36 Krypton Interview Mobile creators: need to be an expert in the field to succeed

Baglan (Baglan Dosmagambetov, pictured on the left), is the founder of Mobile creators and the developer of Gourmet coffee and the Super Photo App. Mobile creators is an independent application production team with two members in Kazakhstan, and Alexander (Alexander Nogay, pictured right) is responsible for the design of the technology. Before the popularity of smartphones, they were freelancers and relied on developing websites for a living. They have released 5 apps from 2011 to now, with a total download of more than 650,000 times in the App Store. Although many people want to invest, but they have not accepted.

Gourmet Coffee, Love application

The first time that this team was found was through the gourmet coffee app. I was a coffee addict, and when I saw the app, I realized that the story behind the coffee was really interesting. The Mobile creators team led us in elegant and exquisite ways to appreciate the beauty of the coffee.

You can scan for different kinds of coffee and click to see what ingredients are in the coffee. Background music is also appropriate, allowing you to instantly stay in the coffee house. If you are interested in one of these coffees, you can also slide up to watch the coffee making process. Maybe the next time we go to the coffee shop, there will be more talk.

If you search in the App store with "coffee" as a keyword, you'll find a lot of coffee-related apps. But the problem is that most of them use the "old" presentation. Open the application to see a long list, and then put some photos and text (yes!). Even Starbucks).

This is boring because most people don't want to read on their mobile phones, especially when it comes to introducing coffee. People like to play with their mobile phones. Gourmet Coffee uses a highly interactive way to show the ingredients in each coffee and to introduce the way professional coffee makers make coffee. If you look closely, you can even see the heat coming out of the coffee!

It's not just coffee, but there are other areas of pain that are worth improving, which is an opportunity for entrepreneurs. The Mobile creators team, after gourmet coffee, has dabbled in photography, the Photo App teaches SLR basics in a more interactive way.

Work with industry experts

Why is it that two-person teams can make such a force application? After interviewing Babbitt, I found some interesting points to share.

We've heard the example of it men switching to sell meat buns, and then we've got a good result. Most of these people are aware of Internet thinking and use them in traditional industries.

So what if we change our thinking? Let a person who understands internet thinking work with a specialist in a traditional industry. Maybe you don't know how to make a good cup of coffee, but you can design a good application with a local coffee maker. They have used this model of cooperation with local "experts" and have achieved good results.

How independent teams continue to be profitable

Persistent profitability difficulties are a common problem in an independent development team. The most common difficulty is that users can use this product only once they have to pay a fee. There are usually two solutions to this situation. The first is to upgrade the models that need to be paid back, such as fantastical and Reeder, and the other is to develop new applications to make money.

On this issue, Babbitt gave his own opinion, "You don't have to think about it when designing a product." My usual method is to publish it first, then observe the market response, if the response is good to update, to attract more users to download revenue. If it reflects the general, then give up the update, into the development of new projects.

Of course, there are other reasons for success.

The first is as an independent developer who does not accept external investment, the team can develop according to their own preferences. They don't usually set deadline, as Baglan told me, they can end up developing when they feel the application is complete.

Unlike the development of large companies, their schedules are relatively free. They collaborate by using kickoff, synchronizing files through Dropbox, and testing them as soon as new features are developed. They still devote a lot of time to their work, but not to nine to five. They pay more attention to the balance of life and work than the day after day work.

The second reason is that they are experienced. They have been working on web site development before developing applications. He also worked in the Chengdu Ubisoft Games studio for two years. The rich experience also helps them to save the development cost, they only use less than 2000 dollars to complete the great Photo app production. Of course, such costs can not be separated from the help of friends and acquaintances. But it also brought some drawbacks, and it took them a year to open the first version of the Photo app.

"I think people don't have to be discouraged by their lack of resources, asking for help from others and learning to do some work for themselves is enough to do something successful," he said, when I asked him if he could provide some tips on how to control costs.

The third reason is that they are moving quickly. At the very beginning, they had no idea what they were going to do. So they decided to do some sort of "consultancy" work, the first app was to help a local pub make a cocktail map, and the bartender at the bar was a coffee fanatic, who later helped them make gourmet coffee, and you never know what's going to happen next.

So, even though we are often told that we have to be an "expert" (or an enthusiast) in a certain field and understand that internet thinking is more likely to succeed, there may be other ways, such as a person with internet thinking and an expert. As it is said, "it is difficult to have a very wide range of insights in different areas at the same time, and experts can provide them with a broad and in-depth view of the field."

Maybe it's another choice for you?