From Program to Product

This book is not a general software business reference, like our MicroISV book or the Eric Sink book. It's specifically for readers who have an existing project, or an idea for one, and want to turn it into a product. They can follow this book for the best chance of success. It is written in a non-technical, friendly, conversational style, and is filled with excerpts, advice, and war stories from someone who's been in the trenches for years.

Rocky Smolin began programming computers at the age of 16 at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. He created and marketed his first commercial product in 1969 while an undergraduate at Bradley University, and received a master's in business administration from San Diego State University in 1974. During the 1980s, Smolin co-authored PMS-II, the first popular critical path project management system for PCs. He went on to develop and market E-Z-MRP(r), an entry level manufacturing system for small manufacturers, and The Sleep Advisor(r), a consumer-targeted expert system to identify and remedy sleep problems. Smolin is the author of How To Buy The Right Small Business Computer System (Wiley, 1981) and co-author of Production and Management Systems for Business (Prentice-Hall, 1990) Today, Smolin's company, Beach Access Software (BchAcc.com), provides custom databases and applications for a wide variety of businesses. He lives in Del Mar, California with his wife of 30 years and two children.