Next Big App

⁠⁠Read the Newsletter Issue #77

We kick things off by debunking 2025’s biggest myth: that open-source AI is cheaper. A new study by Nous Research reveals that once you count actual tokens consumed, closed-source APIs are quietly saving you money, with open-source models burning 1.5 to 4 times more tokens and costing up to 10 times more for simple tasks. Learn why "token discipline" is more critical than a model's sticker price, and how to measure the total cost per solved problem, not just per token.

Next, we dive into "The Battle for Your Face," exploring why the next tech giant won't win the smart glasses war with more features, but with invisibility. Discover the four non-negotiable strategies for success: killing the bulk, owning one core use-case, making privacy a tangible feature (like a physical shutter), and pricing like eyewear, not iPhones. The goal? To make users forget they're even wearing tech.

Need to 10X your daily output? We reveal a quick hack: a 30-second AI "micro-agent" ritual that turns your one objective into a 3-bullet game-plan, a Slack reminder, and a calendar block, saving you ~45 minutes of decision fatigue daily. Plus, get 14 actionable tips to keep momentum alive, transforming how you approach projects – from shipping "half-done" work and rewarding yourself for starting, to embracing "ugly drafts" and using AI to generate ideas you'd never conceive on your own.

Finally, learn how to turn your phone into a business by monetizing the apps and data you already use every day. We illustrate how "invisible automation" can generate income from your Notes app, Camera Roll, Spotify history, AirPods, and even your banking app, showing you how to monetize the "horse you already have" instead of hunting unicorns. We also touch upon the fascinating concept of AI designing bizarre new physics experiments that actually work, bypassing human bias and leading to breakthroughs physicists never considered.

Tune in to reshape your understanding of AI, leverage invisible tech, and master productivity for unparalleled efficiency and performance!

⁠Read the Newsletter Issue #76

Are you frustrated by months of work and ballooning budgets leading to a product launch that the world greets with a shrug? The issue often isn't the idea itself, but a lack of focus

We're diving deep into The One-Day Sprint That Could Stop Your Next Big Mistake: the Bullseye Customer Sprint. This powerful method, refined by Michael Margolis of Google Ventures, is fast, practical, and surprisingly low-cost, yet it delivers the kind of clarity most leadership teams pursue for quarters. Think of it as speed-dating for product-market fit.

It focuses on a precise segment of your market that is experiencing the problem you solve right now—urgently, painfully, unmistakably. We'll explore examples like Amazon starting with "book lovers" instead of "online shoppers" and Netflix focusing on "DVD-by-mail film buffs" rather than "entertainment consumers" to illustrate this specificity. This level of narrow focus fosters team alignment, accelerates execution, and uncovers unexpected opportunities.

Discover the 5–3–1 Formula at the heart of the sprint: 5 carefully chosen customers plus 3 radically different prototypes plus 1 focused day equals clarity that most teams fail to achieve in six months. And here's where today's leaders have a unique advantage: artificial intelligence digital product development tools mean your "three prototypes" can be ready in mere hours, not months, at a fraction of the traditional cost! This method works because you don't debate who you think the right customer is—you watch them respond in real time.

We'll walk you through how to run this impactful sprint:

• Start with the Hard Questions (45 min): Gather your leadership team to ask, "What's the single riskiest assumption we're making?" and "What would have to be true for this to be a runaway success?"
• Define Your Bullseye (30 min): List 7 hyper-specific customer attributes, including inclusions, exclusions, and recent triggers, then cut the list until it feels "too narrow."
• Recruit Your 5 People (1–2 hrs): Use screening tools or personal networks. If recruiting is difficult, it's a critical early insight that your market might be smaller or different than you imagined.
• Build 3 "Ugly but Clear" Prototypes (2 hrs): These can be mockups, slides, or process outlines. They should be distinct enough that anyone can tell them apart, focusing on clarity over polish, using tools like Canva and Loom.
• Conduct the Interviews (5 hrs): Dedicate half the time to learning about their world and the other half to comparing the prototypes, noting what excites them and why.
• Watch & Debrief (All Day): The entire core team watches live, takes notes, and meets for 15 minutes after each interview to discuss surprises and emerging patterns.
• Vote & Vomit (30 min): At the end of the day, everyone writes their top 3 insights, which are then clustered to "kill, commit, or cluster."

