The Non-Technical Person's guide to building products & apps

Go from Idea to MVP with no CTO and no coding. Launch your business, app, or product idea cheaply, quickly, and easily.

4.90 (749 reviews)
Udemy
platform
English
language
Entrepreneurship
category
instructor
13,032
students
22.5 hours
content
Mar 2024
last update
$99.99
regular price

What you will learn

Quickly validate your ideas using five different techniques

Build a landing page that converts with Launchrock

Run validation campaigns through Facebook and Google

Interpret the results of your validation campaigns and understand basic web analytics

Wireframe from scratch with Balsamiq and produce a mockup of YouTube

Determine the best (and cheapest) way of getting your app designed

Manage design freelancers and be effective at negotiating a lower price

Start a web design contest and receive up to 40 free designs to choose from

Make use of free and premium templates to skip the graphic design process entirely

Put together a design packet for the design process

Find and vet developers from three different online sources

Test developers with small amounts of investment before committing to them

Find the best deals on contractors to save the most money

Avoid the common pitfalls of contracting

Streamline communication with your development team

Bug test web and mobile applications effectively and professionally

Understand the basics of startup traction and how product quality plays into that

Leverage your MVP to recruit and attract investment capital

Description

What do Pinterest, Snapchat, Amazon, and Alibaba all have in common?

          They were all started by non-technical founders who couldn't code and didn't have a CTO.

          Nowadays, anyone who has an idea is told that they have to "learn to code" or "find a partner," but learning how to code isn't realistic; it takes years to get good at and forces you to neglect your other skill set. Plus, finding a technical partner is insanely difficult because everyone is trying to do it, and if you do find someone, it's going to be really expensive.

          If you have an idea you don't need to learn how to code and you don't need to sacrifice half of your vision to someone "technical." As an entrepreneur, a freelancer, or even a small business owner you need to learn how to independently test and launch your ideas - without anyone else's help. This course will show you how. 

________________________________________________________________________

I'm Evan Kimbrell and I'm the founder of Sprintkick, a full service web application studio based out of San Francisco. Over the last 4 years I've personally overseen the launch of over 100 apps all the way from concept to deployment. I have no idea how to code and I've never had a technical partner. I created this course to teach you how you can launch your idea without spending years learning how to code, having to recruit a partner, and without breaking the bank along the way.

This course is divided into six easy-to-follow sections that comprehensively cover all you need to know to take an idea from napkin to launch. This course isn't theory; it's 100% application.

  What we're going to cover: 

  • 5 easy ways to pre-evaluate your idea before you spend a dollar - in less than 1 hour.

  • The most effective way of using a landing page for validation purposes with Launchrock.

  • How to wireframe like a pro with Balsamiq (in exactly 39 minutes).

  • How to determine the best route for designing your application. 

  • How to get your app designed for as little as $9.

  • How to get designers to compete for your app with no money upfront. 

  • Navigating the designer relationship and how to save as much money as possible.

  • How to find and validate the best contractors. 

  • How to negotiate rates and guarantee on time delivery.

  • How to bug hunt on both web and mobile with free tools. 

  • How to streamline communication throughout your project.

  • Ways to save considerable money and time when working with a developer.

  • How to leverage what you've built to recruit going forward.

  Why you should take this course:

- Over 22+ hours of content and direct access to me, the instructor, as a guide.

- You'll learn essential and repeatable skills like ten-minute validation, rapid wireframing, and effective contracting. 

- Being able to identify an idea, test it, and launch it will be an invaluable tool even if you never pursue your idea. There will be unlimited opportunities to implement these skills in your life.

- Learn a skill set that will make you a more well-rounded entrepreneur, freelancer, marketer, business owner, or sales expert.

- Lifetime access to abbreviated summaries of each lecture, called "cheat sheets."

- Follow along and collaborate on a joint project. Watch me take an idea all the way through the process taught in this course and into deployment.

I've packed together everything I know from:

- 3 years being a solo, non-tech founder building a mega app with no in-house tech team (that I raised several million dollars with).

- 1 year working directly with 50+ non technical founders as a venture capitalist in Silicon   Valley.

- 4 years as Director of Sprintkick, overseeing over 100 apps from concept to launch, for small startups and big Fortune 100 companies.

