Founder Tips. Bayram Annakov, creator of App In The Air

    On "Megamind" is another "Founder's Tips . "
    We managed to talk with Bayram Annakov, the creator of App In The Air . For several years, Bayram has been developing an application that continues to improve the lives of travelers around the world.

    We are developing mobile products for the global market. Our main product is App In The Air. Today it is more than a million users and a place on the banner in the "Travel" section of the AppStore. AppInTheAir is a flight manager that helps to find out not only changes in the flight schedule, but also navigate the world's largest airports (from cafes to free Wi-Fi networks). In April, we launched navigation including 7 major US airports, such as, for example, New York.

    The most important thing is that everyone in the team understands their own contribution to the overall project and the direction of movement of the whole company as a whole


    It often happens that people do not fully understand the goals facing the organization as a whole, which is why the company is more like a design like "Swan, Cancer and Pike", rather than a locomotive that moves in one direction.

    When a person does not understand what he is doing and does not see his own contribution to the common cause, motivation is lost. It is necessary not only to find people who are motivated for something, but also to constantly push people towards greater awareness and internal motivation for good work, through feedback and transparency of actions. Feedback also allows you to quickly understand who does not invest anything in the company and “crowd out” such a person in a team. So that a person does not negatively affect the overall development and overall result.

    There are usually two ways:
    • Man turns on
    • The man does not turn on

    In the second case, you can part with an employee.
    Not so long ago, we specifically asked employees to write one sentence regarding which colleagues they cannot work with. This was done specifically for the search for a single person. You can independently evaluate how people evaluate working qualities and character traits useful in work.


    We spend a lot of time analyzing user behavior within the application. This allows not only to determine further features, but also to build the development of the product as a whole. What users do, why they do it, what problems make it difficult to use and get involved in the product, and, naturally, why the user pays or does not pay money.

    We pay a lot of attention to these points and they help us in our work.
    Of course, we ourselves have enough ideas on what to do with the product itself, what to improve or change. We test all these hypotheses mainly with the help of hackathons - this format has proved to be very useful for us. Over the past 2 years, our team has won 4 or 5 hackathons around the world, with prizes ranging from $ 10,000 to $ 100,000.

    • User Behavior Analysis
    • Hypothesis Testing Through a Hackathon

    Hackathons allow and help to work in a hyper-focused team and test the idea that will be implemented in our product. This is very useful and we recommend that all development teams take part in such events. In addition, it is fun and interesting to do something in a short time, which usually requires coordination and effort.

    For example, we conduct internal training on React Native and we wrote two components that are now presented on the main portal of this technology.

    New technologies help us implement new features in the application. For example, with the help of iBeacon we have created a system of orientation and navigation at airports.

    It is not only fun and interesting, but also very motivating.


    At one time, under my command there was a team of 40 people supporting the old system. One of the key points in the explanation of the work was the answer to the question: “Why are we doing this?”, For example, to a person who types on XSLT forms without which the platform does not work, because the requirements include support for the Netscape browser ...

    In my team, we constantly try new in order to actually feel the movement forward. But we do not use old and “killed” technologies that simply erode the desire to program in a person. And this was one of my main requirements for my own company.

    Nothing better than the prototype can give the sensations associated with the new technology, so we make prototypes and then try to evaluate their applicability in existing working and loaded systems and applications.

    The main objective of our product is the users involved, but even despite the lack of attempts to clamp it (the user) into some kind of framework, we successfully earn the money that we have enough for life.

    Hyperresponsibility is important


    The manager should never kick anyone in order for the employee to work. And I do not like a similar message in many books related to management and the premise that "the manager motivates employees." It is not scalable and self-organizing teams do not work like that.

    Each individual team member should be motivated by his own achievements and work results. Hyperresponsibility is also associated with the desire to take on more complex tasks and bear responsibility for them, and not to transfer it to colleagues who “did not” or “did not transfer”.

    The ability to roll up your sleeves yourself is equally important


    Becoming a “manager” you will not be able to sit down or lie down, telling everyone else what they should do. For me, this is unacceptable, since the connection with reality is important - when it is broken, problems arise.

    The lesson I went through myself was first voiced by Steve Jobs in a conversation with Larry Page: “Don't try to be forgiving.” Sometimes, perhaps inspired by the same management books, people try to be super-democratic. Kind, sympathetic and forgiving. I am not saying that this is bad, but it is human qualities that are important in interpersonal communication. In work, the ability to make quick and responsible decisions is needed: to fire people, save time, and spend energy and money effectively.

    If the manager is embarrassed to tell the employee that he is doing his job poorly or waiting 3 months before firing the person, then such stories usually end badly for companies where such employees work.

    Do not be shy if your truth is on the side of the company and the product


    We must win and the result is important.

    From the Editor: if you have a desire to take part in the “Founder's Tips” section, write to us at editor (at) megamozg.ru

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