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Why Startups are opting for Ruby to build their MVPs

“By the time that product is ready to be distributed widely, it will already have established customers”~ From the pages of “The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries.

It is essentially true that by the time you finish building your product completely, your customers are already looking for something new! Demands of your customers change in a snap. So, in order to match this lightening speed of change in demands, you need to be pro-active in identifying the problem and develop a minimum viable product (MVP) so that the product refinement process can be jumpstarted.

Once your MVP is ready, your startup can now work on modulating the engine and move ahead. Since speed is what a startup looks for when building a product, most developers are now turning to Ruby for web application development. Ruby can give you speed and ease in building your MVP. It is extremely efficient in assisting you to build a highly scalable app.

There are a number of reasons why Ruby is the top choice for developers building a minimum viable product for their startups. In case you are wondering why Ruby and not other languages, then –

  • Ruby comes with a low “learning curve”, which means that once you have crossed the initial hiccups, it is the most natural language to work with.

  • Ruby is a mature language with features like OOP, functional programming, multi-platform compatibility (WIndows, UNIX variants, Linux, BeOS, MS-DOS), minimum exceptions, Garbage Collection.

  • With flexible syntax and without any pointers, Ruby has great web development frameworks (like Rails, Sinatra).

  • Ruby does not incur any cost if you want to copy, modify, distribute and use it.Since coders can modify it according to their needs, coding does not seem restricted anymore.

  • Ruby has a vibrant open source community and a great support system. You can have a look at the source of the code, or suggest a patch, or get connected to helpful user communities as well the creator.

Ruby definitely comes handy to a startup trying to build a MVP. Time constraint is always there on startups. In such a state if a programming language comes with too many restrictions, it makes the task more difficult.There is no denial that startups with their MVPs are actually making it big. Any developer competent with Ruby language is the first choice of a startup. If you want to be in the coding world, Ruby should be the first language to learn. Not just because it is simple, but because it is rewarding as well. It has features that are convincing and can handle almost all exception well with its robust nature.

So, without delay, join Venturesity’s Ruby course. It is comprehensive in its course modules and is taught by industry experts. Expect the best guidance from our instructors who teach our students over live classes. What can be better than a hands-on training, an interactive class and project work to validate your learning! Register with us soon before time runs out!

“Startup success can be engineered by following the process, which means it can be learned, which means it can be taught” ~ Eric Ries

Guest Post by Pritha Bose, Content Writer for Venturesity

 

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How to go from an engineer to a product entrepreneur?

When you work as an engineer regardless of whether it is startup or a big company (in consulting services or products) you are always given guidance on what you should build. Even the most autonomous programmers when working independently has someone tell him what to do. However when you become the founder of a startup the most stressful thing you immediately encounter is ‘What should be built?’.

This decision is guided by what-if scenarios or even based on what is cool to build and show off to others. If you are somewhat disciplined then you document these thought somewhere before you start writing code. In software engineering language this is also referred to as requirements analysis document. Little thought is given to how does one know that this is indeed something needed by someone. To address this one of the best techniques known to engineers is applied – abstract it away. You decide to assume that whatever conjured up is indeed correct to help make further progress as sitting idle without any doing any coding is a waste of time.

When you were just an engineer working elsewhere the impact of such assumption is someone else’s problem but now the impact is on you.  Also given that you have limited runway the stake for making mistakes about that question is very high.

You thus face two scenarios which as engineers you may have never faced.

  •  To make a decision in the face of unknown 
  • To own the decision you make

Product entrepreneurs realize this situation and resist the urge to make any assumption and proceed with a learning mindset. They make decision to the extent to which they can learn. Infact the really great entrepreneurs mentally sequence their unknowns (assumptions) in the order of most negative impact and move forward to uncover them.

These are in fact the two key skills that a startup product manager should become excellent at – owning the decisions & discovery (learning) before making decisions.

In the next post we will look at “How to debug a product startup idea?”

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The upper hand of the desi entrepreneur

Everyone knows that India is a tough place to start a business. India is at #132 among 183 countries in the ease of doing business index. A lot has been said about the disadvantages of starting a business in India. I’m not here to talk about that. Pick up any newspaper and you will spend an entire day reading about what’s wrong about India.

I’m going to talk about the advantages of being a desi entrepreneur. Here are certain things that worked well for me, and I guess they will work well for others as well. I call them the 3Cs –  Cost, Convenience and Culture

  • Cost – The #1 reason startups fail is because they run out of money. The most important goal of a startup is making sure it tries various products and markets before running out of money. In India, it is way cheaper to build something as compared to other countries. The proponents of Lean Startup Movement say that the initial days of a company are spent in validated learning and discovering your customers. If you burn money slowly, your get more runway to learn and discover. Simple.
  • Convenience  – The extended family culture in India is a blessing for wannabe entrepreneurs. In western cultures, you are expected to leave your parents as soon as you become an adult. There is no pressure for young Indians to leave their parents. This could be huge. The first few years of a startup are extremely stressful. You end up working 80 hours a week and having your basic support systems taken care of is godsend. You don’t need to worry about paying your rent, preparing your meals, etc. What could be better that having a home-cooked, healthy and delicious meal after pulling out an all-nighter?
  • Culture – Startups and entrepreneurship have become hip lately, but a vast number of Indians are already entrepreneurs. Every kirana (independent grocery store) shop is an example of entrepreneurship. Look around yourself. You will find numerous friends and relatives who are entrepreneurs. It is more natural career choice than most other parts of the world. The mental block of starting something of your own is lower in India compared to other parts of the world.

So what are the other advantages for being an Internet entrepreneur from India? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.