If there were going to be a lot of online stores, there would need to be software for making them, so we decided to write some.
When you own a desktop computer, you end up learning a lot more than you wanted to know about what's happening inside it.
Most people, most of the time, will take whatever choice requires least work.
Being able to release software immediately is a big motivator.
Working to implement one idea gives you more ideas.
Instead of starting each quarter with a blank slate, you have a recurring revenue stream.
If something is hard to buy, people will change their mind about whether they wanted it.
And vice versa: you'll sell more of something when it's easy to buy.
There is always a tendency for rich customers to buy expensive solutions.
Desktop computers won because startups wrote software for them.
If you want to write desktop software now you do it on Microsoft's terms, calling their APIs and working around their buggy OS.
And if you manage to write something that takes off, you may find that you were merely doing market research for Microsoft.
If a company wants to make a platform that startups will build on, they have to make it something that hackers themselves will want to use.
That means it has to be inexpensive and well-designed.
Microsoft deliberately built their business in IBM's blind spot.
What they need to do is cannibalize their existing business.
Web pages weren't designed to be a UI for applications, but they're just good enough.
For a significant number of users, software that you can use from any browser will be enough of a win in itself to outweigh any awkwardness in the UI.
There are only two things you have to know about business: build something users love, and make more than you spend.
If you get these two right, you'll be ahead of most startups.
Start by making something clean and simple that you would want to use yourself.
Use your software yourself, all the time.