Now on to a complex subject. Getting and staying motivated during the startup phase of building a small company of this nature is a very difficult thing to do. For a long time I assumed it was just me and my slightly scatter brained personality, but apparently I'm not alone. After a recent discussion on the MacSB mailing list, I not only realized that I'm not alone, but not even in the minority. There seem to be several approaches to this problem. Interestingly I find that I already use some of the techniques for efficiency and time management reasons.
One of the recurring themes in the discussion was that of choosing a first project that was too ambitious and would become boring or overwhelming before anything was released. I actually feel that Druware did fall into that category initially, and that is largely the reason for the recent changes in the website and focus of the company. It is excellent advice, pick a small attainable project as your 'getting started project'.
Other advice and suggestions dealt with the usage of tools for time management. While this is very practical, I know many developers that are incapable of the context shifting required by time-slicing. I'm not one of them, I find that from an efficiency standpoint, I time-slice my day every day. Generally assigning specific tasks and project to specific time slots during the week. Again, I've found this to be good advice, and it helps keep a project manageable without inducing burn out.
But probably the most important advice had to do with releases. The motto in the Open Source Community has been 'release early and often' for many years. For the aspiring microISV, this holds true as well. Rather than use big milestones, choose small milestones, develop them, ship them. By doing this you gain several advantages. You have something in the customer hands sooner, and by releasing more often you can raise your mindshare with the marketing that goes along with a release.
Either way, the discussion is valuable, in that is sparks evaluation of your own process. For Druware, it means evaluating and picking he appropriate projects, and evaluating them every month or so.