Hear a compelling example: a team initially targeted "remote SaaS founders" but, by 4:07 p.m. on sprint day, discovered their true early adopters were first-time remote founders who had just raised a seed round but hadn't hired operations yet. This new "Ideal Customer Profile" (ICP) was 1/20th the size but showed 10x the willingness to pay, leading to a dramatic conversion rate jump from 2.4% to 11% overnight after rewriting their landing page.

This sprint is a game-changer in several key situations:

• Before committing a major budget to a product, campaign, or service.
• When entering a new market and your assumptions are shaky.
• When growth has stalled and you're unsure why.
• When customer feedback is vague and you need clarity now.

Most businesses don't fail from lack of opportunity, but from chasing too many at once. The Bullseye Customer Sprint helps you stop guessing, align your team, and act with precision. Instead of months of meetings, you can invest just one day to identify the customers who will make or break your next big move. Tune in to secure your future focus—and revenue

⁠Read the Newsletter Issue #75

Have you ever seen an ambulance waiting outside an emergency department, lights still flashing, knowing that every minute counts for both the patient and the crew? On this episode, we delve into a quiet but groundbreaking experiment at Lyell McEwin Hospital that proves you don't need a new billion-dollar wing to fix hospital bottlenecks – you just need better timing.

Join us as we explore the Adelaide Score, a "tiny AI" that lives within existing patient records and answers one crucial question: "Is this person ready to go home tomorrow?". We'll discuss how this lightweight algorithm digests vitals, blood work, and ward notes, flashing a percentage – green for "start the paperwork," yellow for "one more day," and red for "slow down". With over 80% accuracy in predicting patient discharge readiness within 24 hours for general-surgery patients, this tool is a game-changer.

Discover the impressive results from its four-week trial:

• 6.5% shorter patient stays – translating to an entire extra bed free every afternoon on a busy surgical ward.
• A 2% reduction in readmission rates, ensuring patients aren't rushed out prematurely.
• $750,000 saved at one hospital, projecting to roughly $10 million annually if scaled across all South Australian public hospitals.

Hear firsthand how it feels "on the floor" from charge nurse Sarah, who explains how the Adelaide Score transforms her day, allowing her to prep patients for discharge by 9 AM instead of "playing detective" at 4 PM, ensuring beds are ready by the time ambulances arrive.

We'll also explore why this matters to everyone: fewer queues at triage, faster handovers for paramedics, and reduced overtime for hospital staff. Plus, learn how this intelligent system gets sharper with every discharge, much like Spotify personalizes your music.

Finally, we'll look at what's next for this innovative technology, including a state health department green-light for a rollout to every public hospital next year, and its compatibility with major systems like Cerner and Epic for broader adoption.

Read the Newsletter Issue #74

Discover how AI can transform your most persistent business bottlenecks into on-demand, AI-powered capacity, much like the groundbreaking "Taxfyle" approach.

In this insightful episode, you'll learn about how AI is revolutionizing:

• Month-End Close & Reconciliation: Cut close time by 70% and redeploy accountants to higher-value tasks.
• Invoice Processing & AP Workflow: Replace full-time employees and process thousands of invoices with near-perfect accuracy.
• Payroll & Benefits Reconciliation: Shrink payroll teams and drop error rates below 0.1%.
• Expense Report Audit & Fraud Detection: Catch significant duplicate claims and flag anomalies before reimbursement.
• Client Onboarding & KYC: Reduce time to first trade from days to under 15 minutes.
• Contract Review & Clause Extraction: Cut outside-counsel spend by nearly 40%.
• Financial Forecasting & Scenario Planning: Generate thousands of scenarios and provide instant sensitivity tables for CFOs.
• ESG & Carbon Reporting: Produce audit-ready reports in days instead of weeks.
• Customer Support Ticket Triage: Drop average handle time by 35% and boost customer satisfaction.
• Regulatory Change Monitoring: Stay ahead of dozens of rule changes without adding staff.

We'll also break down How to “Taxfyle” Any Workflow in 5 Steps, covering how to:

• Map the Bottleneck.
• Pick the Right AI Layer for structured tasks, pattern recognition, or drafting.
• Integrate, Don’t Rip-and-Replace existing systems.
• Train for Exceptions, Not Basics to upskill your team.
• Measure & Iterate for continuous improvement.

Understand the New Capacity Equation, where AI allows you to scale the work, not the headcount, turning your team from processors into reviewers and advisors.

