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The app was only distributed on the French app stores, which is why you may not have heard about it. We're not trying to prevent anyone from creating mobile app

by marwann 11y ago

The app was only distributed on the French app stores, which is why you may not have heard about it. We're not trying to prevent anyone from creating mobile apps, but after spending a year doing so (and sure, making many mistakes on the way), we're just sharing our humble piece of advice

RyanZAG 11y ago
Wait, what? Hang on, this should be the number 1 point of your entire blog post. Honestly, if your post was titled the obvious "Don't make mobile apps only for one region" then you'd be getting a lot of comments saying "Well, obviously". Seriously your problem here is not that you made a mobile app. Your problem is very clearly that you excluded 99% of your user base. Any chance you can explain the reasoning behind this..? I can't even begin to understand it. Outside of government required tax applications, I cannot think of a single successful single-region productivity app ever.
- eljimmy 11y ago
  I am baffled as well. My brain is hurting trying to understand this decision.
  - marwann 11y ago
    It's a decision that may seem obvious for many, many product categories. But I can assure you that regarding anything finance-wise, it's simply impossible to launch an app that that complies with local laws everywhere at the same time, especially without proper funding. Take Quickbooks, it exists for 5-10 years, and they're still postponing their launch in the French market. We've gone global since then, and we've grown in 10 weeks way faster than we did in 1 year.
    - DominikR 11y ago
      One suggestion: Start thinking about details like foreign laws once you actually start to generate significant profit. Before that no one on earth will even care about your product enough to sue you. On top of that it's quite expensive to go to France and sue you there as a foreigner.
      - rdancer 11y ago
        I'd think they meant the state going after them. Not everyone wants to be a carefree outlaw.
        DominikR 11y ago
        I'm not an outlaw because I am ignorant of the laws and regulations of every single state on this planet. I put an app into the store that mainly follows Google/Apple policies/guidelines and does not break any laws in my country and that is sufficient for the start. These policies are reasonable and by following them you will rarely get into trouble in Western countries. Of course some other country might object, then the app might be modified by me for this country or removed. How many apps or website would exist today if checking every law everywhere would be the standard procedure? Probably around 100 websites and 25 apps in total would exist because only big corps can afford this.
        rdancer 11y ago
        If you choose to sell your app in a particular App Store, you're submitting to the law of the jurisdiction it operates in.
        DominikR 11y ago
        No I don't, Google and Apple do. They are distributing the app and are responsible that the content is compliant with all the countries where they sell apps in. Aside from that I don't understand what point you are trying to make here. Are you suggesting that a developer should not release apps without first making sure that the app doesn't comply with any laws of any country?
        marwann 11y ago
        It's both about local laws and local accounting customs. They are so different depending on countries that you almost have to develop a separate system if you want to enter another country. Or you keep it so simple that the value added is close to none...
- rambambam 11y ago
  Just a question. You say the following is obvious. How is that obvious? "Don't make mobile apps only for one region" then you'd be getting a lot of comments saying "Well, obviously"
  - throwawaymsft 11y ago
    "If you want mass adoption, don't build apps with a max penetration of 1% of the global population" seems pretty obvious. Other variations: "If you want mass adoption, don't build apps only usable on Blackberry".
    - rdancer 11y ago
      France is a massive homogenous market with high penetration of their target platform, and large comfortable middle class. It's probably easier to pilot in France than it is in most other markets. And launching globally has non-trivial implications for cashflow & risk.
      - throwawaymsft 11y ago
        I'm sure there are some strategic advantages. But when a French-only mobile app languishes, the lesson isn't necessarily "don't make a mobile app". And it's not something you casually forget to mention in your postmortem (ctrl+f for "France" and "French" in the original article).

by marwann 11y ago

RyanZAG 11y ago

Wait, what? Hang on, this should be the number 1 point of your entire blog post. Honestly, if your post was titled the obvious "Don't make mobile apps only for one region" then you'd be getting a lot of comments saying "Well, obviously". Seriously your problem here is not that you made a mobile app. Your problem is very clearly that you excluded 99% of your user base. Any chance you can explain the reasoning behind this..? I can't even begin to understand it. Outside of government required tax applications, I cannot think of a single successful single-region productivity app ever.

eljimmy 11y ago
I am baffled as well. My brain is hurting trying to understand this decision.
- marwann 11y ago
  It's a decision that may seem obvious for many, many product categories. But I can assure you that regarding anything finance-wise, it's simply impossible to launch an app that that complies with local laws everywhere at the same time, especially without proper funding. Take Quickbooks, it exists for 5-10 years, and they're still postponing their launch in the French market. We've gone global since then, and we've grown in 10 weeks way faster than we did in 1 year.
  - DominikR 11y ago
    One suggestion: Start thinking about details like foreign laws once you actually start to generate significant profit. Before that no one on earth will even care about your product enough to sue you. On top of that it's quite expensive to go to France and sue you there as a foreigner.
    - rdancer 11y ago
      I'd think they meant the state going after them. Not everyone wants to be a carefree outlaw.
      - DominikR 11y ago
        I'm not an outlaw because I am ignorant of the laws and regulations of every single state on this planet. I put an app into the store that mainly follows Google/Apple policies/guidelines and does not break any laws in my country and that is sufficient for the start. These policies are reasonable and by following them you will rarely get into trouble in Western countries. Of course some other country might object, then the app might be modified by me for this country or removed. How many apps or website would exist today if checking every law everywhere would be the standard procedure? Probably around 100 websites and 25 apps in total would exist because only big corps can afford this.
        rdancer 11y ago
        If you choose to sell your app in a particular App Store, you're submitting to the law of the jurisdiction it operates in.
        DominikR 11y ago
        No I don't, Google and Apple do. They are distributing the app and are responsible that the content is compliant with all the countries where they sell apps in. Aside from that I don't understand what point you are trying to make here. Are you suggesting that a developer should not release apps without first making sure that the app doesn't comply with any laws of any country?
      - marwann 11y ago
        It's both about local laws and local accounting customs. They are so different depending on countries that you almost have to develop a separate system if you want to enter another country. Or you keep it so simple that the value added is close to none...
rambambam 11y ago
Just a question. You say the following is obvious. How is that obvious? "Don't make mobile apps only for one region" then you'd be getting a lot of comments saying "Well, obviously"
- throwawaymsft 11y ago
  "If you want mass adoption, don't build apps with a max penetration of 1% of the global population" seems pretty obvious. Other variations: "If you want mass adoption, don't build apps only usable on Blackberry".
  - rdancer 11y ago
    France is a massive homogenous market with high penetration of their target platform, and large comfortable middle class. It's probably easier to pilot in France than it is in most other markets. And launching globally has non-trivial implications for cashflow & risk.
    - throwawaymsft 11y ago
      I'm sure there are some strategic advantages. But when a French-only mobile app languishes, the lesson isn't necessarily "don't make a mobile app". And it's not something you casually forget to mention in your postmortem (ctrl+f for "France" and "French" in the original article).