Posts by Mike Taber
If my installer… had a brain…
Recently, I was evaluating obfuscators for Moon River Milestones, and after going through all of the motions, I finally settled on one. Now, being as tight with money as I am these days, not to mention the massive costs I’ve incurred while starting up my business, I decided that I’d wait a little while before…
Read MorePost Piracy damage control
You’ve spent months, possibly years working on what you think will be your virtual cash cow. Your software will take four hundred doohickeys and turn them into over fifty thousand thingamabobs without wasting a cpu cycle. In under ten seconds and affordably priced at a mere $49.95, you’re ready to make a killing on the…
Read MoreDon’t hire problem employees
This past week, I was visiting my parents in upstate New York for Thanksgiving day. There, I noticed an article in the newspaper which caught my attention. It had nothing to do with software, business, or even world news. It was about the Philadelphia Eagles and their arbitration settlement with former wide receiver Terrell Owens.…
Read MoreYou have exactly 3 customers
As unfortunate as this is, finishing the code for your software is really only half the battle when you’re launching products. There’s a ton of work that still needs to be done once your code is complete. For Milestones, I need to finalize the code obfuscation and do the installer work. As a .NET application,…
Read MoreFunding your startup
“An advantage of consulting, as a way to develop a product, is that you know you’re making something at least one customer wants. But if you have what it takes to start a startup you should have sufficient vision not to need this crutch.” -Paul Graham I think that Paul has written a great article,…
Read MoreGlamorous software doesn’t equal instant success
Let’s face it. Building games is cool. It’s one of those software disciplines that until recently, was something that you had to pick up on your own and with a little luck, land an entry level job with a game development company. In recent years, colleges and universities have begun to offer concentrations in game…
Read MoreVolume III: To build or to buy
Starting anything isn’t easy and building a new business has historically been fraught with peril. I don’t have any hard statistics on how many fail. Those statistics are difficult to come by because small businesses are not required to file public financial statements. The best you can generally do is look at the number of…
Read MoreY Combinator Startup School
This morning, I went to Harvard in Cambridge, MA and attended the free Startup School that was put together by Y Combinator. It was interesting to say the least. Right now, it doesn’t fit into my personal business goals, but it was definately worth attending for a little while at least. My biggest problem with…
Read MoreMoon River Software’s first full time employee
Perhaps the celebrations may be a bit premature, but Moon River Software now has its first full time employee. Me! I have the income to support the business full time and will officially start working for Moon River Software on Monday, October 24th. Exciting news, but I still have a lot of work to do.
Read MoreDay 48
Well, it would seem that I haven’t made nearly the number of updates here as I would have liked. Given that Moon River’s first product is a project management tool, you’d think that this would have been easier to keep up with. But alas, anyone who owns a house will know that you often do…
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