1) Andy Singleton outlines a proposal for a new software development project with $200K funding, wireframe drawings but no staff, to be completed in 4 months. 2) The proposal recommends using lessons from Web 2.0, open source, and agile development - focusing on early and frequent releases, prioritizing features, using competitive trials to find suppliers, and establishing an infrastructure for daily builds and weekly releases. 3) Key success factors are said to include habit, discipline in staying on schedule, talent management, and building confidence.

1. Andy Singleton, Assembla Mission: Accelerate Software Development 23 people in 7 countries Consulting and contract product development services, mostly for startups Assembla.com online service, used by thousands of distributed agile teams New: Private Assembla

2. Input 1) The Web 2.0 Challenge You have $200K A few wireframe drawings No incumbent staff Four months Lesson: Release early, release often Starting point: Roadmap. List features in priority order, and work in that order.

3. Input 2) Open Source You have a bunch of people who have never met each other making great software, with complex organization evolved over the last 15 years Lessons: Many lessons for commercial teams Starting point: Use competitive trials to find good people and suppliers

4. Input 3) Agile and Scrum You have a short and defined schedule Lesson: Release on timed cycles Starting point: Infrastructure for daily build and weekly release process

5. Six Things to Do Release on a fixed schedule Share a daily or continuous build Write it down in tickets Daily report and chat Watch a team activity stream Recruit good people

6. Six Things to Skip Travel Architecture in Advance Adding project managers Conference Calls Interviews Estimating

7. While I am at it… More things to avoid Doing anything with a fixed specification Using synchronous collaboration (phone, video, screen sharing) to manage fast-moving situations Dividing work geographically. SINGLE GLOBAL TEAM!

8. Other controversial claims Number one developer qualification: Can build from scratch Mythical Man Month is wrong Pile on developers at the beginning of the project Assembla.com users should pay … something

9. Key success factors Habit and Discipline. The team learns to stay on the schedule, every day, every iteration Raw Talent Management confidence

10. The challenge again You have $200K, A few wireframe drawings, No incumbent staff, Four months. You’ve seen my proposal for Web 2.0 + Open Source + Agile Who will compete against us with a different approach? Invasion of the Enterprise? Related to Cloud Computing?