iPhone App Entrepreneur

The future of iPhone hacking

Two recent articles cover the future of iPhone jailbreaking, with each taking a slightly different perspective. Which one is right?

Google releases Objective-C Client Library APIs

iPhoneWorld notes that Google has released GData Objective-C Client Library APIs that will allow iPhone developers to take advantage of Google APIs together with iPhones APIs.

App Store News

IntoMobile has a good roundup of tidbits about the App Store’s digital signature requirements and FairPlay DRM. They also compare Apple’s revenue cut and developer costs for the iPhone platform to other companies and platforms, like Danger and Symbian. It appears that smaller developers will have lower costs and keep a greater percentage of revenue through the App Store.

The Process of Business Creation Pt. 2

We continue with Inc. columnist Timothy Faley as he provides insight into the process of business creation. Part 2 discusses how to analyze the feasibility of your business idea.

Are you iFundable?

Stefanie Olsen from CNET News.com interviewed Matt Murphy from Kleiner Perkins about the iFund. If you’re an entrepreneur with big dreams, you might want to check out what potential they’re looking for, where they think the market is heading, and why they believe that the iPhone is going to be big.

The Process of Business Creation Pt. 1

Today we're featuring an article from Inc.com (the online website of Inc. Magazine) by columnist Timothy Faley, Ph.D. Dr. Faley provides insight into the process of business creation, or what steps an entrepreneur goes through in developing each business idea. The first column covers Phase 1: Discovery: the time to identify opportunities and shape them into business concepts.

iTunes App Store revenue models: the basics

A basic introduction to three ways to earn revenue with your iTunes App Store application.

Quick Math

For anyone who's interested, if you price your application on the iTunes App Store at $.99, you need to sell 143 copies to make each $100.00.

Rejecting the iPhone?

Wall Street Journal Business Technology blogger Nick Wingfield suggests in his post "Going Native, or Not, on the iPhone" that not everyone will be jumping on the native iPhone application development bandwagon. With the hype of native apps, it still appears some people will not be developing them.

How is this relevant to entrepreneurs?  Often we get caught up in the hype along with everyone else, and sometimes its better if we take a step back and revaluate what our business is really about. The question may not be "how many people are on iPhones," but "how many of my potential customers are on iPhones?" Someone developing a small game, for instance, might choose the iPhone as their only development platform. But someone with a small productivity application might find better value in developing a web based application, like the blog suggests. If you doubt many of your customers will be using iPhones, then why put in the energy of developing for it? You might be better off developing for the mobile space in general until you have a better idea of how many of your customers are switching.

Yes, you may be wondering why this advice on a weblog intended for iPhone entrepreneurs? Because being an entrepreneur means adjusting to the reality of your business world, not necessarily to what you might want that world to look like.

The size of the unlocked iPhone market

TheStreet has an interesting article on iPhone sales targets and the discrepancy between Apple’s sales numbers and AT&T activations. It appears there is a large number of unlocked phones out there. This is not exactly breaking news, but it raises two interesting points.

Pre-Marketing your iPhone Application on YouTube

Publicity is something every entrepreneur should do, whether you’re planning on distributing your app for free or you want to work up awareness of something you plan on releasing for sale. Getting your name out and people talking about your application with YouTube, or any other video site is a great way to do that.

Idea: the iTunes App Store should have a donate button

The iTunes App Store should allow people to solicit donations at the time of purchase by providing a "donate" button similar to the "buy" button.

How will your app look on the iTunes App Store?

iLounge has a nice article on what applications shown off during the SDK presentation might be released. Even more interesting to me are the close-ups of the iTunes App Store interface. You can see three close-ups: the front page (or category page, I can’t tell), a top 50 list, and a landing page for the Backgammon app. Its you an idea of what sort of icons you might need to develop and how long your copy will need to be. Of course, since you've just read the earlier post about not sweating the small stuff, you'll wait to make those until after your app is done. Right?

Read Twenty-Nine Apple-Shown iPhone Apps: Some Real, Some Possible, Some Not?

Don't sweat the small stuff

ReadWriteWeb has a good roundup of Jason Fried's presentation "Stuff We've Learned at 37 Signals" at the South by Southwest Conference. Its some good advice for developers or entrepreneurs getting hung up on technicalities. Basically, don’t let good things die by sweating the small stuff. Read "Stuff We've Learned at 37 Signals."

Apple should allow developers to sell multiple applications at once

Apple should allow consumers to buy multiple applications with one purchase, thereby allowing developers to include multiple applications at a single price. It’s a corollary to my initial business idea, which you can read more about in the  MacRumors forums. You can also find a roapmap there for starting your own business selling multiple apps.

How big will the iPhone and iPod Touch markets be by June 2008?

We estimate how many iPhones there will be by June, 2008, and calculate what some market share numbers will look like.

How much money can I make with my iPhone or iPod Touch application?

Want to get an estimate for how much money you could make with your application depending on how much you sell and how much you charge? I’ve compiled some tables of what I think will be some common price points, sales numbers and revenues after Apple’s cut. At the end is a short comparison for the approximate sales numbers needed at each price point to make an income of $80,000/yr.

Welcome to the iPhone App Entrepreneur!

I will be covering news and announcements concerning the iPhone and iPod Touch platforms, adding in my advice and ideas, and throwing in an essay or two about where I think the world is heading. Feel free to leave comments or contact me via email. Try to keep comments constructive and informative.

I hope this blog insprires you to start your own company, even if its just a small one. The iFund is starting theirs, why not you? I say that this is the time when the Microsofts and Apples of the mobile world will be born, and I wish everyone good luck.