The more you build the more chance of success you'll have - Story of Appydev

Hello ! Who are you and what are you working on?

My name is Jordan Kerr and I'm currently working on appydev.co , thaigigs.com , and others.

What motivated you to get started with? How did you come up with the idea?

I was motivated by following the no-code movement over the past year and decided it was time to get my feet wet. After a few months of just messing around, I realized I could actually build products people would use that are based on no-code. Appydev was built by Fayaz Ahmed in early 2020 and has since gone through multiple revamps.

Can you tell us the story of your business from idea to where you are now?

Given I only took over as Owner in August, it's hard to give you the full story. I noticed one day how beautiful Appydev was to look at and how easy it was to find tools to build things and thought I'd reach out. It lead me inevitably through google search that landed on Microacquire.com. Appydev was for sale! I talked with Fayaz about the vision that I had for the platform and after a day or three of negotiations, I acquired the project from him. Given his knowledge of the platform, he is staying on to continue to build his dream project, I am just the business side.

What has been your biggest failure or struggle?

The biggest struggle we've had so far is retaining users. We're currently building Appydev v3 that will be a more community based website, offering not only tools but many other things to keep our users engaged.

How many hours a day do you work on average & can you describe/outline your typical day?

I work about 12 hours a day, given this is not straight work..that's the normal day. I have a full time job and just building side projects at night and on the weekends. I usually wake up around 5AM and scroll Twitter for news to get my day started. That leads to my morning coffee and to checking the analytics for my projects on the past day. If there's anything concerning or exciting, it gets flagged and checked later on in the day. Once that's done, I move on to my day job (nothing exciting, Data Manager).

And what has been your biggest achievement or success?

Being apart of the success of Shipt.com. Working at a startup in it's infant form is one of the most rewarding but also stressful things I've experienced. Being one of the first fifteen employees at a company that's acquired by a Fortune 500 company was a dream come true. Learning from amazing developers and coworkers there showed me what it took to be successful in life.

Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?

Adding new tools, bringing new value to our users. A lot of the tools we post aren't mainstream so bringing amazing tools to light not only helps the creator of that tool but also our users.

Did you use Betalist or PH or other Startup Launching Platform for Launching ? How was that experience ?

PH! It was a huge success. Got upvoted 748 times and counting still.

What’s your business model, and how have you grown your revenue?

Our business model is simple. We run ads. We run ads only for tools that bring value. No google ads. None of that junk. It's all very clean and privacy-friendly.

What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced and obstacles you’ve overcome? What are your goals for the future?

Creating a helpful and happy community for makers, creators, designers, developers, and people who just live on the internet to meet and share amazing tools, stories, and wins.

Let’s talk about your marketing strategy -- how do you market appydev and grow the service?

100% Organic right now and will probably stay that way. We obviously post on Twitter and Indiehackers but we don't run any paid ads for the site.

Do you have a model to get product feedback? What’s your favorite way to get product feedback? Did product feedback help you get the results you hoped for ?

We take feedback through a submission form. You can contact us directly which we see almost instantly as our bot pings our emails to Telegram. We also have our tool submissions sent to a Telegram group to be notified (automation soon!).

Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?

Yes, don't give up. I wanted to give up after seeing the number drop after acquiring the project but if you continue to add value, your users will see that.

What platform/tools do you use for your business?

We use:

Nuxt JS - The Javascript part

Tailwind CSS - The CSS

Nuxt Content Module - The data is stored here

Hosted on Vercel

Who’s your most inspirational CEO or founder?

Josh Pigford for Indie & Eric Yuan for Big Tech

What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?

At first, it was NoCodeList and NoCode Essentials. Then it ended up being Appydev :) People underestimate Twitter, it has been one of the most beneficial resources on this Indie dev journey. The Art of Negotiation: How to Improvise Agreement in a Chaotic World has been by far the most influential read in my life. It will change your mentality.

What’s your advice for fellow aspiring entrepreneur who are just starting out?

Build. Build. Build. The more you build the more chance of success you'll have. My side projects bring in money but not enough to quit my job, that's why it's still a side project. Also, do what makes you happy. Don't let others dictate what you want to do or who you want to be.