It's like, why don't all the chefs open their own restaurant? Because it's not just about cooking. There are cooking, serving, cleaning, hiring, managing, accounting etc tasks to be handled. Besides you need to have free time and a good amount of savings to do so. In return, you won't be sure if you're restaurant is good enough to make living and eventually make rich. Likewise, even a simple app needs coding and testing for a month or two, designing, preparing appstore/playstore screenshots, icons and other store entries, ASO research, ad budget, ad creatives and campaign management bla bla and in the end your app may flop. Some devs don't want to risk it and get stressed and I totally understand that.
The most frustrating part of that is not knowing whether 10 people use my version 1 because no one else needs the tool, or just because no one who needs it knows about it
I used to create a software product 20y ago. I just wanted to make an existing product better (a windows tool). I didn't care about if it will be successful. I just enjoyed the process of creating and learning. I created a website for my product and asked myself the question, what next... how the hell people will download it? I learned about SEO and I published my software to many software download sites. I even created my own software website so other devs could publish on my site. I remember when I got my first sale. It was magical. I absolutely had no idea what I was doing. I also was crap at coding. Learned everything by doing (and copy pasting xD ) You basically need an initial idea. Maybe make an existing product better. Finding something completely new is hard but could be very profitable, but most ideas from history are combinations of other ideas. Find a problem and solve it. People will pay. Another advice: don't spend too long on that product. Do not plan every detail in andvance. Try to deploy a mvp.
I did the same thing, it was a Windows application for managing a small garage business (customer db, invoicing etc), it's web based now. I created it for the same reason, to learn new technology and just enjoy the process of creating something of my own. I knew a few people in the garage industry and they used to use it for free, but it meant that I had to write it to be production ready so to speak, as it was helping them run their business so each release had to be properly tested, working and reliable. I learned a lot from the process and like you I have got to a point where I'm thinking, now what? Do I try to sell it? Where do I sell it? As it's a bit niche it's difficult to find a place to put it and wait for orders to come rolling in lol. Anyway, thanks for that, it's nice to know I'm not alone in that feeling of what to do next.
I think the best approach to launch your own app, is to work and grind on a job for a couple of years, and set funds aside to last you at least a year, and then quit your job, and work full-time on building your app. If you run out of funds, pause the development, and get hired again, set funds aside again, and repeat the process! However, I don't think the lack of time and burnout is the real reason of why more coders aren't building their apps. It's business, admin, taxes, and laws! I personally don't want to become a business owner! I like coding, not talking to people and investors and clients! I'm not good with laws and taxes, and it's a straight-up nightmare to deal with all those! I think people should focus on doing what they love and what they're good at, instead of trying to get rich no matter what! It's a miserable experience otherwise!
I totally agree with the second paragraph, however I would not quit my job unless it's really necessary. Always try to build an MVP in your free time to prove your concept , and if that's not possible, only quit if you have properly identified the market-fit for your solution, otherwise you might be risking a gap in your CV and are losing out on additional funding.
Exactly. Make an app for small and medium business in a non-technical niche. Not only are the problems much easier to solve, there are also fewer people who can solve them because it's a non-technical niche where people can't even write simple automation scipts, much less a full app.
I'm on this grind, working the 9-5 and building my own platform on my free time. It has been about 2 years already, spending ~2 hours every day. It is not easy, but it is starting to get traction.
I have been struggling with this for half a decade and you were on point 100% as to what is the issue and that’s why all coders can’t have their own shop. But knowing that the upper management gets richer out of coders motivates me to build, deploy, market and handle the business side, if it fails its still a win because you get a lot of experience and can be used to advance your position. The only thing missing is the work ethic and the discipline. One last point don’t just focus on the result but enjoy the journey and the rest will come.
It could be fear related to legal issues, servicing customers that complain, worry about not fully testing the App, processing payments, hiding it from your employer etc. These fears would be maxed for a SAAS product I think.
Spot on! As a developer with a day job who has also launched apps, I agree with everything you said. Personally I channelled my hobby of hiking and what I was doing at my day job (working on GIS systems) into creating my most successful app, called Handy GPS. How did I find time? By watching less TV and working late into the night sometimes. It's not easy, but if you're passionate enough about your side project, you'll make the time. The marketing side however is more of a challenge for someone from a coding background.
I love hearing from coders who launched successfully, it's so encouraging. Love the app too, I'm glad you mentioned it!
