Top 10 Entrepreneurs Who Got Filthy Rich Through An App Idea

If you have a business idea, start today. There’s no better time than now to get started if you want to achieve success. But that doesn’t mean quitting your job and jumping directly into your idea from day one. To start it, you need to follow a small process.” – Said Kevin Systrom, The Founder of Instagram. 

In the internet-powered age, mobile apps have become the synonym of growth, where businesses without mobile apps are worthless. Apps are the modern technological innovation that has transformed business strategies. Even many successful apps for startup entrepreneurs became million-dollar app ideas. 

The Android and iOS markets are getting bigger by the minute. According to TechCrunch, the mobile app economy was worth $53 billion in 20212 and it will be worth $6.3 trillion in 2021. Statista forecasted that the number of downloading apps will quickly raise the revenue from $462bn in 2019 to $935bn in 2023. 

The most amazing thing is that many successful entrepreneurs got app ideas that can make you rich..

Table of Content:

1. Top Mobile App Entrepreneurs who became millionaires through an app idea
2. How do successful mobile app Entrepreneurs turn their idea into a business
3. How Can Appventurez Help In Converting Turn Your Idea into an App?
4. Frequently Asked Questions

Top Mobile App Entrepreneurs Who Became Millionaires Through An App Idea

Here is a list of ten successful entrepreneurs who made their net worth more than 1000 Million with trending app ideas for businesses. 

1– Kevin Systrom – Social Media App Idea – Instagram 

Kevin Systrom along with Mike Krieger came up with an idea for a photo and video-sharing social networking app in 2010. The major focus of the app was to offer a communication platform that allows pictures and videos to do the talking. 

At present, Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg is the owner of Instagram which has become one of the app ideas for money and gains popularity.

A Brief about Instagram

Instagram is one of the most sought-after social media platforms for 2021 boasting 1.2 billion MAUs. Formerly a photo-sharing app, in recent years, Instagram has become one of the most prominent social media apps regarding social commerce. Fresh features like Instagram Reels hint that this platform still has plenty of growing and expanding opportunities. 

Kevin Systrom Net Worth-

In 2019, Instagram acquired $9.45bn in ad revenues. It is predicted that Instagram will reach $18.16bn in annual ad sale revenues in 2021. 

According to Forbes, the net worth of Kevin Systrrom is 3.4 billion USD in 2022. 

Some other popular social media apps in the industry are:

• Facebook
• Tiktok
• WhatsApp
• Snapchat

2- Travis Kalanick – Transport Ride-Sharing App Idea – Uber

In 2009, Kalanick connected with Garrett Camp, who has the credit for Uber’s original idea. Camp, Co-Founder of StumbleUpon realized that sharing the cost with people could make it affordable and his idea was modified into Uber. 

A Brief About Uber – 

The Uber app was spiced up with bike-sharing, cab-sharing, and truck-sharing options. The main aim of this carpooling & ride-sharing app is to help passengers to reach their destination safely at an affordable price. 

Travis Kalanick Net Worth-

Today, 93 million people use the Uber app. This platform processed $27 bn in gross bookings from its ridesharing business in 2022. Travis Kalanick’s net worth is $3bn, according to Forbes. 

Some other big players in this segment:

• Lyft
• Ola
• Didi

3- Whitney Wolfe Herd – Dating App Idea – Bumble

In 2014, Whitney Wolfe Herd created a feministic dating app, Bumble. She was a co-founder of a rival dating app- Tinder, which she left earlier that year. 

A Brief About Bumble –

Bumble is a top dating app like Tinder that aims to help people line up updates or make new friends in their area. If someone is looking to widen their friends’ circle instead of a romantic relationship, Bumble is the right choice thanks to its BFF feature. 

It is observed that the dating industry never saturates with time. Even so, there was a great impact of COVID-19 on dating apps. So, if you are planning to start your business with this billion-dollar app idea, 

Also Read: How to develop a dating app? 

Whitney Wolfe Herd’s Net Worth – 

For people ranging from $2.99 to $8.99, it is an easier and faster app to meet or date people. Today, Bumble is one of the most popular social and dating apps in the US. Aged 31, Herd is net worth $290 million.

Some other popular players in this segment:

• Tinder
• Match.com
• OkCupid
• Happn

4- Tobi Lütke – eCommerce App Idea – Shopify 

Tobi Lütke – is a German-Canadian billionaire entrepreneur – the founder and CEO of Shopify – Ottawa, Ontario and Canada-based company. Along with Daniel Weinand and Scott Lake, he came up with an eCommerce app idea, Shopify in 2006. 

