My Third Time Releasing an App, and Here’s What I Focused On
Onedance is an app that teaches people how to dance. This is my fourth personal app, and I’ve done things a bit differently this time. Here are the three strategies that helped me effectively launch my app.
Total Time to Launch: 4 months
Collective Hours: 1,500
Team Size: 4
Independent Work.
“Somebody’s gotta do it, and I’m somebody"
Onedance is full on media production company. We have freestyle videos, interviews, photos, blog posts, graphics, tutorials etc. All of that work, and developing the apps- I did everything myself before handing it down to other people. It is highly important for you go through the process yourself. It gives you more confidence in your ability to learn new skills. A lot of people limit themselves by thinking they are not educated enough, or experienced enough, or wealthy enough to hire a professional. So they just end up doing nothing. There are zero excuses to believe you can’t be educated enough.
You need do the hard work first before you can expect somebody else to. Doing this will help you find the right people. You can immediately tell if somebody is bullshitting you. It also gives you perspective on the task you’re about to hand off. It’s empathy in action.
I didn’t know anything about film, so I bought a DSLR, got some manual lenses and started recorded dancers for free. I messaged people and said, “Hey I’de like to film your event for free in order to gain experience.” I learned videography by clicking that record button a thousand times, then I hired a videographer. I didn’t know how to edit videos, so I got Premiere and watched 10 hours Youtube tutorials. I took a free Stanford Course on Swift Programming in order to make the iPhone app. After making the MVP I hired my iPhone developer. I spent 3 months working on the Android app, and then hired my Android developer.
Do it yourself.
Never Embellish the Project.
I never glorified my idea to myself or anyone else. I refused to name drop higher status individuals. A lot of people name drop in order to hype up the project. They say shit like, “We have X or Y person onboard, and they have a million followers on Instagram,” when really their relationship with that person is less than an acquaintance. Stop that. It’s annoying and dishonest.
You don’t want to tie the value of your project by riding someone else’s coattails. That just looks bad. If there’s something you’re compensating for you gotta fix it, not hide it. Always think long term.
I tried my best to only say things after I executed. This is hard to do because we all want to talk about what we’re currently doing. Its normal though, everyone does it. I can’t tell you how much stress I’ve gone through keeping my mouth shut in potential conversations about things I’m doing. It almost feels like I’m hiding something- as if it’s a bad thing, but eventually with enough practice you’ll get it.
In fact I know prefer it, because only sharing execution, rather than ideas, affects the people around you. The whole conversation changes because your team starts doing the same thing. They’ll start hitting you up and telling you things they’ve accomplished as well. You’re whole team will become much more productive.
Say less, do more.
Spend More Time Hiring Than Building
I spent more time hiring than building my app.
The first thing I did was research if the candidate had done projects on their free time. I skipped anyone who wasn't a self starter.
Of those candidates, I prioritized skill last. I looked at two qualities: Honesty and Tenacity. These attributes are hard to gauge, because they are understood in a long term context.
Which is why I gave people 1 month to show themselves. It gives enough time to see how a person works after the honeymoon period.
I also paid them more than they asked for, and purchased all assets that helped their workflow. This takes away all excuses. After 30 days if they didn't show both qualities, I let them go the very next day. Hire slow, fire fast. Even if they are "senior" level.
It's costly to do this. I've burned through cash searching for the right people, but I maintained my focus on the long term. This also requires much patience. I spent 6 months hiring people before actually starting.
The goal is to search for people who will grow with you outside of the project. This builds a team that lasts. Now we are all working on a new app.
Have an app idea? Check us out at RNA Labs!
