Right Before It

Things to consider before launching a new software company.

1. build a niche website – get credibility
2. ask your family doctor (or a friend, non programmer) for opinions – find out what you’re missing
3. buy your competitors’ products – turn shortcomings into advantages
4. test your prototype with representative users – build not what you think people might want, build what they need.

Profitable Niches

Roland Thomas (Moldflow CEO) told me: “the more the Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) market consolidation leads to standardized software, the more opportunities will come for profitable niches to be exploited”.

E-Xstream makes a software that calculates the behaviour of composite materials, like plastics reinforced with glass fibers. The opportunity for E-Xstream came from the multi-phase nature of composite materials. The software Digimat they produce calculates the physical properties of the material to be used for further calculations.

This is an example of what Roland predicted.