5 ms·

damn, this guy built a tool for growth hackers to make android app store spam, added gamification when it started failing, then added a pyramid MLM referral sys

damn, this guy built a tool for growth hackers to make android app store spam, added gamification when it started failing, then added a pyramid MLM referral system for users to market it by word of mouth. he's obviously very smart and motivated. it's just kind of sad to me that the ad economy has grown so large that this is the best way for smart young people to make money. i doubt he really hates his product at the end of the day, it's just a catchy way to market it. if he did, he would've walked away when his partner did to freelance some more or do another startup.

kuroguro 8y ago
Yeah, hate is a strong word. Then again helping people build generic crappy apps - which seems like is most of the user base - is probably disheartening. I worked for a SEO company for about a year making SaaS tools to help "analyze keywords", "supply backlinks", "generate content" and other woo woo magic. Waking up and walking to work was fun for only the first month :/ Most of the users made crappy copy-paste websites and did whatever they could to get a better rank on search engines.
- sharemywin 8y ago
  Why not expand it add more features help people create more compelling creations.
  - mosselman 8y ago
    People who copy-paste crappy websites into life don’t lack the _tools_ to create ‘compelling creations’, they lack the will.
mettamage 8y ago
I doubt it as well as a similar story about AppyGen didn't surface too long ago on the front page (couple of months at most). That said, I do think app generators in general are a fun and cool idea. It's his target market more than anything else that makes it a spam machine.
MrStonedOne 8y ago
>a pyramid MLM a single level referral system is not a MLM
jamieweb 8y ago
> best way for smart young people to make money It's like when you see people on YouTube who make horrendous clickbait, yet get millions of views. It's easy to laugh and dismiss them, but financially they're probably rolling in it... Are they the smart ones for exploiting the largest, most lucrative audience (young children who are more likely to watch more of the video before clicking off) and cashing in? Or are they legitimately not self-aware?
- fossuser 8y ago
  I'd guess it's just people reacting to financial incentives. It's a bummer that our society is structured with financial incentives that are so poorly aligned with interesting goals.
  - wpietri 8y ago
    I think it's incumbent on us to change that. Too often something dubious is justified by how much money it makes. But we don't have to buy into it. And we can call it out when it happens. Look at how people treat the statement, "I work at Facebook", for example. It has changed a lot over the last decade. It used to be hot and positive. But I had a friend start just recently. They're doing something worthwhile and entirely unrelated to the many things terrible about Facebook. But they still felt obliged to apologize for it. I'd like to see more of that pressure applied to people who are making money by making the world worse.
    - TeMPOraL 8y ago
      > I'd like to see more of that pressure applied to people who are making money by making the world worse. Yup. 100% agreed. And I want to remind everyone here that putting such pressure is a perfectly legitimate thing to do in market economy. Companies respond to market signals, so if a moral value is not made into a signal - i.e. made to impact sales - it won't get considered.
    - WA 8y ago
      So should I tell other people in my coworking space that I think their job is total bullshit? One or two happen to be in some field that trigger my bullshit alert and I think it’s somewhat sketchy what they do. For example, stuff around network marketing for dietary supplements. I mean, who am I to judge?
andy_ppp 8y ago
It is perfectly possible to be conflicted about your product, in fact caring too much can be problematic for finding real product market fit. He probably does hate everything it stands for but loves building features that solve pain for his users.
- jaredsohn 8y ago
  >but loves building features that cause pain for his users. Amusing typo
  - andy_ppp 8y ago
    Haha, already corrected it as you were typing this, but I’m sure there is a market for an App that deliberately annoys its users (it’s called Windows 10 - ba dum ching).
SlowRobotAhead 8y ago
"I also came to the conclusion that AppyGEN didn’t really help make the world a better place like every other startup I read about. It seemed to me like it was just making the play store a worse place, helping non-developers publish hundreds of unoriginal apps that only took away from the visibility and chances of more ambitious apps." I'm glad he got there in the article. But yes... He's not only doing what I would consider a net harm, but he's aware of it. And all that's before he added the referal scheme to it. His take away at the end is good, don't do it for money (which is easy to say when you're making money), share with people as soon as you can, and be proud of what you're doing. How he got that last one after the realization he's making things worse - I don't know. Do as a say not as I do I suppose? I agree, he doesn't hate this app at all, he's just figured out a way to market it.

