Company
Uncommon (i.e. Very Valuable) Startup Advice From Dharmesh Shah
Dharmesh Shah is one of those names that keeps coming up for me. In the startup/entrepeneurship books I read, in the blogs I follow, on Twitter...and his quotes are...
Balsamiq Roadmap for 2009
This is part two of a two-part post about what happened in 2008 and my plans for 2009. So 2008 was great, no, it was beyond great. I quit...
A Look Back at 2008
This is part one of a two-part post about what happened in 2008 and my plans for 2009. First, a few numbers about 2008: days in business: 196 -...
Mockups 1.5 Is on the Way, It’s Screencasting Time!
Hi there, just a quick update. I have been heads down coding and bug-fixing in order to get Mockups 1.5 out the door. I feel extremely close, hopefully I'll...
Why I love Atlassian, an Inspirational Video
Hi there. Atlassian once again manages to impress me and make me proud to be affiliated with them. This is one of the best recruiting tools I have ever...
Looking for Good Flex Developers to Recommend
I constantly get asked if I know any good Flex developers, and I am tired of answering "I wish!" 🙂 So if you do Flex development, please fill in...
Man Writes Software, Blogs About it, Makes $100k in 5 Months
“We love this story. Back in July we wrote about the inspiring experience of Peldi Guilizzoni, a lone software developer who'd built a web design mock-up tool called Balsamiq...
Hit $100,000 in Revenue, Time to Start Looking Up
I feel a bit sheepish posting this since I don't want to come across as bragging, but a promise is a promise, so here it goes... I just recently...
Introducing Mariah, Balsamiq's Better Half
Hi there. I am very pleased to introduce to you my wife and best friend Mariah. She has been the hand behind all of the UI controls in Balsamiq...
AtlasCamp, Podcast, Linked Mockups, Yay!
Hi there. It was a long day yesterday, with Lufthansa reminding me about how bad airplane food can be. 🙁 It's good to be back in the Bay Area,...
Off to AtlasCamp!
Hi there. Just a quick note to tell you that I'll be at AtlasCamp, Atlassian's first developer conference, from tomorrow (thu Nov 6th) until Monday night (Nov 10th). I...
My Thoughts on Software Piracy
Are you worried about pirates stealing your software? Don't be! Read all about our approach here.
Some Excellent ISV Advice from Jason Fried
This is so wild...watch the video below...I could have given the exact same talk! OK, probably a lot less eloquently, but I am amazed at how closely what Jason...
One More Way to Get Mockups for Desktop for FREE
Hi there, I have done this with a few people already and it's worked out so well that I have decided to make it a policy: starting today... If...
Personal: What’s Your Story? Why Start Balsamiq?
The following is a story that I told many people already, but didn't think was interesting enough to put on my blog until a certain Tamales Princess I know...
Balsamiq Mockups Page on Facebook
Hi there, just a quick note to let you know that I just created a Balsamiq page on Facebook. Become a fan and meet other people who like Mockups...
500 Customers!
I just sold a license to my 500th customer! That's a much bigger number that I expected to reach in such a short time (it's been less than 3...
8 Desktop Applications I Couldn't Live Without
I should really be doing something else right now, but I wanted to get this out. I think it'd be fair to say that I use "the cloud" and...
Lessons Learned in Font Licensing
Hi there. If you have been following Balsamiq Mockups, you'll know that a number of potential customers have been turned off by my choice of "Comic Sans MS" as...
$$ Tag for Twitter Ads? I Want to Pay For Twitter!
I love Twitter and can't remember life before it. It's a whole new channel of communication, with its own dynamics and conventions. I like how it fits nicely between...
Balsamiq Mockups Makes Big Impression on Hacker Community
“Since its launch a few short months ago Balsamiq mockups has taken the hacker community by storm. Why? This is one of those rags to riches stories that inspire...
Startup Marketing Advice from Balsamiq Studio
In August 2008 Balsamiq was starting to gain traction in the marketplace, just 2 months after launch. People asked me how I got noticed, so I wrote a blog...
Balsamiq, a Mockup Creator in Air, Is on Fire
“It’s a great story of a creative entrepreneur using new technology to address a key market need and finding a healthy number of customers willing to pay for software....
$10,000 in Revenue in the First 6 Weeks
The huge amount of attention that my "Profitable, in 3 weeks!" post has received so far tells me that there's a thirst for financial results of small bootstrapped startups...
Profitable, in 3 Weeks!
Sorry for tooting my own horn here but I think my current and potential customers will be happy to hear that business is going well, so here it goes....
Balsamiq: Week One Recap
Hi everyone. It's been now a full week since my official launch, and my what a ride it has been! I know the adventure is just getting started, but...
Launch: Balsamiq is Open For Business!
What's happening: Balsamiq Studios LLC is launching today. What it means to you: Balsamiq Mockups 1.0 is now officially for sale, both as a Confluence plugin and as a...
Mockups Demo: Over 100 Downloads in 6 Days
So I uploaded Mockups for Desktop to the Adobe AIR marketplace on Monday, and already it's showing 102 downloads of the demo app, plus my entry page is generating...
Adobe Air as a Bridge between Now and the Future
So I went to the Adobe AIR tour Milan yesterday, which was fun and well organized. Adobe AIR is a "bridge product" in many ways: it lets you sync...
Weekly Update - One Week to Launch
Hello there. As usual, I'm a little late with the weekly update (I might have to find a different name for it). This has been a busy 2 weeks....
Thanks for Your Feedback
Last week I posted the following on the Business Of Software forums: Free Software in exchange for quality website feedback Hi there. I am less than a month away...
Messagefirst Website: Wow.
I just stumbled upon www.messagefirst.com today. All I can say is wow. It's been a long time since a website impressed me, so I had to share. Notice the...
Weekly Update: A Month from Launch
The main new and exciting development this week is that I have decided to start selling the Dekstop (AIR) version of Mockups. I'll write a blog post about it...
Making RSS Work for Your Micro-Isv
I just love RSS. I can't remember what life was like before it. I get all my news that way, via Google Reader on my iGoogle home page. I...
Search Engine Optimization? Check! :)
I am extremely happy to report that Balsamiq.com turns up as the coveted #2 spot for Google searches for "web office plugins", which is exactly the space I am...
Mockups Didn’t Make the Cut, Oh Well
So back in February I ran into this call for entry for the "Application Design Annual: Year's 10 Best UIs" and decided to apply, as a free marketing channel...
Wow, That Was Hard
Sorry for not sending out updates for soe long, but it's been quite a hard and busy time since then. My family and I relocated from San Francisco to...
Weekly Update, a Bit Late
Hey there, sorry for not posting this last Sunday. Basically the update is that I haven't be carve out some uninterrupted time to focus on Mockups development this week....
UI Prototyping Discussions Kicking into High Gear
And it's about time! More and more people realize that usability is a key differentiating feature - remember Macromedia and their "experience matters" motto from 5 years ago? 🙂...
Why Don’t I Host Mockups Myself?
A couple of beta testers have asked me why I don't host Mockups on balsamiq.com as a ad-based or subscription-based niche Web 2.0 app. First let me get the...
Preparing for Launch
Doing my homework in preparation for launch: Press for Startups: 10 tips 17 Tips For Getting Bloggers To Write About You The Art of Sucking Up Five Wrong Ways...
Weekly Update: 2nd Week of April
Hi there, quick update. This past week: I fixed the remaining bugs in Mockups For Confluence. I spent 2 hours at Atlassian chasing down my last big bug only...