Micro-ISV: From Vision to Reality 
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Author Bob Walsh
Publisher APress
Length 374 pages
vbRad Rating: 4 fingers up. (4 out of 5)
Reviewed by Robert Gelb

Given that I’ve been involved with MicroISVs for a long time now, I picked up this book with great interest. I must say that the book is very interesting. Not just from the standpoint of an instruction manual to succeed but also as a simple book: it is engaging and lively.

The book contains a lot of information on how to get started, what it will take and the dedication needed to see it through to success. He injects a dose of reality to the initial excitement that all software developers feel when embarking on a new idea. I wish he had written the book many years ago when it would have helped me make the right decisions.

Another really cool feature of the book are a collection (large collection) of interviews with people who have actually succeeded at being a MicroISV. Through their eyes you can clearly see what problems they’ve overcome, how they came up with their products, their marketing strategies and other tidbits of useful information.

If I have any complaints about the book, it would be about the tools the author showcases as needing to get started. As we all know, most of these MicroISV are started in spare time and on a shoe budget. So spending a lot of money for infrastructure software makes no sense. I feel that the author could have showcased more free software that let’s you get started or pointed out when commercial software can give you a break. For instance, SourceGear Vault effectively comes free for up to 2 users (e.g. one regular user and the admin user). There are some great free continuous integration tools out there (nant, cc.net, etc…).

Other than that, the book is a perfect prescription for the potential ails of the would be MicroISV.


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