kuroguro 8y ago

Yeah, hate is a strong word. Then again helping people build generic crappy apps - which seems like is most of the user base - is probably disheartening. I worked for a SEO company for about a year making SaaS tools to help "analyze keywords", "supply backlinks", "generate content" and other woo woo magic. Waking up and walking to work was fun for only the first month :/ Most of the users made crappy copy-paste websites and did whatever they could to get a better rank on search engines.

sharemywin 8y ago
Why not expand it add more features help people create more compelling creations.
- mosselman 8y ago
  People who copy-paste crappy websites into life don’t lack the _tools_ to create ‘compelling creations’, they lack the will.

mettamage 8y ago

I doubt it as well as a similar story about AppyGen didn't surface too long ago on the front page (couple of months at most). That said, I do think app generators in general are a fun and cool idea. It's his target market more than anything else that makes it a spam machine.

MrStonedOne 8y ago

>a pyramid MLM a single level referral system is not a MLM

jamieweb 8y ago

> best way for smart young people to make money It's like when you see people on YouTube who make horrendous clickbait, yet get millions of views. It's easy to laugh and dismiss them, but financially they're probably rolling in it... Are they the smart ones for exploiting the largest, most lucrative audience (young children who are more likely to watch more of the video before clicking off) and cashing in? Or are they legitimately not self-aware?

fossuser 8y ago
I'd guess it's just people reacting to financial incentives. It's a bummer that our society is structured with financial incentives that are so poorly aligned with interesting goals.
- wpietri 8y ago
  I think it's incumbent on us to change that. Too often something dubious is justified by how much money it makes. But we don't have to buy into it. And we can call it out when it happens. Look at how people treat the statement, "I work at Facebook", for example. It has changed a lot over the last decade. It used to be hot and positive. But I had a friend start just recently. They're doing something worthwhile and entirely unrelated to the many things terrible about Facebook. But they still felt obliged to apologize for it. I'd like to see more of that pressure applied to people who are making money by making the world worse.
  - TeMPOraL 8y ago
    > I'd like to see more of that pressure applied to people who are making money by making the world worse. Yup. 100% agreed. And I want to remind everyone here that putting such pressure is a perfectly legitimate thing to do in market economy. Companies respond to market signals, so if a moral value is not made into a signal - i.e. made to impact sales - it won't get considered.
  - WA 8y ago
    So should I tell other people in my coworking space that I think their job is total bullshit? One or two happen to be in some field that trigger my bullshit alert and I think it’s somewhat sketchy what they do. For example, stuff around network marketing for dietary supplements. I mean, who am I to judge?

andy_ppp 8y ago

It is perfectly possible to be conflicted about your product, in fact caring too much can be problematic for finding real product market fit. He probably does hate everything it stands for but loves building features that solve pain for his users.

jaredsohn 8y ago
>but loves building features that cause pain for his users. Amusing typo
- andy_ppp 8y ago
  Haha, already corrected it as you were typing this, but I’m sure there is a market for an App that deliberately annoys its users (it’s called Windows 10 - ba dum ching).

SlowRobotAhead 8y ago

"I also came to the conclusion that AppyGEN didn’t really help make the world a better place like every other startup I read about. It seemed to me like it was just making the play store a worse place, helping non-developers publish hundreds of unoriginal apps that only took away from the visibility and chances of more ambitious apps." I'm glad he got there in the article. But yes... He's not only doing what I would consider a net harm, but he's aware of it. And all that's before he added the referal scheme to it. His take away at the end is good, don't do it for money (which is easy to say when you're making money), share with people as soon as you can, and be proud of what you're doing. How he got that last one after the realization he's making things worse - I don't know. Do as a say not as I do I suppose? I agree, he doesn't hate this app at all, he's just figured out a way to market it.