
Building a business, not just an app - exolymph
https://stratechery.com/2014/pleco-building-business-just-app/
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charlesdm
He's clearly not delivering enough value then, or he's not focusing on a large
enough target audience. He's probably also not charging enough. Every single
app that I've built has easily grossed >$30-50k each in less than 6 months
after launch without having to do significant marketing. And we're talking
apps built in <30 days.

The app store has a massive audience; you need to focus on large enough target
groups. How many people use RSS apps these days?

Now that I think about it.. I should probably write an ebook on building
profitable apps from a developer point of view.

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iyn
I'd be interested in such ebook.

Can you/somebody recommend good sources for learning this kind of thing
(building/marketing profitable apps)?

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charlesdm
Personal experiences mostly. Can I add you to a mailing list if/when I launch
something? I might consider putting something together.

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sanmon3186
\+ 1. email in profile.

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charlesdm
Could you put it in the about section of your profile? Otherwise it's not
visible. Alternatively, send me an email with your contact details. Thanks!

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sanmon3186
Thanks. It is thakur.com at gmail dot com

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FreedomToCreate
The author is on point in describing how to create a business not just an app
but he glosses over that many people develop apps with monetization as an
afterthought and that monetizing an app is as complex as rocket science. Pleco
had a lot already going for it before it even before it launched on iOS. Its
founders had years of business experience and a strong market differentiator.
So even though they had to retread their business models, they knew that Pleco
had enough value that people would pay for it. A lot of other developers
however, like Sinclair, develop apps for themselves, find a small user base
and decide its enough to establish there own business, but usually these apps
are cool but not unique. Pleco was built on licensed and unique tech, which
gave its value. The author should mention that not every app can be turned
into a business and that you need to create enough unique IP for yourself, so
that you can grow and create value others can't. Sinclair has the
entrepreneurial drive, he just didn't have the right idea to be a business.

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Eridrus
I really wonder what Sinclair's rationale for quitting his day job to work on
his app was.

I wonder if he had some sort of analysis that made him think it would be more
of a success which turned out to be wrong (e.g. projecting early sales numbers
into infinity, whereas in reality they dropped off), or if he just jumped into
it thinking that if he built it they would come.

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FreedomToCreate
Probably the "If i build it, they will come" mentality.

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seibelj
If you want organic growth, don't charge money for your app. Period. No one
wants to pay money for something they can't even try, unless they are positive
they know it will work for them. For example, I paid money for the Pure ad
blocker because it had tons of positive reviews and coverage in the NYT. But
this will not be you.

Make money on ads, paid upgrades (remove ads, get premium features), and
subscriptions. Show that you have value first, then it becomes very clear how
much more value someone can get by paying a little extra.

Especially for mobile apps, ad revenue is very high right now as freemium
games and VC money has flooded the market. I get as high as $5 per click,
usually around $1-2, which is much higher than it used to be.

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hellosir
Hi, would you mind explaining more about what type of ads you serve and which
network? Thank you!

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seibelj
Admob, finance category apps

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hellosir
Do you do both banner and interstitial? What about native? I didn't know AdMob
pays that well, usually they're mentioned on the low end.

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seibelj
Banner and interstitial, interstitial happens every 5 minutes. Often people
open my app several times a day just to check their financial status,
triggering an interstitial every time. I'm sure finance ads pay very well.
What mobile ad networks do you recommend for higher payouts? I would love to
experiment.

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hellosir
Thanks for the info! I appreciate it. Yeah finance ads seem to have higher
payouts than most, you're in good shape. :)

I've heard Airpush is pretty good. Have you tried them?

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seibelj
Haven't used them, will check it out, thanks for the tip

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josho
The key takeaway is the ever common mantra 'what is your sustainable
competitive advantage?'. As many App Store developers have found out, design
is not one.

Rather, paying for exclusive license to a dictionary, and ensuring his apps
are on the school syllabus was the path to success for this app. (Remind you
of those TI calculators?)

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exelius
In other words, don't start with a solution; start with a problem.

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esusatyo
I'd like to add that this is a great example of how a great In App Purchase
can be utilised in place of free trials. People are so against IAP because of
companies like Zynga, but there are good examples of IAP like this one.

