Join me in a candid recount of my unexpected transition from a software developer to the founder of a development tools company and a meditation of the lessons learned during this journey.

Around twenty years ago, I started working on an open-source project called PostSharp as a cure for my boredom and frustration. After three years of hard work, PostSharp became one of the most successful projects in the .NET ecosystem, with thousands of users. As the project grew, I realized that I couldn't manage it in my free time anymore, and I decided to incorporate the project to ensure its continuity.

The journey had just begun. The journey of a young, technically talented but naive man through the challenges of life and business.

Join this talk to gain insights into the challenges faced by developers when they transition into company owners. You will also learn about the lessons learned from running a development tool business in the long term. We will explore the following topics:

+ The personal and growth challenges that highly talented developers face, which you may be yourself or encounter as their manager.

+ Financial and business strategies, or the lack thereof.

+ Innovation management: why it is necessary to be both the first and the last ones, and the difference between innovation-driven and demand-driven projects.

+ Hiring and retention strategies: the advantages and disadvantages of long-term work relationships.

+ Work-life balance as an entrepreneur: how to go through different phases of life and business without burning out.

+ Marketing: the aspect of business that developers may dislike the most.