4 ms·

"Releasing free apps and working on open source programs are great advertisements for selling a product, namely you. (Alternatively phrased: free apps are a los

"Releasing free apps and working on open source programs are great advertisements for selling a product, namely you. (Alternatively phrased: free apps are a loss leader for selling your time.)" This seems like a really backwards approach. If you can code, create a few good paid apps and start generating passive income. Then you'll no longer need to sell your time at all.

benjoffe 16y ago
My first paid app has only got a few hundred people using it. I've gotten a lot of work from people stumbling across my free web apps, which have been used by millions of people. I'm very glad I released free software.
- chaosmachine 16y ago
  Nothing wrong with releasing free software, but if you're going to use it as a promotional vehicle, promote stuff that makes you money while you sleep (paid software), not stuff that eats your free time (consulting).
  - benjoffe 16y ago
    I think this point (about it being good to promote yourself) is aimed at people who aren't yet in a position to get a lot of work (I made most of my free stuff when I was still in school). If someone already can fill their whole week consulting then it's a no-brainer (in which case free software is more for filling a hobbyist desire or whatnot).
chc 16y ago
This sounds like Underpants Gnome planning. 1. Create a few good paid apps 2. ???? 3. Get enough passive income that you'll no longer need to work How is merely creating a good app and charging money for it a solid plan for making more than a few bucks? Unless my understanding of the software industry is very far off the mark, the app has to target a good market, fit that market well, be sold effectively to that market and have a good support system in place that works without you participating — and if you're missing one element, the others have to be hit a lot stronger. Am I wrong in your experience? Contrariwise, free software has no barrier to entry at all. Just being free is a marketing campaign in itself. You're much more likely to get wide adoption with free software, so if you don't feel capable of marketing and supporting a product, it at least is good advertising for your skills.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
  - chc 16y ago
    I don't mean to be disagreeable, but my experience really doesn't bear that out. People want a Web browser, but selling one is a loser's game — even Opera has given up. Ditto for word processors and media players. Your second point is exactly what I was getting at — what you need for a successful product is product-marketing and SEO skills. But that's totally orthogonal to making good software and charging money for it. (Edited thanks to beoba's correction.)
    - beoba 16y ago
      Nitpick: Even opera is free (not Free) these days.
      - mkr-hn 16y ago
        Isn't the mobile version still a paid application?
- jasonkester 16y ago
  Why do you assume that it's easier to get wide adoption of a product if it's free, but not if it has a price tag? If you want your free thing to take off, you still need to market it and do all the other things you describe. The barrier to entry is almost exactly the same, except that with a paid product you need to figure out a way to accept payments.
  - chc 16y ago
    I assume it's easier because most people's experience has shown that it's far easier to get people to take something for free than to part with even a dollar for it. For a real-world example, free app downloads on the iPhone positively dominate paid apps — that's why they have separate "Top Downloaded" lists.
muhfuhkuh 16y ago
"create a few good paid apps and start generating passive income" I think we need look no further than patio11 to see just how hard it is to make "good paid apps" for a living. We love seeing the Angry Birds runaway successes, but it can be a slog and really slow going. People just starting out can work on free apps as a learning exercise during or just after college and get picked up by a big name company doing great stuff. Alot of mobile development companies recruit people based on existing experience making apps. Some app makers push their app development services more aggressively than their released apps (alot of them give their apps away to show off their skills to potential clients). Perhaps the free app maker's ideas aren't polished or just not good enough to stand alone, but the functionality may wow someone looking to take on a technical co-founder or hire a lead developer to produce a bankable product.
random42 16y ago
If you can code, create a few good paid apps and start generating passive income. This is certainly one way (and a valid way), to do it. But not everyone wants to/can sell. Its a completely different skillset and not everyone is good at it. Writing good (free) apps, is good for one's portfolio, which helps in freelancing/job market.
nostrademons 16y ago
It's a lot less work, with fewer ongoing demands on your time, to write a mildly popular open-source library and then get a job at Google than it is to support a micro-ISV.

benjoffe 16y ago

My first paid app has only got a few hundred people using it. I've gotten a lot of work from people stumbling across my free web apps, which have been used by millions of people. I'm very glad I released free software.

chaosmachine 16y ago
Nothing wrong with releasing free software, but if you're going to use it as a promotional vehicle, promote stuff that makes you money while you sleep (paid software), not stuff that eats your free time (consulting).
- benjoffe 16y ago
  I think this point (about it being good to promote yourself) is aimed at people who aren't yet in a position to get a lot of work (I made most of my free stuff when I was still in school). If someone already can fill their whole week consulting then it's a no-brainer (in which case free software is more for filling a hobbyist desire or whatnot).

chc 16y ago

This sounds like Underpants Gnome planning. 1. Create a few good paid apps 2. ???? 3. Get enough passive income that you'll no longer need to work How is merely creating a good app and charging money for it a solid plan for making more than a few bucks? Unless my understanding of the software industry is very far off the mark, the app has to target a good market, fit that market well, be sold effectively to that market and have a good support system in place that works without you participating — and if you're missing one element, the others have to be hit a lot stronger. Am I wrong in your experience? Contrariwise, free software has no barrier to entry at all. Just being free is a marketing campaign in itself. You're much more likely to get wide adoption with free software, so if you don't feel capable of marketing and supporting a product, it at least is good advertising for your skills.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
- chc 16y ago
  I don't mean to be disagreeable, but my experience really doesn't bear that out. People want a Web browser, but selling one is a loser's game — even Opera has given up. Ditto for word processors and media players. Your second point is exactly what I was getting at — what you need for a successful product is product-marketing and SEO skills. But that's totally orthogonal to making good software and charging money for it. (Edited thanks to beoba's correction.)
  - beoba 16y ago
    Nitpick: Even opera is free (not Free) these days.
    - mkr-hn 16y ago
      Isn't the mobile version still a paid application?
jasonkester 16y ago
Why do you assume that it's easier to get wide adoption of a product if it's free, but not if it has a price tag? If you want your free thing to take off, you still need to market it and do all the other things you describe. The barrier to entry is almost exactly the same, except that with a paid product you need to figure out a way to accept payments.
- chc 16y ago
  I assume it's easier because most people's experience has shown that it's far easier to get people to take something for free than to part with even a dollar for it. For a real-world example, free app downloads on the iPhone positively dominate paid apps — that's why they have separate "Top Downloaded" lists.

muhfuhkuh 16y ago

"create a few good paid apps and start generating passive income" I think we need look no further than patio11 to see just how hard it is to make "good paid apps" for a living. We love seeing the Angry Birds runaway successes, but it can be a slog and really slow going. People just starting out can work on free apps as a learning exercise during or just after college and get picked up by a big name company doing great stuff. Alot of mobile development companies recruit people based on existing experience making apps. Some app makers push their app development services more aggressively than their released apps (alot of them give their apps away to show off their skills to potential clients). Perhaps the free app maker's ideas aren't polished or just not good enough to stand alone, but the functionality may wow someone looking to take on a technical co-founder or hire a lead developer to produce a bankable product.

random42 16y ago

If you can code, create a few good paid apps and start generating passive income. This is certainly one way (and a valid way), to do it. But not everyone wants to/can sell. Its a completely different skillset and not everyone is good at it. Writing good (free) apps, is good for one's portfolio, which helps in freelancing/job market.

nostrademons 16y ago

It's a lot less work, with fewer ongoing demands on your time, to write a mildly popular open-source library and then get a job at Google than it is to support a micro-ISV.