This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Hello, welcome back. This is Side Hustle School. I'm your host, Chris Guillebeau. I'm really excited about today's story. It's all about how a San Francisco commuter became part of the original iPhone launch with a hustle that now helps more than 40,000 people every day.
Now I wanna point out that in 12 episodes so far, this is the very first story that has anything to do with computer programming. And that's because I wanna make sure you know that for the most part, you don't need any specialized technical skills to start a hustle. If you do have those skills, like the person you'll hear about today, well, that's great. You can certainly put them to work, but if you don't, that's okay too. Now keep in mind that in the stories you've heard so far, you've learned about the cruise vacation that turns into a $3,000 a month hustle, the oil and gas sales rep who made $40,000 using Pinterest, the single mom who created an astrology calendar, the point of a hustle is to use the skills you already have, maybe in a different way.
You might have to learn how to turn those skills into something profitable, which is exactly what side hustle school is all about, but you don't have to become a programmer or anything else that you aren't. That's the wonderful thing about this world that we're exploring together. And now our story. [Music]
When the first version of the iPhone came out in 2008, Steven Peterson was excited. He'd been developing software for 16 years and he wanted to learn to build something on the brand new Apple iOS platform.
At the time he was commuting from San Francisco to Palo Alto every day, a 30 mile journey that can take up to two hours depending on traffic. There were tens of thousands of people commuting to and from the Bay Area every day just like Steven, and every morning they all had the same question, what would traffic be like today? There was a lot of public transit data available online, but at the time it wasn't easily accessible or understandable to most people. Steven had a hunch that the iPhone debut was more than just another product launch. He saw its potential to improve daily life and it didn't hurt that hundreds of thousands of units had already been pre-ordered by eager consumers.
Apple planned to release the device with an online app store where new buyers could load up their first smartphone with their choice of programs. Years later, as the iPhone became a universal must-have gadget, more than a thousand apps would launch every day. But in the beginning, the platform was much more sparse. The week before the deadline to submit an app for consideration to be included on launch day, Steven was home sick from work. He decided to use his non-resting hours to hack together an app.
This app would compile public transit data and present it in a visually pleasing, easy to understand style. He called it route C. In his own words, he was shocked when Apple emailed him to notify him of the app's acceptance. His idea was great. The early execution, not so much.
This app crashed a lot. The interface was ugly. A long list of planned features had to be abandoned when he ran out of time. He knew the project had a long way to go, but being included in the early launch provided motivation to keep working on it. Monetization was a secondary goal for Steven.
He made the app because he liked Apple and he liked making things. He also knew that a large group of people could benefit from a better solution to planning their morning commute, and no one else had made something like route C. Still, the thought of earning extra cash was also appealing. So he signed up for an advertising network that would show banner ads to users on the bottom of the screen when using the app. On the day of the launch, the San Francisco Chronicle published a blurb about the app in the business section.
Steven noticed it while he was standing in line waiting to get his first phone. It was exciting to see something he'd made go out to the world, or at least the world of early tech adopters who lived in the area. He didn't hear much more for a while, but when Apple published the very first revenue report, the very first month the app store was online, Steven's proceeds were approximately $2,700. After that, he started paying a lot more attention. Nearly a decade later, route C has almost 40,000 users every weekday, and has been downloaded by nearly half a million people.
It also produces a steady income of at least $7,500 a month, allowing Steven tremendous flexibility to design the rest of his life however he sees fit. There's a really special feeling you get when you put your project out into the world, especially for the first time with your first hustle. Even if no one pays attention to it right away, you can look at it, and you think, you know, I made that, I did that. You feel proud of it, and you should be. Over time, as you achieve more side hustle goals, you launch more projects, this special feeling can be its own kind of reward.
Steven released his public transport app long before he felt ready. It really illustrates this principle of, you know, the best time to start was probably yesterday, but failing that, today will do. Because he took that risk and went forward, even though it wasn't quite ready, by doing so, he gained access to a passionate early adopter audience. And so from day one of the iPhone launch, eager Bay Area commuters downloaded and used the app. And then he continued to improve and iterate, make it a much better product over time.
After working on this project for about eight years as a side hustle while doing his day job, Steven recently quit that day job to go full time on the hustle. Well, it may not happen exactly like that for you, but if you listen to these stories, you begin applying them to your own hustle, you will see results over time. Remember, inspiration is good, but inspiration combined with action is so much better. And hey, if you'd like to say hi, just head over to sidehustleschool.com. Every day there's an original post with show notes about the lesson.
You can also get a free five step hustle course, nothing's for sale. I just wanna make sure you are well supported as you go through the year and work on your hustle. I'm Chris Guillebeau, this is Side Hustle School. [Music]