Ready to release the pressure valve on your biggest pain points? Tune in to learn how to "Taxfyle" your next bottleneck with AI!

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Read the Newsletter Issue #73

The tech world is buzzing with a "magic promise": the ability to build your own mobile app without writing a single line of code, a direct path to launching your million-dollar startup from your couch.

With tools like Cursor and Lovable AI-powered code editors, the message seems clear: "You bring the idea, the AI will handle the rest". But is this promise a genuine opportunity, or is it a ticking time bomb in inexperienced hands?

In this episode, we flip the coin on AI app builders. While they are fantastic for simple internal tools or quick prototypes, we dive into the critical question: How reliable, secure, and stable is an app built in a few days by someone who doesn't understand code, using only AI tools?

Join us as we reveal the "Red-Flag Checklist" for AI App Builders – ten "unknown unknowns" that can turn a weekend MVP into a multi-month firefight. You'll learn about:

• Vendor-Lock & “Digital Vanish”: The risk of your entire codebase and database being pulled if your relationship with the platform ends, leading to migration costs estimated at $50K – $250K.
• Data-Portability Black Holes: The challenge of exporting complex data models or custom integrations, often making re-coding from scratch cheaper than migration.
• IP Ownership “Time-Bomb”: How AI-generated code may fall into the public domain under current U.S. copyright law, meaning competitors could legally clone your features.
• Infringement Liability: The risk of lawsuits due to copyrighted snippets in training data, with most AI builders offering no indemnity.
• Security Debt Out-of-the-Box: Up to 32% of AI-generated code snippets contain known vulnerabilities like SQL injection or hard-coded secrets.
• Performance & Scalability Ceilings: Real user reviews noting slow performance on projects exceeding 10k lines of code or 1k concurrent users.
• Maintenance Nightmares: AI code often being a "60-70% solution" that breaks with new features, requiring human reverse-engineering.

We also share harsh lessons from the field through two real-world case studies encountered by MVP development agency App Genie:

• The Platform Trap and the Digital Void: A business devastated when their "low-code" platform relationship ended, leaving them with "literally nothing" but an App Store account, having lost all access to their database and servers.
• A Beginner's Mistake, a $2,000 Bill, and a Broken App: How a lack of technical expertise led to an OpenAI API key being stored client-side in an AI-built app, resulting in a $2,000 rogue bill and an app where new features broke old ones, making it completely unusable.

Discover why expertise still wins. A professional firm like App Genie doesn't shun AI; instead, they wield AI intelligently, using it as a lever while auditing, securing, and optimizing AI-generated code. They emphasize that security and scalability are non-negotiable foundations of any project. Learn why the "cheap" DIY route can end up being far more expensive than investing in a professional MVP service for $5k-$10k, which acts as an insurance policy for a secure, functional product.

Before you hit "deploy" on your next big idea, make sure to ask yourself the questions from our TL;DR Checklist: Can you export the full source? Are all secrets stored server-side? Do you have copyright over the AI-generated logic? Has it been load-tested? Can you redeploy quickly if the platform dies?

Ultimately, this episode prompts you to ask: Who are you trusting with your dream? An algorithm or an artisan? Learn how top developers today act as "expert pilots," using AI as a powerful co-pilot to build better, faster, and safer than ever before.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Read the Newsletter Issue #72

In this special episode, we present a comprehensive guide for executive decision-makers, startup founders, and small business owners seeking to dramatically boost their teams' efficiency and performance.

First, we explore "The Robot Revolution in Your Dinner Plate," an impactful case study highlighting how the whispers of automation in the food industry are becoming a tangible reality. We discuss how the emergence of self-driving cars and robotic chefs signals a fundamental shift poised to disrupt traditional restaurant models. Discover how companies like Travis Kalanick's Cloud Kitchens are already leveraging sophisticated operations where ingredients are precisely dispensed, sauces applied with unerring accuracy, and finished orders are sealed and placed into lockers for autonomous pickup. This level of automation significantly reduces the need for human labor, which typically accounts for a large portion of a restaurant's operating expenses. We'll delve into how the integration of these highly automated kitchens with autonomous delivery vehicles creates a powerful synergy, slashing costs by replacing expensive human drivers—potentially converting 30% of labor expenses into a mere 7% automation cost. The discussion culminates with the "final frontier": robots that can grill burgers and cook meals entirely on demand, offering unparalleled speed and consistency, and potentially challenging traditional groceries with restaurant-quality meals at unmatched convenience and prices. This segment offers crucial takeaways for every entrepreneur, including:

• Cost-Benefit Analysis of Automation: Looking beyond the initial investment to focus on long-term savings and increased output.
• Identifying Pain Points: Pinpointing your biggest bottlenecks or highest costs as prime areas for automation to make a significant impact.
• Embracing Cross-Sector Inspiration: Not limiting your thinking to your own industry, but adapting groundbreaking changes from elsewhere.
• Focusing on Synergies: Combining different technological advancements or processes to create more powerful and efficient systems.
• Enhancing Customer Value Proposition: Leveraging automation to improve customer experience through lower prices, greater convenience, or higher quality.

Next, we reveal the fascinating world of behavioral economics and how a seemingly simple dice roll can power a 30% sales surge! Learn the genius behind Dishoom’s "roll a 6 and eat for free" promotion, which demonstrates how variable rewards can nudge customers to spend more and even show up earlier without feeling pressured. We dissect the three psychological engines that hum in perfect sync behind such successes:

• Commitment Bias: Once diners decide to "gamble," they're already picturing the free meal, making extra orders feel justified.
• Scarcity & Urgency: A cutoff time, like the 6 p.m. deadline, creates a mini-deadline that pulls traffic from slower shoulder hours.
• Social Proof Loops: Every Instagram story of a lucky customer becomes a free micro-ad, keeping the "funnel primed".We then explain how these same psychological circuits can be "hijacked" by tech products—from subscription apps offering "mystery boxes" of premium features to fin-techs running limited-time cashback dice rolls at checkout, and loyalty programs staggering surprise tiers to keep "dopamine dripping". We offer actionable advice for applying this in software, such as treating probability like a budget, capping exposure, A/B testing the odds for profitability, and using push-notification teasers to hard-wire excitement into daily active use.

This episode underscores that growth isn't left to chance; it's engineered. Tune in to discover how quickly you can leverage these lessons to transform your own entrepreneurial endeavors.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Read the Newsletter Issue #71

In this eye-opening episode, we delve into the seismic shifts happening in the advertising world, propelled by the dizzying pace of artificial intelligence. We explore how AI is not just a tool but a force fundamentally reshaping creativity and the balance of power in the industry.

Key Takeaways You'll Explore:

• The Rise of the "Technology Curator": Discover why large, established advertising agencies like TBWA\Istanbul are transitioning from purely creative powerhouses to "Technology Curators," connecting client brands with cutting-edge tech startups and simplifying the complexity of the future for them.
• The Battle for Attention: Learn how tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Meta are generating ready-to-deploy advertisements in seconds using AI, creating an insatiable, always-on, supercomputer that traditional agencies must now compete with.
• Mind-Bending Innovations & Predictions: We'll dive into fascinating, sometimes unsettling, glimpses into the future of advertising, including:
• The AI Advertising Dystopia or Utopia? We'll tackle the profound ethical implications and "red flags" emerging from these advancements, exploring potential futures where:

Join us as we navigate this brave new world where AI is not just colonizing wallets, but also our emotional climate, shared memories, and even our genetics. The future of advertising is both incredibly bright and unsettlingly dark—the outcome depends on the attention we pay to today's "red flags".

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Read the Newsletter Issue #70

In a world supercharged by artificial intelligence, yesterday's revolutionary innovation is today's common tool, and the relentless pace of change means that traditional five-year plans are largely a waste of time.

If companies don't make a strategic pivot, they risk quickly becoming undifferentiated, unvalued commodities, making this, quite simply, a matter of survival.

This episode, drawing on insights from Selim Yörük, author of The Next Big App newsletter, introduces a vital strategic concept: becoming a Technology Translation Bridge.

Tune in to discover:

• What a Technology Translation Bridge company truly is: An organization that doesn't just keep up with rapid innovation, but actively interprets, simplifies, and implements cutting-edge technologies and emerging trends directly for its customers. Instead of trying to out-innovate tech giants, you pivot to become the essential link and trusted guide for customers overwhelmed by new AI models, blockchain, and immersive experiences.
• Why this strategic shift is critical for your survival:
• How to operationalize this vital positioning: Learn the key steps, including deeply understanding your customers' evolving needs, rapidly identifying and partnering with innovators, simplifying and demystifying complexity, and building direct channels and communities for implementation and education.
• The transformative payoff: By embracing this positioning, you move beyond the constant treadmill of feature parity and price wars. You become an indispensable, strategic partner to your customers, selling them their future—simplified, actionable, and realized.

