with Brian Dunning

The course designed specifically for those interested in marketing or reselling their FileMaker Pro based business application.

Brian Dunning is a software venture consultant, working with small businesspeople to develop their industry software idea into a viable, profitable software company. He is a technical editor of FileMaker Advisor magazine, a contributing editor to ISO FileMaker Magazine, well-known FileMaker author and trainer, and is the creator of the Master Class for FileMaker series and numerous successful business applications.

Why This Class?

There are innumerable sources for technical instruction and training in FileMaker Pro, but I found there were none that teach the business of software development. College courses teach development methodologies, project management, product lifecycles, and a whole raft of businesslike crafts best applied to development in the corporate world, but even college instruction doesn’t get into the nitty gritty real-world details of the entrepreneurial software biz.

One thing that’s unique about FileMaker Pro is the cross-section of its users: we are not software dorks, IT professionals, hacker kids, or any of the other computer stereotypes. We are regular people from all walks of society. We are small businesspeople, educators, corporate employees, managers, entrepreneurs, musicians, artists, non-profit workers, and even the odd technical person.

ToMarket is intended to be a practical guide to equip any competent, motivated person with the right product idea to find success as an entrepreneurial seller of software based in FileMaker Pro. It’s a unique and specialized guide that you won’t find on every street corner, and my hope is that it helps you make an outrageous amount of money.

Three ways to take ToMarket:

"Brian's ToMarket seminar was the most valuable 8 hours I spent at Devcon. His insights covered just about everything I needed to get my solution off my hard drive and up for sale. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to another FileMaker developer!"
- Sean Root

"ToMarket was the best thing I got from the conference and I continue to study and refer to it daily."
- Steve Staudenmeir

"Brian's class was very focused and to-the-point. The authority, confidence and candor with which he speaks come from a great deal of experience. He clearly knows how to succeed in this business, but he is not afraid to talk about the failures that have helped him to learn how to succeed. In both areas my thinking was sharpened by what Brian had to say, and I picked up a number of good ideas that were new to me."
- Kevin Mark

"ToMarket is great, I wish all information was delivered in such a concise and powerful way."
- Alan Hagerty

"We launched last week, and have had coverage on Macintouch, Version Tracker as well as local press. We are placing media in Photoshop User, Mac Design Magazine, MacWorld, Ad Week and Brand Week. We've had 22 people fill out our demo form so far, not bad for one week! Thanks for all your help!"
- Brett Circe

"About a year ago I bought ToMarket and boy am I lucky I did. The important guidelines, the important things to avoid were worth every penny. Today I will deliver the second update of a reservation system ... Thanks to ToMarket!!"
- Simon Danielsson

"Thanks again for the class. I've taken just about every class offered by anyone at Devcon and other places (and taught quite a few as well). Yours was well worth the money!"
- Michele Olson

"Why is it that all the good FileMaker stuff seems to have your name on it?? I took all your advice very seriously, and say that your class was so very helpful. I have made some changes that have definitely improved this solution since your class."
- Linda Pitts

"No question: ToMarket was more valuable than the rest of the FileMaker Developer Conference combined."
- Matthew McClellan

Some of the software products Brian has brought to the market include:

The Desktop Catalog. Buylink Corporation, 1996-2002. A peer-to-peer, business-to-business commerce tool used by 23,000 member businesses, each of whom paid $50/month subscriptions. Brian was the Chief Technology Officer and principle software architect, and was the largest individual shareholder.

Totwise. Totwise Software, 2002-present. Youth program management software used by over 3,500 preschools and other youth programs. License fees start at $99. Brian was the product manager and his holding company is an equity partner.

Property Sleuth. SoCoVo Properties, Inc., 2001. Software for automatically scraping and filtering real properties in distress from diverse data sources and generating highly qualified leads for professional property investors. Software costs $50,000 per year. Brian was the software architect and developer and is an equal partner.

Zipwise. Zipwise Software, 2003-present. Zip code database products and software tools. Products start at $15. Brian's holding company is the majority equity partner.

School Sleuth. School Sleuth Software, 2002-present. Consumer software for locating schools and school districts that meet the user's personal criteria. Products start at $79. Brian was the software developer and his holding company is an equity partner.

Additional references upon request.