How to be a program manager – Joel on Software The exact form the functional specification takes may vary. All a functional specification has to do is explain how the program will behave. It doesn’t say anything about how the code will work internally. You start at the highest level: a vision statement, no more than one page explaining the gist of the new feature. Once that’s nailed down, you can develop storyboards… mockups of the screens showing the user’s progression through the application, with detailed notes showing how they work. For many types of functionality, especially UI-heavy functionality, once you have these storyboards, you’re done. (categories: programmingdesignprocessdevelopmentmanagementengineeringfunctionalspec )
Entrepreneurs – Don’t Be Afraid of GDP Growth Rate The list of companies started during periods of negative GDP Growth include Wang, TI, DEC, Fairchild, EDS, Compuserve, Intel, Atari, CA, Apple, Microsoft, Amdahl, Autodesk, Sun, Compaq, Cisco, 3Com, Genzyme, EMC, Amgen, Lotus, EA, Adobe, AOL, Dell, Cisco, and Network Appliance. I know the startup story of many of them and it includes single-mindedness of purpose, frugality/capital efficiency, and more sweat than equity. (categories: startupsentrepreneurshipeconomymotivation )