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0) Write the app
1) Give it away free to "beta testers" to get feedback
2) Repeat from 0 until all features are working properly
3) Then see about offering it for sale
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Sound advice! Agree 100% with your steps. It's the way it works.
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Violently agree. 
/ravi
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What's the best way to find beta testers?
I hate users. Not all of them, just the ones who talk.CP member: Al Einstien
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Make your own blog, present yourself, write about your product.
Or if it takes too much time, just write an article about your software. Or may be just go to stackoverflow (or similar), look for people which have same issues as you had when you decided to implement your software and try to show them your solution.
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Exactly! I have never developed own produkt/software to sell it. But if I would once do it, I will do it as you suggest 
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Agreed! I'd say that big companies are more interested in buying a user/customer-base rather than any product - the product's usually incidental.
How do you know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.
modified 31-Aug-21 21:01pm.
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If you think it is patentable then it could be worth looking at - but it can be expensive, and unless it does something 'new' then patenting may not be possible.
But once your methods are 'out there' at least nobody else can patent it!
from what you describe, selling your app to someone already selling SQL tools might be easier - someone like Redgate for example.
As someone said, creating the application and getting it out there is probably the best marketing strategy these days; if people use it and like it, then companies are more likely to want to buy it.
Good luck with it!
Oh, and if you feel the need to get money while you are waiting for a big company to shower you with cash, then you can always market it online yourself - maybe a free 'lite' or time-limited version and a paid for full version
PooperPig - Coming Soon
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_Maxxx_ wrote: If you think it is patentable then it could be worth looking at
But we all hope it is not patentable, since it is software.
Software is mostly ideas and ideas should NEVER be patented.
If a lone individual has written an algorithm that is so different and yet no one has ever stumbled upon (and patented already) it would be quite amazing.
For example: Do any of us wish that sorting algorithms were patented?
No.
Is it likely that someone has written a sorting algorithm that is so differen to be discernible that no one has stumbled upon it yet? Unlikely.
And I'm just noodling the idea here, not trying to shut down innovation.
I love innovation, which is why I don't care for software patents.
EDIT
And I should've said this: I do believe in creating new software that uses non-patented algorithms which is a new application which makes things so much easier that consumers purchase the application.
However, it is unlikely a large company like microsoft would purchase such an application. They'd probably just build it themselves.
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I agree with you to a point.
However, there needs to be some way of protecting software you develop.
Say you wrote Flappy Bird. Is it fair that anyone can come along and make a game that looks and feels just the same, and makes money out of it, and all you can protect is the name (which is why we have Floppy Bird, Flappy Bat etc.)
newton.saber wrote: it is unlikely a large company like microsoft would purchase such an application. They'd probably just build it themselves.
Quite the opposite, in fact. Big companies like Apple, Microsoft etc. tend to buy up companies with ideas, rather than developing it themselves.
Even MS Word, they hired the programmers of another WP program to develop one for them. the V part of VB was bought from outside.
and Minecraft.
So while they may not buy the software, they may well buy the company!
PooperPig - Coming Soon
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Very good points and I agree with you about Microsoft possibly buying the company.
Also, it is frustrating such as in the case of Flappy Bird where there were a million knock-offs.
However, I believe if Flappy Bird hadn't been abandoned then the original creator would've been able to fight those -- of course that means legal action and that's a time-waster.
However, I believe if the original creator hadn't given up on it then others wouldn't have been as quick to try to steal feeling the compulsion of law against them.
For example, Super Mario Bros doesn't have near as many knock offs -- or at least none of them really ever became more popular than the original.
But, again I agree with you that real creators are somewhat crushed between the thieves and the patent trolls. It's a difficult challenge.
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Look. We write software to make a profit, and because we enjoy it.
I am a libertarian, I believe in property rights above all else.
But I also believe that patents should be a LOT harder to get.
WD-40 did not patent their product, and it helps them because it would have expired long ago.
If a product, like flappy bird, is easy to reproduce/knock off, then it
DESERVES to be knocked off. It served its purpose, and made the author rich.
Move on.
I do NOT believe in software patents. They get Copyrights. They are written.
Hardware Patents. Oh Yeah!
But it gets crazy. For example Ice Ice Baby turned out to rip off someone elses tune.
He gets NOTHING from sales of that song.
This is where it gets blurry. Do we protect software the same way? Someone makes a
word processor, and EVERY WORD PROCESSOR (because it has the same basic "beat") is now
infringing? (Copyright laws COULD do that), despite Borland winning the Look and Feel case
against Lotus!
If taking an idea to its very end scares you as much as this idea scares me, then it is
probably a bad idea to be applying it this way.
Personal Quip: Most doors in a restroom use a little SLIDER device to lock/unlock the door.
