Stay-At-Home Mom Turned iPhone App Guru
Move over Chad Ochocinco. There’s a new iPhone sheriff in town – a stay-at-home mom of six who has taught herself how to program applications herself.
Now, Crysta Pleatman has successfully launched eight applications for Apple’s and AT&T’s popular device, with more on the way.
“This was just so new when it launched that I felt I had to be a part of it,” says the energetic 39-year-old. “I had been looking to get back into the working world and then this came along. And it’s perfect – I can set up my kids and then program away. I feel like I have found my calling.”
And that is becoming increasingly common, says Michael Chang, chief executive officer of San Francisco-based Greystripe, a mobile online advertising network that recently studied so-called “iPhone moms” and their impact on the market.
Pleatman herself stared with a simple game for toddler’s to help distract her own kids – complete with choices for boys (Army men and balls) and girls (mermaids and princesses). Now she has branched out into apps that help teens and parents decide the appropriate punishments/groundings for wrongdoing, as well as tests to help self-diagnose attention deficit disorder and autism.
But in her year-long process, Pleatman also finds herself in the plight of many independent developers. She has rung up nearly $100,000 in costs (mainly on credit cards), hiring and then firing a development firm and finally settling on a programmer in China to help her with the heavy lifting, even as her revenues to date haven’t hit $500. This is common, according to a recent study by Forrester Research that said a good application can cost anywhere from $20,000 to $150,000 to develop.
Photo by Johan Larsson
















Laurie Neumann on November 19th, 2009 4:36 pm
Wow – amazing! A great story of a successful home based business.
internet marketing specialist on November 20th, 2009 7:22 am
I wish my mother is as cool as iPhone App Mom.
Glad to know that she found her calling. It only means that she is really smart and creative. I agree with Laurie, this is indeed a great story of a successful home based business.
Keep it up iPhone App Mom! :)
coderpunk on November 25th, 2009 9:57 pm
Excuse me? A guru? $100k in development costs and $500 in income? If she’s paying for developers then she doesn’t know how to program. And if she’s only made $500 on her apps she is stupid to be wasting her money on this venture.
danec on November 19th, 2009 6:00 am
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Rouzeh on November 20th, 2009 7:02 am
Sta home mom turned i-phone guru ! http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2009/11/19/stay-at-home-mom-turned-iphone-app-guru/
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