The author is on point in describing how to create a business not just an app but he glosses over that many people develop apps with monetization as an afterthought and that monetizing an app is as complex as rocket science. Pleco had a lot already going for it before it even before it launched on iOS. Its founders had years of business experience and a strong market differentiator. So even though they had to retread their business models, they knew that Pleco had enough value that people would pay for it. A lot of other developers however, like Sinclair, develop apps for themselves, find a small user base and decide its enough to establish there own business, but usually these apps are cool but not unique. Pleco was built on licensed and unique tech, which gave its value. The author should mention that not every app can be turned into a business and that you need to create enough unique IP for yourself, so that you can grow and create value others can't. Sinclair has the entrepreneurial drive, he just didn't have the right idea to be a business.
I really wonder what Sinclair's rationale for quitting his day job to work on his app was.
I wonder if he had some sort of analysis that made him think it would be more of a success which turned out to be wrong (e.g. projecting early sales numbers into infinity, whereas in reality they dropped off), or if he just jumped into it thinking that if he built it they would come.
