3 ms·

This is fascinating from a startup funding point of view, especially the rather bracing bluntness in the last paragraph ("Are they going to fuck things up?").

thegrossman 12y ago
Heh, the check's already in the bank. What can they do to us now? (Just kidding. I actually ran the post by them and they had no issues at all -- I'm honestly not sure what I would have done if they did have a problem with it).
- chipotle_coyote 12y ago
  Well, if things don't go well, the Long Now has a terrific bar you can drown your sorrows at! But seriously, it's an interesting matchup.
- shawn-butler 12y ago
  Sent an email before I realized you comment here. "This team of several dozen engineers, scientists, and wackos have helped farmers figure out when to fertilize and plant crops" What was this ag project of theirs that you mention in your blog post? I can't find anything. Sounds pretty interesting.
- guiambros 12y ago
  Congrats! Incredibly happy for you guys. I was an early backer on Kickstarter, and really looking forward to the next chapter on Dark Sky's evolution.
jbigelow76 12y ago
That was very enlightening. I'm surprised that a there have been enough one time purchases through the app store to cover two developer's salaries, Apple's commission, and a hundred-ish Linode servers over the course of three years. I would think with a one time purchase each user becomes increasingly unprofitable (until they eventually reach a negative LTV) and the operation becomes untenable. Does Forecast.io monetize in ways other than the Dark Sky app? (I admit only being vaguely aware of them as a non iPhone user)
- thegrossman 12y ago
  Dark Sky is kind of an expensive app, as apps go: $3.99. Which means we have a small percentage of the market, giving it a very different growth curve from free apps. Our rate of revenue has been slowly increasing since we launched. And since our market share is so low, I don't see us running out of potential customers any time soon. (And to answer your other question: Forecast.io makes some money, but not much. And we do have an increasingly large revenue stream in our data API)
  - cryptoz 12y ago
    Hi Adam, this is a fascinating post, thanks for writing it! I'm Jacob, of PressureNet, and in fact Dark Sky is the reason I'm still building weather software! You beat me to consumer-focused radar postprocessing (I was working on this using McGill's radar data in 2010, and stopped when you launched) and you did a really good job - such a good job I took a look around and started collecting barometric pressure data in a new attempt at making the best hyperlocal weather forecast! You and your team are inspiring. :) I'd be thrilled to talk about your data API and forecast tech, especially if you're considering working with phone sensors to improve your forecast models. I'm jacob@cumulonimbus.ca, have a look at http://pressurenet.io http://pressurenet.io if you're interested. Thanks for building great products and writing great posts!
    - wensing 12y ago
      CEO of Riskpulse here. I've been through all of the monetization trenches for weather software and we are now capitalizing on real demand in B2B/enterprise. If either of you guys ever want to connect to talk shop or (in)formally partner or share ideas, let me know: matt@riskpulse.com

thegrossman 12y ago

Heh, the check's already in the bank. What can they do to us now? (Just kidding. I actually ran the post by them and they had no issues at all -- I'm honestly not sure what I would have done if they did have a problem with it).

chipotle_coyote 12y ago
Well, if things don't go well, the Long Now has a terrific bar you can drown your sorrows at! But seriously, it's an interesting matchup.
shawn-butler 12y ago
Sent an email before I realized you comment here. "This team of several dozen engineers, scientists, and wackos have helped farmers figure out when to fertilize and plant crops" What was this ag project of theirs that you mention in your blog post? I can't find anything. Sounds pretty interesting.
guiambros 12y ago
Congrats! Incredibly happy for you guys. I was an early backer on Kickstarter, and really looking forward to the next chapter on Dark Sky's evolution.

jbigelow76 12y ago

That was very enlightening. I'm surprised that a there have been enough one time purchases through the app store to cover two developer's salaries, Apple's commission, and a hundred-ish Linode servers over the course of three years. I would think with a one time purchase each user becomes increasingly unprofitable (until they eventually reach a negative LTV) and the operation becomes untenable. Does Forecast.io monetize in ways other than the Dark Sky app? (I admit only being vaguely aware of them as a non iPhone user)

thegrossman 12y ago
Dark Sky is kind of an expensive app, as apps go: $3.99. Which means we have a small percentage of the market, giving it a very different growth curve from free apps. Our rate of revenue has been slowly increasing since we launched. And since our market share is so low, I don't see us running out of potential customers any time soon. (And to answer your other question: Forecast.io makes some money, but not much. And we do have an increasingly large revenue stream in our data API)
- cryptoz 12y ago
  Hi Adam, this is a fascinating post, thanks for writing it! I'm Jacob, of PressureNet, and in fact Dark Sky is the reason I'm still building weather software! You beat me to consumer-focused radar postprocessing (I was working on this using McGill's radar data in 2010, and stopped when you launched) and you did a really good job - such a good job I took a look around and started collecting barometric pressure data in a new attempt at making the best hyperlocal weather forecast! You and your team are inspiring. :) I'd be thrilled to talk about your data API and forecast tech, especially if you're considering working with phone sensors to improve your forecast models. I'm jacob@cumulonimbus.ca, have a look at http://pressurenet.io http://pressurenet.io if you're interested. Thanks for building great products and writing great posts!
  - wensing 12y ago
    CEO of Riskpulse here. I've been through all of the monetization trenches for weather software and we are now capitalizing on real demand in B2B/enterprise. If either of you guys ever want to connect to talk shop or (in)formally partner or share ideas, let me know: matt@riskpulse.com