Going Indie – From Product Manager to App Entrepreneur

The gold rush on the app stores is over. But with hard work and perseverance it is still possible for indie developers to make enough money to quit their day job and feed their families.
This talk tells the story of the author's 4-year journey from a hobby app developer to full-time app entrepreneur making apps for kids. What are some of the best and worst decisions you can make when going indie? How do the 3 big app stores differ in discoverability and profitability? Which monetization models have worked and which haven't?
The author will share insights and advice based on his own experience creating a portfolio of over 20 apps with more than 15 million downloads.

Transcript

1. GOING INDIE FROM PRODUCT MANAGER TO APP ENTREPRENEUR Per Haglund, App Family
2. AGENDA Background • Brief history, portfolio, tools and frameworks Downloads and revenue overview • Pricing models, market distribution, other revenue sources App store optimization • Metadata • App content • Tools How did I get here • Things I’m glad I did • Things I wish I had done Looking ahead
3. BACKGROUND Me: - 36 years old, married with two kids - 10 years at a trading software company - Published first app for kids as hobby four years ago - More apps published as side-business for three years - 22 apps for kids - Google Play, Amazon, iOS, (Samsung), (Windows), Blackberry
4. MY (HOME) OFFICE
5. CURRENT APPS
6. TECHNOLOGY, ASSETS AND PEOPLE Technology - Early apps: Native Android, Obj-C, .Net - Recent apps: Corona SDK - Serverside: PHP, MySQL Assets - Buy royalty-free artwork and photos - Use free royalty-free music and sounds (incompetech.com) People - Early apps: Friends (Sthlm Android) and family rev shares - Recent apps: Part-time freelancers (dev, designer, VA)
7. DOWNLOADS
8. REVENUE %
9. REVENUE COMPARISON Super Puzzle app - August 2015 sales data only - iOS is nearly 8x more revenue per download in the US - Amazon is about 5x revenue - US Google Play revenue is 2x global average
10. REVENUE SOURCES - Free & paid versions of same app - Free with non-consumable IAP to unlock - Free with advertising and non-consumable IAP to remove ads (AdMob) - YouTube advertising (AdSense) - Revenue shares from promoting other developers’ apps (Google Play) - Per-install royalty from device manufacturers
11. REVENUE DISTRIBUTION (JULY) 0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 40000 Google Play YouTube AdMob Amazon iOS Pre-installs Revenue shares Revenue (SEK) Revenue (SEK)
12. REVENUE DISTRIBUTION (JULY) 0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000 Android iOS Revenue (SEK) July 2015 Revenue (SEK)
13. APP STORE COMPARISON Store Review time Review pain Keywords Store analytics Google Play N/A N/A Title + texts Yes Amazon 1 day Low Title + 30 words No iOS 5 – 10 days High Title + 100 chars Yes
14. APP STORE OPTIMIZATION Metadata: - Icon: Attractive, clear? - Screenshots: Attractive, clear, all devices, banner, many? - Video: Exists, monetized? - Title: max chars, keywords, brand? localized - Short description: Enticing, localized? - Long description: Keywords ( see competition), localized? - Recent changes: Meaningful?
15. EXAMPLE: ICON - ”Super Puzzle” lacklustre performance - Cross-promo analytics revelation: Unicorns popular
16. APP STORE OPTIMIZATION (2) App content: - APK size: Minimized? - UI: Phone and tablet-friendly? - Texts: Clear, localized? - Premium content: Clear what you get if pay? - Monetization: Ads in right places, purchase funnel easy to access and effective, IAP pricing, IAP localized? - Analytics: Enabled, session time?
17. EXAMPLE: APP CONTENT - Jan Essig, Playground app: Great but low downloads - Lots of room for improvement
18. APP STORE OPTIMIZATION (3) Google Play - Experiments: Test screenshots and metadata variants - User acquisition: Study conversion rates Google Analytics - Usage: Session time, Active users - Behavior: Screen flow, purchase funnel - Misc: Events App Annie - Portfolio download and revenue comparisons - Track keyword ranking
19. EXAMPLE: USER ACQUISITION - New Google Play feature - Conversion statistics, by source, aug 17 – 23, 15 days
20. THINGS I’M GLAD I DID - Kept my day job - Focused on organic downloads (vs featuring) - Collaborated - Discussed my ideas with others - Got started before I had kids - Kept personal expenses low
21. THINGS I WISH I HAD DONE - Gone cross-platform from the beginning - Brought in a co-founder early on - Quit my day job (sooner)
22. THE ROAD AHEAD - Office space! - Team: Assistant (50%), developer (50%) - Publishing system (Google Play publisher API) - Smart cross-promo server - Brand licensing - Educational pre-school apps - More revenue shares - Christmas-themed apps - A logo… - New website
23. CLOSING THOUGHTS The app business is a fascinating segment to work in. The pace of change is fast and furious, with new tools, data and opportunities coming out every month. I feel truly lucky to be where I am today, and hope that I’ll be able to stay in the market for years to come. For newcomers, start small and team up. Validate your idea(s) before spending 6 months creating an app. Experiment and iterate your way to organic downloads, while learning the ins and outs of your favorite app store.
24. CONTACT & MORE per.haglund@appfamily.se www.facebook.com/appfamily se.linkedin.com/in/perhaglund medium.com/@perhaglund
25. MISC RESOURCES - FB groups (networking, info gathering) - App Annie (tracking all platform sales) - Appmonger (tracking Google Play sales on device) - Google Analytics (usage analytics) - Upwork (contractors) - Dreamstime (stock images) - Incompetech.com (free music) - Fiverr (custom SFX) - Freesounds.org (free SFX) - Pond5.org (paid SFX) - Medium (blogging)