3 months ago I wrote a blog post titled So I’ve Invested In An iPhone App which was picked up on Hacker News where I asked for advice on an issue that was affecting the company. Essentially what happened was that I had invested in an iPhone application where 2 of the co-founders were being head-hunted by Apple, Google & Facebook. I received some great advice from members of the Hacker News community however unfortunately 2 members of the team have now departed and we’re down to 2 people (myself and 1 of the original founders).
While this did initially set us back and have the companies fate in limbo, we’re now moving forward faster than ever with a lot of the applications design completed and a landing page already up (see: www.capptureapp.com). When I originally invested in the company my role was fairly simple and could be compared to as a silent partner: I would provide capital and advice if needed. Since the departure though, I’ve taken on a bigger role and while it does eat up a lot of time, I couldn’t be happier with the way things are going. Granted we’re without the original developer & a designer, it’s not something that will stop the progress of the app.
The co-founder I’m working with is an extremely talented UI designer and we plan on taking this as far as we possibly can, and then we have a crucial decision to make: do we invite a developer in for a share in equity or do we hire a developer? Obviously this will be a hard decision so we’ll leave it for the time being and see how things work out. One thing is for sure: Apple, Google & Facebook won’t be interfering anymore!
2 Responses
Hire in talent in the short term, and if they work out, then you can offer them a chance to buy a share of the business. Basically you get to give them a test run to see if you can work together or if they are up to scratch with what you need.
Good to see you working on something interesting. Have you got a return projection model done? Just wondering if you are going to charge for the app, work in a little advertising or do a instagram and get so big you get bought out by one of the big players? (which would be nice, but lets face it, you cant base a business plan on that)
Hire. Of course the capital investment is going to be larger, but if you really believe in the product you are creating; giving them a percentage share of the end result may cost you more.
Another way to get things done, which you’ve probably already considered, is micro-outsourcing.
You hire programmers on oDesk for pennies – but you get them to code very specific parts of the application which will not give away your resultant product. You then hire someone trustworthy to put it together. I have done this for sensitive projects I have wanted to develop quickly on a budget.