Despite the positive-sounding headline, the NYT article was actually negative in tone, starting off with a joke about how an Android developer making $1-$2 per day on his app was laughed at by his peers, while insisting "that's pretty good money!"
The blows against Android then continue with a quote from Matt Hall, co-founder of Larva Labs, who talked about the problems with Google Checkout. Then Rovio's (maker of Angry Birds) Peter Vesterbacka complained about the challenges of developing for such a fragmented environment. And then it was Hall again, with a quote that's already getting repeated on Apple-watching blogs like John Gruber’s Daring Fireball:
"Google is not associated with things you pay for, and Android is an extension of that," said Mr. Hall of Larva Labs. "You don't pay for Google apps, so it bleeds into the expectations for the third-party apps, too."
There Are Ways to Get Paid
If you want to debate the merit of the above statements, feel free to head to the comments section, but we feel the need to point out the obvious miss from the NYT article: there are alternative revenue streams for developers besides direct app sales. (After all, even Google's "free" services aren't actually free - they're monetized through advertising.)
We recently highlighted some findings related to this matter earlier this month. For example, research from mobile ad company Millennial Media found that Android ad revenue has, for the first time ever, beaten iPhone ad revenue on the company's ad network.
At the time, we wondered why, given the lower ad impression numbers (as compared with iPhone/iOS). As it turns out, Millennial's Michael Avon had some thoughts on the matter. Besides the fact that there is simply less ad inventory amid soaring demand on Android, he also shared that Android is currently a "hot" platform for advertisers as it allows them to reach first-time smartphone buyers and a more diverse set of consumers.
"We believe some advertisers are paying a premium to reach those users early in their smartphone experience," he said. "Our advertisers have also shared that Android allows them to reach a diverse set of consumers across all major carriers, making the platform highly desirable and increasing demand for the platform...With more advertiser demand per each available impression on Android, it resulted in more revenue per impression."
The NYT article also makes brief mention of the lack of an in-app purchases model for Android, another disappointment for developers, especially since we recently learned that in-app purchases generate more revenue than ads, in some app categories.
However, as we also noted last week, developers don't have to wait on Google to implement an official in-app purchase mechanism, because there are several third-party solutions already available, including Boku and Zong for virtual goods and PayPal's in-app purchases technology for physical goods.
NYT had one good thing to say about Android development: because of the store sizes (100K vs 300K apps/Android vs iPhone) it's easier to get noticed in the Android Market today than it is in the iTunes App Store. Well, at least there's that.
Justin Hartfield of WeedMaps is about as ballsy as entrepreneurs get. I mean that as a compliment. Not only is he building an online business that facilitates and profits off of the recreational use of marijuana– which let’s remember is still illegal in the United States– but he’s essentially rushing his small company out into the public markets, via an acquisition by the mostly-unknown but publicly-traded LC Luxuries Limited, which will build a new business around all things cannabis.
Between the anticipated closing of the deal, which will make WeedMaps essentially a publicly traded company on the Pink Sheets and California’s vote on a proposition to legalize marijuana, the next month will be huge for Hartfield– one way or another. Meanwhile revenues are soaring. WeedMaps was making $20,000 a month a year ago, made $300,000 in August and $400,000 in September– all off of just 50,000 registered users.
Obviously, the money-making potential is huge, but is there a greater moral issue here? Hartfield doesn’t see one. Hartfield was the guest on NBC’s Press:Here this week, where he discussed a unique dilemma in Silicon Valley: Having a $120 billion market to yourself in which no VCs want to invest. It’s a reality that’s driven him to this odd, back-door IPO.
It’s also helping make his company a cause. “We want to make buying a share in this company like buying a share in the legalization of marijuana cause,” he says. Hartfield — so unabashedly libertarian he could make Peter Thiel swoon– thinks markets are better ways of assessing public opinion than media or political polls. So, he argues, if people vote with their money for WeedMaps, it’ll be a proxy for how people feel about the practicality of legalization, which he sees as an inevitability. (Morality aside, I take issue with his certainty in this clip. Even in gung-ho California, some medical marijuana advocates oppose recreational legalization.)
But the deal is about more than just finding a way to go public. The new company will acquire and roll-up several smaller companies, likely also around the cannabis issue. Meanwhile, Hartfield is doing a weed/Web landgrab, taking nearly every business model that’s worked on the Web and building a weed version. His core site is like Yelp for weed, containing a database of more than 25,000 strains, where they can be found and reviews on dispensaries and headshops. He even offers an “elite” status.
The company has another site called WeedVote.com that helps get out the legalization vote, and the newly launched WeedMart.com is an online headship and he’s about to launch a new daily deals site for pot– that’s right, yet another Groupon clone, this time to get high. There’s also a feature called “Weed or Skin”– like Hot or Not but where you vote for scantily clad women or pictures of pot. I’m not kidding. While Hartfield isn’t the first to try to make money off of a vice, he revels in it more than most. “We don’t like to be hypocritical, and we don’t think there should be arbitrary differences between recreational and medicinal,” he says. This is clearly as much about the cause as it is about the company for him. Agree with his stance or not, you have to respect the conviction.
