The challenges and joys of successful independent app development (MRB #51)

Talk description

We’ve all dreamed of building a successful mobile app, but what does it take to actually do it?

What does it take to help people find out about your app, and what happens when a publication like The Verge writes about your app on launch day? (spoiler: it’s not all upside) How do you price it? How do you deal with polite but very direct letters from lawyers? What do you need to start thinking about before you even start coding?

In this talk Damian Mehers will share his experience building several successful software products and apps. There is no secret formula to success, but you can certainly increase your chances.

He’ll also share the technical journey for one of his apps, which was originally based on .NET and Xamarin, and then moved to Swift and SwiftUI: how do you change the engine of that car while driving at 120kmh down the motorway?

Speaker

Damian Mehers started programming on 8 bit microcomputers in the early eighties, and still loves it: Imagining something and then making it real is magic.

He has built and sold several software product businesses, worked for startups such as Evernote (back when it was a startup), as well as working as consultant at large multinationals such as Nestle. He currently has several apps in the app store, one of which is almost always in the top 50 apps for its category and sometimes in the top 200 apps overall.

Talk language

Slides and talk in English