Whether you just want to write cool software for yourself or you are looking to kick off a side business, you can get started with little upfront investment. This week on Herding Code, the guys talk about the ease of becoming a one-man independent software vendor (ISV.)

• Scott K starts off the show with a list of free online invoicing and financial tools along with a number of services which provide free disk space.
• Jon notes that advertising and micropayments are cheap and easy to setup in minutes.
• Kevin talks about his recent endeavor, review2Q, an ASP.NET MVC application, hosted in the Azure cloud, which helps automate the management of his Netflix’s queue. It was an itch that he just needed to scratch and, with little overhead on his part, it’s now available for you, too.
• The guys discuss super cheap hosting and the numerous APIs and Services which provide tons of data available to re-mix.  They also discuss using Azure or Google App Engine to scale up as one grows. 
• Jon comments on how free site templates and store/blog theme systems can make design a snap. 
• Jon also calls out the fact that for most web developers the barrier to entry is so low.  Thus, one is somewhat susceptible to having their idea quickly copied.  This raises the question; will your investment pay off long-term? 
• Kevin jokes that there’s an alternative approach to implementing your own, self-serving solution - just wait long enough and someone else will implement your idea.
• Kevin and Jon discuss why the web is such an appealing platform to start a venture. It is all about the low barrier to entry, the instant gratification and immediacy of making your product available and easy accessibility.  Not to mention many sites are self-sustaining.
• The guys brainstorm a few one-man startup website and mobile development ideas, wonder if they would ever again hear from Jon if he came upon 4 million dollars and question whether or not K Scott has fallen asleep.

Show Links:

• Google Docs
• Zoho
• Office Online
• Skydrive
• Box.net
• Dropbox
• Google App Engine
• Markus Frind, Plentyoffish.com
• Adsense
• Kevin’s Dente’s review2Q
• Netflix
• ASP.NET MVC
• Azure
• SQL Data Services
• RSS
• RESTful API
• Trusted Database Interpretation (TDI)
• Open Source Web Design
• WordPress
• OneNote
• Yahoo Pipe
• Stackoverflow
• Hanselminutae-five with Richard Campbell
• iPhone Development
• Windows Mobile
• 37signals

Download / Listen:

Herding Code 44: Microbusiness

Show notes compiled by Ben Griswold. Thanks!