EntreTech - Computing: Coder-Jammed? Helping non-technical early-stage CEOs and Founders make sense of the software dev process

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When: Tue September 21, 2010 6:30 pm

Organization: The EntreTech Forum

Location: Foley Hoag Emerging Enterprise Center, 1000 Winter St., Waltham, MA 02451

Website: http://entretechforum.org/mm_sept2010.htm

So you’ve got a brilliant idea for a new software application or product that could make you and your investors rich – now what? Unless you’re bringing a degree in computer science or have prior experience delivering software-based products and services, you may well be lost in the jargon of competing software languages, platforms, and general coder-speak that determines how your brilliant idea actually gets created before you can bring it to market. The choices made early on in your application/product development cycle may have huge implications for your business model in the medium and long term, as certain platforms may be great for prototyping, but lousy at scale; other platforms may be the best long term solution, but bring overly expensive developer costs. Is .NET dead? Will Flash/Flex survive? Is Open-source a good or bad option? Should you consider Drupal, WordPress, Ruby on Rails for your web development? Why? If you’re trying to future-proof your application’s viability, how does one do that in a software developer environment of constant technical innovation? Early stage CEOs and founders need to have a grasp of these concepts to be empowered to make smart decisions about the direction of their business, even if it’s just to be able to coordinate with or manage a CTO, CIO, or outsourced development team effectively.

The September 21, 2010 EntreTech Forum will bring together local software developers and the professionals who manage them to distill and provide a lay-person’s view into the jargon-riddled word of software development. The panel discussion will deliver a general overview of the software development process, will provide a perspective on how software developers view the world and what motivates them, and then will dive into specific decision components. As ever, the discussion will be oriented towards a back-and-forth discussion with the audience, to make sure everyone walks away with enhanced understanding.

Moderator:
Andrew Fairbairn – Fairbairn Ventures

Panelists:
Sandro Hawke - w3.or - Technical Staff/Software & Standards Developer
Scott Fitchet – Bocoup - Software Developer
Daniel Von Kohorn - VKRA / Fund Investors LP / Beacon Angels / MediaTech Capital Partners
Andrew Rollins - Founder and Chief Software Architect - Localytics