“Build a Product that You Want Yourself.” – Florian Mielke, app builder

1. How and when did you make your first dollar online?

I started selling my first app WorkTimes in 2009. It was shortly after the release of the App Store, and WorkTimes cost $2.99 – that was unheard of back then.

But it was in 2021 (so 12 years after version 1.0) when things started to kick off seriously: When I switched the business model to subscriptions.

After two years, I’m at $4k MRR (combined with my second app MinuteTaker) and am now able to do this full-time.

2. How long did it take between the idea and this first dollar?

I started developing WorkTimes in early 2009. I hadn’t any experience in iOS development, so I first bought an actual book to learn it.

Ten months later (working on it on the side), I submitted the first version.

“Fun” fact: App Store reviews took two WEEKS back then!

3. What best actionable advice would you give someone who wants to start TODAY?

Build a product that you want and need yourself. You need to be your first and most critical user. You can’t build and sell a good product if you don’t use it.

4. What resources would you recommend to a beginner?

• The book: Growth Hacker Marketing by Ryan Holiday
• The Twitter #buildinpublic community
• The Indie Hackers community

5. Who would you recommend to follow?

• Sumit Kumar (@tweetsofsumit): he builds Parqet in public and shares his journey on Twitter and YouTube
• Curtis Herbert (@parrots): he builds the iOS Slopes app and tweets and writes about his learnings growing it into a sustainable business

About Florian