Episode #453 Reach, Retention and Revenue are the new three “r’s” of business. One of the single greatest challenges in the mobile app ecosystem is building a product that is compelling enough to have users come back to use it a second and third time. A one-time user does not build a sustainable business. There [...]
Raj Singh started Tempo.ai out of SRI (incubators of SIRI, Summly and Tempo) with absolute intent – they didn’t begin at the calendar, they ended up there based on what they wanted to achieve. Raj takes us through this journey of identifying the market opportunity, the covert beta test (in Canada – under a different name), the launch, the outcome, the things he’d have done differently and where he sees the calendar as the platform concept going in the near future.
This is the story of the success Game Insight has had and how Darya and her team plan on duplicating that success with NARR8. There is a heft here – a confidence reserved for only those that have hit on something or see something that others don’t and I like it. They have audacious goals of world domination, of building incredible product every single time and of disrupting a staid and insular industry in serious peril and need of new thinking. After listening to this episode you get the sense that they are just starting to hit their stride.
Niche and net new revenue are at the core of mobile. Knowing the audience you are selling to and converting them into repeat (read: loyal) customers is at the core of what Beergram is doing for craft breweries in neighborhoods across the United States. This is the story of Andrea Sanchez and turning her passion for this business into a business unto itself.
Port 200 games in 4 months. That was the challenge put to Sylien Games founder Sylvain Rochon by Microsoft and, like a true entrepreneur, he accepted it. That challenge is what drew me to ask him on the show but I soon found out (as will you) that the story leading to that Microsoft ask is much much more interesting.
There are scores of great examples of it out there but have you ever noticed that very few companies break away from the norm? Most look to the examples that have paved the way and incrementally move the needle forward – not inventing but more closely refining someone else’s invention. This has worked out well for the industry for sure – better user interface = better user experience = better products – but I hope we can break some of the patterns we are seeing and really start innovating at a UX level again.
This is where WillowTree Apps and their VP of Design, Blake Sirach want to play – and doing a fine job incidentally. To do UX properly there needs to be this convergence of timing, need, want and budget which is exactly where Blake and his team found themselves as they began developing the mobile experience for the new, state-of-the-art Barclays Center and the relocated Brooklyn Nets. This conversation, while fixated on how this happened and what they learned, also dives deep into the thinking around the in-game or at-home fan experience. It touches on lessons learned, opportunities still in the queue for development, what the “multi-screen” world may look like and we even dive into an old-fashioned “Apple UX vs Android UX” slap fest.
It has been almost 2 years since we last connected with Todd Greene, since then Loyalize was acquired by Viggle and his new startup PubNub closed their first round of funding (also in December of 2011). This episode focuses on the concept of software as infrastructure, the real-time mobile world, how companies are and will use this technology, the Loyalize story, how PubNub was conceived and the patience it took to wait for the right moment to jump in
Noemie Dupuy, co-founder of Montreal-based Budge Studios shares some of her great insights into approaching and working with brands including their negotiating strategies (simpler than you think), their revenue aspirations, their “all-in” approach to partnerships, their revenue tactics, how they market the games and their competitive advantage (aside from being incredibly smart Canadians).