Ship It On the Side is a podcast about how to build a software startup as a side job.

Curtis Gray and Martin Shoemaker are your hosts. Email us questions and comments.

In the Ship It on the Side is a podcast we discuss how we’re building a competitive and profitable software application as a startup company. We are doing this on a very limited budget, in a few months, while holding down full-time jobs. We want to share our experiences, in a structured way, so others can learn.

About the Name “Ship It On The Side”

As for the show title we originally chose the name “Success on the Side”, since we are doing this on the side and we do want success. However, just before going on-air with the name we decided that was just too general. The name could get lost in the shuffle. “Success on the Side” could be applied to anything from building a network marketing business to selling real estate. We liked the phrase “on the Side” because the podcast is about building a commercial application while working full time. So we thought of using “Software on the Side”. But that name gives the impression that we’re not really taking this seriously. Many developers write software on the side, late at night, tinkering away at a personal utility or learning a new technology.

This podcast is targeted at software developers who are building, or want to eventually build, a successful software application for profit. And when we say profit we mean enough revenue and profit to leave the day job.

As we talked through what we are doing, we considered the end result of our work. When we are done with a commercial application what do we do with it? Do we continue tinkering with it until we’re satisfied that we understand all of its inner workings? Of course not. We SHIP IT. “Ship it” is not normally used to describe what is done with hobby software. Hobby software is usually “put out there” or “uploaded”. “Ship it”, on the other hand, denotes a set of expectations such as:

• The software followed a formal design of some kind.
• The software is feature complete.
• The software has been tested for use by a specific set of end users.
• The software will be supported after release.
• The software is expected to benefit some stakeholders.
• The software development had a real tangible deadline driven by the market and budgetary constraints.

These are just some of the expectations involved with software that is shipped commercially for profit.

This is how we chose to use “Ship It” – on the Side. And since the constraints, budgetary and timewise, are more limited than you average multi-million dollar enterprise, we are using strict proven methods to cut costs and deliver software with high quality that can compete on an open global market.

Curtis Gray - Twitter address for host Curtis Gray
The UML Guy - website of the co-host Martin Shoemaker
Ulterior Motive Lounge - Hilarious UML comic