#common-mistakes

4 notes tagged “common-mistakes”.

• Designing the first version for conversion — UI/UX as the differentiatorWhy an app's v1 design must be built around conversion and revenue from the start, and why polished UI/UX is the main differentiator now that AI makes building easy.
• Reserving a marketing budget and choosing the first channelWhy new apps fail without an earmarked marketing budget, and Steve P. Young's default first channels (ASO + Apple Ads), with the warning that viral social views often don't convert to downloads.
• Scoping the first version — solve one problemWhy first-time founders should ship an app that solves one problem (not a multi-tool), and how Steve P. Young pairs a one-feature build with one keyword and a hard paywall to test demand.
• What building an app costs in 2026 — AI coding, hosting, startup creditsAn agency's 2026 numbers — v1 in ~2 months instead of ~6 with AI coding agents (Claude Code, Codex), dedicated hosting at $100–150/month vs $600–800 cloud, and startup credits from Azure, Stripe, Cloudflare.