Raam Thakrar - Touchnote presentation for TheBigM
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Presentation given on March 21st, 2011in Bath, UK App distribution and monetisation - the only things more important than lines of code Raam is currently co-founder and CEO of Touchnote, an m-commerce start-up selling photo postcards cards. Touchnote recently announced a distribution deal with Sony Ericsson that will see the app embedded on multiple handsets and integrated into the camera and gallery. Raam's previous varied experience is in strategy and management consulting in London, Washington DC and Central America.
Raam Thakrar - Touchnote presentation for TheBigM
- 1. App distribution and monetisation - the only things more important than lines of code Raam Thakrar @raamthakrar
- 2. There is a massive opportunity in apps if you can combine thinking around product, proposition, and the problems that the gatekeepers are facing 1 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 3. How to make money as a (brand-less) developer 2 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 4. Touchnote: photo postcards from your mobile phone. 3 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 5. Back to basics ≒Key questions that we all should be thinking about: Why does a consumer buy a phone? What part do I play in this decision? How can I make a little more money? OEM Operator OS Software Retailer 4 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 6. The view from where Im standing ≒Handsets are increasingly the same ≒Operators are all pretty similar ie I get signal ≒The OS across handsets is identical eg Windows Phone 7 on multiple OEMs ≒Software is one of the best ways to differentiate Adopting a me-too strategy will not differentiate you 5 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 7. So, what are most of the distributors doing? ≒Not paying for content anymore ≒Pushing the ubiquitous apps that are now hygiene factor ≒Not making any money out of this ≒Not differentiating from competitors ≒Not communicating, clearly, what they want from developers are willing to give in return 6 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 8. Developers its a hard world ≒App developers do not make an ROI on their time ≒Why not? Its very dif鍖cult to get distribution Real monetisation models are very rare 7 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 9. Mobile developer deserve to be treated like rockstars ≒ Application Systems Architect w/ 5 years experience 8 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 10. Well, at least as much as bankers do ≒ Private Banker w/ 5 years experience 9 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 11. So, if youre a developer what are your options today? ≒Develop for a big brand ≒Develop your own stuff in your own time on the chance that you strike gold (by chance) ≒Err, thats it 10 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 12. So developers, what would I do if I were you? Note I am you. 11 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 13. Heres what we do Well give you the world if you give us distribution 12 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 14. Specifically, Touchnote gives ≒Fanatically happy customers ≒A tangible and emotional way to show off the phones hardware ≒Money. We have a revenue model. Which means we have margin to share. 13 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 15. Our humble suggestions 14 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 16. There is a fundamental shift to a new software paradigm where apps and content have become more important for success in smart- phones and tablets, away from hardware alone - Shaw Wu, industry analyst, Kaufman Brothers San Francisco 15 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 17. Developers this smells like opportunity ≒If you can leverage this new paradigm OEMs and operators should pay a lot of attention to you There are a lot of phones to get pushed onto You can impact revenue indirectly directly generating money 16 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 18. If you successfully identify big picture trends, it only comes down to timing and execution 17 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 19. In mobile, much more than on web, distribution is everything 18 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 20. "It has to look better than it works." - Russell Beattie, Strategic Technology Marketing Manager, Nokia" 19 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 21. Developers, think big! 1. Develop an app that consumers love and thus in鍖uences consumer choice 2. Get in the way of money - provide the big players with a revenue stream 3. Develop apps that make phones look relevant (and incredible) eg made-for-mobile (Layar, Shazam) 4. Forget niche 20 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 22. Conclusion apps can have a much bigger impact than your little world 21 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 23. Building a product that really sorts out other peoples problems could be highly lucrative 22 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 24. Making an ROI on apps is very dif鍖cult without the help of a distributor 23 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 25. Know your customer / customers. Its probably not just the end user. 24 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 26. If you cant smell money, go and 鍖nd someone to help you that can 25 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 27. Were recruiting awesome devs of all shapes and sizes 26 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
- 28. Thank you @raamthakrar 27 Con鍖dential. Copyright Touchnote 2011.
Editor's Notes
- #3: If theres only one thing you remember, it should be this.
- #4: So, what am I going to talk about today? Lets be clear, this isnt about this stuff as a hobby. This is about making money. And you lot, self selecting audience that is here on a Monday morning to be at a mobile dev conference, are not interested in mediocrity. Rule the world of go home and let someone else do it.
- #5: Who are we? This is the 30 secs to give you an idea of who we are and what we do.
- #6: Take it back to basics what are the fundamental drivers of this business. What are the different powerful players thinking about? Remember the value chain ie who are the different players that build the products that go into peoples hands. What situation are they in, what are they worried about?
- #7: So, some opinions this is how we at Touchnote see it. So for us developer types its really important to understand what these distributors are thinking about and in part, Im lumping together OEMs and Operators.
- #8: End of OEM & Operator sympathising and bashing. Now, lets look at developers
- #9: I know that youll use examples such as Angry Birds to prove that it can be done right. Note Angry Birds was Rovios 52 nd title. The company had been trying and trying to find a hit since 2003. Really, no disrespect to Rovio, but Id much rather find my hit in less than 50 products. So lets think of you as individuals
- #10: As Cheryl says, youre worth it. You people are in demand. Much as I might not like it err, we employ mobile devs supply and demand means that you make an impressive amount of money. Note these figures are from salary.com and assuming that youre based out of Washington DC in the USA.
- #18: - for the distributors you can generate Revenue (ie both initial purchase of phone and contract and ongoing loyalty) - Directly generating for the distributors
- #19: And a few more points for you to factor in
- #20: There are too many people who just dont think about distribution when coming up with the concept of their product
- #22: Some specific lessons for you guys