How to create a successful startup in two days? No way!

    rowing money with a shovel!

    Recently, a lot of topics have arisen in the network around startups in general and specifically projects that are created or created in a couple of days, over the weekend, in a week. In my opinion, this is a rather strange activity, since all the CD-Ejector have long been created, and their authors have already earned their millions. Or not?

    At the dawn of the development of computer programs sold over the Internet on the principle of shareware, the special term CD-Ejector appeared. So called the class of programs that can be done quite easily and which allow the user to carry out simple actions with the computer. A characteristic feature of such programs was the fact that it was easy to “clone” them, as a result of which countless programs appeared. I do not know if there are millionaires among their authors, but I would like to say that now such an approach is unlikely to bring success.

    Any project that can be done in a couple of days or weeks is very easy to clone. And even if such a project really turns out to be interesting and useful to people, then someone else may well implement it. And no patents will play a role here.

    At the same time, the project in which you have invested a large amount of effort, time and (maybe) money, having already proved to be useful, will delight its creators. After all, cloning such a project will be quite difficult. Want some examples? Let's start with a simple one. Developers of games for phones that have released their creation in 1-2 days are unlikely to become millionaires. But those who spent months on the project, at least have a chance.

    There is an example from my own experience. While developing the PVS-Studio code analyzer, we do not hesitate to post a lot of articles on the network about him and about the problems that he solves. After all, cloning this product (despite the presence of competitors) is quite difficult and we are not afraid of it. At the same time, we spend a lot of time and effort on our product, and we hope that it will pay off.

    By the way, in general, cloning complex technological products is quite difficult - this is a kind of protection for the authors of such projects. But at the same time, by investing a large amount of energy in products, the authors are counting on returns. And it is hardly justifiable to rely on returns when investing days or even weeks in development.

    The same applies to the often-discussed fears about "my idea will be stolen." Any idea is priceless; it has no price. Of interest is this or that realization of the idea. And when project authors are afraid to talk about them, it looks weird. Returning to the example with our PVS-Studio analyzer. We have all the diagnostic rules open and mathematically recorded (article: http://www.viva64.com/art-1-1-3036179579.html ). Analyzer base part (code parsing libraryVivaCore ) is also available on the site as open source. And all this does not threaten us, since we know how much labor is required to use all this. The point, of course, is not that "the sources are not compiled, but the formulas are incorrect" :-). Everything is correct and everything works. It’s just that you need to put a huge amount of energy into it, and not hope to get a finished result in two days.

    So, a summary of the post. No need to expect to create a successful and sought-after product in two days (as often called for in advertising and startup texts). All such products are already created in the nineties and two thousandths. Now is the time for more complex decisions. After all, no one hopes to create a car now in 2 weeks?

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