2 месяца назад
I think its just a thing of preference. Some people get excited to work on projects like that some just consider them a nightmare. Its like the thing with mechanics and Why do most mechanics drive junk cars or at least simple cars? Work becomes work and work usually consists of things you don't feel like doing. :D Good luck to you too
Nice vid! Correction: people don't make money releasing apps, they make money selling apps. Not only that, they have to acquire customers faster than they lose customers. And their cost of acquiring new customers has to be less than they get in total business from each customer. (CAC, LTV) Most developers are better served making projects without revenue requirement. It helps your development in so many ways. If you think you are called to be a business owner, at least consider starting with a small non-software venture. Sell things to people. If this idea seems absurd to you, you're not ready to start a business. Become a better engineer. That will provide your best ROI.
People have this mindset that everything must be connected to the cloud and must be reachable to the whole world. Without the cloud nothing can exist and we are slaves to CEO's. Give what customers want, something not polluted with spyware, something that does not have a subscription and something that does not show targeted advertisement. Juniors developers have to let go that nothing exists without an internet connection. Create software for local shops. create software that does not need cloud as database, but reside in NAS server. Do you really think that running a small hotel requires any cloud connection? Do you really think that price displays need a internet connection to show any prices? Hell no, just a Raspberry pie. Create software for local business. Let go of the "I need a cloud" mantra. No you don't!
@@coderlady_Small software I created back in the 90's was a Hotel program, a Fitness program. Just DOS and Floppy disk, not even a database used but text files. Hotel program was just to keep track of the customer info, rooms that was reserved and when the room needed cleaning. This was written in about 2 weeks. Fitness program was a recurring custom job because the boss had new ideas that he wanted to be implemented. But the point I make is single user programs, that has no cloud connection, no subscription, no targeted advertisement or spyware and can keep in functioning when the internet goes down, fast response not the sluggish web responses. The program will work 10+ years from now. But I think you can also create billboard software for small shops. Think single user, easy to use, you can program it all alone, no cloud connection...
I just quit my job after saving up quite a bit to start focusing on personal projects. Personally, the amount of mental effort I put in my coding job leaves me too exhausted to work on anything else. One thing I noticed though that was a real anti-motivator for me to quit and start working independently was the high salaries I receive as an employed software developer. After including the RSUs and yearly bonuses, I calculated that I can reach financial freedom with a high standard of living in about 7 years if I stayed on the job, vs if I start a start-up where the chances are stacked against success. So as a software dev I don't even have to start a startup to be "rich", and the correct economic decision is to stay on the job, and probably I would get a lot more ROI by learning and making myself more valuable to employers and keep on changing jobs for a higher salary. For me I quit because it is something that I'm really passionate about and always dreamt of , and nothing to do with the money, worst case, I had fun for a year and I'll go back to being employed
i love your channel man! you are inspiring and saying facts about our daily job as programmers.. its so sad that you burnt out thinking and solving solutions and only take a small amount of salary while you can have more than that if you have the time to build and focus
I followed 200+ iOS devs on Twitter for a year or so. Some were FAANG superstars, others were little guys like me trying to learn. One thing became clear: full-time devs aren't good at coming up with app ideas outside their area of expertise. Their apps were almost all the generic ideas that have been done a hundred times before
This is good advice. Regarding how to break out of it, the other solution is a sabbatical or some form of break from a full-time job. You can incorporate breaks (e.g., a few months) between jobs to focus on your app. This way, you don't get significant gaps in your CV and still have some time for deep work on your projects. When it comes to why more developers are not doing this, in at least some cases, money in full-time employment is simply too big. Big tech or finance firms pay really good money, and when you do the math, you realize that you can save and invest at a very high rate (e.g. 50%+ of your net pay). Basically, you can "get rich" off full-time employment which is an anomaly in human history 🙂
Most apps are thrash. You have to be exceptional to compete on the free market. Most apps fail. If I spent all the time I spent making apps In my job instead, I would have made so much money.
As a developer, I don't think building the app is the issue. I think it's a combination of "good ideas" and marketing. I've made hundreds of things to solve problems, my unique one-off problem. Finding a generalized problem to solve that enough people for the app to be successful is hard.
@@BigStupidTech time is hard to come by, but I think a lot of people who say they have no time, actually aren't making good use of their time. Even with time, without the idea and especially the ability to market that idea, your time and idea are useless. I worked with someone who had an idea and I built it and we were 50/50. I would've charged like $100 one time payment for this on my own. He knew how to market it and brought high 5 figures. The first usable version of this took me 1 hour to write the code.
