Constant Variables

Every week, millions of people come online for the first time, and how they use technology plays into the future of tech. Heading into 2021, we're looking at how we can use tech to work together to continue to make everyone's lives better. In this episode, Rob and Tim come together for their annual chat about technology trends for the coming year, from the breakup of tech giants, the next stage of...

Building a company comes with a learning curve for any entrepreneur. Building an app-based company as a non-technical entrepreneur can make that learning curve sharper. Mike Jackson, founder of The Premium Experience, joins the show to discuss his experience building a tech based business as a solo, non-technical founder and how it prepared him for the launch of his next company, Black Tech Talent...

Murphy's law of "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong" doesn't exclude software development (unfortunately). In this episode, Tim outlines common risks associated with app development and how to get on the same page as your development team to have systems in place to mitigate them.

With experience building two tech-based companies from the ground up, serial entrepreneur Eric Martell has gathered an impressive collection of analogies around succeeding in the startup space. He joins the show to chat about building his recent venture Pear Commerce, marrying product philosophy with business philosophy, hiring people who buy into your mission, investing in repeat customers over a...

One of the first development decisions you'll make when building an app is whether to build on a native platform or a hybrid platform. In this episode, Tim gets into best use cases for hybrid and native apps, along with each platform's limitations, so you can decide the best approach for your project.

When looking for a technical team for your project, you're not asking for a product. You are asking for a relationship that results in a product. You're not asking for lines of code. You're asking for solutions that produce meaningful outcomes. Founder & CEO George Brooks of digital product agency Crema joins the show to discuss how to find the passion and posture of a digital agency, the no-win s...

There's no such thing as a free app or website. If you're not paying for a product, you are the product, and when it comes to "free" apps, the product is your private information. Apps collect, store, and use data in ways that are both purposeful and nefarious. In this episode, Rob and Tim chat about why apps collect data and how it's used, how app owners can be intentional with user data, and how...

Building an app isn't just about the technology but about the lives it makes easier. Ashley Bennett, Sook Jin Ong, and Pamela McCauley share the inspiring story behind the development of the Minnesota Family Investment Program's pilot app, MFIP Connect. They discuss the app's powerful role as a communication tool, along with the unexpected questions around social equity it brought to the table. Th...

Some app features are seemingly easy to develop but are actually complex to implement, driving up development costs. These are features we see everyday, and therefore take for granted. Rob and Tim chat about the nuances of features like data sync, search, push notifications, in-app purchasing, messaging, and more to help you understand where to get the most value with the least amount of effort wh...

For a restaurant, a customer leaving with a bad taste in their mouth is the ultimate faux paus. And we're not just talking about food. A stellar user experience when ordering from a restaurant's app can be a differentiator in this competitive industry. Rob and Tim chat about their experience building a delivery app for a Midwest pizza chain, then take a trip further down memory lane to the hip day...

When we put humans first, we can learn a lot. Stephanie Hammes-Betti is the Senior Vice President of Innovation Design at US Bank, and her 18-year career there has given her extensive know-how in UX/UI design, usability testing, and technology solutions. Stephanie joins the show to chat about how innovation happens within a large organization, how to go about listening to customers, and the benefi...

Apple has traditionally put itself first, users second, and developers third, but some big names are going to bat for all developers in a fight against Apple's commission rate. Tim and Rob discuss the ongoing controversies surrounding Apple and the App Store and their thoughts on how it might play out.

If we were to write a playbook on how to start an app-based business, the first-time entrepreneurs behind Parrot. MD would be our case study. But every story has its conflicts. Parrot. MD's CEO and co-founder Tim Steele joins the show to talk about the creation of the app, the role social equity plays in fundraising, and the essentiality of focus groups.

Every company thinks they're a special snowflake, and when it comes to digital transformation, they actually are. Jen Swanson is a digital consultant who guides companies in their digital transformation journey with her philosophy of placing small bets often. In this episode, Jen breaks down how digital transformation is not just a technology integration, but a people and process integration, that...

Building an Android app requires overcoming several idiosyncrasies. Tim and Rob share their tips for building Android apps so you can successfully navigate Google's unique requirements. (If you're looking for tips around building iOS apps, check out the previous episode.)

The Jed Mahonis Group has been building mobile apps since 2012, and we've tripped over many hurdles when launching iOS apps. Tim and Rob share their tricks of the trade for building apps specifically for iOS, so you can learn from our mistakes and successfully navigate Apple's unique roadblocks. (And if you're looking to build an Android app, our next episode has you covered.)

Minnesotans love to talk about Minnesota, and nothing proves that more than PodMN's collection of over 760 Minnesota-focused shows. Jeremy Sinon and William White of PodMN join the show to discuss the custom podcast platform they built to help Minnesotans discover all the great audio entertainment Minnesota has to offer. They talk about what it took to build a podcasting platform from scratch, how...

Building an app is easy. Building a business is hard. Sean Casto of app marketing agency PreApps joins the show to discuss how your app's initial success doesn't rely on its unique features, but on how you market it and present it. Sean breaks down both organic and paid marketing strategies to grow your users and make more money, where user acquisition models play into each strategy, and how it al...

When it comes to design, simple is not bad; simple is good. Amber Christian of Wonderly Software Solutions has worked really hard at making her product Bella Scena simple to use, and she joins the show to discuss a design process few people are talking about and even less are doing: Human Centered Design. She shares some practical applications of Human Centered Design, how continuous integration (...

Solving the technical challenges to make learning fun is the specialty of Andamio Games, and its President, Adam Gordon, joins the podcast to chat about the unique infrastructure challenges educational game developers face, from funding to design to feedback. Adam shares why partnering with textbook manufacturers might not be the panacea Tim thought it would be, how to incorporate feedback from bo...

The "Don't Repeat Yourself" (DRY) development approach of writing code as simply as possible to make it reusable can also be applied to standardizing and automating workflows to reduce repetitive patterns. Virtual CFO and software expert Susan Boles joins the show to discuss the evolution of automating workflows and how the process doesn't start with software. Susan shares actionable tips on where...

Building a successful app requires both art and science work in harmony. CTO Brad Ash joins Tim on the podcast to discuss the development of Fruitful, a fertility mentorship service he co-founded with his wife. Brad chats with Tim about the personal story that led to the creation of Fruitful, how difficult it is to supervise yourself when you're building out the software, the importance of user fe...

Accelerator programs can have a measurable impact on your business's growth, but when is your business ready to join one? Tim interviews Kate Evinger of gener8tor Minnesota, and she breaks down what accelerator programs can do for your business and your community, along with how to vet the right program for your business.

Business owners often wear multiple hats, but to scale a business, you need to take off some hats, so to speak, in order to focus on growth. Tim chats with Stephanie Scheller of Grow Disrupt on the first steps to take when thinking about growing your business, how to decide what parts of the business to focus on, and how to properly use outsourcing to scale.

Social engineering is a catch-all phrase to describe the various ways criminals trick you into giving them access to your system or confidential information. Because humans are prone to relying on their cognitive biases when making decisions, social engineering can be very effective. Tim talks about the most common types of social engineering attacks and some tactics to implement to ensure you sta...