How to Build a Billion Dollar App - by George Berkowski (Paperback)

About the Book

A billion humans now have smartphones. We've downloaded more than 500,000 different apps more than 35 billion times. Apps are not only changing the way we communicate, shop, interact and travel, but they are becoming the dominant platform by which we manage many parts of our lives. Despite this, there are only a handful of mobile businesses that have cracked the code to making it billion-dollar big. George Berkowski is one of the masterminds behind one app on its way to breaking into this elite group - Hailo - the smartphone app which allows users to hail taxis from their mobile phones. In How to Build a Billion Dollar App, George draws on his experiences as Head of Product at Hailo, founder of internet dating startup WooMe (sold to Zoosk in 2011) and advisor to Fly Victor (the startup currently revolutionising - and disrupting - the private aviation industry) to show readers how to translate an idea for an app into a real world service, product and business. How to Build a Billion Dollar App provides practical advice on the nitty-gritty of building an app-based business - from the mechanics of user acquisition to securing the funding necessary for growth - interwoven with the inside story of Hailo and other billion dollar apps including Angry Birds, Whatsapp, Snapchat and Square. It will be essential reading for anybody with a great idea for an app-based business.

Book Synopsis

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO BUILDING AN APP-BASED BUSINESS

'A must read for anyone who wants to start a mobile app business' Riccardo Zacconi, founder and CEO King Digital (maker of Candy Crush Saga)

'A fascinating deep dive into the world of billion-dollar apps. Essential reading for anyone trying to build the next must-have app' Michael Acton Smith, Founder and CEO, Mind Candy

Apps have changed the way we communicate, shop, play, interact and travel and their phenomenal popularity has presented possibly the biggest business opportunity in history.

In How to Build a Billion Dollar App, serial tech entrepreneur George Berkowski gives you exclusive access to the secrets behind the success of the select group of apps that have achieved billion-dollar success.

Berkowski draws exclusively on the inside stories of the billion-dollar app club members, including Instagram, Whatsapp, Snapchat, Candy Crush and Uber to provide all the information you need to create your own spectacularly successful mobile business. He guides you through each step, from an idea scribbled on the back of an envelope, through to finding a cofounder, building a team, attracting (and keeping) millions of users, all the way through to juggling the pressures of being CEO of a billion-dollar company (and still staying ahead of the competition).

If you've ever dreamed of quitting your nine to five job to launch your own company, you're a gifted developer, seasoned entrepreneur or just intrigued by mobile technology, How to Build a Billion Dollar App will show you what it really takes to create your own billion-dollar, mobile business.

From the Back Cover

DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS OF OUR TIME

The phenomenal popularity of apps has presented possibly the biggest opportunity in history.

In HOW TO BUILD A BILLION DOLLAR APP, serial tech entrepreneur George Berkowski reveals the inside stories of the apps that have made it billion-dollar big to show you what it takes to create your own spectacularly successful mobile business.

If you want to understand how to build the next WHATSAPP, SNAPCHAT, CANDY CRUSH, INSTAGRAM or UBER you need to read this book.

'George Berkowski knows from the front line how to build fast-scaling digital businesses. Don't start one of your own without taking his advice'
DAVID ROWAN, EDITOR, WIRED MAGAZINE

'A rollicking yet rigorously detailed ride through the process of creating a breakthrough app-based business'
JEFFREY F. RAYPORT, HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL

'The first book to take a detailed, insightful behind-the-scenes look at the mobile app world. A must-read for anyone who wants to know what it takes to build an app into a successful business'
HUGO BARRA, VP, XIAOMI AND FORMER VP, ANDROID PRODUCT MANAGEMENT, GOOGLE

'A fascinating deep dive into the world of billion-dollar apps. Essential reading for anyone trying to build the next must-have app'
MICHAEL ACTON SMITH, FOUNDER MIND CANDY (maker of Moshi Monsters)

@georgeberkowski
mybilliondollarapp.com

Review Quotes

A fascinating deep dive into the world of billion-dollar apps. Essential reading for anyone trying to build the next must-have app--Michael Acton Smith, Founder and CEO, Mind Candy

A practical guide on how to start your mobile app company. A must read for anyone who wants to start a mobile app business--Riccardo Zacconi, founder and CEO King Digital (maker of Candy Crush Saga)

George has combined his own experience at Hailo with a thoughtful study of the iconic mobile companies of this era to provide a helpful guide to entrepreneurs and investors trying to understand the emerging mobile economy--Adam Valkin, General Partner at General Catalyst Partners

George Berkowski knows from the front line how to build fast-scaling digital businesses. Don't start one of your own without taking his advice--David Rowan, Editor, Wired magazine

I loved this book. It provides an entertaining and rigorous yet very practical guide to success in the brave new world of mobile technology. I will never look at apps the same way again--Bill Aulet, Managing Director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship and author of Disc

The first book to take a detailed, insightful behind-the-scenes look at the mobile app world. A must read for anyone who wants to know what it takes to build an app into a successful business--Hugo Barra, VP, Xiaomi (and former VP Android Product Management, Google)

About the Author

George Berkowski is a serial entrepreneur who has built businesses in manned space flight, online dating, transportation and mobile apps. He is one of the minds behind the internationally successful taxi hailing app Hailo where he led the product team until September 2013. George studied rocket science and economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and business at the Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Paris. He was Chairman of MIT's Enterprise Forum in the UK and is heavily involved in the UK and US startup scenes. George now divides his time between London and Silicon Valley.