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The Startup Decision That Almost Killed Me

When Xapnik initially applied to the App Store at the end of August we were rejected because we linked to our web site where users can pay to upgrade, and we don't accept in-app payments. (I can hear many of you laughing ruefully already.)

I was faced with a decision:
(i) take the time to build in inn-app payments or
(ii) quickly remove all links to our site and provide a support mechanism to contact us to upgrade to paid plan.

The first option would make it easy for people to start paying us. The second option would get us approved faster so that I could start inviting people to use the app without having to fuss with Test Flight—but it would be a less than ideal experience for users who wanted to upgrade from the Free tier. They'd have to email us.

To add to the stress, Xapnik is participating in the Startup School (YCombinator) Build Sprint this month. And our App Store rejection hit us at the end of Week 1 (out of 4 weeks).

App Store rejection was a setback, doing damage to the goals I'd set for Build Sprint:

  • App Store approval (sad trombone!)
  • At least 25 users
  • Development decisions based upon feedback from those users

Our chances of nabbing one of the $10k Build Sprint grants were already starting to dissolve before we even got started. How could we still hit our goals?

That's when those goals made the decision for me about what to do next. We needed USERS right now, not payments. In fact, I'm giving everyone I invite free accounts right now, anyway! Why even give payments a thought at the moment?

We quickly removed the links to the site so that we could turn our application right back around and get approval. Three days later we got it.

For Xapnik, getting outside of the confines of Test Flight is crucial because inviting friends to use the app is a core functionality. Test Flight is just another hurdle between us and our users. In fact, it's whole other app people have to install.

As soon as we were approved, we got 10 new users into the app right away. And as real life users like to do, they found bugs right away! :-D But they've also been providing some great feedback, with a couple of things already starting to emerge as a strong enough signal that we may need to address them next month.

That's forward progress.

If I'd decided to implement in-app purchases

  • I probably wouldn't be able to report App Store approval still today,
  • I probably wouldn't have those 10 users yet,
  • instead of being 1/2 way into Build Sprint and nearly 1/2 way to my goal, I'd be at zero progress on my goals,
  • instead of feeling empowered to get people into the app, I'd feel beaten up by bugs

It was a great reminder that goals, whether you end up hitting them 100% or not, help you make effective decisions. They help you keep your priorities squarely in sight.

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