In the clip below, Hartfield talks about America’s “chronic fear of freedom” and the challenges he’s faced building this business. Go here for the full episode, which includes his rebuttal to medical marijuana advocates that say recreational legalization is bad for those who need the drug for medical reasons
Poll Has More of the Same Bad <b>News</b> for Democrats, Worse <b>News</b> for Obama
Congressional Democrats hold their own reasonably well against their GOP counterparts when voters are asked who would better handle key issues. By contrast, they trust Republicans more than Obama on most of those issues.
Lujiazui Breakfast: <b>News</b> And Views About China Stocks (Oct. 26 <b>...</b>
Investors and traders in China's main financial district are talking about the following before the start of trade today: The dollar fell to a 15-year low against the yen yesterday, fueling speculation that major countries will continue ...
Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/26 - Arrowhead Pride
Good morning! We have a full day of Kansas City Chiefs news. O-line love and praise for the running game and a shout out to DJ are ahead. There are also a few articles on the Buffalo offense and how productive they've been recently.
bench craft company complaints
bench craft company complaints
Poll Has More of the Same Bad <b>News</b> for Democrats, Worse <b>News</b> for Obama
Congressional Democrats hold their own reasonably well against their GOP counterparts when voters are asked who would better handle key issues. By contrast, they trust Republicans more than Obama on most of those issues.
Lujiazui Breakfast: <b>News</b> And Views About China Stocks (Oct. 26 <b>...</b>
Investors and traders in China's main financial district are talking about the following before the start of trade today: The dollar fell to a 15-year low against the yen yesterday, fueling speculation that major countries will continue ...
Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/26 - Arrowhead Pride
Good morning! We have a full day of Kansas City Chiefs news. O-line love and praise for the running game and a shout out to DJ are ahead. There are also a few articles on the Buffalo offense and how productive they've been recently.
bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints
Despite the positive-sounding headline, the NYT article was actually negative in tone, starting off with a joke about how an Android developer making $1-$2 per day on his app was laughed at by his peers, while insisting "that's pretty good money!"
The blows against Android then continue with a quote from Matt Hall, co-founder of Larva Labs, who talked about the problems with Google Checkout. Then Rovio's (maker of Angry Birds) Peter Vesterbacka complained about the challenges of developing for such a fragmented environment. And then it was Hall again, with a quote that's already getting repeated on Apple-watching blogs like John Gruber’s Daring Fireball:
"Google is not associated with things you pay for, and Android is an extension of that," said Mr. Hall of Larva Labs. "You don't pay for Google apps, so it bleeds into the expectations for the third-party apps, too."
There Are Ways to Get Paid
If you want to debate the merit of the above statements, feel free to head to the comments section, but we feel the need to point out the obvious miss from the NYT article: there are alternative revenue streams for developers besides direct app sales. (After all, even Google's "free" services aren't actually free - they're monetized through advertising.)
We recently highlighted some findings related to this matter earlier this month. For example, research from mobile ad company Millennial Media found that Android ad revenue has, for the first time ever, beaten iPhone ad revenue on the company's ad network.
At the time, we wondered why, given the lower ad impression numbers (as compared with iPhone/iOS). As it turns out, Millennial's Michael Avon had some thoughts on the matter. Besides the fact that there is simply less ad inventory amid soaring demand on Android, he also shared that Android is currently a "hot" platform for advertisers as it allows them to reach first-time smartphone buyers and a more diverse set of consumers.
"We believe some advertisers are paying a premium to reach those users early in their smartphone experience," he said. "Our advertisers have also shared that Android allows them to reach a diverse set of consumers across all major carriers, making the platform highly desirable and increasing demand for the platform...With more advertiser demand per each available impression on Android, it resulted in more revenue per impression."
The NYT article also makes brief mention of the lack of an in-app purchases model for Android, another disappointment for developers, especially since we recently learned that in-app purchases generate more revenue than ads, in some app categories.
However, as we also noted last week, developers don't have to wait on Google to implement an official in-app purchase mechanism, because there are several third-party solutions already available, including Boku and Zong for virtual goods and PayPal's in-app purchases technology for physical goods.
NYT had one good thing to say about Android development: because of the store sizes (100K vs 300K apps/Android vs iPhone) it's easier to get noticed in the Android Market today than it is in the iTunes App Store. Well, at least there's that.
Justin Hartfield of WeedMaps is about as ballsy as entrepreneurs get. I mean that as a compliment. Not only is he building an online business that facilitates and profits off of the recreational use of marijuana– which let’s remember is still illegal in the United States– but he’s essentially rushing his small company out into the public markets, via an acquisition by the mostly-unknown but publicly-traded LC Luxuries Limited, which will build a new business around all things cannabis.
