Software Development for Startups

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Like any other field, software development evolves rapidly. The tools and frameworks used today are drastically different from what they were 10 years ago. And the same changes are taking place in the tools that are made available to startups. Therefore, it is worth assessing the current tools used by startups for their operations, as well as projecting the tools that are likely to be effective in future ventures.

If you’re a startup hoping to build a successful company, then you already know you need good software development to succeed. But what exactly is the best type of software for your startup? In this article, we’ll cover the three main options for startups: Do it yourself with Bootstrap, use a template from Theme Forest, or hire a freelancer from Upwork.

I build software for startups at Microsoft, but I use to do it for really small startups. Some of you are in that phase where you are either starting your company or working on it yourself. You are paying yourself minimum wage or eating ramen. The last thing you want to do is spend money on software development. So how can you get started without any investment?

This resource guide is for: Entrepreneurs, founders and software developers undertaking new software development projects at their startups. The goal is to guide entrepreneurs through the complex software development process, providing them with the tools and knowledge necessary for them to successfully manage their projects and get them to market faster and cheaper.

Written by: Alex Senson, Ashley Burton, Tyler Boulanger

Welcome to Altitude Accelerator’s detailed resource guide on topics related to software development for startups. Below, you’ll find an index of all of the articles within this topic area. You can choose where to start based on the current stage of your venture, your most pressing needs, or topics of specific interest.

We start with a section on how to get software developed and explain all the different options for putting together a team or starting development yourself. We then discuss the best ways to communicate with an manage these teams. After this we get into the basics of more technical topics, giving startup founders a base of knowledge they can use to manage their projects better, and get a minimum viable product (MVP) finished efficiently. Finally, we discuss more specialized areas of software development such as life science, video games, and emerging technologies.

Section 1: How to Make Software Products: Six Options for Startups

This first series of articles on software development for startups details different options entrepreneurs have for either finding and sourcing developers, technical cofounders, business cofounders or learning to create their initial product concept themselves

Section 2: Software Development Communication Essentials for Startups

Next, we delve into effective communication strategies to use between technical and non-technical team members. It’s important that startup founders understand the language, key terms and concepts from both sides. It also helps if the development team is well versed on the way business focused people prefer to communicate.

Section 3: How to Create Software: Development Techniques to Learn

Defining your product was probably the most fun part of starting your startup. Your ideas were limitless and you could feel and see the love customers and customers would have for your product. The code was still written by you, because you knew best and there was no need for anybody else. You’ve now moved beyond MVP and added a few more features to the mix. This is where we start to struggle with our old approach to software development. Now that we’re more than just an idea, we need more than just one developer.

This section describes more technical and practical aspects of software development for startups. Before pulling the trigger and starting development, it would be wise to understand some of the technical aspects of the development process. Founders will then be better prepared in managing developers, making informed strategic development decisions, and choosing the correct path forward for their unique product. Getting it right on the first try will save a lot of time and money.

It takes a special kind of person to launch a startup. It takes a vision and drive, and the determination to make it happen. But one thing it almost certainly doesn’t take, is technical skills. You might know this as “technicals” or as someone who I know as well as I know my own name (which is not at all), you might call them “techs”. All those words describe the same people: coders, developers, engineers, and the like.

Section 4: Tips for Mobile App Development at Your Software Startup

Section 5: Software Development for the Life Science Industry

Section 6: Video Game Development

Conclusion

Software Development for Startups is described by its author, Chris Cortez-Gregory, as “a guide to software development for Web startups. It is written directly to founders of Web startups or new B2B SaaS companies.” Essentially, the book was designed to provide the insight that startup founders need to know about software development processes.

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