Dogtown Media Tackles Tech Education with Jikei University
In a continuation of Dogtown Media’s commitment to tech education, CEO Marc Fischer accepted an invitation last week to speak with visiting students from Tokyo’s Jikei University. During the talk, Fischer touched on the startup industry, the many ways that tech is re-shaping the international world, and how it has enabled students of this generation […]
How to Perform a Competitive Analysis for Your App Idea
Would you go spelunking without a headlamp? What about mountaineering without a map? Well, pursuing your great app idea without performing a competitive analysis would be just as foolish. Finding and analyzing your competitors will shine a light on the “roadmap” for your business. Without it, you miss out on the chance to fill actual […]
How the MedTech Revolution Will Use Mobile to save Lives
If you don’t think medical app developers have the power to save lives, don’t mention it to the doctors at Hahnemann Hospital. In a study from 2015, doctors at the institution experimented with a mobile notification system to encourage patient follow-ups. Readmissions dropped by 16 percent. New upgrades to medical laws in the US (and […]
Snapchat Prepares for IPO, Drawing Developer Speculation
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal (not to mention the tech rumor mill), SnapChat is starting to close in on an IPO for as early as this coming March. It’s been a great year for tech IPOs, so app developers and investors are cautiously optimistic that the messaging and social media Unicorn […]
The Basic Principles of Good App Design
Design decides if your users stick around. Design determines when your startup will become profitable. Like it or not, design is king in the app economy. So, what does good app design look like? Can the elements of good app design be defined, or is it more of a “you know it when you see […]
Getting Your App Idea off the Ground: Zero to Critical Mass
Getting your app idea off the ground is similar to getting a rocket into space. Both are risky. Both take an enormous amount of fuel to reach their goal. And unfortunately, both crash and burn without careful planning. When startup founders look up and see big brands like Instagram and Facebook floating effortlessly across the […]
Investors Vote with Their Wallets for Messaging App Startups
Messaging was a theme for the past three years of mobile app development, even before bots came into the picture. While SMS has long been scheduled to go the way of the dinosaurs, the ecosystem has gotten more complex rather than more streamlined. Between Slack, Messenger, Google Hangouts, and dozens more, group messaging is one […]
Facebook Messenger Opens Native Payments to Bot Developers
There’s been a lot of chatter about the “bot revolution” the past few months, but the spread of bot app usage among mainstream mobile app users has been slow at best. Part of the reason behind that, at least on go-to messaging platform Messenger, is the limitation on payments. Specifically, in order to make a […]
What the Last.Fm Security Breach Says about Mobile Privacy
“We are currently investigating the leak of some Last.fm user passwords. This follows recent password leaks on other sites, as well as information posted online. As a precautionary measure, we’re asking all our users to change their passwords immediately.” This statement was released way back in 2012, but it’s just this week that the full […]
The “API Economy” Isn’t a Fad, But It Won’t Eat Backend Tech
“Software is eating the world,” goes the infamous quip from startup investor Marc Andreessen. If that’s true, then APIs are part of a balanced diet for mobile app developers. Sure, the “API trend” that promised developers the ability to patch together complex software with APIs alone never really came to pass, but cloud APIs have […]