Indie Interviews

Emin Grbo

Emin Grbo
Emin Grbo

Emin Grbo

@emin_ui

Can you tell us more about yourself and what led you to become an indie maker

Hi! I am Emin Grbo, and I have been an indie even before becoming a developer! As I am 36 years old now, there have been a lot of changes in my life and career path, so I always prefer to do this in milestones. That way, if anyone reading this wants to learn more about a certain milestone, they can reach out and ask!

  • • elementary school, dad bought me DreamWeaver book, I made a cool button, never saw the book again
  • • finished high school, hated math, started looking for university with 0 math classes
  • • found one WITHOUT math, got it, started studies
  • • parents could barely afford it, but decided its worth it
  • • found out math can be called more than MATH. This one was called Quantitative methods and research
  • • aced Q-methods and Binary math, seems I just needed good teachers.
  • • needed to work next to university to help pay for college
  • • found a job called Flash Designer, sounded cool so I applied.
  • • spent a month listening to 13 year olds teaching me how to code in actionscript on YT
  • • Got the job
  • • lost the job due to company going under
  • • applied for a forklift driver, did not get the job
  • • worked flipping pancakes for a bit
  • • started working in a bookstore
  • • applied for a designer at DDB (quite good international company)
  • • got it
  • • some years in decided to go freelance
  • • did that for 8 years (animation, print, web, stationary, ux design)
  • • saw Swift in 2018
  • • started as iOS junior 2019
  • • moved to Norway in 2020 and started working for TIDAL
  • • current: building great relationships, apps and friends online while working 9-5 and hoping to go full Indie one day

What led me here is a desire to create things and make products that people find useful.

How did you come up with the idea? How do you generate ideas for your apps or projects, and how do you identify the problems or needs your app can address?

This is quite random tbh. I just either come across an issue or think to myself if something would be cool if existed. But definitely a lot of those apps are stemmed from the problems I encountered on a daily basis.

How does your day-to-day app development workflow look like?

It is fairly structured. Regular job until 16h, pick up the kid, have fun with her and my wife until 19-20, once she is asleep I go to work until 22:30. That is the flow for all weekday unless it’s Wednesday, when me and the wife have a “date day”, and go out usually.

Weekends are for fun activities and ice cream with a movie in the evening. That way all of us get good family time but also indie dev. When I code, I never use any architectures but just CODE and make things works. It is very chaotic at times, but for that reason I have managed to make all the apps I wanted to make. I believe that if the code works, its not broken.

How do you launch and market your app?

Very badly most of the time. I went back to thinking that posting on X/Twitter is enough, but it’s not. You need to post on all possible channels, reddit, insta, TikTok, ads, blogs…absolutely EVERYTHING if you want your product to succeed. The moment you do, is the moment you will see results, guaranteed.

What are the future plans for your app?

Latest app I am working on is a digital loyalty tracker aimed to replace classic stamp cards. App is done, company registered, T’s are crossed. I even have a partner who is going “in” 50/50. This is the firs app I am really doing by the book and with greater risks than some previous indie apps. I truly believe in it and hope it will the the final train I catch to “indie” land.

Do you have any interesting lessons learned or tips for other indie makers?

Do not ship too fast. Sure, it is best to validate your idea as soon as you can, but you also need to build a solid approach and make sure that idea is worth building. So I would say, try to kill the idea as fast as possible. If it survives, it means that its worth building.

Looking back, are there any decisions or actions you regret not taking before or during the development and launch of your apps? Is there anything you would have done differently?

Never build more than one app at a time. It splits the focus and you end up building things just for the sake of building them. If you reach that stage, stop, and move on.

Are there any other products that you are particularly proud of? Could you share some details about them

I was proud of my Barny app which was a promising Twitter client, but rn I would say I am very excited about the book I am writing: How an Egg timer app got me every job. It is a first time experience for me, it is unexpectedly fun and addictive to write. It covers the full process of preparation for interviews and helping junior devs be noticed in the sea of applicants. Soon it will be released and priced but for initial signups I plan to make it free.

Are there any indie makers or creators whose work you admire and follow closely?

Of course!!! There are so many people I admire and am In contact with almost on a daily basis. It feels weird not listing them all, but I do think the person I admire for more than one reason is Martin Lasek. The second I saw his idea for Wishkit I almost yelled “GENIUS! I NEED THIS!”

It would be too obvious if I listed you, but I do want you to know that before we knew each other I was thinking “how does he do it!?” Very impressed with everything that you do man. You make apps so polished that they do not look indie, if you know what I mean.

Could you recommend any specific tools or resources that you believe are helpful for other indie makers, especially those just starting out?

Yes! Stop using socials too much. Go out into the woods or any nature surroundings. Bring paper and a pen. I am not against tech, but our brains yearn for the open space and fresh air.

Also if you are really just starting out in iOS, the only name you need to know is Angela Yu.

Thanks for reading til the end. Hope you enjoy the interview as much as we did. Below are some useful links mentioned throughout the interview

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