Steven Frank, co-founder of Panic software who make great Mac software including Transmit and Coda blogs about how a product succeeds in the marketplace.

From the post: "My current hypothesis is that there are at least three positions of prominence in each segment—three ways to be number one, if you will: The First One, The Free One, and The Good One." Full blog post here: The First, The Free and The Good...

We would tend to agree with that one.

Dave Shea posts about what options are available to designers to produce something by themselves that they can sell. A product! I love this quote from the article: "Hey, I’ve got these visual design skills, what can I do with them that will result in a product I can sell to people?"

Here at Marino we have taken the collaborative approach, working within a team to create products. It can be hard but rewarding work if you are passionate enough about what you are producing. I have tried the on my own approach before but found it frustrating trying to spread my skill-sets across so many technical areas.

Of course the lure of creating a financially successful product with little maintenance overhead is compelling.