The Developer CEO
Peter Coppinger Co-Founder & CEO at Teamwork.com
@irlTopper
High Performance TeamsRun on Teamwork
Manage Projects and Get Work Done
Deliver Better Customer Support
Chat Built for Better Teamwork
Used by Over 22K Companies All Around The World
We’re doing over $12 million in annual sales
So..What is the talk about?
I’m a TERRIBLECEO
Part 1
The Hamster Years
1999 Digital Crew
We were like2006
CFTagStore.com
Akari Software
GETTINGORGANISED
2007
Whiteboard just wasn’t enough
THE IDEA WAS BORN
"Ted, I’ve been thinking the exact same thing"
Part 1 - Key Takeaways
• Consultancy sucks.
(If you are doing consultancy, increase your prices & charge for the extras)
• Don’t target a small market!
• Don’t sell software components to developers.
• Consultancy-ware software is no fun to build or sell.
• Treat your customers with respect & listen to their suggestions.
• Sometimes you've got to go with your gut.
Part 2
If you Build it They Will Come. Right?
Finding the Time
Hackedy hack hack.Product Design? Specs?
Preparing for LaunchEat your own Dog Food
TeamworkPM.NET
Whhhhaaaaaaaattt?!?
Worst Product Launch Ever!
No Unique Positioning
Real Work - Ugggghh
Marketing?!Who needs Marketing Anyway?
Hackedy hack hack
Engineering as Marketing
• We built a great product • We treated our customers like honored guests • We took every suggestion onboard
We did only 3 things right
Riding the Long Slow SAAS Ramp of Death
$0.00
$7,500.00
$15,000.00
$22,500.00
$30,000.00
Nov 2007 Jun 2008 Dec 2008 Jun 2009 Dec 2009 Jun 2010 Dec 2010
Sales in Year 1
$13,017Sales in Year 2
$100,426Sales in Year 3
$300,014
Our Magic Number: $30k MRR
Web Dev Business for Sale. Price: Don’t Drop the Ball
Side Note on Self-Funding It has never been cheaper to make software
Hell NightAugust 2012
Everything was down
Panic!
Hitting $1 Million ARR50 Months after we launched
December 2011
Part 2 - Key Takeaways• Make the time to build your product. Start right now. • Start with Research & Design, not Code. Duh. • Launch it Right. • Positioning - Stand Out, Be Different. • Fire your Day Job and Go “all-in” ASAP. • Eat your own Dog Food. • Don’t take funding • AWS hosting for the win. • Continuous Marketing from Day 1!
Part 3
Growing Up
Our Hockey Stick Event
Our Hockey Stick EventBuying the Teamwork.com domain
Did it make a difference?
Did it make a difference?
Teamwork.com launch
Hell, Yeaaah…
Time to be anactual CEO...
Aha! It’s my Job
Meetings Suck. But Get Over It.
Set the Vision
Mistake #783: Not Hiring Deliberately
Sculpting our Culture
Don’t Be A Dick
Mistake #386:No Marketing Team
Mistake #1038
We Don’t Needa Sales Team
Process Pains
Nobody has All the Answers
Trust Others and Let Go
Part 3 - Key Takeaways• Be the CEO. • Hold Quarterly Meetings. • Set the Vision. • Establish Your Culture. • Establish processes. • You don’t have to have all the answers. • Trust others and Let Go.
Summing UpTo Grow Faster: Stop Programming. Be the CEO.
Peter Coppinger @irlTopper [email protected]
Get in touch:
deck: http://tinyurl.com/toppermc2016