Ask HN: Turning an Android app into a company

3 points·Brewer··3 comments

I have what I think is a pretty neat idea for a group of apps for Android and I'm fairly sure that there is a market for the apps.

Is it possible to take a group of apps that sell for $0.99-$1.99 each and turn them into a profitable company? It seems like you would need something that makes more money.

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Personally, I never liked the idea of developing apps. If you develop a successful one, it will make money for a couple of months, then you have to make another success. With normal software (desktop/web/SaaS/or even hardware) you can anticipate future revenue much more easily. The mobile market just seems too unstable and fickle for long term planning. (Notice how there hasn't been any billion dollar app development companies, like there are web development companies.) I don't see that changing anytime soon. Of course a company that could somehow leverage that fickleness would be golden.

The secret sauce may lay in the business model. Selling apps at 99c or more doesn't seem to be profitable. Giving them away in a freemium model however, may prove worthwhile. Social games do really well with virtual goods. I don't know how Foursquare makes money, but they seem to be doing alright. With regards to billion dollar app companies, ngmoco was acquired for $400m, not quite a billion but pretty damn good for a company that publishes a bunch of little mobile games.

Unfortunately I don't see any way to successfully implement virtual goods into my apps. That's a great ideas though. Maybe I'll come up with an idea for a social game and make it free.

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