Brian N Schrader - Going Indie--A Complete Guide to becoming an Independent Software Developer

Going Indie

Going Indie

by Brian Schrader

Copyright 2020 Brian Schrader. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Published by SkyRocket Software, LLC

This book may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use. Online editions are also available where books are sold.

Editor: Jennifer M. Sardina, MS LCGC

Cover Designer: Owais Uz Zaman

Proofreaders: Nathaniel Arellano, Marco Martinez,
Moline Schrader

Special thanks to: Dave Mote

November 2020:First Edition

The publisher and the author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. Every effort and precaution was taken to prevent inaccuracies, but some are bound to exist.

To my sister Bailey for her love and her smile, my father Kevin for his focus and his nerdy passion, and my mother Moline for her drive and her eternal support.

This book is for you.

Table of Contents

Preface

To be independent is to carve ones own path, to forge ones own destiny. Independent software developers are those who release software under their own name, often through their own companies, and they may even turn a profit doing so. Occasionally independent developers are incredibly lucky and are able to make their entire living by writing their own software, while the majority release independent software as a hobby or as a side-business while working a typical job. Others release software as only part of an independent persona; these developers are often found writing books, recording podcasts, and giving talks in addition to shipping software. Those of you who decide to journey into the relatively untamed wilds of the independent world can either choose to follow trails carved by others or strike out on your own. How far you venture into these woods is for you to decide. Go as far as your intuition dares and your capacity allows. To create software and release it to the world under your own banner is perhaps one of the greatest freedoms our chosen profession offers us. Like writers, poets, and musicians, the work that developers are capable of is akin to magic. We create something from nothing, we build and shape the world around us, and we can solve problems for ourselves and share those solutions with others for little additional expense.

Be warned, these wilds can be treacherous. Many who venture forth come back empty handed, and some do not come back at all. This book will not show you how to cross the wilds. It does not provide you a map, for no such maps exist. Instead, this book aims to be both a guide to show you the most dangerous places, and a set of tools you can use along your journey. The advice and guidance given here was won through personal experience, careful surveying, and self reflection. It is useful, but it should not be considered absolute. Mine is but one of many paths through the woods, a journey I am still on. You will not walk the same road, and so should not seek to emulate my every footstep. This book is also not a map listing the locations of every steep cliff or venomous snake in the land (hopefully you will avoid the hazards Ive faced, but you will surely encounter your own). Its a guide that teaches you instead how to read the winds, follow the game trails, and find fresh water. On this journey, stumbling is assured. You will encounter hardship. The only question is whether you will learn from your mistakes and keep going. Those of you who persevere, who take the trek and emerge on the other side, will discover just how rewarding becoming an independent software developer can actually be.

Who this Book Is For

While there are a great many people who would probably find this book of some use, it is primarily targeted at software developers with an express desire to break out of their current grind and start a business either by themselves or with a small group of friends. Now, there are lots of various kinds of businesses, and not all are within the scope of this book. Here we will focus on small software businesses, which (although less often discussed) are the more practical option for a single individual or limited team. Well cover business models, pricing tiers, technological tradeoffs, and personal motivation. To provide some real-life context, well dive into the technical details of building, hosting, and maintaining a software service using Nine9s, a service I built and launched in 2020, as an example.

Who This Book Is Not For

Readers looking for the best ways to apply for Venture Capital, how to manage hockey-stick growth, or those seeking insight into the process and nuances of corporate IPOs are going to be rather disappointed by this book. We dont discuss data mining or user data extraction, nor will we talk about how to increase "engagement" or optimize our data harvesting model. We will instead discuss the fine art of providing goods or services to a market willing to pay real money to access and use them. As such, this confines the scope of our business to those that are more traditional, slow-growing, and that are profitable on their own merit. If youre looking for the Silicon Valley dream, I suggest you look elsewhere.

What Youll Learn

This book covers topics ranging from marketing to software development from motivation to system administration. Youll learn the differences between certain types of businesses, how to think about and design products, how to structure pricing tiers, how to design maintainable data models, how to host your software and run servers, and how to market your product before, during, and after launch. The goal of this book is to provide readers with a complete understanding of the tools and experience needed to take a product from idea to launch and beyond while assuming some level of software development experience. Running a software business requires surprisingly little knowledge of software and software development. Theres a lot more involved in creating a successful business than simply building a good app or service. Here we will fill in those gaps with knowledge gained from years of experience, develop your intuition around your business, and design user-centric features that benefit both you and your users.

While we will be discussing some technical aspects in this book, it is assumed that the reader already has some proficiency or experience in software development (although no specific expertise is required). This is not a programming guide or computer science textbook, but well cover a few useful tips and tricks that can help you build your software more effectively.

License

The content of this book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This means that youre free to repurpose and reuse the contents of this book for commercial and non-commercial purposes. Your attributions drive the spread of this knowledge. Attributions help sell copies of this book which, in turn, help me to continue giving back to the communities that have given so much to me.

How to Make an Attribution

According to the terms of the license used by this book:

You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.

Attribution 4.0 International

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/