How much is needed to launch an App

[f22raptor]

The app does not require users to do anything other than browsing (clicking for information). It requires companies to register their business addresses or something like that.

How much is needed to get this app off the ground with the intention of attracting Venture Capitalists? I mean the bare minimum.

I already have elaborate mockups done using Invision Studio.

 

[saor]

Do VC's typically invest in apps? I'm assuming you're not a company in any sense, you're just a person developing the idea. Why are you aiming for VC...to fund the entire project?

Maybe you'd be better off finding a good incubator-type company that you can present your idea to and let them help you take it further with funding & development.

 

[Barbarian Conan]

So a capture page for businesses to register and capture some info, login details, passwords etc.
Those details will then be stored on a server.
Other users will then be able to browse the info the businesses captured?

Lets say 3 pages, login, register/capture, and view, with a backing web service and DB?

With "off the ground" do you mean you will release it to the app store so it can be used, or just as a demo?

 

[f22raptor]

I ha

Do VC's typically invest in apps? I'm assuming you're not a company in any sense, you're just a person developing the idea. Why are you aiming for VC...to fund the entire project?

Maybe you'd be better off finding a good incubator-type company that you can present your idea to and let them help you take it further with funding & development.

I have formed a company. The company owns the app. I own the company.

 

[f22raptor]

So a capture page for businesses to register and capture some info, login details, passwords etc.
Those details will then be stored on a server.
Other users will then be able to browse the info the businesses captured?

Lets say 3 pages, login, register/capture, and view, with a backing web service and DB?

With "off the ground" do you mean you will release it to the app store so it can be used, or just as a demo?

Yes, I will release it to app stores. Ball park figure?

 

[newklear]

Perhaps start off with a Wireframe so any potentials can understand what your goals are.

Then you will need to look at the design, framework and mockup of the app. Will you need a website to advertise?, will you need hosting ? Will you need to take the services of a marketing company ? If your app will be on iStore or play store, there are developer fees also so keep that in mind.

Developing an app from ground up is an expensive exercise, even if it just serves a basic function. If your capital is limited, best bet is to attempt yourself seeking support here on myBB as you go along.

For a basic app ground up including wireframe, design, testing to production, you are looking at at least R50k.

 

[Barbarian Conan]

Yes, I will release it to app stores. Ball park figure?

I'm a web dev not an app dev, but echo the R50k estimate if you know exactly what you want and the mockups you did are sufficient.
Releasing an app to the store means you need security, testing on multiple devices and also things for a nice user experience like input validation etc.

 

[Mr Scratch]

Anywhere from 25k (student level) to 150k (some golden thread level) depending on what exactly you need. Your requirements aren't very clear, and publication to App Store and Play Store require further testing, security, privacy and data collection/storage/retrieval testing; or do you just need it on dev devices to demo to potential VCs?

 

[jezzad]

Very easy to get it built and developed. Thats the easy bit.

How are you going to attract users? Your going to need to run some form of advertising, referral metric (paid / organic)

Your also going to need to put together a strategy or plan for the first couple months (3, 6 12 months) including plans, reviews and KPI's

This becomes expensive and you can easily spend 50k a month on advertising.

This shows you have a plan and have invested in your own product, VC’s are more likely to invest in this.

 

[Kosmik]

Do a PWA for a RAD prototype.

 

[f22raptor]

Perhaps start off with a Wireframe so any potentials can understand what your goals are.

Then you will need to look at the design, framework and mockup of the app. Will you need a website to advertise?, will you need hosting ? Will you need to take the services of a marketing company ? If your app will be on iStore or play store, there are developer fees also so keep that in mind.

Developing an app from ground up is an expensive exercise, even if it just serves a basic function. If your capital is limited, best bet is to attempt yourself seeking support here on myBB as you go along.

For a basic app ground up including wireframe, design, testing to production, you are looking at at least R50k.

I do have balsamiq wireframes and Invision Studio mockups.

 

[f22raptor]

Very easy to get it built and developed. Thats the easy bit.

How are you going to attract users? Your going to need to run some form of advertising, referral metric (paid / organic)

Your also going to need to put together a strategy or plan for the first couple months (3, 6 12 months) including plans, reviews and KPI's

This becomes expensive and you can easily spend 50k a month on advertising.

This shows you have a plan and have invested in your own product, VC’s are more likely to invest in this.

I could do this but if someone gets wind of my app they will likely raise more money and blow past me. The winner takes the entire market.

 

[Rocket-Boy]

I could do this but if someone gets wind of my app they will likely raise more money and blow past me. The winner takes the entire market.

Said everyone with an idea for an app, very few of those get off the ground.
But good luck anyway.

 

[retromodcoza]

I could do this but if someone gets wind of my app they will likely raise more money and blow past me. The winner takes the entire market.

Ok - let me jump in here. I've developed a few apps/saas from scratch to production and have raised R1.2m for a SAAS startup.

The above assertion is wrong.

