When Sean Casto walks across the stage to graduate on May 3, the Northeastern business student will be walking straight into a self-made career.
A serial entrepreneur, Casto's latest company, Pre-Applicationsis pioneering a new marketing model for the mobile app community that gives developers a chance to break through the flood of approximately 30,000 new apps hitting the market every month.
Users can preview upcoming mobile apps, rate them, sign up as beta testers, or sign up for a list to be notified of any changes – including when a particular app is going to be released through Apple's App Store or of Google Play. The service is free for developers to use, although they can upgrade for more detailed analytics and marketing packages.
“We want to help build pre-launch buzz, build brand recognition, but most importantly, build a following behind the up-and-coming apps,” Casto said.
The idea seems intuitive. give your target audience a chance to try out an upcoming app, and in turn, developers have a much clearer picture of what they need to make the launch a success. The idea has even drawn interest from Microsoft, resulting in a partnership that will allow Windows 8 app developers to get user feedback before release.
Mobile is the only entertainment industry that doesn't capitalize on pre-release buzz, Casto said. “Why did you watch that movie or buy that phone in your pocket? Did you do it because you watched a trailer, read a review, or your friend told you to.”
He hopes PreApps will make the idea of pre-selection of upcoming releases an industry standard for mobile apps through “an ecosystem that combines critical user feedback with marketing tools for developers.”
An app user and developer himself, Casto first came up with the idea for a pre-launch platform three years ago. He wasn't able to launch the company until January 24, but since then, interest in the service has grown.
Since its launch, the site has more than 250 mobile apps. The Boston-based company's six-person team searches for the most promising upcoming apps, with five to 10 new apps each day. The platform's exclusive look at not-yet-released apps attracts thousands of visitors for daily check-ins on the latest releases.
One of the site's biggest success stories was Overkill 2, a first-person shooter game that received more than 250,000 downloads after its release.
Based in the Czech Republic, the game's developer, Craneballs Studios, learned about PreApps through a Czech mobile news site. The idea of a platform to find beta testers and get feedback from players was enough for the studio to try the site, said Daniel Craneballs, the company's director of marketing.
“The release date is incredibly important to any game developer,” Craneballs said. “Using PreApps, we were able to secure a respectable pre-launch buzz. Overkill 2 received over 500 votes from serious gamers, which is the best group you want to get in touch with.”
Another developer who has found success with the platform is Zhan Ye, a veteran entrepreneur and one of the first generation game developers in China. After the PreApps staff saw a video about Ye's upcoming app, Mr. Runner 2: The Masksthey contacted his studio, Zing Games, and brought it up on their website.
“Today's app market is very crowded,” Ye said. “It's important to use every possible channel to reach the audience and engage the user community as early as possible.”
Casto hopes to do more than generate buzz for the developer community.
“We're building this resource for developers to help them build better quality apps that users will want to download, as well as support them post-launch with development tools, press releases and icon generation,” Casto said.
