Software Company: Advice on How to Start, Grow and Exit a Software Company

This book gives advice on how to start, grow and exit a software company. My advice is based on over 23 years of starting, running and exiting two very successful international software companies. The book covers set-up, first steps, hiring, firing, growth, culture, development culture, the Agile Methodology, offshoring development, selling to the USA, selling to Europe, software licensing, patent trolls, marketing, sales, partnerships, venture capital investors, bootstrapping, the analyst game, professional advisors and the exit process. In short, it's a brain dump which I hope some people will find useful and which will support the next generation of entrepreneurs. So, what do you get for your money? A comprehensive practical handbook for software entrepreneurs which covers the entire journey from starting the business to exit, taking in venture capital along the way. In fact, a beta reader (the Managing Partner of a growth accelerator) described it as: "detailed and complete - more so than any other book or content on the web I have seen, and I have done quite a bit of research over the last 4-5 years". It's not only for start-ups. Another beta reader, the CEO of a relatively mature organic growth software company, told me: "To be honest, I've looking for something like your book for a while now so when I read it, it was a kind of "that's it" moment". He went on to explain that it helped him think about what his company was doing and made him question whether they should try some different approaches. There is an accompanying website with ancillary information and a LinkedIn Group for further discussion and in which I will happily respond to questions and encourage others to join in with their thoughts.