I built a thing!
Introducing Userdoc ⚡️
A requirements management tool to help you gather, collaborate on, confirm, and communicate software requirements.
Especially handy for working with clients & building a living knowledge base for complex systems.
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Chris Rickard
@chrisrickard
Helping developers start and run successful software agencies.
→ Sold 7 figure dev agency
→ Newsletter & blog at devtoagency.com
→ Building userdoc.fyi
Chris Rickard’s Tweets
How many developers does it take to change a light bulb?
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Creating a business and then looking for people to sell to is backwards.
“Don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers.”
– Seth Godin
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How many developers does it take to change a light bulb?
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Creating a business and then looking for people to sell to is backwards.
“Don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers.”
– Seth Godin
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What's invisible to your clients, but investment you won't regret?
Code quality.
- Lint your code to avoid common mistakes
- Peer code review for consistency & feedback
- Automated tests reduce bugs (+ easier refactoring!)
- Use best-practice patterns, frameworks, and plugins
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There aren't many good resources for starting and running a development agency, so I started my own.
Check out the Dev to Agency blog & newsletter.
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Disconnecting from traditional media is one of the best things I've done.
It was holding me back from building a purposeful life,
via daily bombardment of negativity and fear.
I now consume only what moves me forward.
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Been coding pretty hard with GPT-3 over the last month for Userdoc.
Freaking impressed.
Looking forward to ChatGPT API coming out (GPT-3.5).
Bring it on!
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What's invisible to your clients, but investment you won't regret?
Code quality.
- Lint your code to avoid common mistakes
- Peer code review for consistency & feedback
- Automated tests reduce bugs (+ easier refactoring!)
- Use best-practice patterns, frameworks, and plugins
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There aren't many good resources for starting and running a development agency, so I started my own.
Check out the Dev to Agency blog & newsletter.
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Disconnecting from traditional media is one of the best things I've done.
It was holding me back from building a purposeful life,
via daily bombardment of negativity and fear.
I now consume only what moves me forward.
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Been coding pretty hard with GPT-3 over the last month for Userdoc.
Freaking impressed.
Looking forward to ChatGPT API coming out (GPT-3.5).
Bring it on!
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Keep relationships professional... that's what you hear.
But do you know what worked for me?
Becoming friends with my clients.
I just had a large birthday party on the weekend, and multiple clients attended.
I sold my agency in 2020, but we remain friends to this day.
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High quality needs to be your default setting.
Even when no one's looking, even when you're tired.
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Developers!
If you could go back in time 5 years, and tell your younger self to learn something...
What would it be? 🤔
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If you like this tweet, you will love my exclusive emails for my subscribers.
Dev to Agency provides insights and tips on how software developers can start and run successful development agencies.
Join here:
Show this thread
Picture your ideal day...
→ Where are you?
→ What do you do when you wake up?
→ What do you do throughout the day?
→ How much do you work?
→ How much do you chill?
Work backwards from that perfect day, and design your life accordingly.
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Keep relationships professional... that's what you hear.
But do you know what worked for me?
Becoming friends with my clients.
I just had a large birthday party on the weekend, and multiple clients attended.
I sold my agency in 2020, but we remain friends to this day.
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👋 I need your help!
I'm not sure about my current tagline for Userdoc "The source of truth for your software requirements"
What are your tagline recommendations?
Here's a quick demo video of the latest features to help.
👇
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Dev agency review sites like can be a great source of leads if you feature on the front page of your city (or any city).
E.g. Top development agencies in Melbourne, Australia.
clutch.co/developers?geo
Note: It can cost quite a bit per month, but can be worth it.
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Developers love developing.
But if you run a dev agency or a freelance business,
Then you need to also learn to love Project management.
No matter how amazing you can code, if you can't deliver a project on time, or meet client expectations - it's not going to work long-term.
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Agencies and freelancers: What's something you've changed in the last 6 months that's positively impacted your business?
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It sucks that Revue shut down, and we can no longer have newsletter signups on our profile.
Anyways, I publish a newsletter called Dev to Agency, that helps software developers start and run successful agencies.
Check it out...
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Sell, but don't sell your soul.
Leave the cheap sleazy sales tactics for the others, and don't compromise on your morals just to win.
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Software developers interested in freelancing or owning their own agency?
Check out my newsletter & blog Dev to Agency.
Insights & advice learnt from growing my custom software development agency to over $115k per month.
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Agencies or freelancers who also build your own products...
How do you balance your time (between client work, and your work)?
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User personas allow you to create "avatars" of real end users.
User stories help you map the features to actual user problems.
Acceptance criteria provide a checklist of what needs to happen for the story to be "complete".
And user journeys bring the complete picture together.
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Agencies and freelancers: What would be your ideal project to work on?
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Your best sales skill is that you run your own business.
No one cares for it more than you do, and no one can sell like you can.
That's your secret sauce.
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You only get one life.
So live the hell outta it.
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3 years out of university I was already leading a large software re-architecture for a telecommunications company.
I progressed quickly because I focused on fundamentals and a few core technologies.
I became an expert in them.
Don't try and learn everything, it's impossible.
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Covering topics such as...
- Starting & growing a software development agency
- Finding your niche
- Building recurring revenue
- How to price / how much to charge
And lots more,
Subscribe to Dev to Agency.
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Step out of your comfort zone every so often.
A well-rounded life is built upon different experiences.
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Get out of the building,
Computers make things so easy we forget that many businesses still work almost entirely in the real world.
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Want to know the secret marketing tactic that drives hundreds of billions of dollars per year?
Constantly deliver high quality results to your clients.
... and will deliver high quality referrals in return.
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If you like this tweet, you will love my exclusive emails for my subscribers.
Dev to Agency provides insights and tips on how software developers can start and run successful development agencies.
Join here:
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Misconception: Working for yourself will solve all your problems.
Reality: Working for yourself can be fantastic, but you may have more stress than before.
Be realistic about what you want, and what you're willing to do to get it.
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If you like this tweet, you will love my exclusive emails for my subscribers.
Dev to Agency provides insights and tips on how software developers can start and run successful development agencies.
Join here:
Show this thread