14 Web App Survival Tips
(Learnt the hard fuckin’ way)

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survival kick ass

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Computer Science degree
Carsonified founder
Built four web apps
Building a fifth: Truvay.com
Sold two

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#1
Don't build your billing
system from scratch
Spreedly.com?

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#2
Engage in the community
from day -63
You should be conversing on Twitter,
Facebook, your blog and at events
waaaaaaay before your launch

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#3
Plan on A/B testing
from the start
Especially on your home and signup pages.
bit.ly/ab-test

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What small change will
yield a 200% increase in
signups?

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200% increase in signups:
“See plans and pricing”
vs
“FREE Trial”

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#4
Create a new company
100% owned by your current company

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#5
Make invoicing simple
Use Xero.com and integrate with their API

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#6
Charge in $ US Dollars

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#7
Watch out for exchange
losses and gains

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#8
Choose your merchant
account carefully

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#9
1-click admin functionality
One-click refunds.
One-click password reset with an email sent out.
One-click resent invoice.
Make it easy to give customers “credits”.

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#10
Use GitHub
Smart code repository hosting

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#11
Usability happens
during wireframing
balsamiq.com

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#12
Obsess over your numbers
Pageviews, conversion rates, cost of acquisition per
customer, time to upgrade to paid,
revenue-per-head and % profit

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#13
Use your app every day
and do the customer support for the first 12 months

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#14
Get passionate
If you’re not fanatical, why would anyone else be?

6 Tips for easy acquisition

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#1
Don’t plan on
getting acquired

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#2
Create a separate account
for Google Analytics

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#3
Start the domain
transfer early

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#4
Plan on spending $20,000
on lawyers and accountants

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#5
Do some serious
tax planning
We paid zero corporation tax on the DropSend sale

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#6
Expect to devote 100% of
your time to the sale
for 4+ months

Thanks!
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