Cogitu

Since February of 2009, I've been dipping my toe in the iPhone OS development pool. I'm happy to have the two apps (Budgee & Pinball Mini) live in the store, but I've never been happy with what I have been able to do with them. I've been lucky enough to have a fantastic graphic designer, Christopher Echols, working with me on Pinball Mini (if it's on the screen, he drew it), but I still haven't had the time to really polish either app the way they need to be polished.

I haven't been able to focus on these apps because I've been working for a small .NET software startup for the last two and a half years. I left a Fortune 150 company to join the startup and I don't regret the decision at all. Both companies offered different environments and challenges, but I still felt that I wanted to run my own company full-time at some point. Working at a small software company was great, but I still wondered what I could do on my own.  After all, the reason I got my Computer Science degree and then added an MBA was specifically because I wanted to prepare myself for running my own business.

Well, as of last Friday, I decided to take the plunge and resigned my position at the startup and focus my full attention on Cogitu. I wish I could say the two apps that I have out there were bringing in enough to pay the bills, but they aren't...not even close. I'll post the current sales next week, but the short version of the story is that the total sales are less than 1/10th of what I need to live on (and I don't need much). It might sound crazy that I'm going to go the indie route for a while with apps performing like this, but I really believe the v2.0 revisions are going to change that. Pinball Mini 2.0 is already well under way and Budgee 2.0 has been in the works for a while, but it will most likely debut around iPad launch time. There are a couple of other apps in the queue after these, but I'm focusing one these first.

It's honestly pretty scary stepping out on my own, but it's also really exciting. I really don't know whether I'll be able to get Cogitu off the ground as a full-time business or not, but I'm going to give it my all and see what happens. I've set aside enough money to go 6 months or so without any issues, so hopefully I'll be able to tell how crazy this idea is by that time. If it doesn't work out, then so be it, at least I tried, but this is something I've been dreaming about for a long time, so I owe it to myself to take this path and see where it goes.

Starting Monday, I'm going to begin a weekly blog post about my indie journey. The posts will be half a journal for me, but I'm hoping they will also be interesting for others considering striking out on their own. I really don't know what is going to happen - but I'm really looking forward to whatever lies ahead.

Indie Journey - Engage!