O'Reilly Open Source Convention - August 1-5, 2005

Tutorial
SOLD OUT Business for Geeks
Marc Hedlund, Chief Product Officer, Wesabe

Track: Emerging Topics
Date: Monday, August 1st, 2005
Time: 8:30am - 12:00pm
Location: E143-144

Many of the best ideas for businesses and products come from geeks who may not know how best to pursue them. How do you go from having an idea for a better use of small hard drives to having it be the next iPod? We'll take the perspective of a technologist who wants to learn how best to build a business out of an idea. The session will cover:

Evaluating your ideas as business opportunities
Choosing how to pursue your idea -- in your current company, as a startup, or otherwise
Talking to "business" people about your idea
Market research and interviewing
Deciding to start a company
Choosing team members, team size, and partners
Getting funding for a company
The first release
What is this "marketing" of which you speak?
Success or failure, and the area in between
Going big or selling out
Resources for learning more

The bias of the presentation will be towards software products, but the ideas apply generally to taking any technology to market. The session will have short topic overviews and longer, informal discussions..