Build apps not businesses.

Re:Build apps not businesses. by DTrejo on Tuesday December 28, 2010 @01:59PM (#2046351)

weird aversion we [...] have to charging money for things

I have exactly this problem right now. I think my biggest block right now is that

try charging money for it before you give it away

is not an effortless thing to do. One has to invest money and time to set up a payment gateway, and then one has the responsibility to respond to customers and maintain the app.

What would you suggest I do in a situation like this?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Build apps not businesses. by ido on Tuesday December 28, 2010 @03:36PM (#2046666)

    One has to invest money and time to set 
    up a payment gateway, and then one has 
    the responsibility to respond to customers 
    and maintain the app.

Setting up a paypal account takes minutes and will be enough in such an early stage.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Build apps not businesses. by MicahWedemeyer on Wednesday December 29, 2010 @08:23AM (#2048614)

Beware lock-in, though. If you're doing 1-time payments it's not so bad, but subscriptions are basically impossible to migrate from one platform to another.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Build apps not businesses. by MicahWedemeyer on Wednesday December 29, 2010 @08:26AM (#2048618)

The payment gateway stuff is a real pain, I'll give you that.

For the rest, your responsibilities don't really change. Either you're going to respond to your users (customers) and maintain the app, or you're not. That has nothing to do with money.

If you aren't planning on supporting an app, you should probably make that clear in the first place. Remember: Your users are investing their time in you, and to them that's worth at least as much as their money.

[ Parent | on HN ]