I have a few app ideas, but I don't know anything about programming or coding. What are the steps for doing this, what are the best resources, and I would like to have an idea about pricing, and getting investors, etc.
I'm a founder, engineer, and scientist. I've been backed by prominent investors, and my work has been covered in prominent magazines and blogs, including Wired, Verge, and TechCrunch.
I'll be happy to help you map out taking your idea from where it is to where you want to take it, including prototyping, finding cofounders, and getting $.
In any case best of luck!
Lee
Hi..
I can help you take it from ideation stage to a project generating reveune$.
I 've been doing business consulting / project management consulting for startups and medium sized businesses , serial entrepreneurs for years.
I 'll help you turn your idea to a proper business plan, check the proper funding scheme , form the team needed, and consult on best way to implement, manage the project , do the market analysis and positioning and also do the project launch.
Thanks
Tamer
I'm currently in the early stages of founding a new messaging service called Ferris. In the first six weeks, I have developed a prototype, acquired 1000 users (with very high satisfaction ratings), and have began the process of building out my team and finding investors.
I also don't know how to code.
It's important to focus on your strengths, instead of what you don't know. Before you write a single line of code, think about business models, or try to find investors, start by developing an understanding of the problem you are solving and who experiences that problem. If you can clearly answer "What problem am I solving?" and "Who experiences this problem?," then you will be able to spin a story about why what you are doing matters.
That's important.
When you have a clear understanding of the impact your product/business will have on the world, then your ability to recruit team members and investors will greatly increase.
How should you go about answering these two crucial questions? It's an iterative process of prototyping and talking to potential customers.
When you first start, you should recognize that everything you think you know about your product is an untested assumption (no matter how certain you think you are). Start by listing everything you assume you know about the problem/customer /how your product solves this problem.
For each assumption in your list, find a way to test each of these assumptions to uncover whether they are true or false.
When an assumption is found to be true - congrats, you have just solidified your understanding of what you are building and why it matters. When an assumption turns out to be false, don't take it personally. Go back to the drawing board, adjust your model/list of assumptions accordingly, and try try try again.
I'd be more than happy to talk you through this process in more detail. Let me know if you would like to set up a phone call.
Stick to one idea first and make the app, before moving forward with the other ideas.
I am not trying to sell you on calling me. Really, I am pretty busy with my businesses and consulting. However, I need more info before I could have a greater impact in helping you.
Ask, Ask, Ask, then Ask again.
Bonus:
Here is $10,000 worth of information for free and in a nutshell.
Concentrate on the 3 M's. There are actually 7, but 3 will do for now. These are Market, Message, and Media. They come in that order.
Who is your target market (customer, clients, buyers, users, etc.)?
Tailor your laser focused message for this target market.
What is the best media mix to get your message to that market?
Here's what you do...first, make it an offer that is so incredible that they cannot resist. Secondly, do all the work for them. Make it so easy to make the purchase now that they can do it virtually without effort. Thirdly, give them an incentive to act right now. Fourthly, offer an almost unbelievable guarantee. Fifth, offer a bonus for acting now. There are many other incredible steps, but these steps should help the novice to the professional sell anything.
Whether you are selling B2B or B2C, you have to focus on selling to only one person. You can actually sell to one person at a time while selling to millions at a time. They are one and the same. Don't get off track, what we call digital marketing selling is just selling in print. And that has not changed since Cluade Hopkins wrote "Scientific Advertising." Really long before he wrote the book.
The secret to success: I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with some of the biggest names in business, celebrities, actors, entrepreneurs, business people, and companies from startup to billion dollar operations. The number one reason for their success is doing what they know and love while doing it in new, creative, and innovative ways.
Ask, Ask, Ask. Have thick skin and learn from each "mistake." In a short while, the market will tell you what you need to do and who and what you need to ask. But get started now even if that just means asking a contact on LinkedIn.
While you are thinking, think big and think of something at least 1% better, newer, or different. And being cheaper is not a winning strategy.
Make decisions quickly and change decisions slowly..unless you are actually going off a cliff.
Remember these two 11 letter words...persistence and consistency. They are two of the most important tools ever invented.
Treat everybody you talk to and everybody you meet (including yourself) like each is your number one million dollar customer.
Bootstrap when possible and reasonable. Read "How To Get Rich" by Felix Dennis. Or better yet just remember the camel's nose in the tent story.
However, sometimes you just need to make a deal.
Listen, in any business you have to take some chances and some risks. Make sure you don't need a license and go for it. Remember, timid business people have skinny kids. Paraphrased from Zig Ziglar.
Best of luck,
Take massive action and never give up.
Michael
Michael Irvin, MBA, RN
I've ran a mobile app development company for the last 6 years. My team has developed many apps for entrepreneurs and startups, I am frequently asked this question.
First understand that startups are 10% idea and 80% execution. With limited budget and/or time, I would suggest to do your best to define the requirements of your app idea, mock up the screens to best of your ability (see: basamiq.com or mockingbot.com).
Next, after your idea is minimally defined, bounce it off of as many people (that are not friends or family, they are biased) as you can to determine if your solution to your perceived problem works.
In terms of getting investors, start working on a 10-12 pitch deck. See Guy Kawasaki's template: http://guykawasaki.com/the-only-10-slides-you-need-in-your-pitch/
Good luck!
You have a lot of things that you're asking.
First things first (and the biggest mistake I see app developers make is)
1) Have you validated your ideas with your target customer(s)?
Let's see you've realized this is what you customers ACTUALLY need and they're willing to pay for it.
2) Next step would be to create a minimum viable product (MVP). This will show you how and what they use it for.
Example:
When instagram first released their MVP, they advertised it as a geo-referenced based social network. What people really ended up caring about was the filters they could use on pictures. So they pivoted and moved forward with that (amongst other things).
If you don't know how to code, you can either hire someone to create the MVP for you, learn to code yourself, or get a technical co-founder. Pricing varies from $20/hr all the way up to $300 depending on who you're using. For an MVP, I suggest going with a site like toptal.com or Elance.
3) If your MVP proves to be successful, then you need to fund and execute an actual launch. This can be done through VC funding, bootstrapping, loans, money from family and friends, etc. The execution is the MOST critical part of your app. You have to build buzz, create a sense or urgency, and get downloads. I don't know what your ideas or what your app will do specifically, so I can't talk about EXACTLY what to do.
First things first, I would go to your local library and check-out a copy The Lean Startup or The Personal MBA or watch videos on youtube or look here: https://www.startups.co/education
A lot of the videos and books can answer majority of the questions you asked above and give you a lot clarity on the the topics I wrote about above.
Additionally, I'm more than happy to speak with you about this here: https://clarity.fm/taylormitcham
