How to use the "Lean" methodology to build your software product/App. Building software the traditional way is often too expensive and inefficient. You commit 6 months to a year or even more, commit a lot of money to develop your idea and then you launch. It maybe a big success...but What if no one buys? Did you build the wrong solution? Did you target the wrong market? ... it is a big bet and it's high risk! "Lean" uses a scientific methodology to discover what works with less waste. It faster to market, has customer validation, and it costs less. In this workshop we will explore how lean methodology applies to software development and how you can take smaller bets and lower risks and increase your chances of hitting success!        

• What a 1-page business plan is and why you should use it
• Different types of product validation and when to use them
• Why you should use the validation process on every feature of every project (not only when you're validating your startup idea to ensure it's viable and solves a real problem)
• What is customer development and why you must do it.
• Step-by-step blueprint for How to Interview Potential Customers
• Real world Case Studies

How to wireframe & build a prototype for your tech product. Learn why wireframing and prototyping are essential to the development process and how it can save you a LOT of money. It will allow you to create, test, and refine the functionality of your project BEFORE a line of code is written! Hands on Practice: Build a Prototype of a Simple ApplicationUsing the techniques that you will learn, you will build a prototype of a simple Mobile or Web application without writing a line of code!

• Wireframing & Prototyping Tools
• How to Wireframe your ideas
• The many ways of building a prototype

How to create technical specifications for developers. All the details of what developers need to build your product efficiently. In this workshop, we will go though all of the different types of technical specification to provide developers so they understand what needs to be built and how. This will drastically reduce miscommunications...the number one reason project miss deadlines and budget.

• Different types of specifications
• Technical requirements vs. Business Requirements
• How clear technical specifications help control the budget.

How to determine the best technology solutions for each feature of your project. Custom Code? The Cloud? 3rd Party Applications? Which is best? Do you have to custom build everything? Most developers want to write custom code but very often it is not necessary. Learn to determine if 3rd party or Cloud based applications can be leveraged to save you time and money and allow you to bring your ideas to market faster. This workshop will define all of the "tech jargon" that you will need to know so you can better communicate and understand developers. We are going to cover a lot of TechSpeak but don't worry, it'll be in a language that you'll understand!

• Advantages & disadvantages of using 3rd party or Cloud based applications
• The questions you need to ask before choosing a 3rd party application
• Hosted 3rd Party solutions vs. APIs
• When should you custom build something and when you should use 3rd Party solutions
• What are the different programming languages and databases and advantages and disadvantages of your choices.

How to hire and grow your technology team. You have the idea. Now, you need the team to help you realize your goals. We all know that hiring the right people is necessary in any organization and the hiring decisions you make will have long reaching effect on your business. This core team will not only shape the future success of your organization, but the culture of your company as well. You will learn how to hire a-player developers that fit into your company culture and if you decided to outsource your work how to ensure that you don't lose your money.

• How to hire a-player developers that fit into your company culture
• How to hire in-house developers vs. outsource to a development company in the US vs. outsource to a development company offshore.
• Tips for working with outsourced developers.
• Advantages & disadvantages of off-shoring and tips to ensure that you build a quality product.

How to right price & budget for your project. In this workshop, we will go though all of the questions that you will need to ask and get answers to, to control costs, ensure quality, and ensure timely delivery of your project

• Methodologies for determining budgets
• Project estimating methods
• Determining complexity, scope, and robustness

How to develop your project using agile project management techniques and what tools to use to keep track of it all. Managing your developers is critical to your budget and timeline. Poor project management is the cause of many project failures. In this workshop you will learn project management techniques so you can take control of your projects and ensure your projects execute on time and on budget. We will also discuss Agile software development methodologies that everyone today should be using to rapidly build, test and change (when necessary) new features and incrementally develop based on customer feedback. Hands on Practice: Honing in on Project Management SkillsUsing the techniques that you will learn, you will practice breaking down a projects into milestones, planning and entering tasks into project management software, and tracking your projects' progress.

• Simple agile project management tactics, techniques, and best practices for breaking down into manageable milestones a project effectively.
• How to manage a development team.
• Project management software applications built specifically for Agile software development teams.

How to track what your users are doing on your site, what feature are working, what is not working. You're live but the work is far from over. Learn the tools you can use to see how users are using your application so you can refine and improve the product.

• How to track what features users are actually using on your site.
• How to listen to your customers.
• How to determine what features to build next.
• Tools & applications to help you track user behavior.
• What different testing techniques you can apply to your site to help you optimize success.

How to build your technology infrastructure for scale. You will learn, in "plain English", what is the right infrastructure to start with, and how to ensure that you can scale as your business grows. This workshop will define all of the "tech jargon" that you will need to know so you can better communicate and understand systems administrators. We are going to cover a lot of TechSpeak but don't worry, it'll be in a language that you'll understand!

• What Server Infrastructure you will need at different stages of your business
• What Database Infrastructure you will need at different stages of your business
• How to determine what programming language is best for your project
• How to set up your Application Infrastructure to allow you to add to and build complexity as your business grows
• When is the right time to scale?
• The different ways of scaling
• How to determine and prevent your application downtime
• Automating code deployment

How to create a tech plan. Well maintained tech plans are important to any business and can save you a lot of time and money when you need acess to certain information, bringing new employees up to speed, and sharing knowledge across the company.

• What is a Tech Plan & why you need it business
• The anatomy of a Tech Plan
• How to store and maintain Tech Plans