I’ve made a bunch of mistakes and learned just a few things in ten years. From a simple desire to find better ways to build software, Atomic Object now stands as a team of 27 incredibly talented people who have successfully delivered hundreds of projects to a national client base. I’ve decided to leverage our size and success to dedicate some of my time to blogging and speaking on a topic I feel passionate about, namely, how do you build and run a successful software product development company? I not only have a rich base of experience upon which to draw, but Atomic is an unfinished experiment and a living lab for my ideas. Our transparency and culture of teaching gives me scope to share what I’ve learned, what’s worked, what’s failed and what we’re still figuring out.
As with Atomic’s projects, I’m starting by listening and being sure I understand how best to help my audience. If you’re the founder or leader of a software development company, where are your pain points? What roadblocks are you hitting as you work to build your company? What would you like to know more about? What challenges have you struggled with? If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, what’s holding you back from launching your own firm?
The widget on the right side of the page makes it quick and easy to give me feedback on topics of interest. If you think something is missing, or you have a more specific question, please make a comment below.
For more about me, my story, and what I’m hoping to achieve, check the About page.
- Attention: Spending Your Most Valuable Currency - February 10, 2022
- Slicing the Revenue Pie in a Multi-Stakeholder Company - July 30, 2021
- Commercial versus Existential Purpose - July 19, 2021
- How I Misunderstood Mentorship and Benefited Anyway - June 16, 2021
- Sabbath Sundays and Slow Mondays - June 4, 2021
Daniel Jefferies
March 14, 2011Great topic for a blog!
I’ve learned a couple things from you in our brief encounters and I hope to learn a couple more here.
Gustaf Brandberg, Sweden
March 16, 2011Carl,
I am really looking forward to following your blog; I think I have a lot to learn from your experience. And, I like the name of your blog: With the power of software using the internet as a distribution channel, you can grow small companies with big impact.
Carl Erickson
March 22, 2011It’s an amazing time we live in, isn’t it, Gustaf. Great to hear from you. Looks like I might be in Sweden this summer; we should find time to get a beer.
John Rumery
March 16, 2011I’d be interested in your opinion/insights on “networking”…how best to use your time in the community that not only help the community, but also create business alliances and potential partnerships. I think I could spend every day/night going to a meeting/conference/event….
Looking forward to following this on a regular basis.
Carl Erickson
March 16, 2011That’s a great idea for a topic, John. There sure are a lot of opportunities for networking; way more than I can take advantage of, anyway. I’ll add it to my list.
Lane Halley
March 18, 2011Hi Carl,
I’m so glad to see you write about your experiences. Atomic Object is a great place to work, and a great company to work with. Hopefully your stories will encourage other people to build values-based companies as you have.
best wishes,
-lane
Carl Erickson
March 22, 2011Thanks for the kind words, Lane.
Jerry
March 19, 2011Hi Carl,
This is a ¡great! idea and way to give back. Thanks in advance!
Some constructive criticism, or maybe just opinionated opinions, I would like to see punctuation in your tagline. I read “greatnotbig” and did not get it at first. It needs some punch to drive the point home “Great! Not big.” So here is my suggestion:
¡GREAT! NOT BIG
Thanks,
gvb
Carl Erickson
March 22, 2011Good point, Jerry. Maybe it’s been too many years reading the Economist that’s biased me towards less punctuation. I appreciate the suggestion and will give it some thought.
Mike
April 2, 2011Carl,
A friend of mine turned me on to your blog and I too am looking forward to your insight. I have often thought of starting a company but the unknows around sales and business development have kept me from doing so. My background is in product management and delivery. I like focusing on customer needs with an agile approach; it fits with my view that IT (software products and projects specifically) exist to support the business. So, i would like to hear how you got your first customer, your second customer, etc. and how you handled the challenges of early business development.
Carl Erickson
April 2, 2011Thanks, Michael, those are great suggestions that I’d be happy to address. In fact, I was on a panel last week for Savvy E that had as it’s topic “Getting to the first sale.”