---
layout: post
status: publish
published: true
title: About Time to market
author: Julien Lengrand-Lambert
author_login: jlengrand
author_email: julien@lengrand.fr
author_url: http://www.lengrand.fr
wordpress_id: 851
wordpress_url: http://www.lengrand.fr/?p=851
date: 2013-04-11 09:44:16.000000000 +02:00
categories:
- Projects
tags:
- android
- time to market
- side project
- developement
- lean
comments:
- id: 8539
  author: Axel
  author_email: axxcat@gmail.com
  author_url: ''
  date: !binary |-
    MjAxMy0wNC0xMiAwOToyNDo0NSArMDIwMA==
  date_gmt: !binary |-
    MjAxMy0wNC0xMiAwODoyNDo0NSArMDIwMA==
  content: ! "Dommage mais bravo d'avoir réussi. \r\nOn finira par la trouver notre
    app qui nous rendra riche !"
- id: 8842
  author: Julien Lengrand-Lambert
  author_email: julien@lengrand.fr
  author_url: http://www.lengrand.fr
  date: !binary |-
    MjAxMy0wNC0xNSAxMDo0MjowMSArMDIwMA==
  date_gmt: !binary |-
    MjAxMy0wNC0xNSAwOTo0MjowMSArMDIwMA==
  content: ! ";). \r\nDidn't even know you were reading the blog. \r\n\r\nI'm not
    finished with it...yet. \r\nThe market is still here, I now have better of a challenge
    to make my app the default move for the crowd .\r\n\r\nHopefully, you'll have
    a sneak peek soon !"
---
<p style="text-align: justify;">As a lot of people, I have pages full of cool ideas I'd like to implement.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I <a title="github" href="https://github.com/jlengrand">start to work on some of them</a>, <a title="blog posts on projects" href="http://www.lengrand.fr/category/projects/" target="_blank">write about a few of those</a>, and to this day am happy about none. The huge majority about what I do doesn't even have a README. I know I am not the only one. I know<a title="google how to finish" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=side+project+softwasre&amp;aq=f&amp;oq=side+project+softwasre&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8#sclient=psy-ab&amp;q=how+to+finish+side+project+successfully&amp;oq=how+to+finish+side+project+successfully&amp;gs_l=serp.3..0i7i30.3373.9554.2.10100.15.14.1.0.0.0.72.678.14.14.0...0.0...1c.1.8.psy-ab.I6jwDdXb4mA&amp;pbx=1&amp;bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&amp;bvm=bv.45107431,d.d2k&amp;fp=c69888fd6da4729c&amp;biw=1920&amp;bih=954" target="_blank"> lots of developers</a> are like me.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I stop working about most of my ideas because<strong> no one uses them</strong>. Because most of the ideas I got in the end <strong>come from me</strong>. And I don't find much motivation solving my own problems.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Last week, for <strong>the very first time,</strong> a friend of mine came with a request. For the very first time, someone asked me to implement something to make their life easier.
The real-time schedule of the bus network of the city they live in is only available on a <a title="bibus widget" href="http://www.bibus.fr/pivk/relais.html.php" target="_blank"><strong>WINDOWS WIDGET</strong></a>.
<strong>Think about it:</strong> you can know when your bus will arrive at your stop using your computer.
Well, pretty useful when you sit next to the bus stop itself, waiting RIGHT NOW for the bus to come.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">So <strong>they asked me to make and android app out of the widget,</strong> so that they could use it with their mobile. And then I realized how big of a market it could be.<a title="brest wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brest,_France" target="_blank"> A whole city</a> of<strong> 150k people</strong>, taking the public transports, with no app to warn them about the next bus coming.
<strong>I worked my arse off, and within 2 days had reverse engineered the widget and developed a really simple android MVP.</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The whole thing was simply based on POST request, so it was just a matter of getting the right parameters to make it work. <strong>I have rarely been so productive</strong>, driven by the idea that I was sitting on a potential 10k downloads.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">And as I was working, I looked at the public transportation website once again, searching for some information.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Their index page had changed,<strong> proudly showing that they were releasing their mobile app the coming week</strong>! A really cool app, where you could. . . see the bus schedule in real-time on your phone. Not only that, but <strong>they also started sticking QR-codes</strong> in all bus stops. By simply taking a picture of the bus stop, their phone would redirect them to the app, giving them the next coming bus arrival time.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Well, what to say to conclude this.
Most of the time, the barriers come from you. You fail at workring hard enough, or finding enough motivation to conclude that project. <strong>But if you don't fail, well, you still haven't won yet.</strong> And it's not because you don't see any potential threat today that it won't suddenly appear tomorrow morning.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I'll take this as a lesson to myself. Stop putting stuff to the following day. Because in the end,<strong> you only have control on part of the game.</strong></p>
