From Management Studies programme to iPhone programming

13 June 2013

Samuel HarrisonSamuel Harrison graduated from Nottingham University Business School in 2008 with a BA (Hons) Management Studies. Since then he has worked in several finance roles, completed a masters at IE Business School in Madrid and developed one of Apple's most popular iPhone applications. We talked to Sam about why and how he decided to venture into the world of smartphone apps.

"After graduating from the Business School’s Management programme in 2008 I was fortunate enough to land a string of finance jobs in a very tough economic environment. Moving swiftly from The Royal Bank of Scotland, to an account management role at a SME and then ending up at Morgan Stanley (MS) in an equity sales role, I decided to take what would perhaps be my last opportunity to study Finance formally, and took an offer to join IE Business School’s leading Finance programme in Madrid.

"Initially I expected to relish the relative freedom provided by a rigorous masters program, versus the long hours I had become accustom to at MS. However, I soon found myself looking for a side project to keep me busy and stimulated. I adopted a philosophy of “go hard, or go home”, so ambitiously decided to code an Application for iOS, Apple’s mobile operating system. It didn’t take much market research to realise the huge potential of this business area, so I dived straight in and began working on what would eventually become The Snowboard Tricklist App.

"I am a hugely impatient person by nature and thus found it impossible to take the traditional route of investing time to read several books or attend classes before beginning on my iOS adventure. Following a brisk bit of reading and a 15 minute YouTube tutorial I began laying the foundations for my app. Having started uStomp Snowboarding, a boutique snowboard company in 2010, I had much of the raw material and expertise I needed at my disposal already, I just needed to put the appropriate content into an app, add functionality, and I hoped it would be as simple as that! As an avid snowboarder, I channelled my constant desire to improve my own riding skills and hoped to make the most comprehensive tool for rider development that has ever existed… At least, that was the plan.

"Playing around with Xcode, the Apple toolset to create apps, I slowly learnt by trial and error what worked and what didn’t. After breaking the app (which was no more than a glorified list at this stage), and then fixing it numerous times, I had unknowingly learnt more than enough about the language (Objective-C) and the programme to create something substantial.

"A month quickly passed and the first alpha version was complete and ready for testing. It was all still very basic at this point, but I realised I needed some partners and collaborators to add some weight to the project. I began branching out and stumbled across a very friendly, ex-Olympian, Dan Wakeham, of Team GB. After a little bit of convincing, he joined forces with me and brought his backers, Head Snowboards into the mix. I began to believe for the first time, that perhaps I had a real project on my hands. A few phone calls later and Hertel Wax and Method Magazine were also on board. Leveraging their brand names would prove invaluable to convince the community that I was legit. Dan looked over the alpha version of the app and to my delight, was impressed. He added some tips and gave the app his personal seal of approval.

"After going through a short beta testing period with a few friends, I hastily launched version 1.0 to iTunes. Although I faced a couple of complex issues getting the app to meet Apple’s stringent criteria, after several head scratching moments, I finally cracked it. The next step was the most painful, as I had to wait for a week with crossed fingers for Apple to review and hopefully approve the app. Finally, I got an e-mail from Apple stating that it was live and on sale! This was a huge moment for me and one I will never forget. Now I just had to hope that people actually saw value in what I had created.

"The original uStomp Snowboarding concept I launched in 2010 had received mixed reviews from the snowboard community, so I was understandably nervous, but still to this day, feedback for the app, from both users and snowboard press remains immensely positive. A further surprise came when I was notified out of the blue that my app had been chosen as an “Apple Staff Favourite” and placed on the iTunes app homepage! Several apps are chosen each month and mine was up there next to PayPal, Cut the Rope, eBay’s app and a few others - prime e-real estate! I couldn’t believe it, it was a massive stroke of luck!

"Since then I’ve been busy tying up a few more deals with some of the known names in the snowboarding world and have been approached with offers of a feature by several app magazines. The experience has been absolutely fantastic and the people I have got to know along the way have all been amazing.

"The app allows snowboarders to access an extensive database of tricks, alongside a guide of how to perform each trick, including a difficulty rating for each trick as well as guideline illustrations. Alongside this, a grab indicator shows graphically, how and where to grab the snowboard, where necessary. Video tutorials are also included, to aid the rider in their quest for improvement. Further features include a random trick generator game to facilitate games of H.O.R.S.E between snowboarders, exclusive retail discounts for app owners, a streaming snowboarding music playlist, wallpapers, snowboard maintenance/ tuning guides and a raft of other features which I hope will help snowboarders get the most out of the sport and improve their riding.

"Right now, I juggle with my passion for finance and improving the app. I continue to work at Morgan Stanley but regularly switch between the two different lifestyles of financier and developer. While there is still so much to learn and enjoy from the rich world of finance I am very glad I ventured outside of my comfort zone out and remain ever hopeful that I will find the time and creativity to continue my newest hobby, creating apps. I would not hesitate to encourage others, even with little programming experience to venture out and create something themselves; it is fun, educational and most importantly, altogether quite easy to do!"

Since the time of writing Sam has begun working on a new app, Padel Tennis Pro.

Find out more about his apps at www.indefatigablemedia.co.uk