Morning <<First Name>>,
I'm very excited for this week, as it'll be my first week working on something new. More about that in a later issue.
So what's up this week? Well, have you ever heard about habit tracking? If not, there's a (if I may say so, great) guide below!
Plus in this issue I'll talk about a highly interesting way of doing business: using app stores. And at the end, I cover dreams & timelines (aka dreamlines), and a brief request from me to you.
Wishing you a great week. Enjoy and read on!
Here's a question for you: have you ever tracked your habits?
Whether it's learning a new language, brushing your teeth, or meditating, have you consistently tracked whether or not you did a particular habit?
I have; earlier this year I tracked 10 different habits over a 5-month period. Read more about my experiences and grab the Simple Google Sheets Habit Tracker for a great start of the new year!
→ Read the article here
2. Building App Stores
Lately I've been reading a lot about building (software) products. One aspect I find very interesting is the different business models people use.
One specific type of business model is an app store. When you hear 'app store', the first idea that comes to mind is probably Google Play or the Apple App Store.
However, with 'app store' I mean not just app stores for mobile phones. Rather, I mean any kind of directory where users can go to download extensions, add-ons or applications, whether paid or free, often created by third-parties, for a particular piece of software.
Perhaps this seems a bit vague, but for fast-growing software companies, it seems that creating an app store is a must-have.
Think for instance about the CRM system you use. If it's any of the big ones (like Salesforce.com, Microsoft Dynamics, Hubspot), it has an app store. In this app store, you can download specific integrations with other applications (e.g. between Hubspot and Outlook), that make your life easier.
Similarly, many tools we use daily (some that come to mind: Asana, Slack, Dropbox, Google G Suite, Google Chrome, Firefox, etc.) have an app store in one shape or form.
And it's pretty clear why, as a company, you would want to set one up.
Because many of the app store apps are built by third parties, this means that you can provide your customers with additional features which you don't have to build yourself.
In addition, if users make use of your app store, you can easily find specific areas in which your product is currently lacking. For instance, if your users massively download an integration between e.g. Hubspot and Google Drive, that gives you (as the creator of Hubspot) a lot of information about what the users use your product for. This information could then help you decide which new features you should launch.
Plus, by providing access to (a part of) your software to third-parties, you are teaching others how your software works. This in turn means there are more developers you can potentially source future hires from, and more companies to partner with that know your product well.
Lastly, app stores can generate a kind of lock-in (think path dependence). After all, the more your users use your product and use it in conjunction with other products, the less likely they are to switch to a competing product.
So although it takes some up-front investment (to e.g. build an API), from the perspective of the app store creator, this seems like a no-brainer. But from the side of the third-party developing new apps and integrations, things aren't all fun and games.
As a developer wanting to release an app, there are often strict regulations you have to adhere to. Plus, in cases like Apple's app store, if you're selling the integration you've developed, you often have to pay a percentage of sales to the app store.
But perhaps more important is the total dependence you have on the app store creator. To stick with the previous example, suppose that Hubspot decides to add a Google Drive integration to the core of its product, which is as good (or better) as the one you developed. In this case, you may lose all your users and your hard work has been for nothing.
But despite these obstacles, app stores are here to stay. They are a very interesting way to do business, gain traction from third-parties, and offer new functionalities to users without having to develop them yourself.
3. And then some — Dreamlining
As I said last week, I'm re-reading Tim Ferriss' 4-Hour Work Week. One aspect of Tim Ferris' book covers Dreamlining.
Dreamlining is the concept that you write down your goals/dreams in life, and create a timeline for them.
It can be anything — whether you want to own a house in the Maldives, ski in the Himalayas, be a professional race driver, whatever.
The idea is that by writing down your dreams, and specifying exactly what you would need to achieve them (in terms of money or time investment), they become more tangible.
What I like about it is that 1) You can think of the craziest ideas possible, and 2) to an extent, dreamlining makes your goals achievable.
For example, one of my dreamline goals is to find a great (and well-known) business mentor. After defining the exact steps needed to get one, I now have a few people I want to approach, and simply need to send a first email.
So there's a lot you can do with dreamlining, and even if you may not reach any of your goals, it's a fun exercise. There's much more to say about the topic, but I'll leave that to Tim Ferriss.
4. And then some more — A Request
This is the 8th time I'm sending this newsletter, and I've received a lot of positive feedback so far.
So if you enjoy this newsletter, I have a small request:
Could you please forward this email to one or more friends who you think would enjoy reading it?
Simply forward this email and include a message like:
"Hey X, I'm subscribed to the Unrestricted newsletter — a weekly email for curious people. I think you might like it, so take a look and subscribe! Cheers."
If you could do that, I would be very grateful.
Thank you in advance and see you next week!
Jochem
P.S.
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