A look back at some selected 2006 SvN posts…

Building to flip is building to flop
“If you’re about to build anything, don’t build it to flip or you’re almost guaranteed to flop. Sure, you could win the Yahoo lottery, but the odds aren’t in your favor.”

Small Biz 101: Tips for Increasing Sales
“I’ve had the privilege of being in both the service industry (working as a web developer) and the product industry (selling web applications), so here are some tips and tricks I’ve picked up along the way.” (More Small Biz 101 lessons)

You still want meetings. Here’s how to make them useful.
“Though meetings are harmful, you sometimes need to get together and work a problem out. Here are some tips to make sure nobody wastes their time.”

Is Getting Real dangerous?
“This idea that it’s ‘dangerous’ to Get Real is silly because Getting Real has a built-in safety net: iterations. It’s unrealistic to expect perfection out of the gate. You can and will get it wrong. The great thing with web-based apps is that you have a built-in mulligan. Everyday you can revise and get it a little bit less wrong.”

A sketch to screen case study
“We’re giving Basecamp some love these days and I’m working on the Files section. The current Files tab has a long, full-page ‘Upload a file’ screen, and it’s just overkill. I thought I’d share the process of redesigning the ‘Upload a file’ screen as a small dialog.”

Essential vs. Non-Essential
“One of the toughest things to figure out when trying to launch a simple product is what to add in and what to leave out. The way we do it is to figure out what’s essential and non-essential. Non-essential stuff stays out of 1.0.”

It’s a great time to start a business
“I say it’s never been a better time to start a business. You know, the kind that develops a product or service and asks money for it.”