Yes absolutely I am a very technical person. Running a business and the marketing does not satisfy my creativity. Give me a good business and marketing guy and we could make millions.
After that app hits the market, the chances of that failing (not being used by a lot a people) or AI replacing is too high compared to some other business like a restaurant for example. If a man can do it in 30 min with experience, a person with no experience can do it in maybe a week in worst case. Too much competition.
if you do something significantly similar to what you do at work, you better be darn careful you aren't making an app that seems like it competes with your dayjob, or you will get sued hard. there is no perfect solution to this.
In that sense, it would perhaps be better to build your way up the ladder in your day job, it's less risky than starting a new company, and you have better chances of success.
I am a game developer I struggle with this exact dame issue, my attention had never been great.... And well while i do my job stellarly once i'm done with the 8 hour shift the will to work on personal projects is not really there... And also when i've tried gollowing other family members advice to watch work on it during the day while i have no takss my work output gets diminished... It foes seem like attention is a limited faily resource... What do you guys recommend I should do to improve on this?
Your last comment on finding a job that aligns with your side project -- doesn't that get close to the line of violating "Do Not Compete" clauses that many of us have with our employers? If we go out and launch a project or app that shares a lot of similarities with what we worked on that is a lawsuit waiting to happen.
It might, yeah. I wouldn't want to risk it by serving the same market my company does. To me that's what competing means, not use of the same technologies and techniques.
Making a successful app is 90% having a good idea, sales and marketing 10% about how good you can program. The sad part is if you have a successful idea you are better off hiring someone to code it for you, if you make your own app its better as a learning experience for yourself.
1. You have to have enough money to make them interested in working on your idea 2. if they catch a whiff of it being the early stages of your idea they can request a large cut of the compensation - larger than you're willing to part with, or at worst, just straight up steal your idea. Ideas are a dime a dozen, execution is everything.
Agree 100% that coding is a small part of an app's success. I'd still be scared to hire it out though, just because so many changes need to be made to the codebase after it's released
You can't just launch apps, you are right, you need product-market fit, sales, marketing, etc etc etc. It feels like a catch-22 where like you have to go and learn all of the buisness stuff (mainly marketing and sales) and by doing so you are not keeping up and expanding your technical skills. It's doable ofc, many have done it, to your other points if you have a family at home and other responsibilities... It's just to much.
n the end, there’s always luck involved in finding a suitable problem, finding the right people to work with, and ensuring that the timing is right. Building a successful app isn't a one-man job, or at least your chances aren't high by going down that road.
Hey man I just checked your channel and I gotta say very nice videos. What I wanted to ask was, do you know about any perhaps SAAS problems people need solved? I desperately want to work on some product people will need but I just can't find something good to work on. Can you maybe help me out with finding something?
Cool video, i am a coder, let me know if you would like to collaborate on an app, or if you might be interested in see if we can be good fit for a co-founder
I am barely using apps. They are quite useless. More useful than web crap, but overall other than RU-vid and messengers - I don't need anything. Makes me question what was the point of buying a smartphone.
Sometimes building an app is in of itself useless, it just adds more complexity when solving a problem that could've easily been solved with a website. And with a website you don't need people to download it, nor comply with Google and Apple's regulations, which are just more barriers to entry.
@@ted2091 I can't even justify they connection to internet in most use cases. Even for social networks I would just fetch and push content time to time yet be able to check it out without internet. Web is all about stupid ads that shows me stuff I'll never buy. Like I hate ads to the point where I would not buy thing I have seen in ads when I'll look for similar product. Not reminding you about that tracking insanity. Browser has you and your machine, not otherwise.
Isn't your recommendation illegal? I'm sure there is clause in contract about using the knowledge from your work elsewhere while you're still working there.
Nope. He's not saying "steal insider infos and exploit in your own product", he simply said to do something similar so that you train capabilities that are useful even outside of work.
I guess I never thought about that because I've never worked on the same business capabilities for personal projects. I have learned math on the clock, but I could have learned that anywhere.
It’s not *illegal*. What you are referring to is breach of contract, but the contract itself may be illegal! It is one thing for an employer to demand exclusivity for its own product domain, including for some time after departure; it is another entirely to preclude you from ANY other application of your skills. Lastly, non-compete clauses are not enforceable in every state. In all matters of law, I recommend consulting a lawyer.
