Workshop Survival Kit
A-Z: How to Build a Web App
Produced by Ryan Carson, creator of DropSend.com
This the Survival Kit put together by Ryan Carson for his
London, July 2006 workshop and is chock full of links, articles and suggestions
to help you build your first web app.
If you are about to embark on building your first piece of web software then this is a great kit to get you started. He covers everything from building your team to the individual skills those team members will need. He also gives tips on setting up merchant accounts, taking payments online and dealing with hosting companies.
Highlights on the kit include: Legal documents that you will need; Lists that will help you ensure you're not forgetting to do anything, plus example documents which includes: example cash flow, wireframes, freelancer contract, and development timeline and much more. For full rundown of what's on the kit see the panel below
Ryan's next workshop is Start-Up Clinic on Feb 15th-16th, 2008
Past Reviews
"Extremely useful insight. Very practical advice for any start-up" - Julian Martinez, Adoos.com
"Ryan shows you what 'really' happens when you start a web application business" - Sanjay Parekh, Web Express
"A perfectly pitched deconstruction of successfully building web 2.0 generation apps" - Imran Ali
"I came away with so much more than I expected to. Thoroughly inspirational" - James McCarthy, American Express
"Real problems, real solutions and a great atmosphere" - Ulf Kollross, Brainson.de
"Real practical advice" - Max Jennings, eMomentum
What's on the Kit?
- Tips & Tricks
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- Things we've Learned
- Tips on Scaling
- Tricks for creating your app's website
- Marketing your app - 10 things you must do
- Resources
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- Example cash flow spreadsheet
- Example wireframe
- Example freelancer contract
- One-click deploy example
- Timeline - building your web app
- Links
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- Hardware Partners (hosting, co-lo)
- Project Management must-haves
- Version Control - which software to use
- Essential Blogging Tools
- Vital Workflow software
- Blogs You Should be Reading
- Tools for Analysing your Data
- Slides
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- How to Cut Costs
- Putting a Team Together
- Skills Your Developer Needs
- Skills Your Designer Needs
- Legal Issues
- Ecommerce - The reality
- Ecommerce - What you need to do
- Bookkeeping - What your developer needs to know
- Timescales and Deadlines - How long stuff takes
- What to Do and in What Order?
- What Makes a Good Name?
- Copywriting - Which pages need your attention?
- Marketing - Your checklist
- Website Design - What's important?
- Tech Support - How to cope
- Scaling - How to do it cheaply
- Things We Learned from DropSend
- Will Your Web App Make Money - do the test
- Pricing - How much should it cost?
- What Hardware Do You Need?
- Setting a Budget - What to expect to pay
- Setting a Budget - How to stay on budget
More on the author
Ryan Carson
Ryan started his career as lead PHP developer at several design studios. He developed his first web app during his spare time in 2003 before founding Carsonified in early 2004. Shortly after that he built his second large-scale web application, the hugely popular DropSend followed by his third web app, Amigo and the online blog/magazine Vitamin.
Since then Carsonified has become famous for organising and co-ordinating the biggest Web 2.0 event in the UK, Future of Web Apps and its sister events Future of Web Design and Future of Mobile. More recently Carsonified has created a popular site featuring handmade items for your Mac hardware, Hug My Mac
Ryan is a passionate advocate of developing forward-thinking web applications. He writes regularly on the topic of building web apps. His articles have appeared on several websites including: A List Apart, Signal Vs Noise (37signals), Treehouse, and BD4D