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Lessons Learned Creating the Most Downloaded Extension on Connect

Alex Podopryhora co-founder / MD

Agenda

1. From ESS to M2E

2. 4 Key Lessons learned

From ESS to M2E

From ESS to M2E

Web Development

Zend, Codeigniter,

JQuery, Ext JS

(Sencha)

.NET Platform

Development

ASP.NET v3.5 and

ASP.NET MVC,

Windows Forms

From ESS to M2E

Java/J2EE

Development

JSP, Servlets,

JDBC, Spring

Framework, Struts,

Hibernate

From ESS to M2E

iPhone and

Android Platform

Development

From ESS to M2E

Completed projects include:

Online stores

Various web portals

Planning tools

Customized CMS’s

Customized ERP’s

Social Networks

Meta Trader API

SAP B1 API

Forex Trading Platform

Multi-tier Betting/Trading System

MS Outlook add-on & eBay connector

Warehouse Management System

From ESS to M2E

PRO’s:

Bigger and broader market

Following trends

Constant learning

CON’s:

Ongoing projects support

Varied skill set

Large teams

Being a generalist:

From ESS to M2E

Magento

Development

Theme Design,

Custom

Implementation,

Custom Extension

Development

We tried, it worked..

• Streamlined processes

• Reduced headcount

• Become real experts

Becoming a specialist

Today, in numbers.

60,000 + downloads

22,000 + active eBay accounts

7,000,000 + live listings

$500,000,000 + annual

transaction volume

+

4 Key Lessons

Select a platform

Talk to customers

Solve a problem

Improve the solution

Lesson 1: select a platform

Lesson 1 : select a platform

Technology

Community

Growth Potential

Scalability

Lesson 2: talk to customers

Lesson 2 : talk to customers

• Eager to talk Problems Challenges Competition

Lesson 2 : talk to customers

• Easy to find

Online forums

Magento events

e-Commerce

events

Retail conferences

High street

Lesson 3: solve a problem

Lesson 3 : solve a problem

• Does a solution exist?

• Is it a popular solution?

• What do customers say?

• Is it robust enough ?

• Can it scale?

• Great research

tool for existing

solutions

• Identify market

opportunities for

new solutions

Lesson 3 : solve a problem

Lesson 3 : solve a problem

Outside Investment

• a specific project

• request for change

• may be funded

Lesson 4: improve the solution

Lesson 4: improve the solution

• Keep Talking to your

Customers

• Feedback on Connect

• High-Touch Customers

Lesson 4: improve the solution

Lesson 4: improve the solution

• 6 years of continuous work

• 3 different versions

• version 6.x revamped GUI

• 50+ major releases

• 1500+ emails a month

The opportunities are out there!!!

• Innovate

• Experiment

• Improve

• Compete

>> Being small is good!!!!

“Hello World”…

while( ! repeat (”Experiment “,” Innovate “,” Customer Focus ” ) )

{

bool workHard = true;

bool doNotGiveUp = true;

bool haveFun = true;

}; platform user

product