Independence

Pants optional.

This podcast is no longer in production.

47: Expectations

Published 26 February 2019 • 36 minutes, 30 seconds

Part of running a business is dealing with your customer’s expectations, and this is no more evident than in the App Store. Alice, Curtis and Jelly chat about how their users expect everything, including particular language support, new services for syncing, and the dreaded Android version… but are all these expectations worth delivering on?

46: Hiring a Developer

Published 12 February 2019 • 27 minutes, 16 seconds

At some stage, it’s entirely possible that you might end up needing to hire a developer to help you finish your project. Alice is considering going down that path with Gus on the Go, so she looks to Curtis and Jelly for advice on how to prepare, what to look for, and what makes for a good contracting experience.

45: Launching an App

Published 29 January 2019 • 35 minutes, 18 seconds

There’s a lot that goes on when launching a new app: marketing, feedback… and watching the sales chart desperately hoping that things go according to plan. Heidi Helen Pilypas and Ish Shabazz join the show to talk about the recent launch of Capsicum, along with all the excitement and horror that ensued.

44: Doing What You Love

Published 15 January 2019 • 30 minutes, 1 second

There are a lot of benefits to doing what you love as an indie, but there are also many things that you don’t consider when you try to turn your hobby into a career. Alice, Curtis and Jelly look at the things that blindsided them when turning their interests into products, and honestly ask themselves… do they still love what they do?

43: Lessons Learned in 2018

Published 1 January 2019 • 34 minutes, 8 seconds

While they ring in the new year, Alice, Curtis and Jelly look back at 2018, with all its highlights, failures, lessons… and how it differed from everything they’d expected back when it began.

42: Freemium

Published 18 December 2018 • 37 minutes, 11 seconds

If you’re selling apps, odds are you’re going to go down the freemium route: offering the app for free, but charging for something within the app itself. Of course, this business model comes with a whole bunch of ins and outs that you have to navigate if you want to succeed, so Alice, Curtis and Jelly look at how they’ve managed their apps, what’s worked for them, and what’s failed miserably.

41: Learning from Startups

Published 4 December 2018 • 27 minutes, 7 seconds

Startups and independents have a lot in common, but they differ in a lot of ways too, and the approach one takes to creating a product doesn’t necessarily serve the other particularly well. Alice, Curtis and Jelly compare their approaches to the typical startup, and figure out what they could potentially apply to their own businesses, and what to avoid at all costs.

40: Community

Published 20 November 2018 • 35 minutes, 11 seconds

We all need connections with other people, and so much about creating a product involves being in touch with the community of people who love it. Alice, Curtis and Jelly look at how fostering a community around their products could be beneficial… and a lot of work.

39: Guiding Users Through Change

Published 6 November 2018 • 31 minutes, 4 seconds

Change is inevitable, but unless you bring the people using your product along for the ride, you’re going to find that at least some of them are going to get left behind. Alice, Curtis and Jelly take a look at changes they’ve made to their apps, how they’ve approached them in the past, and ways to mitigate problems.

38: Beta Testing

Published 23 October 2018 • 37 minutes, 4 seconds

It can be time-consuming and difficult to get good feedback from people, but it can make a world of difference for the finished product. Alice is starting to think about how to approach beta testing with Gus on the Go, so Curtis and Jelly try to share their experiences to help make her job just a little easier.