Farhan Thawar

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• Hey, as a Management consultant with a background in software development, I am thinking of starting my own practice in a much smaller scale to start with. I am curious to find out how that transition can be done, as well, being somewhat of what I can do and deliver anything with the right team. Any suggestions on how I can approach this coming from large enterprise businesses to small to medium? As of now it's me (techy but more on sales) and a friend (architect, also in consulting) on board.

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    Interesting times! Congratulations on starting your own business.

    Likely you won’t have much choice on your consulting gigs (i.e. you’ll just take what comes your way to start the business).

    I’ve found this to be a good resource: http://www.amazon.ca/Managing-Professional-Service-David-Maister/dp/0684834316/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320694997&sr=8-1

    Also this is something I read > 10 years ago: http://www.amazon.ca/Flawless-Consulting-Guide-Getting-Expertise/dp/0470620749/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320695034&sr=1-1

    Basically your company will morph to fit with what your clients need (to start) and over time you can shape the vision of the company to tailor your expertise to particular niche’s and clients.

    Good luck!

• I've read alot about going out to where developers hang out and mix with them, but what about start-ups that can't afford to go hang out in all these places, how would one go about initiating contact with local developers online?

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    Not sure what you mean by afford as I’m regularly (well semi-regularly) at these outings and not sure I’ve spent any $$ at any of these events.

    That being said, I’d focus on building up some expertise in some area that you can showcase. i.e. I’m sure Tim Ferriss gets loads of developers chatting with him about building apps, as he’s proven himself an expert in productivity/body-hacking/etc.

    good luck!

• what metrics are most important measure during beta testing?

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    Basically beta testing is for validating assumptions.

    So if your assumption is that 10% of free-users will upgrade to paying-users, then you’re trying to validate that in beta testing.

    Good luck!

• We are a team of 2 non-technical founders in Toronto Canada with: wireframes, business plan and interest + validation from potential clients and end users. What would we need to move our company to the next stage? And how would you advise going about this?

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    This may sound harsh, but I would either: * start coding :) * find a way to funnel some $$ into folks that can code

    Ideally you want to get to a prototype that you can validate your assumptions on, ASAP.

    Good luck!

• Any advice on vetting an idea before going through and creating an actual product?

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    Test test test!

    i.e. if you can spend < 5 or 10% of the effort on a quick test to validate assumptions, do that before going any further.

    Some good resources for that are “4-Hour Workweek” and “The Lean Startup”.

    One good example is simply spending $100 or so on Google ad words that force people to your single landing page (using a service like Weebly or something simple) to see if there’s interest in your product.

    Good luck!

• Hi we are a group of people working for mobile development, and we planning to make some small games and utility applications for iPhone and Android market. So what are things we need to keep in mind while developing apps and how we should go with monetize of apps.??

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    Since you said “you’re planning on making” it sounds like you haven’t made the apps yet.

    Since ideas and thinking about execution aren’t that valuable, I’d actually start building your apps, put em in the market and see what sort of traction you get :)

    Have fun

• i have a great idea and dont know where to start

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    Hmm… a common hurdle :)

    Start with testing your assumptions. i.e. if your idea is to sell gum for dogs (I have no idea if this is already a real product) then I would: 1. create a simple web page on Weebly showcasing my product 2. spend $100 on Google Adwords sending folks to my site 3. Analyze the results to see if there’s a real market here.

    Cheers and good luck

• What would you, as a technical person, look for in a business partner? How can a non-technical founder look to stand out?

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    Good question. A lot of focus has been put on how to find a technical co-founder, but not on how a non-technical co-founder should try and be found.

    I’d say the following: * passion * expertise in a certain area (i.e. very deep understanding of some business need/problem) * smart * gets things done * past success

    Hopefully, you have examples for all of the above :)

    Good luck!

• I'm looking to startup an online business, but i have no clue of the technologies to keep in mind while getting a website designed and developed. Could i get a few pointers on questions to ask when speaking with developers?

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    Contrary to what the technologists think, it likely doesn’t matter what technology is used to create your business.

    Luckily today, there are many tools that require little to no coding. A couple of examples are Shopify and Weebly which allow you to create an eCommerce shopping site or a nicely designed portfolio page w/o any coding at all.

    When chatting with developers, likely you’ll be looking for someone with some past success in technology (school or work), and that’ll be your gauge.

    Good luck

• How do you feel towards investing in teen entrepreneurs (with a great idea and product)?

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    Sounds interesting.

    In order to get the attention of investors, I would focus on: * traction (do you have users? Is the user base growing? Is their usage growing?) * revenue (are you making money?)

    Unfortunately there isn’t much to invest in with just an idea, but that’s just the beginning of perhaps something more :)

    Create a prototype or MVP to test your assumptions about your idea.

    Good luck,