Startup Blockai Tackles a Big Problem: Copyright Control
If you’re a photographer, artist, or writer, there’s only one way to stop people from ripping off your copyrighted material online: don’t share it with anyone… ever. This is a big problem for startup founders and iPhone app developers, because content is one of the most expensive — and hard to replicate — parts of […]
How to Make an App Your Users (and the App Store) Will Love
Submitting apps to the Apple App Store is the scariest part of mobile app development. Apple is notoriously selective about the apps they allow into the iTunes ecosystem, meaning that only carefully-vetted iPhone and iPad app developers ever see their products reach end users. When it’s all said and done, around 30% of apps are […]
New Film Explores the Cultural Effects of Mobile Technology
Mobile is entering adulthood. More than 60% of US adults own smartphones, and virtually everyone connects to the Internet daily. iPhone app developers launch around 1,000 apps every day. Everyone from grandmothers to children use smartphones to communicate and network. So, it’s a fitting time for a film by renowned documentary filmmaker Werner Herzog to […]
Facebook Algorithm Change Is Opportunity for Digital Brands
Facebook recently made another major update to their News Feed algorithm, penalizing news sources responsible for headlines like “You’ll Never Look At Your Friends The Same… Once You’ve Searched This Site!” For many brands on Facebook, updates to the algorithm spell disaster. Impressions on existing page fans are at an all-time low, and Facebook is […]
Outsourcing App Development: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
“Go ahead and outsource.” People are always surprised when we tell them this. We get dozens of questions about offshoring every week, and the people asking always expect us to steer them away from it. After all, we’re an LA-based app development company — why would we encourage someone not to work with us? The […]
Strong Tech Q2 and Successful IPOs Prove Mobile Can Grow
Alphabet just released their Q2 earnings report, lifting shares 5%. GrubHub stock jumped an even more impressive 26% based on a record-breaking $120 million revenue claim. Amazon posted over $30 billion. Clearly, the environment for tech is good and getting better — contrary to worry among tech media in the past year that declining ad […]
How to Build a Startup Team From Scratch
“The most important thing for you as an entrepreneur trying to build something is, you need to build a really good team. And that’s what I spend all my time on… I spend probably 25 percent of my time recruiting, finding good people… to put them in more impactful roles. —Mark Zuckerburg 25 percent — […]
Freemium Pricing: Can it Work for My App?
In just a few years, freemium pricing for mobile apps has gone from an unusual fringe strategy to the dominant pricing scheme in the mobile app industry. How dominant? Well, in 2014 98% of all app revenue in Google Play came from freemium apps in the form of in-app purchases and monthly subscription fees. Apple […]
How to Meet Investors Who Will Fund Your Startup Idea
You have a great startup or iPhone app idea. Maybe you’ve even assembled a small team or developed a prototype. The next step is ripe for the taking — but first you need funding to make hires, grow the product, and market it to relevant users. The question is, where do you look? The answer […]
Even YouTube Wants in on the Messaging App Revolution
It’s no secret among Chicago iPhone app developers that messaging apps like Telegram and WeChat represent the future of the mobile experience. Even social networks have been becoming increasingly private (Snapchat’s rapid domination among young users stands as living proof), while chat apps like Line and WhatsApp are now used for the sake of their […]