Constant Variables

The Jed Mahonis Group has been building mobile apps since 2012, and we've tripped over many hurdles when launching iOS apps. Tim and Rob share their tricks of the trade for building apps specifically for iOS, so you can learn from our mistakes and successfully navigate Apple's unique roadblocks. (And if you're looking to build an Android app, our next episode has you covered.)

Minnesotans love to talk about Minnesota, and nothing proves that more than PodMN's collection of over 760 Minnesota-focused shows. Jeremy Sinon and William White of PodMN join the show to discuss the custom podcast platform they built to help Minnesotans discover all the great audio entertainment Minnesota has to offer. They talk about what it took to build a podcasting platform from scratch, how they deal with a huge amount of data to create a curated, personal touch inside the app, why they chose to build their apps natively, and tricks they've learned from the radio industry on how to retain listeners.

Building an app is easy. Building a business is hard. Sean Casto of app marketing agency PreApps joins the show to discuss how your app's initial success doesn't rely on its unique features, but on how you market it and present it. Sean breaks down both organic and paid marketing strategies to grow your users and make more money, where user acquisition models play into each strategy, and how it all boils down to understanding your data.

When it comes to design, simple is not bad; simple is good. Amber Christian of Wonderly Software Solutions has worked really hard at making her product Bella Scena simple to use, and she joins the show to discuss a design process few people are talking about and even less are doing: Human Centered Design. She shares some practical applications of Human Centered Design, how continuous integration (CI) can save your developers tons of time, lessons she learned in the ERP world, what to do when you receive contradictory pieces of feedback from your users, and the pros and cons of bootstrapping a business.

Solving the technical challenges to make learning fun is the specialty of Andamio Games, and its President, Adam Gordon, joins the podcast to chat about the unique infrastructure challenges educational game developers face, from funding to design to feedback. Adam shares why partnering with textbook manufacturers might not be the panacea Tim thought it would be, how to incorporate feedback from both educators and students, and what grants can do to boost your organization's chances of success.

The "Don't Repeat Yourself" (DRY) development approach of writing code as simply as possible to make it reusable can also be applied to standardizing and automating workflows to reduce repetitive patterns. Virtual CFO and software expert Susan Boles joins the show to discuss the evolution of automating workflows and how the process doesn't start with software. Susan shares actionable tips on where you can get started with automation, what to work on after you've automated the low-hanging fruit areas of your business, like onboarding and delivery, why you should work with virtual C-Level persons like CTOs and CFOs, and how you can find experts to help you take your business to the next level.

Building a successful app requires both art and science work in harmony. CTO Brad Ash joins Tim on the podcast to discuss the development of Fruitful, a fertility mentorship service he co-founded with his wife. Brad chats with Tim about the personal story that led to the creation of Fruitful, how difficult it is to supervise yourself when you're building out the software, the importance of user feedback and focusing heavily on the user's experience, and how to give users a reason to be excited to use your app.

Accelerator programs can have a measurable impact on your business's growth, but when is your business ready to join one? Tim interviews Kate Evinger of gener8tor Minnesota, and she breaks down what accelerator programs can do for your business and your community, along with how to vet the right program for your business.

Business owners often wear multiple hats, but to scale a business, you need to take off some hats, so to speak, in order to focus on growth. Tim chats with Stephanie Scheller of Grow Disrupt on the first steps to take when thinking about growing your business, how to decide what parts of the business to focus on, and how to properly use outsourcing to scale.

Social engineering is a catch-all phrase to describe the various ways criminals trick you into giving them access to your system or confidential information. Because humans are prone to relying on their cognitive biases when making decisions, social engineering can be very effective. Tim talks about the most common types of social engineering attacks and some tactics to implement to ensure you stand the best chance of protecting yourself from yourself (and from your employees accidentally making a mistake).