The archive · Product Ideas · Product decision · 2010–2011
OneVoice's $200 iPad app replaces a $7,000+ speech device — $19k profit in year one
Nathan Barry learned to code, priced OneVoice at $200 against a $7,000+ medical device, and reached $19,000 in profit by selling through speech therapists.
OneVoice
What it had to solve
Nathan Barry was a designer with no programming experience who wanted to learn iOS development. His sister-in-law Hannah worked with an autistic boy who used a clunky $7,000+ dedicated speech device, and she suggested building a replacement on the iPad.
How it works
OneVoice began as a learning project with a human target: Nathan Barry, a designer who had never programmed, wanted to learn iOS development, and his sister-in-law Hannah worked with an autistic boy who used a bulky $7,000+ dedicated speech device. She suggested building the replacement on the iPad, so Barry set out to make an app that was beautiful and easy to use for people who cannot speak — after strokes, non-verbal autism, or other conditions.
The product was priced and licensed like a piece of assistive hardware rather than a toy app: $200, of which Apple took 30% and Acapela Group's speech-synthesis license took 14%, leaving about 56% as Barry's margin. OneVoice + iPad replaced a device that cost more than $7,000, was difficult to use, and served the same users. Released in January 2011, it sold three copies on day one — good for the price point — then quickly dropped off the new-release lists.
Instead of waiting on Apple's charts, Barry marketed to speech-language pathologists, the professionals who recommend devices for exactly this population. He contacted them personally by phone and email and offered promo copies in exchange for feedback; quite a few accepted, their advice shaped the first versions, and their App Store reviews made a big sales difference. September was a strong month because two schools bought 20 and 30 copies each at the 50% educator volume discount.
After slowly building OneVoice to about $19,000 in profit and keeping almost all of it in savings, Barry quit his full-time job in October 2011 to focus on the app as a startup. His write-up drew 498 points and 137 comments on Hacker News, and a trackback on the page says the post brought roughly 60,000 visits in a few days.
Why it lands
- The $7,000+ reference device made the value obvious: a $200 iPad app that is easier to use is an order-of-magnitude cheaper substitute, so the pitch needed no explanation.
- Barry went to the professional gatekeepers — speech-language pathologists — and gave them promo copies for feedback, converting experts into advisors and App Store reviewers.
- The 50% educator volume discount turned individual endorsements into institutional purchases: two schools buying 20 and 30 copies made September his best month.
- Licensing Acapela's speech synthesis instead of building it kept quality high at a known 14% cost, letting a first-time developer focus on design and marketing.
- All $19,000 came from marketing outside the App Store, proving a niche product can be sold directly to its professional community rather than waiting for Apple's feature.
What it did
By November 2011 OneVoice had accumulated about $19,000 in profit after Apple's cut — roughly $24,000 before it — entirely from marketing outside the App Store, and Barry quit his full-time job to focus on the app. The write-up drew 498 points and 137 comments on Hacker News, and a trackback on the page notes the post brought about 60,000 visits in a few days.
What you can take
A clunky $7,000 device invites a $200 replacement; when buyers are professionals, win them one by one — promo copies turned speech therapists into reviewers and schools into volume buyers.
Since then
When the post ran, Barry had just quit his job and said he was shifting almost entirely to marketing while still practicing Objective-C daily; a demo version was awaiting Apple approval. The numbers he disclosed — a $200 price, Apple's 30% cut, Acapela's 14% license, and about $19,000 in profit after Apple's share (roughly $24,000 before it) — were discussed in the Hacker News thread, where readers questioned the 'profit' label and Barry clarified what the totals included.
Sources
- How I Made $19,000 on the App Store While Learning to Code
- How I Made $19,000 on the App Store While Learning to Code (Hacker News discussion)
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