How did Apple Patent that SAME CONCEPT in a different form factor (slide to unlock)???
Knock offs only work when the core brand was successful. I HOPE FOR YOU that your idea is so good that you get THOUSANDS of knockoffs! 
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I agree 100%.
At most you could copyright a specific brand but not an idea who's origin is generic in both concept and application. Ideally this application will evolve into a much more complete plug-in for both existing and new ETL/Data Warehousing solutions.
Thanks for your reply!
I hate users. Not all of them, just the ones who talk.CP member: Al Einstien
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Great input. Really great example about the slider device on restroom as an analogy to apple's lame patent on slide to unlock.
That's my point too, the less patents the better really. If you make something great people will buy it...and steal it. 
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In very simple terms:
a trademark protects the names of things, e.g. Flappy Bird.
a patent protects an invention.
a copyright protects the expression of an idea, but not the idea itself. The U.S. courts, at least in the case of Lotus 123 ruled that look and feel can be part of the expression of an idea, but exactly where the line gets drawn is extremely fuzzy.
In the U.S. at least, you can claim a copyright or a trademark without actually registering it with the government and still be protected by law, though those protections are not as strong as those actually registered.
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Check out Willams arcade game Joust to discover where Flappy Bird got its idea.
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Been there, done that - and happy to answer any specific questions either here, by privmail or on Twitter (@annajayne[^]).
A couple of book references to get you started:
- Bob Walsh's MicroISV: From Viuion to Reality[^] is a good primer if you're thinking about starting out.
- Eric Sink's On The Business of Software[^] is worth reading too - though much of the ground covered (e.g. exhibiting at a large trade show) appears at first glance more applicable to more estabished businesses, it's stuff you should know about (or know you need to know about), really. Plus, it's very, very funny in places.
Books aside (and there really are loads more) the best thing about starting up today is that there is a well established startup community you can lean on. From the ASP Forums[^] to Conferences like Business of Software[^], you don't have to struggle on alone.
Once you get going you'll have to rapidly learn about DevOps, Software Licencing, Customer Support and much, much more. Your brain will hurt, and days will be too short....but if you find you enjoy it you'll probably be hooked. Trust me on that!
Anna ( @annajayne)
Tech Blog | Visual Lint
"Why would anyone prefer to wield a weapon that takes both hands at once, when they could use a lighter (and obviously superior) weapon that allows you to wield multiple ones at a time, and thus supports multi-paradigm carnage?"
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Submit your program or idea and check out Windows Store.
Of one Essence is the human race
thus has Creation put the base
One Limb impacted is sufficient
For all Others to feel the Mace
(Saadi )
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I would like to thank everyone for their feedback.
A lot of people brought up ideas that I hadn't thought of before.
I think my best course of action would be to finish up the application and offer it up to beta testers and see how much (if any) interest there is in the marketplace.
Thanks again!
I hate users. Not all of them, just the ones who talk.CP member: Al Einstien
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If you offer it to beta testers.
Please make it so THAT version will timeout.
Also, COMMIT to:
1) Ensuring there is a real version they can get to
2) If you FAIL, promise and deliver on making it opensource, on GitHub or Here...
The point being... The only thing that scares me about buying software, is what
happens when the vendor goes under, and I get a new machine and the software will
not install because of it (I use CFI ShellToys), when he closed shop, he released
a non-protected version, and thanked us all.
I emailed him to get him to OpenSource it, so it could live on, but his email was
already taken down. Opportunity lost. I paid decent money, and it still works,
which is good. And upgrading my hard drive no longer causes it to fail
Anyways, with a commitment like that, you are likely to get more traction. If it
is worthwhile, you will profit. If knockoffs come, they have been forewarned that
they have LITTLE VALUE if you close up shop, because THEY will be forced to compete
with Free.
And the Barrier to entry and the Risk to the consumer is greatly reduced. Especially
a corporate user who does not want to maintain your code, but might feel compelled if
they have to.
Again, I hope THOUSANDS of knockoffs show up because of your success...
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OMalleyW wrote: If I just wanted to sell it outright retaining no rights. How could I market the application to a company like Microsoft without them just taking the idea and developing it on their own?
Let them come to you. Build a profitable company around your idea to get their attention, and protect it so they can't reproduce it on their own. Then sell the company to them.
We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.
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I was considering doing a video in connection with an article I'm writing. What (free) software can I use to capture the Vistual Studio window (as opposed to the entire screen) as I'm using it?
EDIT ===============
I think the term I should have used was "screencast" as opposed to "screen capture".
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
modified 4-Feb-15 10:06am.
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I thought that's what alt+prntscrn did?
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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You learn something new everyday, thanks.
"the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment
"Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst
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This makes a printscreen : it does not record a video.
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