The *business* of software

Calculate Expenses of Startup

Several times I heard that about $5K ~ $6K is enough to make a startup.
Can you suggest a spreadsheet or a list containing typical expenses
for starting software business?

I want to calculate (estimate) how much money should I have before
starting my Micro ISV. It is a desktop or rich-client software application,
that I will develop myself or with a partner.

Here is my list of expenses (would like to buy or delegate to other people):

- Domain experts consulting
- Marketing, analytics
- Public relations
- Sales

- Web and Graphics design
- QA and Testing
- Software tools and components

- Copyright registration
- Accounting

Thank you.

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Permalink Reply by Maksym Shostak on September 21, 2009 at 4:10pm: Hi all.

I did calculations based on "Software Estimation" - Steve McConnell's book.
The algorithm of calculations is following:

1) Estimate project size (LOC, functional point, etc.) based on Requirements and Design
spec, previous projects (history), Priorities, Constrains. Do this using 3-4 different
methods.

2) Estimate schedule, that is calculated from project size.

3) Estimate cost, that is calculated from schedule plus one-time payments.

4) Refine functionality and recalculate estimations to achieve acceptable cost and schedule
(they are constant in my case).

P.S. Some fun from "The 10 Most Important Ideas in Software Development" presentation:; ▶ Reply to This