Micro ISV

ISV, definition from Wikipedia:

Independent Software Vendor (ISV) is a business term for companies specializing in making or selling standardized software, usually for niche markets, such as that for real estate brokers, scheduling for healthcare personnel, barcode scanning and stock maintenance.
 

Micro ISV is a term invented by Eric Sink when he used to write for the Microsoft Developer Network. A micro ISV, as the name suggests, is a very small software vendor, usually with just one software developer responsible for everything from writing code to managing sales, marketing and PR. If a company has more than 5 developers or gets venture capital, it is not considered a micro ISV.
 

Micro ISVs take full advantage of the power of the internet to recruit customers, sell and manage their supply chain. This ease of interaction with potential customers make micro ISVs very attractive as the start up cost for a micro ISV is very low. Anyone with a computer, programming skills and a good internet connection can create software and sell it online, irrespective of their location in the world.
 

In his book "The world is flat", Thomas Friedman argues that the Internet is a major flattening force that allows small companies to act big. Anyone can establish an online presence and appear to be bigger than they actually are. They have easy access to technologies like CRM that allow them to provide the same service as big companies. Sometimes small companies, keen to succeed, they provide an even better service than bigger companies.