> I will imagine that anyone who creates an authenticator is half-decent enough to NOT take that bribe and serve the greater good.
Dear HenryBemis,
As a CEO of TRC, I would like to extend you an offer to purchase source and distribution rights to your app, SummerChildAuthenticator, to the form of $500,000 (five hundred thousand US dollars). We are a fast growing SV startup that wants to make it easier for people to secure their papers and money on-line. We have developed a streamlined, easy-to-use, user interface for authenticator applications and are looking for a way to quickly put it in front of a wide audience. We believe that your SummerChildAuthenticator, with its established base of over 50 000 users, is the gateway we are looking for.
If you are interested in this offer, please reply to this e-mail.
Sincerely yours,
TeMPOraL, CEO, TRC
<smallfont>Temporal's Rackets and Cons is a startup registered in Southern Vescillo, Arstotzka.</smallfont>
--
You think to yourself: "this is a good deal! The app is unlikely to grow more, it isn't making you any money anyway. Here is this hot new startup with great ideas, what's the worst that could happen? They'll just inject an ad here and there. Meanwhile, I have medical expenses, and..."
So you agree, and I take your app, and run a "growth hacking" campaign on Reddit to blow its userbase up to 500 000 people, and then proceed with my main business plan, which is selling access to OTP codes to the mob running phishing scams.
(Oh, dear reader, you've noticed Arstotzka and thought I'll be selling data to evil government? Nope, we registered there only because it'll make it mighty hard for anyone to sue us.)
Any developer knows/understands if the offer comes from a legit source or scumbag. I cannot make other people's choices for them. My answer would be 'no' even for 100k, BUT I am in HN and I suggest people get off facebook and google because they are privacy nightmares (also certified in a couple of audit/security areas - so there's that). Btw I did have an app on Apple store, target audience was children (3-6 years old), it did OK, I just didn't have the time to keep it around (for the little revenue it was bringing).
It worked 100% offline, no tracking, no ads, no nothing. I have a free version as a sample and the full version at $0.99. I chose to sell than help the ad beast grow bigger and track children more.
But that is just me. $50k is a serious amount but it won't make me or break me. For some other parts of the world, where a monthly salary may be $200.....
And while I don't think you personally will sell out like this, I wanted to highlight that a) it's easy to make such an offer sounding legit enough (particularly to developers with little experience with the world at large), and b) an Authenticator app is a perfectly valid target for such offer. I'd even say it's more lucrative target than most.
Dear HenryBemis,
As a CEO of TRC, I would like to extend you an offer to purchase source and distribution rights to your app, SummerChildAuthenticator, to the form of $500,000 (five hundred thousand US dollars). We are a fast growing SV startup that wants to make it easier for people to secure their papers and money on-line. We have developed a streamlined, easy-to-use, user interface for authenticator applications and are looking for a way to quickly put it in front of a wide audience. We believe that your SummerChildAuthenticator, with its established base of over 50 000 users, is the gateway we are looking for.
If you are interested in this offer, please reply to this e-mail.
Sincerely yours,
TeMPOraL, CEO, TRC
<smallfont>Temporal's Rackets and Cons is a startup registered in Southern Vescillo, Arstotzka.</smallfont>
--
You think to yourself: "this is a good deal! The app is unlikely to grow more, it isn't making you any money anyway. Here is this hot new startup with great ideas, what's the worst that could happen? They'll just inject an ad here and there. Meanwhile, I have medical expenses, and..."
So you agree, and I take your app, and run a "growth hacking" campaign on Reddit to blow its userbase up to 500 000 people, and then proceed with my main business plan, which is selling access to OTP codes to the mob running phishing scams.
(Oh, dear reader, you've noticed Arstotzka and thought I'll be selling data to evil government? Nope, we registered there only because it'll make it mighty hard for anyone to sue us.)