There are many talented software developers in the world, and many people with great business skills. And while there are some lucky enough to be both, they are a tiny minority. Hence the number of great software products that never become great businesses.
Software developers fall into the extreme-high-risk category of contracting Developer Syndrome. Although at first the symptoms may be mild, if left unchecked they can become life-threatening. If not to the developer, then certainly to their business.
Symptoms may include:
1 – Adding features because they can. Not because they’re needed, but because they can be implemented.
2 – Extreme rose-tinted glasses that block out all reason. “There are 500 million Excel users. If only 2% of them buy my add-in…” *
3 – Not seeing the forest for the trees. Customers aren’t interested in the code, they’re interested in how it can help them.
4 – Not seeing the trees for the forest. Visitors to your website aren’t influenced by the website. They’re influenced (or not) by very specific sections of very specific pages.
5 – “Build it and they will come”. They won’t, at least not initially.
Developer syndrome poses a serious threat to a software company’s well being. And that’s before we get into the fact that developers know as little about marketing as marketers know about coding.
Seth Godin’s Beware The Nile perch posting contained an ingeniously simple observation:
“There are bright shiny objects you can bring into your life (that project, that employee, that new office) that might just push the other useful items aside. You get hooked on them or they demand more attention or they make too much noise and the less-shiny projects or people whither away.“
My experience is that Software Developers see a lot of bright shiny objects. The difference between a good developer and a great developer is their ability to separate the diamonds from the pieces of glass that will do little more than cut their fingers. Developer Syndrome costs business lives. Forewarned is forearmed.
* I probably hear a variation of this principle once a month on average. Apologies to those who still believe this way of thinking.
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