Succeeding Slowly

Succeeding Slowly
A Practical Guide to Going Indie

Charles Perry
@DazeEnd
Went indie in 2012.
Apps in the App Store since 2009.
A weekly conversation about the business

of indie software development
releasenotes.tv
So you want to go indie.
Are You Sure?
m kasahra Flickr
No 401(k).
No Paid Vacation
Phalinn Ooi Flickr
No health insurance.
Youll probably make less money.
Two apps in 2014:
Overcast by Marco Arment
Manual by William Wilkinson
Very few make almost all the money.
#1,908 = $100,000 / year
#3,175 = $51,891 / year (U.S. Median)
FREEDOM
Robert Scoble Flickr
Spend more time with your kids.
Tom Bricker Flickr
Travel the world
Army Medicine Flickr
Get in shape
North Central College Flickr
Take up a hobby
michaelnpatterson Flickr
Enjoy life
What is Indie?
If you can take a nap

without asking permission,
youre indie in my book.
Me
Contract or Product
Assumptions
Chris Brown Flickr
LONG-TERM business, not a flash in the pan
Fernando Flickr
Want to maintain CONTROL of business, not give control to VC.
Drew Coman Flickr
Want to MANAGE risk, not eliminate it.
clement127 Flickr
You have a DAY JOB.
Going Indie in 6
(not so) Easy Steps
Going Indie
1. Profit Target
4. Execute
2. Start Saving
5. Build Momentum
3. Product
6. Take the Leap!
Step 1:
Set Profit Target
This is monthly income, after expenses.
NOW: What do you make now? What can you give up?
FUTURE: What do you need to save? Retirement, College
$$$$$
$$$$
T!
PROFI
$$$
$$
$
0
Expenses
Revenue
Profit, not revenue.
Expenses include: Apples 30% cut, Taxes, and All other

expenses.
Step 2:
Start Saving!
S
SAVING
Profit Target
LivingProfit
Expenses
S!
SAVING
Day Job Income
Side Business Profit
Start living on your target profit immediately.
Evaluate: Is the target realistic?
Save the rest.
Step 3:
Conceive the Product
Easier said than done, right?
Early
Market
Growth
Market
Josh Michaels Used with permission
From Josh Michaels keynote on Monday.
Mature
Market
Indie lost
Indie hasnt lost, but it has failed to adapt.
Early
Market
Growth
Market
Mature
Market
So what to build?
What to build?
BUILD A BUSINESS
Build a business!
Start Small Stay Small: A Developers Guide to Launching a

Startup
by Rob Walling
abutaz Flickr
Market
Who are we selling to?
How willing are they to give us their money?
How much competition is there?
The Man in Blue Flickr
MARKETING
How well do we communicate benefits of product?
If you want to be a business, then you need to do business-like

things.
sushiraider Flickr
Aesthetics
How pretty is it?
How well does it fit into its ecosystem?
arbyreed Flickr
Functionality
What does it do?
How well does it do it?
1. Market
2. Marketing
3. Aesthetics
4. Functionality
From Start Small, Stay Small: A Developers Guide to Launching

a Startup by Rob Walling
1. Market
2. Marketing
3. Aesthetics
4. Functionality
From Start Small, Stay Small: A Developers Guide to Launching

a Startup by Rob Walling
Step 3: Conceive the Product
Evaluating App Ideas
From The Personal MBA
by Josh Kaufman
9 CRITERIA for evaluating a market or product.
J. Finkelstein Wikimedia
URGENCY: How badly do people want or need this right now?
Scott Cresswell Flickr
MARKET SIZE: How many people are purchasing things like this
right now?
Alex Proimos Flickr
PRICING POTENTIAL: What is the most a customer would be

willing to pay for this?
M H Flickr
COST OF CUSTOMER ACQUISITION: How much does it cost to

acquire new customers in both money and eort?
Alexey Kljatov Flickr
UNIQUENESS OF PRODUCT: How much competition is there?

