Episode 457: The Ripple Effect

Daniel and Manton celebrate Ulysses 22 launching with added support for Micro.blog. They talk more about competition and how all parties can win by collaborating to solve customer problems. Finally, they react to Apple addressing one developer’s Small Business Program woes, while acknowledging the larger issues that remain.

Many thanks to our sponsor this week:

Links:

  • Ulysses 22 – Major update to the Mac and iOS editor, including new support for Micro.blog.
  • Micro.blog – Manton’s blog publishing and hosting service.
  • MarsEdit – Daniel’s Mac-based blog publishing app.
  • An Alternative to Competition – Jason Fried of Basecamp shares his feelings about competition in business.
  • An Update – Sean Harding shares that he has been admitted to the Apple Small Business Program.
  • Potential Witnesses – TechCrunch story on the release of witnesses for the Epic vs. Apple lawsuit.
  • Hey Apple… – David Heinemeier Hansson on the Screaming in the Cloud podcast.
  • Building Companies to Last – Jim Collins with an article synthesizing ideas from his book “Built to Last.”

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March 27, 2021 at 12:17 am.

Episode 456: Find Another Flea Market

Manton and Daniel talk about Google’s new, straightforward 15% fee structure for App Store sales, and how it shines a light on the sharp edges of Apple’s Small Business Program. They talk about the unfair aspects of Apple’s plan, and how Apple might feel pressure to improve it. Will they? Finally, they talk about whether Apple can and should decouple the costs of running the App Store from the payments made by customers to developers.

No sponsor this week! Please consider sponsoring us, or asking your employer to do so.

Links:

  • Google Undercuts Apple – Ars Technica on Google’s new 15% developer commission for revenues under $1M.
  • How I Got Rejected – Sean Harding shares his tale of being denied admission to Apple’s Small Business Program.
  • Stratechery – Ben Thompson’s email newsletter.
  • A 95% Cut – 9to5Mac on Micrsoft’s policy, announced last year, to take only 5% from some App Store sales.
  • Where Apple Went Wrong – Manton’s 2011 post about Apple’s attitude toward free apps.

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March 19, 2021 at 12:26 am.

Episode 455: I Don’t Need To Go Viral

Daniel and Manton talk about Basecamp’s new Hey World blogging service, based on their email service. They think about the merits of attempting to leverage marketing exposure by interfacing with other products or services that have a larger audience, talk about trying to “fill the void” in popular services’ offering, and striving to get a good amount of PR without necessarily “going viral.”

Many thanks to our sponsor this week:

Links:

  • Hey World – Email-based blogging from Basecamp.
  • Rework Episode 0113 – Basecamp founders Jason Friend and David Heinemeier Hansson talk about Hey World.
  • $1000 to the First Person – Jason Fried offers a bounty for the blog post that united him with DHH.
  • Hello World – Manton setting up his Hey World.
  • Micro.blog – Manton’s microblogging service.
  • TextSoap – Text-cleaning Mac app from Unmarked Software.

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March 12, 2021 at 9:03 pm.

Episode 454: It Almost Doesn’t Matter

Manton asks Daniel about his first week back on the job full-time at Red Sweater. They talk about Daniel’s recent work on FastScripts and whether he should revise its freemium business model. Finally, they talk about an Arizona bill that would impose new requirements about the limits companies like Google and Apple can apply on App Store sales.

Many thanks to our sponsor this week:

Links:

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March 5, 2021 at 8:29 pm.