This strategic pivot is no longer an option; it's a necessity. Will you be swept along by the current of change, or will you be the Technology Translation Bridge that guides your customers confidently into the future, making the complex simple and the future actionable?

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Read the Newsletter Issue #69

In this episode, we unpack the alarming predictions and current realities of AI's job-transforming power:

• Expert Warnings: Hear from leaders like Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who warns AI could eliminate half of entry-level white-collar jobs within 1-5 years, potentially skyrocketing unemployment to 10-20%. Anthropic employees even believe all white-collar jobs could be automated in 5 years due to cost savings. Avital Balwit (Anthropic Head of Administrative Affairs) suggested just 11 months ago that the next 3 years could be "the last years of work," especially for online roles like copywriting and customer service. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated in a private meeting that over 70% of jobs could be eliminated by AI, emphasizing its unprecedented speed. DeepMind Co-founder Mustafa Suleyman calls AI a "labor-replacing tool" in the long term.
• Is the Future Here? Concrete signs are emerging in today's business world. Companies are increasingly turning to "AI-First" transformations to save costs, leading to rising unemployment for recent university graduates. The Fiverr CEO shocked employees with an email stating, "AI is coming for your job. For all jobs, even mine," stressing the need to master AI tools. Business Insider laid off 21% of its workforce as a clear "AI-first" example, and Amazon's "Robot Revolution" aims to eliminate low-level, repetitive tasks. Even Barack Obama has voiced concerns about the AI job apocalypse for new graduates, urging public discussions on solutions like Universal Basic Income (UBI).
• World Economic Forum Insights: The "Future of Jobs Report 2025" confirms employers expect AI and big data to transform business. While 92 million jobs could be lost, especially in administrative roles like data entry and cashier positions, an estimated 170 million new jobs could emerge in fields like AI and green technologies. A significant skills gap is also a major obstacle for employers.
• Your Risk & Action Plan: Jobs at highest risk include entry-level white-collar roles, customer service, and copywriting—essentially any online job with standard processes. Safer jobs require physical skills, complex human interaction, or highly specialized expertise, such as plumbers or high-level strategic roles. The AI revolution's incredible speed means normal economic adjustments can't keep up. The most crucial advice is not to compete with AI, but to learn to work with it. As NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang says, "You won't lose your job to AI, but you will lose your job to someone who uses AI". Master AI tools, learn to guide AI systems, and combine AI's capabilities with uniquely human skills like creativity and emotional intelligence to secure your future.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone seeking to understand, prepare for, and thrive in the rapidly approaching future of work. How prepared are you for this significant change?⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Read the Newsletter Issue #68

In an era defined by rapid technological change and unprecedented competition, what truly remains valuable? In this episode, inspired by Selim Yörük's insights in The Next Big App Newsletter #68, we dive deep into "The Trust Economy", exploring why human connection and trust are becoming the ultimate currency.

Join us as we explore:

• The Power of Promise: Drawing on marketing guru Seth Godin's philosophy, we distinguish between a mere logo and a truly impactful brand—which is defined as a profound promise to its users. We ask the critical question: are you building something indispensable, or just another transient offering?
• Beyond AI Features: While AI adoption is surging, we reveal why its mere presence isn't enough. The real differentiator isn't having AI, but how a company leverages it to fulfill a unique and remarkable promise to its users.
• The Indispensable Human Touch: Discover compelling statistics that underscore the enduring power of genuine connection.
• Lessons from Trust-Building AI: We examine how brands like Claude.ai are carving out distinct identities not through flashy features, but through their commitment to "kindness and humility", building trust even in a crowded AI landscape. We learn that a negative experience with a chatbot can even push 30% of consumers to purchase from a different brand.
• Building Remarkable Brands: Ultimately, Godin's philosophy boils down to intentionality and empathy. Learn how to make every decision deliberate, rooted in a deep understanding of your user's needs, to build products and brands that genuinely improve lives and become truly "remarkable"—worth talking about, advocating for, and ultimately, worth missing.

Tune in to understand how in a world reshaped by AI, connecting with people and building trust still remain the keys to lasting success. This episode is a must-listen for executive decision makers, startup founders, and small business owners looking to boost efficiency and performance by prioritizing what truly matters.