I am very pleased to see that people have opinions on the best way to start a software company. First, we must realize that while time is important, it is second to your idea or concept (product). What you would like to create or bring to the market is a very lengthy and time consuming issue. Sometimes what we think we need today, will take us a year or longer to develop, so it can become outdated. If what we develop is to enhance or fix an existing product, we will have to recreate it all without having the source code available. I must admit my software skills have depreciated over the last 3 years, but I believe that there is still a lot of opportunity and capital out there for us to get. We need a commitment from individuals (us) not companies. Most major software companies are ran by marketing personnel, not technologists. So there is very rarely any innovation happening in those places. Microsoft & Linux are just 2 products that have committed leadership from there founders and their communities, that is why they have S-U-C-C-E-S-S! I would be willing to talk/brainstorm with any of my comrades out there about the possibility of joining forces and creating the next "BIG" thing. Write me a reply or shoot me an email, with "SLASHDOT" in the Subject line. Thanks! Motto: "Don't Just Talk About It, Be About It!