Cusumano lays out the basic relationships between products and service very clearly - and he explores the pitfalls involved with good detail from the companies that he has advised. In this early portion of the book he also offers some very useful metrics to help provide financial sanity checks. There's an interesting "historical" chapter that follows the development of the industry, and then he delves into SW development best practices - which appears to be his particular forte. There's also a good chapter on the start-up phase sprinkled with sage advise.
My copy is full of margin notes and has already been transformed into a powerpoint presentation to share with our team.
All in all I found the book gave me a solid foundation from which to consider the SW biz. It's too easy to lose your sense of direction in this industry. Cusumano's book is like a glowing compass that illuminates the common sense dynamics driving this business. Enlightening, useful, well grounded in examples - and well written.
1. The author mentions that software companies build product or sell service or everything in between. Is not that obvious ? Moreover, is there commerce/business on anything other than product and service ?
2. The author lists a number of startups in a table with some financial and other types of figures. Are these real names- because I have not heard of a single one of them ?