One thing that excites me most is - discussing ‘ideas’. That lights up my face and I get passionately engrossed in that conversation. It is so much fun to be part of this ‘idea economy’ (or should I say ‘idea ecosystem’). I look forward to these discussions.
Today, a lot of the ‘ideapreneurs’ that I meet talk about I² - ideas and iPhone. These imaginative folks are from around the globe and they constantly ask me how to turn their ideas into iPhone apps. Some of the ideas I must admit are genuinely innovative. However they never see the light of the day. They die at the altar of financial constraints as iPhone apps are expensive to develop.
Lots of them try to persuade me to develop these apps in return for equity. However being a development house, it would be suicidal to work for equity or the promise of future returns for someone else right now. There is too much cash work out there. The developers willing to take risks on future returns would rather do this for their own application projects. That is a risk worth taking.
Here are some interesting numbers from O’Reilly and some other sources:
| Number of apps in the App store: | 56,801 |
| Number of apps downloaded: | 1 Billion+ |
| Earnings of Top 1% app developers: | $50K to $ 2M+ |
| Fastest growing app category: | Books |
| Largest category: | Games |
| % of paid apps: | 78% |
| Number of apps added every week: | 1500+ |
| % of sellers who have produced one app: | 52% |
| % of sellers who have produced less than 3 apps: | 80% |
| Average rating of Top 100 paid apps: | 4% |
| Number of downloads of the top spot app per day: | 150,000 - 250,000 |
| Number of downloads of the tenth spot app per day: | Approx 20,000 |
So what do you do if you have a limited budget but have a great idea for an iPhone application. No, it’s not impossible. You just need to sweat it out a bit more. You need to find offshore developers who are brilliant and are wanting to be a part of the iPhone development ecosystem. If you can rub your passion onto these folks, you may just be able to get some neat iPhone apps without spending tens of thousands of dollars. Cash is king, especially in a down economy. If you passionately believe in your idea and are willing to work hard, then you can certainly turn them into apps.
It has been a pleasure working with vSplash and its associates. I am looking forward to working with you again in the coming years.
