
• PING: Using ‘Free’ to Turn a Profit
• An interesting site with interesting experts in marketing, social media, launching products and more: GuruTube.

Further (mostly relevant) Reading

• Does this sound like someone you know? Media multitaskers pay mental price, Stanford study shows.