I read the overview for an interview with Roy Robin. He is founder of Varien, which has the successful product Magento. He stated that the company was founded while he was still in school. There initially was not much of a plan.The company took off when they started using AdWords. They also delved into consulting work. That gave them deep insight into the needs of customers. Developers in the company started getting bored. They got a side project to work on. This resulted in the Magento product.
Company employees blogged to establish their reputation. They blogged daily. It was rare for them to pitch their company. They were just sharing very good information. One thing was a bit disappointing. Roy confessed that the hours worked were and continue to be crazy. I guess that is the life of a successful startup.
