🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Aug9.145335.1657@cubetech.com> andrew@cubetech.com writes:
>
>Imagine a typical small NeXT development company.  4 people, two are
>programmers.  Here would be a 'typical' month's expenses:
>
>	Rent		$1,500	(assuming rock-bottom small office in
>				Houston - Bay Area would probably be more)
>	Utilites	$500	(AC is expensive - got to keep those hackers
>				cool! not to mention long-distance and (800) 
>				charges)
>	Salaries	$8,000	(extremely modest start-up style salaries)
>	Computers	$700	(Lease with unrealistic interest rate for two 
>				usuable developer systems)
>	Supplies	$250	(paper, toner, Coke, etc...)
>	Advertising	$2,666	(1 full page ad per issue of NeXTWorld
>				(at $8k an issue)
>----------------------------------------
>	total		$13,616
>

Andrew is right on here.  I was founder and president of Data Transforms
for 12 long years, writing and publishing microcomputer software.  We sold
almost all of our products for less than $100, most for less than $50.
We never copy protected anything.

The only thing that is unreasonable in Andrew's list is salary.  We had
no startup capital.  Some quarters we didn't pay $8000 for 4 people.  The
only reason we stayed in business was dedication on the part of some
talented and unreasonably stubborn people.

The software business can be very rewarding, and it can also break your
heart.  We never refused tech support to anyone, even if we _knew_ that
they had pirated the program.  We believed that the world would see and
recognize a good hearted attitude and many, many times we were right.  But
in the end, we just couldn't pay the rent and our dedication became brittle
and broken.

I laud young idealists who believe that they can make a difference through
altruism, but there is much, much more to succeeding in business than the
old saws of treating the customer right and trusting the consumer.

Steve Boker

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 #  Steve Boker           #             "Two's bifurcation                  #
 #  smb3u@virginia.edu    #             but three's chaotic"                #
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