  Also included in this course

- Free access to hand written legal documents. These documents cost over $5,000 to get made, and our Udemy students will get them for free.

  I know the frustration that someone feels when they have a business idea and they can't act on it. If you have an idea it's not going to get more valuable by sitting on it. Let me show you how to turn the idea quickly (and cheaply) into reality. Empower yourself with this immensely valuable skill set and join the course.

Content

Get acquainted (10 minutes)

Meet the instructor
Join our community on Slack!
Course overview
Section 1 Review Material
Review sheets & resources - all in one PDF

Getting ready (27 minutes)

The three essentials of feasibility
How much is this going to cost?
Is learning to code a waste of time?
Section 2 Review Material
Getting ready

Validating your idea (48 minutes)

The idea validation framework
The idea we're going to use as an example
Customer segmentation
Running a qualitative analysis offline
Extra: Before you start validating
Section 3 Review Material
Start validating your idea

Scoping out your competition (30 minutes)

Advanced search techniques for finding competitors
Running a competition analysis
Section 4 Review Material
Scope out the competition

Getting your first customer feedback (56 minutes)

Conducting the five-second test
Proved.co method
Quick and easy validation through email
Validation through online groups
Section 5 Review Material
Getting your first customer feedback

Creating your pitch experiment (97 minutes)

How to create a Launchrock landing page to gauge interest
Using UnBounce for more in-depth analysis
Setting up A/B tests for your Unbounce page
Adding conversion goals + dynamic text
Adding a payment button to your page
Extra: Using a payment button in email
Extra: Getting a logo for free
Extra: Getting a better logo for $5
Extra: Getting domain names
Section 6 Review Material
Creating your pitch experiment

Testing your idea in the wild (40 minutes)

Using Facebook ads + Launchrock to test your idea
Using Google ads + Launchrock for validation
Getting free coupons for Google, Facebook, Bing
Section 7 Review Material
Testing your idea in the wild

Evaluating results (15 minutes)

Looking over the results
To repeat or not
Section 8 Review Material
Evaluating results

Introduction to prototyping (66 minutes)

Crash course terminology
What exactly is a wireframe? And what's a prototype?
The reason we use wireframes and prototypes
Concepts: High fidelity and low fidelity
Important things to understand beforehand
Picking a tool
Following the construction path
Section 9 Review Material
Introduction to Prototyping

Pre-prototyping exercises (30 minutes)

Coming up with a strategy
Coming up with the scope of our project
Section 10 Review Material
Pre-prototyping exercises

Sketching it on the cheap (167 minutes)

Intro to sketching
Materials for sketching
Sketch it out part 1
Sketch it out part 2
Upgrade to a tool: Getting started with Pidoco
Getting used to the features in Pidoco
Creating a quick sitemap upfront
The site elements to start with
Using templates
Handling images in Pidoco
Adding and controlling layers in Pidoco
Annotate everything
Getting up and running with Balsamiq
Balsamiq continued
An example of a page made with Balsamiq
Creating the low fidelity version of the Happy Hour app
Section 11 Review Material
Sketching it on the cheap

Making an interactive prototype (51 minutes)

Why I don't use HTML/CSS
Introducing M.A.P.
Adding interactivity to your prototype
Creating the tablet version
Collaborators & reviewers
Section 12 Review Material
Making an interactive prototype

Designing it on the cheap (optional) (32 minutes)

Design it
Option #1: Graphic design freelancers - Should I go this route?
Option #2 Design contests - Why should I use these?
Option #3: Templates
The design packet - save yourself 80% of the headaches
Section 13 review material
Designing it on the cheap

Building it on the cheap (118 minutes)

Where to find freelancers
Intro to Elance
Intro to Elance continued
Intro to Upwork
Intro to Upwork continued
Intro to Freelancer
Five pillars for evaluating contractors
The $50 test
Six red flags to look for
Tools for bug testing
Becoming a bug hunting master
Bug hunting on mobile, a whole new beast
Section 14 Review Material
Building it on the cheap

Section 4 Commentary (75 minutes)