Between the anticipated closing of the deal, which will make WeedMaps essentially a publicly traded company on the Pink Sheets and California’s vote on a proposition to legalize marijuana, the next month will be huge for Hartfield– one way or another. Meanwhile revenues are soaring. WeedMaps was making $20,000 a month a year ago, made $300,000 in August and $400,000 in September– all off of just 50,000 registered users.
Obviously, the money-making potential is huge, but is there a greater moral issue here? Hartfield doesn’t see one. Hartfield was the guest on NBC’s Press:Here this week, where he discussed a unique dilemma in Silicon Valley: Having a $120 billion market to yourself in which no VCs want to invest. It’s a reality that’s driven him to this odd, back-door IPO.
It’s also helping make his company a cause. “We want to make buying a share in this company like buying a share in the legalization of marijuana cause,” he says. Hartfield — so unabashedly libertarian he could make Peter Thiel swoon– thinks markets are better ways of assessing public opinion than media or political polls. So, he argues, if people vote with their money for WeedMaps, it’ll be a proxy for how people feel about the practicality of legalization, which he sees as an inevitability. (Morality aside, I take issue with his certainty in this clip. Even in gung-ho California, some medical marijuana advocates oppose recreational legalization.)
But the deal is about more than just finding a way to go public. The new company will acquire and roll-up several smaller companies, likely also around the cannabis issue. Meanwhile, Hartfield is doing a weed/Web landgrab, taking nearly every business model that’s worked on the Web and building a weed version. His core site is like Yelp for weed, containing a database of more than 25,000 strains, where they can be found and reviews on dispensaries and headshops. He even offers an “elite” status.
The company has another site called WeedVote.com that helps get out the legalization vote, and the newly launched WeedMart.com is an online headship and he’s about to launch a new daily deals site for pot– that’s right, yet another Groupon clone, this time to get high. There’s also a feature called “Weed or Skin”– like Hot or Not but where you vote for scantily clad women or pictures of pot. I’m not kidding. While Hartfield isn’t the first to try to make money off of a vice, he revels in it more than most. “We don’t like to be hypocritical, and we don’t think there should be arbitrary differences between recreational and medicinal,” he says. This is clearly as much about the cause as it is about the company for him. Agree with his stance or not, you have to respect the conviction.
In the clip below, Hartfield talks about America’s “chronic fear of freedom” and the challenges he’s faced building this business. Go here for the full episode, which includes his rebuttal to medical marijuana advocates that say recreational legalization is bad for those who need the drug for medical reasons
bench craft company complaints
Poll Has More of the Same Bad <b>News</b> for Democrats, Worse <b>News</b> for Obama
Congressional Democrats hold their own reasonably well against their GOP counterparts when voters are asked who would better handle key issues. By contrast, they trust Republicans more than Obama on most of those issues.
Lujiazui Breakfast: <b>News</b> And Views About China Stocks (Oct. 26 <b>...</b>
Investors and traders in China's main financial district are talking about the following before the start of trade today: The dollar fell to a 15-year low against the yen yesterday, fueling speculation that major countries will continue ...
Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/26 - Arrowhead Pride
Good morning! We have a full day of Kansas City Chiefs news. O-line love and praise for the running game and a shout out to DJ are ahead. There are also a few articles on the Buffalo offense and how productive they've been recently.
bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints
Poll Has More of the Same Bad <b>News</b> for Democrats, Worse <b>News</b> for Obama
Congressional Democrats hold their own reasonably well against their GOP counterparts when voters are asked who would better handle key issues. By contrast, they trust Republicans more than Obama on most of those issues.
Lujiazui Breakfast: <b>News</b> And Views About China Stocks (Oct. 26 <b>...</b>
Investors and traders in China's main financial district are talking about the following before the start of trade today: The dollar fell to a 15-year low against the yen yesterday, fueling speculation that major countries will continue ...
Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/26 - Arrowhead Pride
Good morning! We have a full day of Kansas City Chiefs news. O-line love and praise for the running game and a shout out to DJ are ahead. There are also a few articles on the Buffalo offense and how productive they've been recently.
bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints
Poll Has More of the Same Bad <b>News</b> for Democrats, Worse <b>News</b> for Obama
Congressional Democrats hold their own reasonably well against their GOP counterparts when voters are asked who would better handle key issues. By contrast, they trust Republicans more than Obama on most of those issues.
Lujiazui Breakfast: <b>News</b> And Views About China Stocks (Oct. 26 <b>...</b>
Investors and traders in China's main financial district are talking about the following before the start of trade today: The dollar fell to a 15-year low against the yen yesterday, fueling speculation that major countries will continue ...
Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/26 - Arrowhead Pride
Good morning! We have a full day of Kansas City Chiefs news. O-line love and praise for the running game and a shout out to DJ are ahead. There are also a few articles on the Buffalo offense and how productive they've been recently.
bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints
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