Platforms need developers to succeed, so you need stories that resonate with developer’s worldview. Stories that you live to make true.
Your stories must be true. Developers can spot lies and it’s easier than ever to spread bad news, such as on Facebook. Not to pick on Facebook, but they serve as an example of conflict between a platform vendor and developers.
Facebook is a platform for third-party applications. And not just for games; you’ll find a range of business and marketing applications as well. After all, with Facebook’s massive user base there’s money to be made.
Success in today’s software industry means building the skills to tell stories that will resonate with your audience’s existing worldview.
Bruce Nussbaum’s article Facebook’s Culture Problem May Be Fatal shows what went wrong when Facebook chose to tell a new story inconsistent with the worldview of their core users.
37signals added some mystery to what could be a boring office video. To tell a good story, keep the ending until, well, the end.
37signals has strong opinions about work. But how should an office look if you’re an international team? That often works from home? With a 4-day week? That hates interruptions? For the moment, they’re not saying.
To tell a good story, keep the ending until, well, the end. You can see this in a series of videos from 37signals about their new offices.
There’s no time to think when you’re surrounded by fire. You need to put it out for good by starving it of fuel: customers who don’t fit.
Fire-fighting often becomes a core competency at software companies. The usual cause? Our dread of no revenue forces us to accept customers who are not consistent with our worldview. Unique customers cause trouble.
You’re doing the best you can to deliver great software. You pull all nighters and work weekends to satisfy each hard-won customer. Been there. Done that. But, while it’s great to play the hero fire-fighter occasionally, in the end something’s got to give.
I saw first-hand what happens when your worldview hold’s you hostage: we lost out on a deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Worldviews change; ignore at your peril. At Dynasty Technologies Inc. in the 1990s, I saw first-hand what happens when your worldview holds you hostage.
Dynasty was a 2nd generation client/server application development tool. Our main competitor was Forté Software Inc. Founded in the mid 1990s, both companies had significant venture capital funding with a growing global base of enthusiastic early adopters.
The Dynasty Development Environment generated native C/C++ code with no runtime system. Forté generated proprietary code with a runtime interpreter. For some developers runtimes were OK; for others a pure incarnation of evil. Customer’s runtime worldview was decisive for sales.
Because millions of users associate WordPress with free, the VaultPress team wove their paid-only story into their beta sign-up form.
A post about VaultPress on Mike Davidson’s blog reminds us that weaving a story into software can be easy. VaultPress is from the great team behind WordPress and is a real-time backup service for self-hosted WordPress blogs.
Most WordPress products are freemium. VaultPress is paid-only: a high-end product for high-end users. Or: VaultPress is for people whose worldview leads them to expect to pay for backups. That covers me, and I don’t consider myself a high-end user!
WordPress is very visible company with millions of users. Many of these will notice VaultPress and take a look. Because most users associate WordPress with free, the VaultPress team wove their story into their beta sign-up:
Physical products are tactile, but software is intangible, so how do you think your audience expects it should look, feel or even smell?
Your target audience has a story about how they expect your product will make them feel. Marketers and developers must work together and meet this expectation with consistent and genuine stories woven into your software.
Physical products are tactile; you can feel them in your hands, how they move, smell and taste. Software is intangible. Even so, how do you think your audience expects your software to feel? To look? To smell? How should it look on opening the box (installing)?
Software is easier to change than physical products. Good design splits function and presentation; weaving your story into your software will be easy. Or not.
The waterfall model for content creation is too slow. You need an agile process to create and ship your storytelling content.
To sell a product you must know what your target audience wants, not just what they need. Wants changes; worldviews are not static. Every message and conversation with peers has an impact, moving the story along.
The software business is quickly picking up qualities of the fashion industry. Both satisfy wants, not needs. Does anyone need designer sneakers? No. Do they want them? Yes!
Worrying about the slippery slope of fashion isn’t new. Windows 3.0 lead business users to want GUIs for their apps. They didn’t need a GUI for their B2B apps, but it was obvious they wanted one. They got what they wanted.
Epic stories don’t grow on trees; you must design, build and ship them. Success depends on shipping these spreadable software stories.
Software that meets a need (horizontal or vertical) is a commodity. There’s always a cheaper or quicker supplier out there somewhere. Being just a little cheaper, or just a little quicker, cannot work for you long-term.
Focus on your target audience’s wants, not needs. While companies have needs and wants, talking about wants means talking about people and their emotions.
We decide on what we want based on how we think we’ll feel. And not just B2C; B2B buyers are also telling themselves stories about how your product will make them feel.
Target people sharing a worldview, already paying attention to your domain. They notice newcomers; are you sure they’ll notice you?
We view the world differently based on our biases, assumptions, values and experience. Our worldview filters what we pay attention to; what we believe.
Our worldview underlies the story we tell ourselves about what’s happening. It drives the guessing machine we use to predict future events.
Your target audience is a cluster of people who share a worldview and who are paying attention to your domain. But, while they notice newcomers, will they notice you?
Talking with people paying attention and seeking you out is a lot more fun than continuously interrupting people who’ll ignore you!
Don’t waste your time interrupting people not paying attention. Instead, focus on those few special people who are paying attention.
Those few special people are discussing your domain on forums, blogs and newsgroups. Your first job is to find and join these continuing conversations.
Don’t barge in, interrupt and start selling; that’s the best way of ensuring they’ll ignore you. Instead, start by listening for a while before contributing.
