How to Ignore Most Startup Advice and Build a Decent Software Business

Discover how to build a successful software business by challenging conventional startup advice in this keynote address from EuroPython 2018. Learn from Ines Montani's experience in creating a thriving company around commercial developer tools and the open-source library spaCy. Explore misconceptions about startup success, the value of complementary skills, decision-making strategies, and the importance of work-life balance. Gain insights on assessing failure, optimizing for long-term growth, and the benefits of building a "middle-class" company. Understand the true value of your product, the significance of specialist generalists, and how to navigate the software industry's challenges while staying true to your vision.

Intro
About Ines
Currently serving 1000 users
Its possible to make money
Misconceptions
Why this works
The bigger the better
Survivorship bias
Highvalue opportunities
The Bus Test
How do people assemble their teams
The complementary skill
Tshaped skills
Making good decisions
How to assess failure
Autopsy IO stats
Test more
Employee Cat
The Value of Reason
We Have Our Company
What Are We Selling
The True Value
People
ENOS
Ask your question
Worklife balance
The dominant paradigm
The bullshit
Is Explosion AI a startup
Middleclass companies
Junior developers
Specialist generalists
Hiring junior developers
Optimizing on loss for the first years