What’s better for developer productivity: music or silence?
The question of what music is best for triggering app developer productivity — if any at all — is a debate that has raged on since, if not the dawn of time, at least the introduction of the iPhone. Every developer is likely to have their own answer, but there are a few trends that […]
Facebook Launches “Lite” Messenger Version For Old Devices
Designing for a cross-platform world can be difficult for startup app developers, especially when you consider the severe limitations of “legacy” devices compared to the incredible computing power, memory and storage capacity of the smartphones now considered standard by the US public. Facebook recently launched a standalone app for messenger users on older devices, showing […]
How and Why to Create User Personas for your App
User personas are one of the most mysterious parts of the app user experience (UX) design process for non-designers. They’re also one of the most important parts of app development, and apps that reference user personas throughout all stages from idea to launch are much more likely to succeed. Stereotypes are never a good thing. […]
How Peter Thiel’s Political Stance Affects Startups
Ellen Pao of Project Include took to Medium this week to explain why they were breaking off ties with prominent startup accelerator Y Combinator. The reason, in short: Peter Thiel’s increasingly unpredictable endorsements and behavior. While Thiel has drawn criticism from the tech community before thanks to his support of floating cities, morality-bending age extension […]
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 […]
MACRA Medicare Update Fails Patients, Doctors, and Startups
The Los Angeles app development community has been cautiously optimistic the past few weeks about the outcome of this year’s long-awaited updates to MACRA (the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act). In partnership with ACT The App Association and dozens of other leading tech companies across the country, we submitted detailed comments and research to […]
Anki’s Cozmo Shows the Humanistic Potential of AI Products
When most people think of robots, they think of the tropes played out in popular culture: Terminator war machines, job-guzzling automation devices, and other mostly negative, faceless stereotypes. Even the AI assistants trotted out by Android and Apple app developers have been met with a sense of distrust, especially when it comes to “always-listening” products […]
MedTech IoT Products Prove the Critics Wrong
A popular criticism of the Internet of things (IoT) is that it’s “just not necessary.” (Neither are running water or air travel, but I digress.) Given the poor execution and poorly thought-out market targeting of early IoT devices, it’s no surprise that consumers and critics feel this way. Yes, a cloud-connected toaster is silly and […]
Samsung Note 7, GoPro Hero 4: The Risk of Hardware Startups
Hardware startups are in a unique position. On the one hand, hardware products are difficult for other small-to-medium competitors to imitate quickly due to the high overhead and engineering considerations, leading to big growth spurts for innovative companies like GoPro, Fitbit, and Pebble. On the other hand, as any iOS app developer will tell you, […]