Najaf Ali is a programmer, speaker, trainer, writer and founder of a small technical consultancy called Happy Bear Software based in London, UK. He also runs popular workshops that teach developers how to thoroughly violate the security mechanisms of the average Ruby on Rails application.
Ever thought about how good it would be to run your own software business with recurring monthly revenue? Can't think of a good product idea that will work for you? Not sure how to tell if the ideas you do come up with will be successful? Welcome to the club!
In this talk, I'm going show you how best to prepare for creating your own product business (hint: it's not by getting better at programming) and how to increase the likelihood of finding a profitable idea. By the end of it you'll be armed with a plan for succesfully branching out on your own, be that with a venture backed startup or your own bootstrapped business.
I'm fully aware that this is a technical conference and this is not a technical talk. Many developers (including myself) have thought about what it would be like to quit freelancing/full-time work and build a software product, so I think some of the insights I've picked up on this topic over the years will be useful to your attendees. It's a long shot, but I thought I'd submit it anyway!