Jason Shah’s six insights to success in the app world

After 2 years at Yammer, Jason Shah left with a mission to create Do.com, a mobile/online platform that would revolutionise  meetings’ productivity by addressing the time consuming and unproductive dates on people’s calendars and turn them into positive opportunities for collaboration.

By Cherry Martin

With 1.5 millions users, it’s fair to say that Do.com has been nothing short of a big success. Aspiring mobile app development graduates, check out some of his pointers and take note…

1. Ensure you are building a product that addresses a need
   Talk to people to validate your idea,  observe and analyse trends, but most importantly, look at the deficiencies in our world today – Listen  to what people complain about to determine if there’s a need for what you have in mind.

2. Team up with talented people
   I made the mistake of working by myself for too long, and was lucky to build relationships with great partners, as well as a brilliant team. It seriously makes a difference to have that support network and resources, along with a gifted and talented team. No matter how small, a team can take your company that much further.

3. Engage in dialogue with your users
   They are the ones who make or break you as they’re the ones using and (hopefully) benefitting from your product. We make sure to constantly engage our users to understand how we can improve our product by adhering to their needs, rather than vice versa. There are multiple  approaches out there such as feedback calls, research interviews, and surveys you should use to better understand how people currently use your product and, more importantly, how it can be better suited to their needs.

4. Get out there and spread your name
   You can have the best product ever, but if no one knows about it, it’s simply not going to happen. Pitch your company to the press by reaching out to journalists, reporters, and other relatable people. Compile a database of all the relevant people that have written about the industry/need your product is in, and let them know that you’re working on something that could be of interest to them. You’d be surprised how far a cold email can go. That being said, work on a unique angle or story, since writers tend to be bombarded by people pitching them ideas.

5. Actively pursue partnerships
   Partnerships are very important as they are a great way to further your business, through integrations, co-marketing, and more. There are most likely loads of people out there in the market space you’re in – see them as opportunities for both relationship building and taking your business to the next level.

6. The culture defines you
   No matter how big your venture gets, never lose sight of the culture you started with. You simply have to maintain a positive team dynamic by feeding that atmosphere that makes your team so unique. This gets lost so often when companies grow and expand, but if you manage to maintain that sense of camaraderie; it can go a long way.

Jason Shah