Alon Lits
Launching An App
In this recipe Alon Lits, co-founder of Panda, talks us through how to get an app live in the app stores, how to ensure your team learns from mistakes and how to attract consumers to your app.
Tuck InAlon Lits has one of the most interesting and varied career paths you’ll ever come across. He holds a B.Com degree from Wits, an MBA from INSEAD and is an Associate of the Faculty and Institute of Actuaries in the UK. He is also a fully qualified clinical psychologist.
Throughout his career, from working for Investec to practicing psychology first in the public health sector and later in private practice, he has found ways to blend his dual passion for business and mental health.
His active involvement in health-related start-ups and experience in advising early-stage tech companies across Africa, as well as his ambition to make mental health services more accessible to South Africans, came together in Panda. This free-to-download digital app is designed to put mental health information, community support and expert help in the palm of every person’s hand. Panda is also a continuation of the hugely productive and value-adding partnership between Alon and Allan Sweidan, a clinical psychologist and the man with whom Alon built the Akesa Group.
10 Tasty Bites
Below is a preview of what you can expect to learn in this recipe.
1 - What Is The Origin Story Behind The Panda App?
2 - How Does The Panda App Work?
3 - Can You Share The Business Model Behing The Panda App?
4 - How Did You Build The Panda App?
5 - How Did You Overcome The Challenge Of Launching A Marketplace App?
6 - What Lessons Have You Learned From Building And Launching The Panda App?
7 - What Is Quality Assurance And Why Is It Important In App Development?
8 - Why Is The User Experience Of An App So Important?
9 - How Do You Get Customers To Sign Up And Engage On The Panda App?
10 - How Can Entrepreneurs Get Their App Live On The App Store?
About This Recipe
It is easy for app designers to be seduced by the endless possibilities the tech offers, but in the end nothing matters more than the value the user gets from an app. Understanding that value from the user’s perspective determines everything, from design to engagement.
This recipe is a treasure trove of lessons and advice on outsourcing versus investing in an in-house team, the importance of quality assurance, and never getting so attached to your established way of doing that you cannot take a step back and look at your app through the eyes of a new user. Alon’s experience as an entrepreneur, psychologist and marketplace-app expert shines through.
What You'll Learn
In this recipe, Alon talks us through how to get an app live in the app stores (don’t expect first-round success), how to ensure your team learns from mistakes (set up postmortems) and how to attract consumers to your app (it’s all about the use cases).
He reveals how Panda had to change its original engagement model to put users at ease when it comes to participating in discussions, and unpacks the team’s evolving thinking around the business model that will grow Panda while also keeping it accessible to individual users.
Learn
Learn from someone who speaks from a position of real authority, perspective and experience.
Do
Implement practical tips and techniques learned in the trenches - doing, rather than talking.
Share
Join a cohort of like-minded entrepreneurs in our growing community and share your learnings as you go.
Get Learning
This entrepreneurial micro-course will take you only a few minutes per day (or you can binge if you want to). Feel free to skip around and please let us know what you think.
Tuck InDeep Cuts
Love this recipe? Here are some additional videos to delve even further into the topic.
Got A Minute (Or Two)?
Why Are Heavy Chef Recipes So Highly Regarded?
One Tasty Recipe.
Ten Tiny Bites.
Each Heavy Chef recipe is made up of ten focused 'learning bites' of five minutes or less.
For Entrepreneurs.
By Entrepreneurs.
Continually focusing on the needs of our ever-growing community of entrepreneurs.
Access Anytime. Anywhere. Anyhow.
As long as you have an internet-enabled device, you can digest a tasty learning bite.
Want Even More?
Heavy Chef has thousands of learning bites, just like these. Search from technology, leadership and creativity topics, served up by the heaviest chefs in the world.
Search Recipes