In every startup software business I've ever encountered where the founder thinks the idea is worth gold and anyone who gets wind of it will overtake them , there is a common thread :

The owner overvalued his idea and thought the idea was what made the business. Usually , this also meant he'd never run a software startup before.

You are in the VERY common position I get asked about monthly where you have an idea , no money , and you want to implement it so you can make money. Finding investors is too time consuming and difficult so you don't want to pursue that option.

At this point , you want to refine the idea and your mockups and speak to potential customers. If you haven't spoken to 50 customers about your mockups and your idea then you are very far away from the point where you need your app developed.

Heres my advice which you won't take :
Post your mockups on this forum and tell anyone who will listen about your idea. Spread it far and wide. Get anyone who will give you feedback to do so. Act like you are the person developing this product and others will get discouraged and won't copy you.

Trust me. As a life exercise , do this and see who actually copies you. I can assure you it will be NO ONE.

 

[Rocket-Boy]

Ok - let me jump in here. I've developed a few apps/saas from scratch to production and have raised R1.2m for a SAAS startup.

The above assertion is wrong.

In every startup software business I've ever encountered where the founder thinks the idea is worth gold and anyone who gets wind of it will overtake them , there is a common thread :

The owner overvalued his idea and thought the idea was what made the business. Usually , this also meant he'd never run a software startup before.

You are in the VERY common position I get asked about monthly where you have an idea , no money , and you want to implement it so you can make money. Finding investors is too time consuming and difficult so you don't want to pursue that option.

At this point , you want to refine the idea and your mockups and speak to potential customers. If you haven't spoken to 50 customers about your mockups and your idea then you are very far away from the point where you need your app developed.

Heres my advice which you won't take :
Post your mockups on this forum and tell anyone who will listen about your idea. Spread it far and wide. Get anyone who will give you feedback to do so. Act like you are the person developing this product and others will get discouraged and won't copy you.

Trust me. As a life exercise , do this and see who actually copies you. I can assure you it will be NO ONE.

^this is good advice.
Everyone and their dog has believed at some stage that they have an idea for an app that will make them millions. Its always super secret because if anyone ever gets wind of it they will 100% want to develop it themselves.

 

[retromodcoza]

To answer your question - R50k to R150k is vaguely in the ballpark for an MVP. Above posts are correct.

 

[f22raptor]

^this is good advice.
Everyone and their dog has believed at some stage that they have an idea for an app that will make them millions. Its always super secret because if anyone ever gets wind of it they will 100% want to develop it themselves.

According to Sturgeon's law, 90% of everything is crap. But...

How did Facebook come about? Mark stole it.

Had Evan Spiegel et al been careless with their idea of a messaging app that disappears messages, someone was going to "steal" it.

 

[kolaval]

Everyone and their dog has believed at some stage that they have an idea for an app that will make them millions.

I had one once, literally in my dreams, and was pissed of when I forgot it when I woke up.

 

[charlieharper]

Trust me. As a life exercise , do this and see who actually copies you. I can assure you it will be NO ONE.

And even if he do get copied, odds are it won't be as good as original, because assumingly, OP have first hand experience in the industry of the problem he's going to solve with the App.

Also, Google your idea. Spend some time, see what's out there.
Don't find anything similar to your idea out there? Congrats on your big new unique idea! That potentially untouched 'market' is all yours. However, that doesn't mean your idea is validated. Perhaps you are solving a problem only you have or you could be standing on a gold mine.

Lots of people get discouraged when they google their idea and already find something similar - but it really isn't a bad thing... On the contrary, it usually means there's a validated market for it. You don't see McDonalds getting upset just because another place down the road opened up, selling burgers.

But ya, the only way to really know if the idea is valid is to actually ship and launch it and see if it sticks.

Also, this ebook is an amazing read, especially if you are new to the software world.

Getting Real

The smarter, faster, easier way to build a successful web application

basecamp.com

 

[Barbarian Conan]

According to Sturgeon's law, 90% of everything is crap. But...

How did Facebook come about? Mark stole it.

Had Evan Spiegel et al been careless with their idea of a messaging app that disappears messages, someone was going to "steal" it.

MySpace was pretty similar to FB, wasn't it? It was also first by quite a long time.

I'm very well aware that I don't really know how to make an app successful. What I do know, is that it's not necessarily being first. It's not having the most features. It's not really even about being better.

It's adoption. People use the app other people use. Many years ago, colleagues of mine worked to make some kind of app that would help you get comparison prices to your phone, or can see specials in a mall or something, I forget the details. They were in talks with some companies, they had their app released and it was available on the app store.
And a few months later when I saw something like that... it wasn't their app. They were first by a long shot, they just didn't have the users.
Obviously it didn't work out for anyone, but even compared to their competitors, they lost even though they were first.

In my experience, first impressions also count. If I try something now and it seems cool, but is too much of a pain, or is buggy, or for whatever reason, I probably won't look at it again until I see that it's really popular.

TL;DR: being first isn't everything. Get customers/users, and make sure whatever you put out is high quality by the time your customers use it.