JRT Studio

After several years of coding for a large software company, Justin Tipton jumped on the Android bandwagon when the Nexus One phone was released. Motivated by the idea of helping Android users connect their devices with Apple iTunes, Justin created iSyncr, the first Android app to sync with iTunes. "I didn't know if anyone would buy the app," he explains, "so I put it out on the Android Market (Pre-Play Store)." What started out as a project to recoup the cost of his Android device quickly took off after being picked up by a blogger in 2010; that day he made $300 in app downloads, more than his current salary would have paid him for the day's work. "A few months and many sleepless nights later," he recalls, "I submitted my resignation and started work for JRT Studio full time."

Over the next few years, Justin tried to find the right balance between reaching as many people as possible by making apps to fix common problems while also making a living doing so. "My wife gave me a ton of confidence," he says. "Without her encouragement, I might have never taken that leap to start monetizing my apps, but ultimately I needed to be compensated for my work."

Six years later, he makes 95% of his revenue from ads and in-app purchases and is able to support his entire family from their portfolio of apps. "One of the most impactful changes for us as a business," his wife Caroline shares, "has been our partnership with the Google team. When Justin was first approached to implement ads, he was extremely hesitant. But the Google team worked with us step by step through the process and since then we've never looked back. If we didn't have that support from the team to implement ads and not just purchases, I don't think we would still be a company today. They have literally changed our lives."

The added flexibility of being an entrepreneur has allowed Justin and his wife to spend more time with their daughter, and travel around the country as a family. And 11 years later, the business is more successful than they could ever imagine; they even saw a 40% bump in revenue in 2020.

Justin and Caroline have also established relationships with longtime members and JRT app users along the way: "Being able to keep the content and downloads of my apps free to users means the world to me," he says; "my wife quit her job to do product marketing and customer support, and over the years she has become penpals with at least seven or eight customers that have turned into lifelong friendships."