Strategies & Principles

I'd like to share a few helpful "mental frameworks" that have really made a difference for me in my 10-year journey as an app developer and entrepreneur.

I've categorised these into either Strategies and Mindsets.

LMAO: Launch → Monetise → Advertise → Optimise (Strategy)

Launch

First things first, you gotta Launch your product. Don't even try to make your MVP perfect, there's simply no time for that. Don't add a ton of features. Keep it simple. Get your product out there ASAP, find customers and listen to feedback from early customers. Doing it any other way can really waste several months (or even years) of your life. In some cases, you'll feel like coming back to sanity after 6 months of intense coding, just to realize you've been following a completely wrong approach that doesn't fit the market demands.

Monetise

Once your app is live, it’s time to Monetise. Think about pricing strategies, understand what your customers value, and look for ways to maximize your sales. You need to consider all the different ways to upsell users and increase your ARPU as much as possible.

Advertise

Next, you need to Advertise. You need to spread the word about your product, get out there and don't hold back. Oh but you're an introvert you say? Guess what. No one cares. You need to do whatever it takes to find the people who would be interested in your product, no matter where they are. Be as loud as you can be and learn how to sell. In my opinion, start off with Google & Facebook ads, but don't stop there. You might get discouraged if the CPC/CAC is too high on your Facebook Ads for example. Don't lose hope. Keep experimenting with other marketing channels, different ad creatives, bidding targets etc. to get your product in front of as many eyes as possible.

Optimise

Finally, it’s time to Optimise. What should you optimize? Product, Pricing and Marketing. It is not sufficient to optimize one of these. You need to optimize them all. Optimize your product & pricing to keep churn low and paid conversions high, thereby increasing ARPU. Optimize your marketing to find more customers and keep the CAC as low as possible. Just to give an example, one common way to optimize your product might be to internationalize it by translating your app to more languages in order to reach a larger audience. In order to optimize marketing, you could do the same thing for your ads by translating your ad creatives and targeting. Another common example would be A/B testing your product's UI and seeing if you can increase conversions that way. Ideally, you should always be A/B testing your ad creatives and seeing which ads people are responding best to. Optimization never stops. Keep experimenting and improving. If you don't, you'll eventually fall behind.

SOFA: Simplicity, Overview, Focus, Action (Mindset)

Simplicity

The SOFA framework starts with Simplicity. Keep things straightforward and avoid overcomplicating stuff. Simple plans and strategies are easier to communicate and execute. Life is already complicated enough, there's no need to make it harder than it has to be by overthinking.

Overview

Next, keep a good Overview of your business. Understand the big picture and how everything fits together. Regularly check in on your overall strategy to spot any issues or opportunities.

Focus

Focus on what’s most important. It’s easy to get distracted, but staying focused on your key goals will drive your business forward. Set clear objectives and put your energy into achieving them.

Action

Finally, take Action. All the planning in the world won’t help if you don’t follow through. Make sure every strategy leads to concrete steps and that your team is on board to make it happen.

DDDM: Data Driven Decision Making (Mindset)

Data Driven Decision Making (DDDM) is all about making choices based on data instead of just gut feelings. There’s so much data available that can give you insights into customer behavior, market trends, and how your business is running. Using this data can help you make smarter decisions, instead of relying on guesswork.

Benefits of DDDM

• Calmer Mind: Focusing on facts helps you avoid the need for hope, which puts you in an anxious state.
• Better Predictions: Spotting trends in patterns helps you predict what might be coming next.
• Factual Overview: Keep your eyes on the facts. Be prepared for the worst. Don't let life shock you.

TEMA: Time Effort Money Analysis (Strategy)

Time Effort Money Analysis (TEMA) is a great way to prioritize what you should be working on based on how much time, effort and money it will take. We only have two things in life. Time & money. We need to invest these two resources intelligently. This is essentially what we do everyday, even though we may not be conciously aware of it.

Time

Look at how much time a task or project will take. Think about deadlines and how this fits with your other goals. Remember that time is the one thing you can never get back. This is your most prized resource. Don't waste it. Figure out the optimal way to spend your time. Always look for ways to improve how you spend it.

Effort

Consider the effort needed. This includes how complex the task is and what skills are required. If you know it will take a lot of effort, see if you can partner with someone to get it done faster. Imagine you need to carry a huge rock. Why do it alone? Even if you're able to do it, you won't be rewarded more for doing it alone. And it will surely take you longer than if you found someone to partner with who could help you carry the rock. Life is a multiplayer game.

Money

Always analyze the financial cost of any potential action. But remember, even if you're in a situation where you feel like money is worth more than time, that will never be true, due to the fact that you can always make more money, but your time is finite. Just be sure to avoid going into debt if you can.

Balancing these three elements helps you make smart choices about where to focus your energy.

DLC: Delegate, Leverage, Compound (Strategy)

Delegate

Delegate tasks to the right people. Don’t try to do everything yourself. By delegating, you free up your time to focus on what’s most important and let others handle what they’re best at. For example, delegate design tasks to a designer instead of trying to do it yourself if you're a marketing guy. What he can do in 1 hour might take you 10 hours. Don't waste your time. It's precious.

Leverage

Leverage your resources. This means making the most of what you already have, whether it’s technology, partnerships, or existing skills. Use what you’ve got to amplify your efforts. Utilize your current resources to the maximum and crank up the dial to maximize your returns.

Compound

Compound your efforts by building on gains over time. Consistent, focused actions lead to big results in the long run. It’s all about staying persistent and continuously improving.

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These "mental frameworks" like LMAO, SOFA, DDDM, TEMA, and DLC, have helped me personally whenever I've faced complex issues. They help me maintain perspective and stay logical.

Hope you find these insights helpful as well. Now, get out there and crush it. 🚀