What is the difference between...

this thread is becoming quite an education! you know, Nod, you say take a technical person with you, and that is exactly my problem: i do not know any technical person that i can trust to take with me. that, especially, is my biggest frustration, because i often have no idea what these okes are talking about, and THAT is costing me money. because, obviously, i am easy prey (which is what happened the first time around!). so that's why i'm thinking that a big organisation with a good reputation, has a lot to lose if they screw someone over, you know what i mean? which necessarily makes them more trustworthy.

but, perhaps i should also consider getting a technical guru in as a shareholder. that way, he's not just working for a salary, but he has a vested interest in the profitability of the business, so he is bound to stick around, and give it his best effort. i don't know, i need to think about it a lot more.
 
johnnygirl said:
but, perhaps i should also consider getting a technical guru in as a shareholder. that way, he's not just working for a salary, but he has a vested interest in the profitability of the business, so he is bound to stick around, and give it his best effort. i don't know, i need to think about it a lot more.
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Sign me up as shareholder if you're gonna use .NET!!! :p
 
johnnygirl said:
...perhaps i should also consider getting a technical guru in as a shareholder. that way, he's not just working for a salary, but he has a vested interest in the profitability of the business, so he is bound to stick around, and give it his best effort. i don't know, i need to think about it a lot more.
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Ooh! Pick Me!! Pick Me!! :p

Seriously, that may be your best move. One can tell you're putting a lot of thought into things.
 
johnnygirl said:
this thread is becoming quite an education! you know, Nod, you say take a technical person with you, and that is exactly my problem: i do not know any technical person that i can trust to take with me. that, especially, is my biggest frustration, because i often have no idea what these okes are talking about, and THAT is costing me money. because, obviously, i am easy prey (which is what happened the first time around!). so that's why i'm thinking that a big organisation with a good reputation, has a lot to lose if they screw someone over, you know what i mean? which necessarily makes them more trustworthy.

but, perhaps i should also consider getting a technical guru in as a shareholder. that way, he's not just working for a salary, but he has a vested interest in the profitability of the business, so he is bound to stick around, and give it his best effort. i don't know, i need to think about it a lot more.
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From what you have given us of your plans I would suggest that your best bet is forming your own startup. A site like you described is best seen as a living entity rather than a once-off project, it will need to grow and change over time. While it is possible to outsource this work to development companies it is unlikely to provide the best results.

You have a very steep hill in front of you at the moment so it will seem daunting. I would say that your best bet is to try find at least one person who knows the tech side that can share your vision and give you a clearer picture of the significant obstacles you will face.
 
holy cow, definitely not a lack of interest here! but seriously, i wouldn't rule out the possibility of using people from this forum. but i would need to know that whomever i use can get the job done, and i mean really done! so i will need to see their work. i'm thinking, i'm thinking... it's sounding attractive.
 
FarligOpptreden said:
+1 :D

EDIT: BTW, since when is AJAX considered a technology all on it's own?
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Ok, so more use of the other mentioned languages. Better? :p

johnnygirl said:
this thread is becoming quite an education! you know, Nod, you say take a technical person with you, and that is exactly my problem: i do not know any technical person that i can trust to take with me. that, especially, is my biggest frustration, because i often have no idea what these okes are talking about, and THAT is costing me money. because, obviously, i am easy prey (which is what happened the first time around!). so that's why i'm thinking that a big organisation with a good reputation, has a lot to lose if they screw someone over, you know what i mean? which necessarily makes them more trustworthy.

but, perhaps i should also consider getting a technical guru in as a shareholder. that way, he's not just working for a salary, but he has a vested interest in the profitability of the business, so he is bound to stick around, and give it his best effort. i don't know, i need to think about it a lot more.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't put it past a big company to do you in. The details are in the fine print. Any contracts must be gone over with carefully. Make sure that everything is written down, and that there are always minutes of meetings. Get them to sign off the minutes as well, or at least confirm the correctness of it via mail.

You will have to cover yourself. Remember they will only develop what is written down.

Stipulate a deadline and the penalties involved in missing the deadline. Penalties might sound drastic, but it is common practice with big projects.
 
icyrus said:
I would say that your best bet is to try find at least one person who knows the tech side that can share your vision and give you a clearer picture of the significant obstacles you will face.
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yip, i am starting to lean in that direction. in the long run it would probably save me money, because on my own will be like walking through a mine field blind-folded.
 
johnnygirl said:
holy cow, definitely not a lack of interest here! but seriously, i wouldn't rule out the possibility of using people from this forum. but i would need to know that whomever i use can get the job done, and i mean really done! so i will need to see their work. i'm thinking, i'm thinking... it's sounding attractive.
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You certainly have a good mix. From reading the replies here, I'd say you have a couple of good developers, at least one designer, a few architects/consultants - and all willing to lend a hand... not a bad mix at all. :)
 
Nod said:
I wouldn't put it past a big company to do you in. The details are in the fine print. Any contracts must be gone over with carefully. Make sure that everything is written down, and that there are always minutes of meetings. Get them to sign off the minutes as well, or at least confirm the correctness of it via mail.

You will have to cover yourself. Remember they will only develop what is written down.
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Exactly why I shy away from the big names. They exist to make a profit - no (or little) regard for the consumer.

Nod said:
Stipulate a deadline and the penalties involved in missing the deadline. Penalties might sound drastic, but it is common practice with big projects.
Click to expand...
/me nods enthusiastically.

[Excuse the pun - not intended. :D]
 
Raithlin said:
You certainly have a good mix. From reading the replies here, I'd say you have a couple of good developers, at least one designer, a few architects/consultants - and all willing to lend a hand... not a bad mix at all. :)
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Well, I've seen at least TWO designers posting in this thread... :p
 
Nod said:
You will have to cover yourself. Remember they will only develop what is written down.
Click to expand...

oh this is SO true. and the problem with these social networks, is that you'd have to write an encyclopedia size document to cover all the possible permutations, which just isn't possible in a single brief, you know what i'm saying? i see a development like this to be a series of weekly brainstorms and strategy meetings, inbetween the development. i worry that a single brief then 3 months of development, will give you a product in the end that is already old, because the world had already moved on again.
 
johnnygirl said:
oh this is SO true. and the problem with these social networks, is that you'd have to write an encyclopedia size document to cover all the possible permutations, which just isn't possible in a single brief, you know what i'm saying? i see a development like this to be a series of weekly brainstorms and strategy meetings, inbetween the development. i worry that a single brief then 3 months of development, will give you a product in the end that is already old, because the world had already moved on again.
Click to expand...

That is true. So you will have to create a system that can adapt in some way to how the world move, so that you can specify the (business) logic part without having to recode everything. A modular system at the least, so that if you need to redo a part of the system, it can be done by just replacing one module.

Even if you get something out that works correctly, it will be "outdated" eventually. So finding a way to keep it "fresh" is going to be the biggest challenge.
 
That's half the problem with social sites - they are moving so fast at the moment. Weekly meetings and revised goals are the only way to keep ahead - but be careful of scope creep.
 
If you take a look at some of the most successful websites on the internet, the founders themselves were the developers/designers. They did not outsource their idea to a development company.

Also, whats stopping a dev company from declining your idea and then going ahead on the project by themselves? If I were you, I would assemble a team. Just make sure you have plenty money :p
 
I would propose a prototyping/extreme programming methodology :p
 
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