It’s almost the end of the week and, being a site centered on tech and innovation, I believe we have been remiss in not including a picture of a 3G iPhone and a story having something to do with it. Well…when the iPhone AppStore opens in July, Minnesota startup CodeMorphic is all set with native applications for iPhones of all kinds.
Longtime friends Damon Allison and Bill Heyman launched the company in early March, coincidentally around the time as the Apple iPhone SDK release. There is a sense of serendipity about how they landed in the first group of iPhone developers among the two but they believe their focus and quality coding was the key to being noticed and landing at the front of the line. They feel their singular focus on just building native applications for the iPhone, and not moving into other mobile platforms, will prove to be the best business model.
Heyman noted there is tremendous opportunity for application development in the enterprise market. “There will be great growth in developing internal corporate applications.” Areas like work flow, communication are clearly opportunities. Heyman continues “Right now that’s an area dominated by Blackberry so we see more needs for those types of applications for iPhone.” The consumer is the other opportunity. “Consumer focused applications that promote the brand, for example if General Mills were to target a younger consumer, where the iPhone or iPod Touch are really popular, they could develop an application or game that is tailored to them.”
During our discussion I asked the pair to outline what they see as the benefits of targeting the iPhone. They cited the tremendous growth of the phone. Allison notes, “The new $199 price is only going to help.” They also note that the platform itself is incredibly flexible. Clearly there is plenty of love for the SDK. “We love it.” says Allison. “We’ve compared it to others and there’s really no comparison. It’s so easy to work with.” Heyman adds, ”I love finding ways to combine the features of the phone like the camera and GPS into other applications.”
Though they are fewer, the threats to a plan that is singularly focused like CodeMorphics do exist. “We think that the iPhone, by far, is the best device. They’re going to have competition. Google with Android, or Samsung or Nokia; they’re not going to stand still, though we haven’t seen anything from them yet.” He goes on to say, “They’re not going to let Apple just walk away with it. The biggest threat to us in the enterprise is to wait out the cycle for the iPhone…for the corporate plans to turnover and a few of the executives to say ‘our people really like using these.” Possibly the biggest concern to CodeMorphic is the unknown? “Deployment, upgrading the products with Apple, the process from going to development to production to support still has to be figured out. Nobody’s done it because it’s not available. “
Is there a “killer app” in the company’s future, that tipping point? It probably won’t come directly from Codemorphic. Heyman says, “We’re kind of like that BASF line, We don’t make the products…we make them better.” There will be some things in the AppStore that are branded CodeMorphic but they look to develop great applications for other companies. Allison adds, “We love coding, we’re coders at heart. If we bring something to market it will be somebody else that drives the bus.”
Current CodeMorphic apps that are in development are found at their site. They range from the fun, like the rotary dial and lighter to the enterprise focused Homefindr and the most recent application Global View (see video).
The guys look to grow CodeMorphic enough in the next six months to dedicate all of their time and resources to the business. Until that time they’ll both put in long hours and continue their freelance work, which by the way has them working together at the same company right now. “We get to talk about things over lunch.”
It’s clear, though both were a bit under-whelmed by Apple’s WWDC keynote announcing the 3G and they don’t know for sure why they were one of the first “ordained” developers, their incredible iPhone focus is impressive. There is a strong commitment to explore the possibilities of the iPhone, to develop apps beyond entertainment and gaming along with a solid understanding of the things that impact those applications and their performance.
What will set them apart? “Fundamentals and experience.” That and “If it’s native hardware integration with the iPhone, it’s us!” With 10 potential clients in the pipeline from around the world and a sales cycle that currently looks to run around two months, CodeMorphic is on the verge.