A common myth among individuals who want a career or already have a career in programming is that they must build a unique application that will sweep millions of people off their feet and rake in billions of dollars for them.
The truth, however, is that many programmers try to develop platforms and applications, spending years making them unique and appealing to certain consumer bases they always risk ending up with a failed venture.
In an effort to make a mark, the application market gets filled up with applications ranging from basic applications to nearly useless ones. Great volumes of choices lead users to opt for the simplest forms of digital ease they are looking for.
In some instances, the most unique applications garner the attention they were created for, but this happens on rare occasions. An example of this is Snapchat’s success. The platform was the first of its kind, making it a consumer magnet. Its success led other platforms to mimic its function.
How can we say basic apps have higher chances of making the cut?
Data from Business of Apps show that around 80 to 90 percent of mobile applications developed and put out in the market for public use get abandoned after the first use. In other words, they work like single-use plastic.
It was also found by the same source that the average mobile application out in the market has chances of losing 77 percent of daily active users in the span of three days after installation.
There are a few reasons behind a developed application’s failure such as:
- Lack of market demand research
- No business models
- Incorrect marketing strategy
- Dedicated the application to a weak consumer base
- Wrong launch timing
On the greener side of the pasture, there are programmers who made the good turn of opting for simple and straightforward applications. The likes of Elon Musk and the others prove that simplicity is one of the ways that can lurch a career in programming to great heights.
How did programming launch the careers of today’s elite programmers?
It is no secret that one of the best paths to success is to be able to meet the demand of paying consumers. Today’s way to prosperity is learning a skill that is in demand and using it to meet the increasing and expensive needs of the masses.
The digital age consumer’s demands gave way to the billions that were collectively earned by today’s programming elites. What is more interesting about these entrepreneur’s success stories is that they made their fortunes while they were under the age of 30.
Tech world’s Elon Musk, the man behind SpaceX and Tesla, started by founding Zip2 in the year 1995. He opened it along with Kimbal Mask, his brother. Zip2’s primary function was to give and license city guide software to newspaper companies with mappings and direction codes provided by the Musk brothers through the use of Java. Zip2 found success in contracts with The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune.
Four years into its founding, Zip2 was acquired by Compaq which gave Elon Musk the financial capacity to co-found X.com which eventually turned into payment giant PayPal. After eBay’s billion-dollar acquisition of PayPal, Musk went on to put up the current SpaceX and Tesla.
We’re not playing favorites here. There are plenty of famous programmers who made it by selling what they developed to big corporations. But Elon Musk, like any other entrepreneur, was partly backed by grants, whether private or public.
How did grants help build the careers of entrepreneurs?
Government agencies, non-profit organizations, and private businesses set aside funds for grant provision that can fund any venture they chose. They encourage grant applications from individuals and organizations alike.
The process of picking the right grant awardees is a tedious process—it requires these stakeholders to hire grant writers with an excellent background in the industries they wish to award grants to.
A grant award can set off a business idea that will launch the career of its founders. It is considered a hallmark of budding entrepreneurs with the inability to properly fund their projects.
Are modern-day programmers’ successes reliant on the funding they receive?
Insufficient financial backing can halt a project for a long time to the point that the developments become obsolete as time passes. It is safe to say that one of the essential parts of the drive to success in entrepreneurship is obtaining sufficient funding for the right product.
Financial support alone cannot guarantee an entrepreneur’s success, but what they put out in the market can.