A Brief About Shopify – 

Shopify is a widespread eCommerce platform for online stores and retail point-of-sale systems. This platform provides many services such as marketing, payment processing, and shipping to online retailers. Total revenue for the 2021 year was US$3.25bn. 

Tobi Lütke’s Net Worth –

According to Forbes’ 35th annual report of the world’s wealthiest people, Tobi Lutke ranks as Canada’s second-wealthiest entrepreneur. His net worth sits at US$9.8bn – up from US$3.5bn in 2022. 

Other popular players in this segment:

• Amazon
• Esty
• eBay

5- Matt Maloney – Food Delivery App Idea – Grubhub

In 2004, Matt Maloney, along with his co-worker Mike Evans, launched Grubhub in Chicago. He came up with this food delivering app idea when he was starving late at night at work. He took his business app idea from a scrappy startup to an established company which is worth $3bn. 

A Brief About Grubhub-

Grubhub is a top food delivery app in America. It is owned by ‘Just Eat Takeaway’ which connects diners with local restaurants. The main aim of this business app idea is to make food ordering and delivery service seamless. The revenue of Grubhub has climbed from $500 million in 2016 to $2.2bn in 2020. 

Matt Maloney’s Net Worth – 

As of 2022, the estimated Net Worth of Matthew M. Maloney is at least $1160 Million. 

Other popular players in this segment:

• DoorDash
• Postmates
• UberEats

Want to start your business in the food industry? Read the complete food delivery app development guide before directly jumping on it.

Read More: DoorDash Buys Food Delivery App Caviar from Square for $410 Million

6- Changpeng Zhao – Cryptocurrency App Idea – Binance

Changpeng Zhao is a founder of Binance which was founded in 2017 and is domiciled in the Cayman Islands. This cryptocurrency business idea is currently the largest exchange in the world in terms of regular trading volume. 

A Brief About Binance-

Binance is World’s #1 cryptocurrency platform by trading volume. It is a great platform for getting into some currencies such as Cardano or Neo. Fast transaction times and low fees make this cryptocurrency app idea more popular. 

Changpeng Zhao’s Net Worth –

In 2020, Crypto exchange Binance posted net profits of $11 billion. In February 2018, Forbes Magazine placed Changpeng Zhao third on their list of “The Richest Entrepreneur In Cryptocurrency”. As of 2022, his net worth is estimated at $2 bn. 

Other popular players in this segment:

• Coinbase
• Voyager
• Blockfolio
• BlockFi

7– Daniel Ek – Music Streaming App Idea – Spotify

Daniel Ek is a millionaire entrepreneur, known as the co-founder of Spotify – A worldwide popular music streaming app. In 2002, he first came up with the idea of Spotify when Napster (a peer-to-peer music app) shut down and Kazaa acquired it. Then, he realized that creating a service that was better than piracy and at the same time reimbursing the music industry – that gave us Spotify on 23 April 2006. 

A Brief About Spotify – 

Spotify is the world’s largest music streaming app, with over 433 million active users as of July 2022. It is available for all major platforms – including Android, iOS, and preferred web browsers. Spotify revenue at $10.8bn in 2020. In the first quarter of 2022, it generated revenue of over 2.65 billion euros. 

Daniel Ek’s Net Worth – 

Daniel Ek’s net worth was $2.35 billion in 2020. His estimated net worth of $4 billion in 2022. 

Other popular players in this segment:

• Apple Music
• YouTube Music
• Amazon Music Unlimited
• Tidal

8 – Reed Hastings & Marc Randolph – Video Streaming App Idea – Netflix

Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph are co-founders of a worldwide popular video streaming app – Netflix. 

In 1997, Netflix was first launched as a movie rental service. At that time, it was seen as a boon for those who didn’t have a video rental store nearby. But, despite their limitations, it was soon clear that streaming will be the future of entertainment. So, entrepreneurs came up with a video streaming app idea and introduced the digital transformation of Netflix in 2007. 

A Brief About Netflix – 

Netflix is one of the most popular video streaming platforms with 209 million subscribers as of July 2021. There has been a great impact of COVID-19 on video streaming apps since 2020. Netflix reported that quarterly revenue was $5.768bn, a 27.58% increase year-over-year. In the second quarter of 2022, it generated total revenue of over $7.3bn. 

Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph’s Net Worth – 

The net worth of Reed Hastings is $7.2 billion. And the net worth of Marc Randolph is $100 million.

Other popular players in this segment:

• Amazon Prime Video
• HBO Now
• Hulu
• UStream

9– Lars and Jens Eilstrup Rasmussen – Navigation App Idea – Google Map

Danish brothers – Lars and Jens Eilstrup Rasmussen are the co-founders of the navigation app – Google Maps. In 2004, they went to Google with a business idea for a web app that won’t only display static maps but also provide people with searchable, scrollable, and zoomable features. 

