I made this presentation for a couple of friends of mine from B-School who are mostly from Finance and Non-Tech backgrounds. As part of my turn to talk about my past work, I thought it would be helpful to give them a high level view of how complex the development process can be for a B2C app. While a lot of the exchange happened through my personal experience and challenges, this presentation complemented what I spoke about and kept the flow going from one step to the other. Hope you find this useful. Do feel free to share with others.

1. From Idea to Mobile App
Jaideep Tibrewala
2023 July

2. What does it take to build an app?
Step One
0-3 mths
Problem Statement
Design - wireframes +
visual designs
Usability testing - user
feedback on prototype
Step Two
3-6 mths
Recruit the team
Define Technical
architecture
Infra Setup
Step Three
9-12 mths
Develop the app
External APIs
Testing and QA
Compliance check
Step Four
3-6 mths
GTM Strategy,
Operations and
Support / Admin
Functions
Step Five
0-3 mths
Launch App
Analytics & KPIs
Talk to Customers
Note: All timelines are approx. Many steps can be started in parallel.

3. Problem Statement?
● It clarifies the problem you are trying to solve
○ Personal experience, Situations from work,
your buddy’s idea
● It requires you to validate that the problem you
are trying to solve has a need
○ Why should they buy your product / service?
● It can help you to communicate effectively with
your team what the goals are as well as the
intended audience (marketing website)
Prompt: man presenting problem statement for his mobile app idea

4. Stages of Design + Usability Testing
A well built app will go through the following stages
● Wireframing / Low-fidelity Design
● Prototyping / High-fidelity Design
● Design Template
● Visual Design
● UX Design
● UI Design
● Usability Testing
Low-fi Design Hi-fi Design Visual Design

5. Recruiting the Right Team
Design Lead
Graphic
Designer
UI Designer
UX Designer
Tech Lead
Backend Devs
Frontend Devs
DevOps Engr
Project Mgr/
Scrum Mgr
Auto QA
Engr
Manual QA
Engr
Aso Prod Mgr
Prod Analyst
QA Lead
Product Mgr
Full Stack Dev
Tech
Recruiter

6. Technical Architecture
A well defined architecture will incorporate:
● Multi-platform architecture
● Building reusable components
● Scale and Performance
● Segregation of services
● Access and Security
● External Integrations
● Ease of Use and Maintenance

7. How does an API work?
An application programming interface is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with
each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software

8. Developing with Agile, Scrum and Sprints
● Agile - methodology is a project management
approach that involves breaking the project
into phases and emphasizes continuous
collaboration and improvement
● Scrum - is an agile project management
framework that helps teams structure and
manage their work through a set of values,
principles, and practices.
● Sprint - is a short, time-boxed period when a
scrum team works to complete a set amount
of work.
Source: atlassian.com

9. Building the Supporting Ecosystem
Operations
Panel
HelpDesk
Tool
Data
Analytics
Marketing
Website
Content
Mgmt Tools
External
Services
API
Integrations
Devops
Services
Mobile / Web App
Application Layer
Database Layer
Core App
Cloud Services

10. Launching the app
Register on the Apple Appstore and Google Playstore
● Create an account
● Create your store listing (design + mktg)
● Satisfy all requirements to publish your app
● Upload your app for approval
● Submit your app for review
● Pray that it doesn’t get rejected !!!
● Activate your store listing
● Update your website with store urls

11. Metrics, KPIs, Analytics and more
Acquisition
Activation
Revenue
Retention
North
Star
Metric
Referral
AARRR
Framework
Sales Metrics
Marketing
Metrics
Product
Metrics
Finance & HR
Metrics
Operations
Metrics
Revenue, Transactions, Conversion
Ratios, etc by Product, Region, etc
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC),
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV),
Click-through Rate (CTR), etc
Engagement Metrics, Adoption
Metrics, Net Promoter Score (NPS),
Churn Rate, etc
Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)
Score, Response Time, Resolution
Time, etc
Runway, Burn Rate, Gross Margin,
EBITDA, Employee Satisfaction and
Engagement, Employee Turnover
Ex.
10Cr
AUM
in
Year
01

12. Jaideep Tibrewala
jtibrewala