Invisible Algorithms Podcast

Join me in the journey to uncover unseen forces, ideas, and philosophies that drive software development.

Product Engineering Consultancy

Software Product Engineering Services

Are you exploring?

I can help you find product-market fit by developing an MVP with the least effort and cost. This involves:

  • Mapping out features

  • Prioritizing key functionalities

  • Rapid prototyping and iteration

  • Managing uncertainty and risk

  • Launching the first version

Are you expanding?

I can help you transition from MVP to scalable solutions, emphasizing technical infrastructure, engineering culture, and the early stages of team building.

  • Scaling operations efficiently

  • Maintaining product quality

  • Adapting to market feedback

  • Hiring and organizational growth

My clients' stories & Testimonials

Work with me

How to build a software product without a technical background

The story of Pulse Audio

Pulse is an app that aims to host all music software products from multiple companies in one place, reducing the need for customers to download multiple installers. The idea for Pulse came from Emmett's experience with Steam, a platform that made downloading and installing video games easy.Emmett reached out to companies to validate the idea and received positive feedback. The first step was to find a developer and build an MVP using open-source software. User adoption was slow initially but improved as more companies saw the benefits of using Pulse.Emmett shares his lessons learned and highlights the importance of defining project scope, effective management, and understanding technical challenges. The competition and unexpected changes in the market posed challenges, but he continued to promote Pulse and seek customer feedback.The conversation concludes with tips for non-technical entrepreneurs and the ongoing development of Pulse.

TOP 5 QUOTES

On Initial Concept and Validation:"So the first step was just to reach out and validate, I suppose, and make sure that companies would be interested in it and would use the system."On Managing Technical Projects as a Non-Technical Founder:"When you're getting into any SaaS, I suppose, you are becoming a manager... if you're not building it yourself, you're then becoming a manager. So be aware of that and understand what that entails."On User Requests and Features:"Be very careful about accommodating every single user request... see if you can pre-sell the feature to them."On the Continuous Nature of Software Development:"I sort of thought, great, once this is done, we're finished with it... But I've since learned that with any software a product is never really finished."

TOP 3 TAKEAWAYS

Validation and Market Fit Are Crucial:The importance of validating the idea with potential customers before proceeding too far into development cannot be overstated. Emmett's approach of reaching out to companies to gauge interest was a critical step that informed the project's direction.Technical Debt and Project Management:Technical debt can significantly hinder the progress of a project, especially for startups. Emmett's experience highlights the importance of careful planning, and being prepared to manage technical challenges directly.Adaptability and Continuous Improvement:Emmett's journey emphasizes the need for startups to be adaptable and continuously improve their product. Understanding that software development is an ongoing process and being open to refining and adding features based on user feedback are key to long-term success.

So working with you is great because you would actively think about the problem. So some developers would say, okay. So especially with some of the developers I worked with in the beginning, you give them the problem and they go, okay, I'll talk to you next week and I'll have the, I'll have the solution to that. And it turned out the solution wasn't the best solution that could have been developed or they went in a completely wrong way about it and they would prefer to kind of just work by themselves in the dark I suppose. With you I like that you would actively do user maps and you would actively talk to the users you would actively talk with the other developers and understand the problem and understand the best solution and I always felt like you were trying to get the best solution for the project, whatever way that took a shape or form. So that was definitely the best part of it.

Looking to create a new product or scale it up?Send an email to himself@peppesilletti.io with your request and let's make that happen!