Evolving Web is a Drupal consulting company that was founded in 2007. They specialize in developing and maintaining Drupal modules and implementing large-scale Drupal projects using mature development processes. They also offer Drupal training. Recent projects include work for Travelocity, McGill University, and A&E Television Network. The document provides advice on starting a tech company, including consulting versus product-based businesses, finding co-founders, financing, hiring, open source, best practices, and networking in the tech community.

1. STARTING A TECH COMPANY
Drupal Consulting, Development, and Training
evolvingweb.ca | @evolvingweb

2. ABOUT US

3. ABOUT US
• Started doing web development 2005/06
• First projects: mcgillexchange.com, vconf.ca
• Founded Evolving Web in 2007
• Started using Drupal in 2008
• Recent projects: McGill, Travelocity, GoC

4. WHAT WE DO

5. DRUPAL EXPERTS
Develop and Maintained Drupal Modules,
Implement Large-Scale Drupal Projects

6. MATURE DEV PROCESS
Testing, Configuration Management, Cloud Deployment,
Performance, Failover, Monitoring, Version Control

7. PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Agile Methodology, Iterative Development, Knowledge Transfer,
Customized Project Management Workflow

8. TRAINING PROGRAM
We do Drupal training, you should come!
evolvingweb.ca/training

9. RECENT PROJECTS

10. TRAVELOCITY CMS
Multilingual, Integration with Proprietary E-Commerce,
Cloud Deployment, Custom SEO Strategy

11. MCGILL ADMISSIONS PORTAL
Complex Multi-step Form UI, Admin Workflow

12. MCGILL COURSE CALENDAR
Advanced Search UI, Multisite Architecture, Knowledge Transfer

13. A&E TELEVISION NETWORK
Custom UI for Content Producers, Social Media Integration,
Quiz UI for Engagement Platform, Customized Analytics

14. DRUPAL SUN
Online Feed Reader, One-page JS App,
Advanced Search, Responsive Design

15. WHY START A TECH
COMPANY?
• You get to work for yourself
• You get to learn new stuff all the time
• It’s good for your career

16. GETTING YOUR BUSINESS
STARTED

17. STEP 1: CONSULTING VS.
PRODUCT
Product
• You get to define the product
• You make the mistakes
Consulting
• Get experience
• Learn from your clients’ mistakes

18. STEP 2: YOUR IDEA
• Probably not as valuable/original as you think
• Don’t keep your ideas secret
• Refine and iterate your idea
• Don’t ignore people with the same idea

19. STEP 3: FIND A CO-FOUNDER
You’re probably not good at everything, so find
a co-founder with complimentary skills:
• Startup Drinks
• Notman House Events
• Starupifier
• Hacking Health

20. STEP 4: MAKE IT OFFICIAL
Sole proprietorship
• Really easy to set up
• One tax return
Incorporation
• Only slightly harder to set up
• You have to do a separate tax return
• Easier to get certain loans, contracts with big
companies

21. STEP 5: MONEY, MONEY,
MONEY
Before you start making money:
• Get a good accountant
• Register for a GST/QST account
• Keep all your receipts

22. STEP 6: FINANCING
• Bootstrap by doing consulting
• Grants for young entrepreneurs (Desjardins)
• Lots of tax credits in Quebec (R&D)
• Yes Montreal
• Keep your expenses low (you’re a student!)

23. STEP 7: HIRING YOUR FIRST
EMPLOYEE
• Work with freelancers
• Know what you need them to do
• Get time estimates
• Document everything

24. TECHNOLOGY CONSULTING

25. BUILD YOUR PORTFOLIO
It’s important to create a strong portfolio:
• Do good work for free
• Turn away clients who you don’t want in
your portfolio
• Do personal projects that show what you
can do

26. SELECTING CLIENTS
Don’t take on just any project. Be picky!
• Does the project fit with your technology
niche?
• Does the client share your values?
• Is the project interesting to you?
• Will the project be successful?

27. MANAGING EXPECTATIONS
• Don’t try and build a facebook-linkedin clone
• If something sounds unreasonable, don’t be
afraid to say no
• http://theoatmeal.com/comics/websites_stop

28. ESTIMATION & PROJECT
SCOPING
• Try not to estimate too much at once
(break up work into smaller pieces)
• Estimation requires experience, you will
underestimate everything at first
• Lots of extraneous factors

29. BOOKS ABOUT ESTIMATION
• The Mythical Man Month
• Making Things Happen
• Pragmatic Programmer
• Code Complete

30. NEGOTIATION & PRICING
• Use a contract, but keep it simple
• Don’t charge too little just to get a project
• Don’t negotiate with people who are way
more aggressive than you

31. TECHNOLOGY

32. BENEFITS OF OPEN SOURCE
• Be part of an open source community
• Collaborate with others, write better code
• You get to use code that other people write

33. OPEN SOURCE CULTURE
• Share your ideas
• Share your code
• Share your business plan
• Prompt others to share with you

34. SHARE YOUR CODE!

35. FOLLOW BEST PRACTICES
• Documentation
• Version Control
• Use an Issue Tracker

36. USE THE RIGHT
TECHNOLOGY
• Use the right tool for the job
• Use technologies that you know
• Don’t use really obscure technologies

37. DON’T NEGLECT....

38. MARKETING
• Social Media
• Your LinkedIn Account
• Get Business Cards
• Go to Conferences & Present
• Start Now!

39. DESIGN
• It’s important!
• People don’t know what your code looks
like, they see the design

40. WRITING
• Emails, marketing material, blog posts, grant
proposals, project proposals
• Good writing makes you sound professional
& experienced

41. TECH COMMUNITY

42. NETWORKING ADVICE
• Everyone is a potential partner, client,
customer, or recruit
• You will probably work with people who
you meet at McGill
• Learn how to talk about your business idea
and how to ask good questions

44. NETWORKING EVENTS
• New Tech Demo • JS Meetup
• Startup Drinks • Python Meetup
• Starupifier • PHP Quebec
• CleanTech • Drupal Meetup
• Girl Geek Events • Open Data
• Hacking Health

45. TECH VENUES
• Notman House (notman.org)
• Station C (station-c.com)
• The SAT (sat.qc.ca)
• RPM Montreal (rpm.startupcentre.ca)

46. RESOURCES
• http://montrealtechwatch.com
• http://nextmontreal.com
• http://mtlnewtech.tumblr.com (calendar)

47. WORDS OF WISDOM
• Avoid burn-out, stay healthy
• Don’t waste time, be critical of what you
spend time on
• Parallelize your efforts. Don’t put all your
energy into one project.

48. Drupal Consulting, Development, and Training
evolvingweb.ca | @evolvingweb