# Monetize third party apps



## Justin Thyme (Mar 29, 2005)

bschuler2007's note on Series 4 cites two features- PyTivo and Galleon that aren't Tivo features.

What Tivo needs to do is to figure out if they really are going to have a third party application strategy. If so, they need more than an api to write to, but a way to put food on the table while they are doing it. Dan Bricklin didn't have a huge sales support staff when he wrote visicalc. Personal Software Inc. provided some investment capital and showed it to Jobs. If you go the stock way, you need to develop a relationship with such a company. Alternatively, you manage it, and develop a way of cutting them in to a cash flow. EG: charge a buck extra for access to PyTivo, Galleon etc meter usage on the apps and pay each application based on percentage of usage.

If you want a killer app, you have to have an interesting platform and provide some hope to a developer that they have a way of hitting it big.

Otherwise, all you are just going to get are hobby applications.

I understand the technical load of supporting an api in perpetuity that developers use in unorthodox ways. And yeah, maybe there is no such thing as a killer app for a DVR. But if there is, you will never find out this way.


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