Ad tech.how.to.build.a.successful.app.melville.carrie

How to build a successful app:the (7) lessons learned in the journey to becoming the UKs 1st hosted GPU farm

© 2010 Melville Carrie

Who am I?

Melville Carrie

VP, Product Management


For who?


What do we do?

Visual Search


What is Visual Search?

Take a picture of something...

...get information about it!


We created: WINEfindr

The world’s first price comparison App for Wine that uses Visual Search


Featured by: Apple; twice


BBC Radio 1


BBC Something for the Weekend


FIVE The Gadget Show


Dennis iGIZMO magazine


And...

Broadsheets

Local press

Local radio


Lesson #1

Choose your category carefully


Which Category?

Games = mass market

Lifestyle = niche

Wine = esoteric


Lesson #2

Choose your platform carefully


Which Platform?

iPhone/iOS = crowded

Android = geeky

Blackberry/OS6 = niche

Nokia/Symbian = mass market

Windows Phone 7 = new© 2010 Melville Carrie

What about Bada?

Bada = small


Lesson #3

Get close to your client


Client: closeness

Agree specification early

Sign-off continuously

Agree payment (70/30)


Lesson #4

Be Agile


Remain Agile

Design templates (Photoshop)

Code to (agreed) spec

Build continuously

Test immediately


Did I mention...

Build continuously

Test immediately


And...

Build continuously

Test immediately


Lesson #5

Define success


Success?

#1 Downloads

#2 Revenue

#3 Exposure


Perfect world!

Downloads + Revenue + Exposure


Reality: Downloads

WINEfindr <10,000 TD

(Tesco Wine Finder 100,000 TD)

(Waitrose App 220,000 in 4 weeks)


Reality: Revenue

App price – Distributor share – VAT

App price: £2.99

Apple share: 30%

VAT: 15%

Your share: £1.82© 2010 Melville Carrie

Lesson #5a

You are not going to be a millionaire

...least not by making Lifestyle Apps

...on the iOS platform

...with wine as the sub category

...as a unknown brand!© 2010 Melville Carrie

Reality: Exposure

Showcase App for Visual Search

...amazing success

Brought us big brands

...and lots of interest© 2010 Melville Carrie

We created: Tesco Wine Finder


We enabled: centrica App


Reality: Exposure

We started winning things...


Winner: Microsoft BizSpark One


Winner: Geek’n’Rolla 2010


Winner: WP7 Boot Camp


Reality: Exposure

We attracted more brands


Working with: Samsung


Creating: Waitrose Wine Finder


Reality: Exposure

Then we started partnering


Partnering with: Microsoft


Reality: Exposure

And now being nominated


Nominee: Tech Media Invest 100


Nominee: Kemp Little Award


Lesson #6

Be nice...

...and look after your clients

...and they will be nice to you!


“The work Cortexica did for us in delivering this app was

outstanding.”

Nick Lansley

Head of R&D


Lesson #7

Select your host carefully


Which host?

#1 Flexible

#2 Speed / Peer-ing

#3 Service (SLA + global)

#4 Price


Flexible: must be

Able to accommodate GPU servers

Customised specification

Adaptable


Speed: must be

Fast pipe

Low latency (global peer)


Service: must be

Responsive

Guaranteed

Continuous (24/7)

Global presence (expansion)


Price: must be

Competitive

Amortisable

Scalable


Partnering with: Peer1


Build on: nVidia


UKs 1st hosted GPU farm

100 interconnected GPUs

Index 1m frames of video per day

Search billions of images


Lesson learned

#1 Choose your category carefully

#2 Choose your platform carefully

#3 Get close to your client

#4 Be Agile

#5 Define success

#6 Be nice...

#7 Select your host carefully


Remember

Build continuously

Test immediately


...and don’t forget

You are not going to be a millionaire


Questions?

@MadMaxMel

linkedin.com/in/melvillecarrie/


Ad tech.how.to.build.a.successful.app.melville.carrie

Education

Transcript of Ad tech.how.to.build.a.successful.app.melville.carrie