Book Review: Getting Real – Build A Successful Web App

by: Cesar Serna

What this book is…

Getting Real is a blueprint for creating a successful web app, service or product that you love, that you use, that actually works and that your new community of like minded people will love too.

Written from a founder / developer point of view but without all the tech code talk.

What this book is NOT…

You will not get any fluff in this book, no self serving promotional crap and NOT written in a “GURU” point of view.

Overview

Getting Real is on my phone, tablet and laptop via Kindle reader. It has earned a permanent place on the top shelf of my “must read” books because it’s short, to the point and packed with value for anyone at any stage of SaaS development.

For example, I read this book after creating AppKPI ( iOS Keyword Optimization Tool ) and before I created FeedSumo ( Twitter Content Management Tool ).

After reading Getting Real, I started to see how much opportunity I missed by working on AppKPI silently for over TWO YEARS!

How I should have been sharing my experiences, successes and failures along the way. How I should have been connecting with users of AppKPI and how much that would have ultimately helped me create a better service. Instead, I had a tool that I understood how to use, but left users confused. Good thing I read this book, I am now fixing all of these issues.

Because of Getting Real, with FeedSumo I was able to keep things very minimal and quickly reject scope creep that would only add complexity, plus avoided hours of dead end development time. I was able to create an MVP ( Minimal Viable Product ) in 44 hours and have real people using the tool and giving me feedback. Updates are rolled out regularly and communication with FeedSumo users has been extremely helpful in shaping the tools feature set.

Take Away #1: Build A Web App You Need And Will Use

Build a Web App you actually use in your own business, because you are more likely to make a better product or service.

Even if there are GIANT competitors in your space, there are several reasons why you would make a new similar product or service:

• Other’s cost too much
• Other’s don’t have certain features
• Other’s have too many features
• Other’s lack great service or support
• YOU CAN DO BETTER!

Guess what? There are people who think the same thing and want an alternative choice.

If you think you can do better, then DO IT and USE IT!

Because if your Web App sucks, you will know it.

Take Away #2: Make Decisions To Avoid Complexity

The concept of DECIDING was a real eye opener, here is what I mean…

Imagine your product or service has a scheduling component, you can do one of two things:

• A.) Enable your customers to decide when something will happen
• B.) Decide when your product or service will make something happen

#—-#
Scenario A
#—-#

Could mean complexity of both front end and back end development…

In the front end, we could be talking about calendars, drag and drop, repeating events, one time events, special events, etc.

In the back end we now have to handle event collisions, just in time updates, multiple event updates, etc.

What about the user, they now have more work to do for each event entered and they have to THINK about when the best time to schedule would be?

#—-#
Scenario B
#—-#

You decided that your Web App triggers events three times a day, that’s it.

In fact, your Web App handles finding open slots and auto-schedules.

Your users know this, accept it and continue to use your tool or decide it’s not for them.

#—-#
WINNER: Scenario B
#—-#

Choices define your SaaS, they simplify both front end and back end development, creates a better user experience and defines the culture that your users will love.

If all that is needed is a simple button, make that choice and move on.

Take Away #3: Release Early And Update Often

As I mentioned above, one of my SaaS tools sat around for over TWO YEARS!

Why? Because I wanted to get it just right… Sound familiar?

I am not making that same mistake with FeedSumo, the MVP was made in 44 hours over 7 days then I pushed it live.

Since then, I have been steadily releasing daily updates, improving the overall service and have REAL users not only using the tool but giving me feedback and reporting bugs!

Setup two environments for your SaaS tool along with a GIT:

• Development – This is where you can experiment with new features, test updates safely and PUSH code changes to GIT. In my case, I set this up on my MacBook Pro, this way I have an exact functional replica of the site and can make code updates from just about anywhere.
• Live – This is likely your hosting company server, what your users see when they got to the site and you PULL from GIT to make site updates.

Taking a bit of time to create a simple process for releasing updates, it keeps the site fresh and your users engaged knowing someone is awake at the wheel.

Final Thoughts…

Are you still reading this?

If you are serious about creating a Web App, Go buy “Getting Real“, it’s a no brainer!