How to Kill Your Software Company

In 2005, I attended a fascinating round table discussion at the Software Association of Oregon’s monthly industry meeting. The topic of the round table were the top seven deadly sins that can kill your software company. It was directed towards CEOs, but there was plenty of interest to anyone who works in a software company. I was already working on a list and description of self destructive behavior I have come across in my experience, so this was of great interest to me.

Shortly thereafter, I posted my own reflections on this list of the deadly seven on previous incarnations of my blog. Here are the seven deadly sins plus two additional that were originally presented at Software Association of Oregon with extended explanations:

  1. Being Naive, Unrealistic or Soft About Team Members, Leaders and Yourself
  2. Doing a Bad Job at Raising Money
  3. Good Planning, Bad Execution
  4. Ignoring Your Customers and their Real Needs 
  5.  Letting Your Focus Drift
  6. Thinking that Sales is Someone Else’s Job
  7. Underestimating Your Competition, Direct and Indirect
  8. Running Out of Money
  9. Letting Your Company Culture Define itself Rather than Architecting it to Support Your Goals