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Mary HurdAuthor

06/01/2016

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It’s official: mobile apps are now integral parts of life (even old ladiesgossip about them at country clubs). Formerly a millennial phenomenonand currently a multi-billion dollar industry that is clearly here to stay, themobile app industry is the way of the future (and the present).

So, how can an entrepreneur achieve longstanding recognition in thiscrowded field? What are consumers looking for? How can you build asuccessful app?

We enlist the help of Rameet Chawla and Ryan Matzner, who run the showat Fueled, our mobile development shop that works with startups and moreestablished enterprises alike, to give us some insight. With over a decade ofexperience in the technology industry and relationships with hundreds ofstartups in New York City, the duo boasts an understanding of both thetechnical and social aspects of app building. Who better, then, to share allof the industry’s secrets?

Ladies and gentlemen, here’s your everything guide to building your veryown (and very successful) mobile app:

HOW DO I FIND A GOOD DEVELOPER?

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Remember: credentials precede promises… and reputation supersedes allelse. Chawla suggests reaching out to agencies that have won awards, havebeen mentioned on tech-related news sites, and, most importantly, havethe sort of experience that your specific app requires.

“If [your] app [has] a heaving programming or coding component to it,[you] don’t necessarily want to go after an agency that only has experiencewith more simplistic apps,” he says.

CAN I START BUILDING THE APP MYSELFBEFORE REACHING OUT TO A DEVELOPER?

Yes. “We call [them] ‘rescue projects,’” says Matzner. “[These are projects

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Yes. “We call [them] ‘rescue projects,’” says Matzner. “[These are projectsthat] people have started elsewhere and they end up coming to us becausethey realize that these promises someone else made were completelyempty, or they didn’t know about us when they started and they havefigured out some pitfalls with their current setup.”

HE CONTINUES, “THEY’RE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WHOCAN ACTUALLY FINISH THE APP AND GET SOMETHINGRELEASED. OR, THEY’VE RELEASED SOMETHING AND ITJUST DOESN’T WORK AND HAS ONE STAR IN THE APPSTORE, AND THEY NEED HELP FIXING IT.”

ALTHOUGH STARTING TO WORK ON THE PRODUCT ONYOUR OWN IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE, MATZNER EXPLAINSTHAT THE APP WILL MOST LIKELY NOT POSSESS “THESAME POLISH AND QUALITY AS A PRODUCT BUILT BYPROFESSIONALS.” A SKILLED PRODUCT TEAM WILLUNDOUBTEDLY BRING MORE EXPERTISE TO THEENDEAVOR.

HOW IS A MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT TEAM SET UP?

Matzner breaks it down for us: “A development team […] is sort of like aBroadway play. You have the actors on stage, but then there’s a wholebunch of stuff happening behind the scenes. An app that gets built properly

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bunch of stuff happening behind the scenes. An app that gets built properlyis sort of similar.”

A successful team should include:

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO BUILD ANAVERAGE APP?

Aaron Cohen, a highly-respected top representative at Fueled, gives ussome insight: “With Fueled’s experience you’re going to find that you’regoing to need at least $150,000 to build the first version of your product.”This budget, he continues, would probably be the same regardless of theshop hired.Although Fueled has built version one products for as little as $150,000,the agency has also catered to customers who had more extensiverequirements for their minimum viable product (MVP)–costing them asmuch as $500,000 for their first version app.

A designer who creates all the visual content that will be coded intothe projectAn account manager who acts like a liaison for clients and works withproduct managers and producers to coordinate the completion ofdifferent tasksA product manager who executes the functions of a director byoverseeing the app

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WHAT QUALIFIES AS AN MVP?

“As we like to say, the definition of MVP is completely context dependent,”explains Cohen. “If you are going for a social media play, you want to testassumptions about how people want to share content, then you canprobably get your app out of the door for $100,000-$150,000. But if you’rean e-commerce play, you need to integrate advanced payment services,profiles, databases, perhaps an email marketing system, then you’relooking at involving back-end engineers, creating custom back-endsystems, and the price tag can very quickly escalate.”

One way to estimate the amount of resources needed in the first 18 monthsof operation “is to look at the amount of money that successful startupsraise for the first year or two of their operations,” explains the expert.“Traditionally, a startup will get going with a seed round or a friend-and-family round of $250,000 to $500,000. That will allow them to run thecompany for 6 months or so. Generally, they then need to raise a bridgeround. Another $500,000 to a million dollars, which will really let them

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round. Another $500,000 to a million dollars, which will really let themtake whichever prototype or proof-of-concept they validated in the firstphase, take that to a higher level, [and] really polish it up for widespreadconsumer release.” The result? About a million and a half dollars to operatea startup for the first 18 months.

A deeper analysis of an app’s cost and development time.

WHAT IF I HIRE A FREELANCER OVER A SHOP?

Hiring a freelancer results in a decrease in costs… and an increase in risks.Risks may include inefficient work ethics and habits, miscommunications,and a lack of consistent efforts and availability. Unless catching a luckybreak, hiring a freelancer will most likely lead to an end product that won’tmatch its original footprint.

Think of building an app as you would think of filming a movie fromscratch. Budget and motivations are key components, and your dedicationto the task at hand will be of paramount importance. You will be putting asmuch effort into a one-dimensional app as you would when scrapingtogether a casual student film. On the other hand, if you’re working on thenext world-changing app, the time and power invested in the product willresemble that required to roll out the next summer blockbuster.

When employing all these resources and energy into the product…wouldn’t you want to rely on a company whose entire day is dedicated toyou as opposed to a freelancer who constantly deals with other clients aswell?

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ULTIMATELY, WHAT IS THE SUCCESS OF MYAPP TRULY BASED ON?

App development is a science based on trial and error. The secret toeventual success involves tempered expectations. The most commonsuccess stories are based on a solid beta test or a proof-of-concept that issplendid enough to generate another round of funding and maybe evenattract some press.

Most app developers have big dreams for their grand product before evenentering the scene. But, remember: to traverse a mile, you must take yourfirst step. So come up with a grand idea, believe in yourself, and enlist thehelp of professional developers who can turn your vision into a reality thatwill change both the mobile app industry and the lives of the consumers.

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