The document discusses lessons learned from launching an open source technical communication startup. It provides 11 lessons which discuss the need for a simple content management solution, how technical communication is in an exciting time with more users and channels, the importance of user experience for open source adoption, going mobile-first, using open source as a minimum viable product to test solutions, that open source startups can still get funding, how technical writing is now content marketing requiring attention and competition, the importance of team, that customers are always right, and how scope creep is inevitable. The full reports for each lesson are published weekly on corilla.co and the speaker is seeking feedback on Twitter.

1. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
“10 surprising lessons I
learned while launching an
open source techcomm
startup”

2. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10
It is responsible for over two thirds of
their global software documentation
and has published over 800 books in
over 22 languages. So surely
launching this as an open source
startup would be easy....
Right?
We built a component content
management system for the world’s
first billion dollar open source
software company.

3. @teamcorilla at #lca2015

4. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
who am i?

5. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
(no really)

6. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
content & startups & community
David Ryan

7. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
#lca2015
Tweet the good bits. Share our
community. Let everyone know what
we’re capable of with open source.

8. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
there is a massive
need for a simple
solution
#1___

9. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
content & startups & community

10. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
“need mobile”
“so sick of Adobe”
“local installs suck”
“expensive licenses”
“pointless CLI complexity”
___

11. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
we are in the most
exciting time for
techcomms
#2___

12. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
“more tech, more users,
more channels, more
words, more power to
narrative... and to us”
___

13. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
this is the year of
UX in open source
#3___

14. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
“open source has won for
developers, but we must
create a beautiful user
experience to win for
consumers”
___

15. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
busy

16. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
busy
beautiful

17. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
it’s time for mobile
first (or we all come
last)
#4___

18. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
content & startups & community

19. @teamcorilla at #lca2015

20. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
don’t be known for
no (because yes
has a way of
happening)
#5___

21. @teamcorilla at #lca2015

22. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
open source is the
ultimate MVP
#6___

23. @teamcorilla at #lca2015

24. @teamcorilla at #lca2015

25. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
“it lets us use existing
project components to test
customer content problems
without coding the wrong
solution”
___

26. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
open source still
gets the money
#7___

27. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
“as long as you are solving
a real problem for real
customers we’re going to
help you make this really
happen”
___

28. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
tech writing is
content marketing
#8___

29. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
“it’s no longer about
books, and your customer
is no longer coming to you
for help – you need to
compete for attention”
___

30. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
___
{ {
{ {your book... wiki...
blog... whatever...
Upstream
Downstream

31. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
team is everything
#9___

32. @teamcorilla at #lca2015

33. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
we are all wrong
(only the customer
is right)
#10___

34. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
“no (documentation)
survives first contact with
the (customer)”
___

35. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
scope creep is
everywhere
#11___

36. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10
Full reports for every lesson
published each week on corilla.co.
Guest posts and columns this week
on Yahoo Business news.
Tweet us any time @teamcorilla!
What do you think about my lessons?
Let me know!

37. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
@teamcorilla
corilla.co
@davedri
david@techtidal.com
___

38. @teamcorilla at #lca2015
___
Photo credits (the small print):
Slide 20 – “Moon shot” photo
* “Buzz Aldrin on the Moon” by NASA is in the public domain. How
awesome is that? (AS11-40-5903).
Slide 30 – A year as a startup (from my personal Instagram feed)
* Receiving the Budding Entrepreneur’s Grant from Brisbane’s Lord
Mayor Graham Quirk
* Un café avec Vanessa Quinlan (Office Manager – Microsoft
Ventures, Paris, France)
* Visiting Fishburners in Sydney after pitching our first project to
The Walkey Foundation
* Hustling as media at Slush in Helsinki, Finland, with Corilla’s
design talent Nina Wei
* Mentoring on customer acquisition at Lean Startup Machine at
River City Labs
* Writing an article for StartupSmart while on the media hustle at
Slush in Helsinki, Finland
* Another flight for another pitch with Corilla busdev talent, Luke
Swetman
* Posing with Dr Liz Ellison after my first university lecture on
entrepreneurialism at QUT