I program, sometimes Windows Apps, sometimes Mac apps, lots of Web apps. I am fluent in several languages, new ones and older ones, databases and more.

Most of my social circle are aware of my programming experience, so when they have app ideas they approach me. Always with the same enthusiasm and excitement. These days I play devil’s advocate, most of the time … Apps are not the easy way to make $100,000 as people think. And the first thing people need to start with is their due diligence, before they take another step forward.

1. is your app possible? often I hear ideas that are not possible, or would required hardware not available on the platform as they are envisioning.
2. market research and testing. You have a great idea, your trying to move forward and you havent done any market test yet. At the LEAST you need a market test 50-100 people. Explain your app in the easiest and shortest way possible and get some feedback. Will people pay for your app, honestly or will it be advertising based.

Now the bad news, ideas are cheap and hard work costs hard cash unless your a developer yourself and it still costs you. Everyone has ideas, some people spend countless hours on their ideas building business plans, finding capital, finding talent.

The people in the “know”, they have  tons of their own ideas still to yet be develop. More than likely they know their platforms inside and out, they know what apps are doing well and which apps are not doing well.

Some people are very receptive to the advocate role I play, others are not amused and assume I am just being negative. The fact is I know the amount of work involved in bringing something to market, and so for me to take the risk of my time on a project, its got to be perfect.

I am also completely aware of the risks involved and the risks are large.

heres a story
I believe the year was 2008, the Myspace API/Application platform had reached its peek and start to show signs of wear. I had also had some run ins with MySpace, NewsCorp, and Fox. A lot of smaller developers like myself were leaving and searching for new app platforms. Some people went to Facebook, I was not a fan of the platform, we’ll call this a fail on my part. I landed on the Twitter platform, they had a basicAuth method for their API that was simple to interface with and Twitter was exploding in size. I quickly learned with Twitters Basic Auth my options were endless, I could interface with basicAuth using at least 5 or 6 languages I knew.

I settled on Windows for my application platform. My app was geared towards businesses and MLMs. It did a lot of things, it also pushed the API limits of Twitter, keeping a close eye not to exceed the limits described in the TOS, but if possible it pushed the limits every hour to (limit-1).

It also walked in a lot grey area … as far as following and un-following users, never breaking a rule, but bending it through variables. My app was amazing, it also localized your twitter followers to. If you check out my twitter account @7rex, you will find a majority of my followers all follow certain criteria … mainly … Fresno, Central California, Steelers, Celtics, etc …. I built a massive Twitter network of people who I have like interests with! REAL interests, so many people focus on numbers … rather than the validity of their social network.

I’m losing my focus … back to my app, great app … ran great, had a lot of people playing and testing it … they loved the app, it helped them build quality Twitter social networks.

BOOOOOOM the day … I call it, I spent close to a year of my time and around $75,000 to survive that year with no income and this email comes from Twitter explaining BasicAuth will be depreciated in 3 months time. Which means Basic Auth will no longer be the way applications access the Twitter API.

At this point I think I’m a month from being finish, but it ends up being 3 months and I write in their preferred method of Auth now, but NOW you must receive approval for your app from Twitter themselves! If you read the news you see them pulling apps left and right … so of course my app was denied, I made cosmetic changes and resubmitted, no luck. At this point I find out you can no longer us the twitter search to find me … try it … search 7rex under the normal search.

Anyway I got back and make some procedure changes,  I resubmit … denied again.

So in the end … the whole thing was out of my hands, there was nothing I could do … 1 years time wasted, and it was a long year of late nights and early mornings, 7 days a week work … no joke stuff. Not only did I suffer but everyone around me suffered too as i kept strict day schedules of 99% work.

I believe I could have easily sold 10,000 copies … I mean who doesn’t want 6500 twitter followers of like interests? it was a no brainer and my procedures didn’t involve anything malicious or any tricks. I called it’s methods of operation organic.

The risks are deep, do your home work before moving forward and involving others. Business plan and market research are a must … having an idea and saying you’ll make money off the ads is not a business plan. Just because a 12 year old can do it, doesnt mean all adults can do it … for one a 12 year old has way more free time than you, be realistic.