Then, Google acquired their company where two technologies along with a second company called Keyhole building the geospatial visualization software that would become Google Earth – and that’s where Google Maps come in! 

A Brief About Google Maps –

Google Maps is a web mapping platform owned by Google. It also highlights traffic-avoiding routes through real-time GPS navigation, automatically re-routing based on current conditions, including accidents and road closures. As of 2022, Google Maps was being used by over 1bn people every month worldwide. 

This idea is good to go with the flow but first, you need to know the cost to develop an indoor navigation app. 

Lars and Jens Eilstrup Rasmussen’s Net Worth –

The net worth of Lars Eilstrup Rasmussen is $19,800,000 and $1 Million – $5 Million of Jens Eilstrup Rasmussen.

Other popular players in this segment:

• Waze
• MapQuest
• AppleMaps
• ScoutMaps

If you are planning to follow the navigation app idea for your business, you need to know about google maps vs apple maps. It will help you choose the right platform for your business navigation app. 

Read more: How to make a navigation app like Waze?

10 – Alex Tew and Michael Acton Smith – Meditation App Idea – Calm

Alex Tew and Michael Acton Smith are co-founders of Calm, a software company in San Francisco, California. Before Co-founding Calm, Michael Acton Smith ran the online gaming company. But, after a mountain of stress at his company and continued encouragement from Tew, he gave the meditation app idea a real shot. In 2021, this meditation app brought in $3 billion in revenue. 

A Brief About Calm –

Calm is one of the best self-care apps for meditation and sleeping with 8.52 million downloads worldwide in the first quarter of 2022. The main aim of this app is to improve users’ health and happiness. According to the Calm company, it has increased by $88 million, valuing the meditation app at $1bn. Are you planning to go with this idea but don’t know how to create a meditation app, get in touch with a team of experienced developers. 

Alex Tew and Michael Acton Smith’s Net Worth – 

• Alex Tew’s approx net worth is $100 Million.
• Michael Acton Smith’s net worth is $25 Million.

Other popular players in this segment:

• Insight Timer
• Breethe
• Inscape
• Whil

How Do Successful Mobile App Entrepreneurs Turn Their App Idea Into A Billion-Dollar Business?

As a company owner who wants to reach $1 billion, you need a leader who can change your organization to reach higher levels of revenue. Here are five booster tricks with revenue bands to help your company grow at 100% a year:

1– The Hardest Part: $0 to $ 1 million

You can’t go ahead unless your product resolves a big customer problem. As Langone said, “Getting $0 to $1 million in revenue is the hardest part.” Often, you can get the first five or ten friendly customers. 

2– Getting Systematic About Selling: $1 Million to $25 Million

Reaching from $1 million to $25 million in revenue is a very challenging task. And the challenge is how to repeat the initial success with more customers. 

3– Reinventing Everything: $25 Million to $50 Million

If you want to reach $50 million in revenue, you must change more dramatically. Always remember: The workers that worked to get to $25 million won’t help you get to $50 million. For that, you need to work with your partners. 

4– Bring In Big Company Experts: $50 Million to $100 Million

Generating more than $50 million in revenue requires regenerating the organization’s senior level. At this stage, you must build an organization that can grow much larger. For that, you need to hire people who have grown companies to $300 million 

Also Read: A Complete Guide: How To Patent An App Idea? 

5– Seizing New Opportunity: Over $100 Million

If you want to reach $100 million in revenue, make sure your company’s every function must participate. From sales to marketing to product development, you must identify how they will contribute to reaching the $100 million goals. 

How Can Appventurez Help In Converting Turn Your Idea into an App?

Hire Appventurez a mobile app development company to build successful mobile apps for your next billion-dollar business idea. Our dedicated iOS and Android app developers develop scalable & engaging mobile apps for entrepreneurs businesses whether startup or established. We not only bring life to your brilliantly intuitive million-dollar app ideas but also ensure our rigorous QA and testing process help beat any app store deployment glitches. 

FAQs

1- Can creating an app make you rich?

With app concepts, several successful businesses become billionaires. The Android and iOS marketplaces are rapidly expanding. The mobile app business was worth $53 billion in 2022, and it will be worth $6.3 trillion in 2021, according to TechCrunch.

2- What type of apps make the most money?

The result is straightforward: mobile games and streaming applications are by far the most profitable app categories, but they also take the most effort to produce. Games dominate the mobile app industry in all categories, with consumers spending more on gaming applications than on all non-gaming apps combined.

3- How much money can you make creating an app?

Over 18% of Android app developers earn more than $5,000 per month, while 25% of iOS app developers earn the same amount. Millions of dollars are made through video gaming applications.