I see a lot of funny images on Facebook and Twitter but rarely does one elicit an entire (mini) blog post, but this one was so good I had to share it with you.  As a consultant, one of the things I must manage (besides development, resources, money) is the expectations of my clients.  Many of my clients come to me w/visions of being the next Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates and after four months they’re ready to throw in the towel, often frustrated because their billion dollar idea is starting to look more like…well, work.

This is simple and makes the point much clearer than the paragraph above I think…

I wrote this article for the developers out there who want desperately to free themselves of the shackles of corporate bondage and start the next Groupon/Facebook/Twitter/etc.

Full disclosure: I am not a billionaire.

As President Obama said regarding facing the tough reality that Washington had to cut spending, “It’s time to eat your peas.”

Peas = You are probably not/nor-would-you-want-to-be a CEO

I met with an investor friend of mine and asked him bluntly, “What do you look for in a CEO when you invest in a company?”  His answer was honest and incredibly simple.

CEO’s are highly connected individuals.  

CEO’s are the best speakers in the room.  They have ties to all the guys with checkbooks.  They are virtuoso’s as painting a vision in technicolor so every investor leaves the room feeling as though they just struck California gold.

Look at Steve Jobs.  The ultimate CEO of the 21st century.  I recently watched Jobs make a room full of Cupertino elected officials drool as he laid out his vision for the Apple corporate office remodel.

CEO’s are good at communication.

We developers tend to be too direct with our words.  This sucks!  You are a moron!  We have a hard time sautéing our thoughts in butter so they can be served to gourmet eaters.

So I’m not a CEO, so now what?

If you have assessed yourself properly and decided you don’t want to spend the rest of your life shaking hands, giving speeches, and raising capital–congratulations!  You, like Skynet, are now self-aware.  You are leaps and bounds ahead of your peers.

A normal company track operates like this.

1. Cast a vision

2. Raise capital

3. Hire the right folks

4. Execute

Since we’ve established you are not  CEO, that means 1-3 are not your bag.  You are the one who makes stuff happen.  You are #4.

Let’s be practical

Your path to success if likely going to be open source.   There are several advantages to this: you don’t have to deal with employees, marketing strategies, or branding discussions.  You just work…refine…shape your ideas until what’s left resembles a stew of brilliance.  When the pot is cooked, the business folks will flock to your side.

Now, you may be thinking, how am I going to be a billionaire if I share my source code with the world?  Well, there are a small handful of billionaires in the world–most of them didn’t get there through software.

These are the headlines you want to see in five years

- eBay Acquires Magento for 180 Million Dollars

Magento was an open source e-commerce framework that started in Eastern Europe.  It has since evolved into a corporate solution.  Users could download and use the free version or they could buy the corporate license.  After a few years Magento acquired sales people, developers, until their eventual acquisition.  Sure, they’re not billionaries, but surely 180 million in cash will provide enough paper for you to dry your tears on the missed billion.

Now what?

Go to SourceForget.net and create your first open-source project.  I’ll write more on what to do next.  But you are responsible for creating the first FUNCTIONING release of your project.  So build build build…nobody wants to work on something that’s broken.  Make it look hawt!