Tip: Don't worry about extra work, follow my guidance
In-country or out-of-country? It's easy
Are contractors a long-term solution?
The difference between outsourcing and contracting
How do you pick a development "stack"?
Tip: Some thoughts on bug hunting
Tip: Why are freelancers so cheap?
Tip: Fixed rate vs hourly rate, use my method
Tip: Equitizing your contractor
Tip: Off hours developers: What they are, where to find them
Tip: The truth about referrals
Tip: What is good? Avoid this trap
Tip: Accelerate your testing this way
Outsourcing and protecting your IP
Section 15 Review Material
Concepts from section 15

The finish line and beyond (4 minutes)

Where do I go from here?
Let me hear your feedback
Section 16 Review Material

Course commentary (41 minutes)

The dilemma of recruiting tech
Why does equity matter?
Product - Team - Interest - Traction
Section 17 Review Material
Section 17

Extras

Our $4k NDA, yours for free
70 codeless tools for running and growing your business
77 tools for building a codeless site, store, blog, or web / mobile app

Bonus Section

Bonus Lecture: How to get your next course for $13.99

Screenshots

The Non-Technical Person's guide to building products & apps - Screenshot_01The Non-Technical Person's guide to building products & apps - Screenshot_02The Non-Technical Person's guide to building products & apps - Screenshot_03The Non-Technical Person's guide to building products & apps - Screenshot_04

Reviews

ITPLF
May 16, 2023
The content is too old, the websites in the course is not working or is also old. Not all ideas from the course are feasible, as the methods are out of date. But I also only saw 1/3 of the course, so I'll see, maybe the course will be good.
Andreas
April 15, 2023
It's not bad - pretty basic, but that is fine and what you would expect. The course seems to be very old already - some of the tools he shows were shut down already and don't exist anymore
Rakhmat
March 6, 2022
I think it's usefull for technical or non-technical people... explain how to create the app from the scratch...
Shyam
August 6, 2021
Thanks for the amazing course. Without needing to have the technical know-hows, it provided step-by-step detailed procedures and clear understanding on building a product from scratch.
Sheila
December 6, 2016
Evan breaks down all the steps to launch your idea, removing the fear of "hey can I really do this?" His answer is you absolutely can, and he makes it so simple if you just follow along. Would definitely recommend this course!
Hozaifah
December 3, 2016
Amazing instructor. Great course if you are considering an app for your business. If you are non programmer/IT/Tech person, this course could change your perception and help you move forward with great knowledge. The only thing I would suggest to add to the course is to have an actual App Designed, Programmed & Launched in order to put the material into actual case/product. In this case, it would be the "happy hour" app which has been used frequently in the course.
Mitchell
November 19, 2016
The content and examples are very helpful. Evan obviously has a lot of experience and insight that will definitely save time and help students to avoid pitfalls in the process. Awesome course!
Amirali
November 12, 2016
Easy to understand, and apply. Laid out step by step. You understand there is so much more involved in creating web apps than to know coding.
Blake
November 3, 2016
The tutor is great, really engaging and his hands on - 'not too theoretical' approach works. Great stuff.
Leighton
October 20, 2016
This course is making me slow down and think about what I am doing. The course is also exposing me to tools and techniques that I did not know existed. This is a great course, and I wish I would have found it sooner.
Benjamin
October 18, 2016
This was an incredibly valuable course-- and for a reasonable price. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to build an application for the first time.
Alex
October 3, 2016
Overall, I'm very glad I bought this course. Evan walks you through every step, and most importantly makes you validate your assumptions upfront before spending a dime. I saved a lot of time and money by validating my idea, which alone was worth the price of the course. My only critique: the videos need some serious editing work. Some are out of order, one was clipped so the second half was a future lecture, very unpolished; can be difficult to follow at times. Video quality - 2/10 Depth of content - 10/10 Knowledgable Instructor - 10/10
Horst
September 26, 2016
A lot more than I expected. Completely up to date. Really every aspect covered. Excellent material. Technically & content-wise simply just 100%. Highly recommended to everyone who is thinking that the title of the course matches her/his demand.
Enrique
September 24, 2016
I like where this is heading... haven't finished watching the videos but he really knows how to get s*** done!
Clay
September 10, 2016
Love the fact that you can get around the coding part! I thought it was impossible before joining this course. Thanks so much!

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369660
udemy ID
12/13/2014
course created date
9/8/2019
course indexed date
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