An app without a business is like a vine without a trellis.
Build apps not businesses.
51–60 of 70 posts
Re: Build apps not businesses.
#52Why are we even having these discussions?
If you want to build a business, do so.
If you want to build an app, do so.
If you want to play games all weekend, do that, and if you want to build a small tool just for your own use, do that.
Trying to come up with a strategy that all developers should follow misses the point that we are all individuals with our own needs and goals.
Re: Build apps not businesses.
#53DHH doesn't lambast side projects, doing things for fun or even giving things away - Rails is the obvious proof of that. DHH lambasts the weird aversion we software guys have to charging money for things. Absolutely build apps for the fun of it, feel free to scratch your own itch, but if you build a useful product, try charging money for it before you give it away for nothing. If nobody wants to pay for it then you c…
weird aversion we [...] have to charging money for things
I have exactly this problem right now. I think my biggest block right now is that
try charging money for it before you give it away
is not an effortless thing to do. One has to invest money and time to set up a payment gateway, and then one has the responsibility to respond to customers and maintain the app.
What would you suggest I do in a situation like this?
Re: Build apps not businesses.
#54People build apps because it's easy. If you're a half decent developer building an app, you _can't fail_ and that is huge. Getting people to actually pay you for something is hard and fraught with uncertainty and danger. No wonder most people choose to build apps.
Getting people to actually pay you for something is hard and fraught with uncertainty and danger.
Just to be more explicit about these dangers and uncertainties:
- It takes time to set up a payment system, and it's not
nearly as fun as building the app in the first place
- When you start charging, you take on responsibility for
the app, and supporting users
- If no one buys it, you've wasted the time and money you
put into setting up the payment systemRe: Build apps not businesses.
#55Why are we even having these discussions? If you want to build a business, do so. If you want to build an app, do so. If you want to play games all weekend, do that, and if you want to build a small tool just for your own use, do that. Trying to come up with a strategy that all developers should follow misses the point that we are all individuals with our own needs and goals.
Thou art a sage.
Re: Build apps not businesses.
#56People build apps because it's easy. If you're a half decent developer building an app, you _can't fail_ and that is huge. Getting people to actually pay you for something is hard and fraught with uncertainty and danger. No wonder most people choose to build apps.
Getting people to actually pay you for something is hard and fraught with uncertainty and danger. Just to be more explicit about these dangers and uncertainties: - It takes time to set up a payment system, and it's not nearly as fun as building the app in the first place - When you start charging, you take on responsibility for the app, and supporting users - If no one buys it, you've wasted the time and money you pu…
What you say is technically true, but that's not the real reason people build apps instead of businesses. It may be extra work and not as much fun to setup a payment system, but it's not that much extra work compared to the difficulty of getting people to pay and dealing with the high probability of rejection.
Re: Build apps not businesses.
#57DHH doesn't lambast side projects, doing things for fun or even giving things away - Rails is the obvious proof of that. DHH lambasts the weird aversion we software guys have to charging money for things. Absolutely build apps for the fun of it, feel free to scratch your own itch, but if you build a useful product, try charging money for it before you give it away for nothing. If nobody wants to pay for it then you c…
weird aversion we [...] have to charging money for things I have exactly this problem right now. I think my biggest block right now is that try charging money for it before you give it away is not an effortless thing to do. One has to invest money and time to set up a payment gateway, and then one has the responsibility to respond to customers and maintain the app. What would you suggest I do in a situation like this…
One has to invest money and time to set
up a payment gateway, and then one has
the responsibility to respond to customers
and maintain the app.
Re: Build apps not businesses.
#58I love that this guy, and people who think like him, are my competition.
Re: Build apps not businesses.
#59"I’ve gotten more job offers because of the stuff I’ve built than the schools I’ve attended."
I feel like this may be true for many in progress students at middle to high tier universities - however once you have a degree from MIT/Stanford/Caltech/Cal, the interest in candidates for full time jobs shifted from having miscellaneous side projects and contributions to FOSS projects to having a decent GPA and a degree. I feel that the writer of the article could try to discuss that the two are at least tantamount, the degree from a distinguished university is a display of four years of hard work, weekend side projects most of the time span the weekend.
Re: Build apps not businesses.
#60People build apps because it's easy. If you're a half decent developer building an app, you _can't fail_ and that is huge. Getting people to actually pay you for something is hard and fraught with uncertainty and danger. No wonder most people choose to build apps.
Getting people to actually pay you for something is hard and fraught with uncertainty and danger. Just to be more explicit about these dangers and uncertainties: - It takes time to set up a payment system, and it's not nearly as fun as building the app in the first place - When you start charging, you take on responsibility for the app, and supporting users - If no one buys it, you've wasted the time and money you pu…
someone should build an app which simplifies payment. Create an account, choose the payment option you like and here is the code you have to include in your app, byebye.