10 Words of App Creation Wisdom

from someone who’s already been there

1 The most important m e t r i c i s n o t t h e number of downloads

The most important metrics are

Most apps fail this test. If you are able to achieve a very high retention rate, you can basically scale ad infinitum (see Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram etc.).

MAU

DAU

Daily Active Users

Monthly Active Users

and

You need to build a great, sticky product that people want to use regularly.

2 App development is much more challenging than web development

Creating an app is much more challenging than creating a web-based product or service.

Most people underestimate the work needed to create an app, even a very simple one.

3 App development requires much more expertise

10 years ago you basically just needed a web programmer to get

started.

Today, if you want to build an app, you need an iOS developer, an Android developer, a designer

with app experience, plus if needed a web programmer taking

care of the backend.

4 Save by doing things yourself

If you are young and are willing to learn and do everything yourself, there are huge

opportunities waiting for you.

If you need to hire people to do it, it can get fairly expensive, even if you use freelancers

in less expensive parts of the world.

5 An app needs constant care and updates

An app is not a one-time gimmick, it is a full-fledged

software product. You regularly need to update it

because the ecosystem changes so quickly. You

also need to fix issues and bugs to keep your users

happy.

6 The app store is a lottery

User acquisition is a challenge. If you don’t have the budget to pay for app installs (which can

cost up to $5 per install), it’s basically a lottery which apps will show up on the result page

when searching for a keyword on the App Store.

7 E n c o u r a g e word of mouth

You need to encourage word of mouth. Our approach for doing that was the ability to share meditation sessions on Facebook and Twitter. ZenFriend was able to get 40.000 downloads in two years, which is quite good.

8 The easiest way to promote your app is through an existing user base

The easiest way to promote an app is if you already have an existing customer base. At Exsila we are currently developing our

app and have a huge advantage because we have more than 100.000 registered

users. Starting a marketplace like Exsila from scratch with only an app is much more difficult and more expensive than starting

on the web.

9 Apps are expected to be free so building a business model is hard

The business model is a challenge as well. Most users expect

apps to be free or very inexpensive. You need

to have a sophisticated

business model if you want your project to be

self-sufficient. Most apps are in fact losing money. ZenFriend is

now generating $300-$500 per month which is nice, but nowhere

near being a self-sufficient product.

10 Use past experience to create something even better

Building ZenFriend was a fantastic learning

experience. I now have a much better perspective of what it takes to build and market an app. I can now

use those learnings at Exsila, and make our app even

more successful.

The slideshow was created i n c o o p e r a t i o n w i t h Shortcut. With Shortcut’s growth hacks you turn your app into a growth engine. Shortcut helps you get sticky and grow virally.

The wise man behind the quotes is Remo Uherek. Remo is the founder and creator of the app meditation app, ZenFriend. ZenFriend partners with Shortcut to boos t g rowth and app retention.