How easily can your product be copied?
David Nunn Flickr
SPEED TO MARKET: How quickly can you make something to

sell?
Sam valadi Flickr
UP-FRONT INVESTMENT: How much do you need to invest

before you have something to sell?
Ken Hawkins Flickr
UP-SELL POTENTIAL: What secondary oers can you present to

your customers?
Randen Pederson Flickr
EVERGREEN POTENTIAL: How much work will it take to be able

to continue selling it?
Evaluating App Ideas

1. Urgency
6. Speed to Market
2. Market Size
7. Up-Front Investment
3. Pricing Potential
8. Up-Sell Potential
4. Customer Cost
9. Evergreen Potential
5. Uniqueness
From The Personal MBA
by Josh Kaufman
Step 4:
Execute
Build the App.
Launch the App.
Execute the Marketing Plan.
Step 5:
Build Momentum
Alexander Baxevanis Flickr
TRACK revenue, expenses, financial performance
Alexander Baxevanis Flickr
Continue SAVING
Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games Flickr
EVALUATE Launch & Marketing.
How can you improve?
10 EXECUTE
20 IMPROVE
30 GOTO 10
ITERATE
Improve the current app if theres hope, or
Conceive of a new profitable app.
Step 6:
Take the Leap
This is the scariest part.
When should you do it?
Example
Scenario
Day Job:
$110,000 per year (gross)

$6,548 per month (after tax)
Profit Target:
$75,000 per year

$6,250 per month
Timeframe:
8 months
Assume Day Job = $110,000 / yr gross = $6548 after Fed. & State
taxes
Timeframe will change based on your risk tolerance: IMO, 8 is

reckless, 12 is typical, I used 18.
Monthly Day-Job Savings: $298

Total Savings: $0
$6,250
$4,776
Month 1

Total Savings: $5,074
$6,250
$3,816
Month 2

$6,250
$5,436
Month 3

$6,250
$5,856
Month 4

$6,250
$5,616
Month 5
Month 6

$6,250
$6,600
Month 7

$7,008
$6,250
Month 8

$6,720
$6,250
8 Month Rolling Average

$5,729
Month 9

$6,250
$5,172

$5,778
Month 10

$6,780
$6,250

$6,149
Month 11

$6,132
$6,250

$6,236
Month 12

$6,900
$6,250

$6,366
Our 8 month rolling average exceeds our profit target, so you have
the green light to go indie.
Results
History:
8 month track record of success
Savings:
$74,388
Runway:
12 months (at zero profit)

24 months (at 50% of profit target)
8 months (guaranteed minimum)
If sales dropped to only 50% of target profit, youd have a 24

month runway.
Going Indie
1. Profit Target
4. Execute
2. Start Saving
5. Build Momentum
3. Product
6. Take the Leap!
Flazingo Photos Flickr
Youll find your fortune changing.
FREEDOM
Enjoy This Talk? Then Join Us At
Release Notes
A Conference About Building Businesses

Indianapolis, IN | October 21-23 | releasenotes.tv
Charles Perry | @DazeEnd

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A Practical Guide to Going Indie

Went indie in 2012.

Apps in the App Store since 2009.

A weekly conversation about the business

So you want to go indie.

Are You Sure?

Phalinn Ooi Flickr

Youll probably make less money.

Two apps in 2014:

Overcast by Marco Arment

Manual by William Wilkinson

Very few make almost all the money.

#1,908 = $100,000 / year

#3,175 = $51,891 / year (U.S. Median)

Robert Scoble Flickr

Spend more time with your kids.

Tom Bricker Flickr

Travel the world

Army Medicine Flickr

North Central College Flickr

If you can take a nap

Chris Brown Flickr

LONG-TERM business, not a flash in the pan

Want to maintain CONTROL of business, not give control to VC.

Drew Coman Flickr

Want to MANAGE risk, not eliminate it.

You have a DAY JOB.

6. Take the Leap!

Set Profit Target

This is monthly income, after expenses.

FUTURE: What do you need to save? Retirement, College

Profit, not revenue.

Expenses include: Apples 30% cut, Taxes, and All other

Day Job Income

Side Business Profit

Start living on your target profit immediately.

Evaluate: Is the target realistic?

Save the rest.

Conceive the Product

Easier said than done, right?

Josh Michaels Used with permission

From Josh Michaels keynote on Monday.

Josh Michaels Used with permission

From Josh Michaels keynote on Monday.

Indie hasnt lost, but it has failed to adapt.

Josh Michaels Used with permission

From Josh Michaels keynote on Monday.

Start Small Stay Small: A Developers Guide to Launching a

Who are we selling to?

How willing are they to give us their money?

How much competition is there?

The Man in Blue Flickr

How well do we communicate benefits of product?

If you want to be a business, then you need to do business-like

How pretty is it?

How well does it fit into its ecosystem?

What does it do?

How well does it do it?

From Start Small, Stay Small: A Developers Guide to Launching

From Start Small, Stay Small: A Developers Guide to Launching

Step 3: Conceive the Product

Evaluating App Ideas