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Great post.

The other issue is that in this economy with a good many “safe” jobs and companies folding, going independent might actually be the safer choice. Quitting a “safe” job and free-lancing might be just the impetus it takes to force a person to develop the skills and connections necessary to survive in a turbulent market.

I have a good friend that left a very prominent and “safe” job at a leading Wall Street firm 5 years ago to start his own company. At the time, his friends and colleagues thought he was nuts. He doesn’t look nearly so crazy now. His company is booming while many of his former colleagues are now going to interviews for new “safe” jobs after their firms collapsed.

Now that the first game is out however, this nagging thought popped up: it’s all a big lottery. Sure, developers do make money from their products, but aren’t they the tip-of-the-iceberg-lucky-ones? Hoping to win the lottery is not a very viable business model in my opinion. How does the 99,98% below the waterline fare? For every rock star there are thousands of (equally good, or better) struggling musicians.
I don’t like nagging thoughts…
So, work on game #2 was started, I think perseverance has a higher chance of success.

Jakko
PebbleBug Studios

If that analogy holds true.

@mach – yep. the 100%-150% of your income is a much more personal area of comfort and drive. You are taking risks moving to your own business. And it’s a very personal decision.

arn

Great article. Great to see that we are an inspiration to some (and a befuddlement to many more).

I think the reason most people are negative about people quitting their dayjobs to work on iPhone apps is that the App Store started out mostly for hobbyists. People writing apps in their spare time, and a few then hit it big. I’m sure that lots of people who HAVE hit it big on the App Store have NOT quit their jobs. And that’s perfectly fine. Running a business is not for everyone. It’s not just about income. Even if you have a $100k/year job and make $1M on the App Store, many people will still hold on to the safety of the day job. It’s individual preference.

On the other hand, Keith and I have actually talked of starting a business for a long time. If it wasn’t the App Store, we would have done something else. The App Store gave us an opportunity to start a business *that was profitable from day 1*. That is a luxury that 99% of businesses don’t have. Many people invest their life savings into starting a restaurant; starting a software company; starting a daycare center; and the list goes on. Some would say those people are crazy, and many entrepreneurs certainly are. But hey, no guts, no glory, right?

And finally, as far as risk, Keith and I left higher paying jobs to work on Imangi Studios. We’re very well aware of the risks, and we did not go into it blind with optimism. But we did always want to start a business, and this is the perfect time in our life to do it, since we have no debt and no kids. If we can’t make it work, we’ll do something else. But we’re working hard and hoping for the best. And I’m already addicted to our next game, and I think many other will be, too

Natalia from Imangi Studios

arn

But an even bigger factor for me is that as a hobbyist developer, I can develop whatever I want without having to worry about sales. For example, I designed my second app around the fact that my wife and I wait around a fair bit (at the airport, at the doctor’s office, etc.). So I made a game that’s really casual that two people can play with one iPhone. That’s not a big market as most owners are by themselves when they’re using their device, so I would guess that it’s not going to sell many units.

But that’s okay, because it’s just a hobby for me and I enjoy writing apps that are a little different, if not as universally appealing. It’s rewarding enough that some people have tried it out and also really liked it. But if this were my sole source of income, I’d have to focus on something more commercial. “Quitting the day job” would turn a hobby into a job and when you’ve got a job, you don’t always get to do what you want.

Point 4) in your list therefore shouldn’t be the amount of money you hope to make, but the amount of money you reasonably expect to make – considering that only a few gaming apps are truly successful financially, the expected income would be much lower than the potential income and clearly lower than Ethan’s safe income as a programmer.

Given the choice between $0 and $100 (with 10% chance) or the safe option of getting $10, many people will choose the latter. Particularly if there is more than just oneself to care about (if you need to support a family).