What I Learned When Apple Banned My Company's Apps

Moving to San Diego was supposed to be the answer to my burnout. After the multi-year slog of getting my business off the ground, I thought the change of scenery would be a magic fix. In many ways, it was one of the best decisions I ever made. It gave me the space to think, to reflect on how a dorm room project had become a multimillion-dollar startup company. But that breathing room also brought a difficult realization: I wasn’t just tired. I was ready to move on.

Being a CEO is an incredibly lonely job. You’re responsible for everything, from office snacks to high-level strategy, and you can’t really talk about the stress. You can’t tell your sales team you’re worried about revenue goals; you have to motivate them instead. Friends and family don’t quite get it either. The emotional weight of over a hundred people rests on your shoulders, and you constantly feel like you’re not good enough. When things go wrong, you’re the first one to answer for it. If it hadn’t been for my wife Michelle and my mentor Christian, I think I would have gone mad.

It was in this state of mind that our biggest test arrived.

The Day Our World Turned Upside Down

You never know where your biggest threat will come from. It could be a competitor, a market shift, or in our case, a third-party decision that pulls the rug out from under you.

At our peak, we had tens of thousands of iOS apps on the App Store. We were in the business of helping small businesses—restaurants, gyms, artists, and salons. We made it possible for them to have a presence on the world’s biggest app marketplace without spending $100,000 on a custom build. Many of our clients were running a small or family-owned shops, not massive corporations like Starbucks.

Then, in 2017, Apple changed its developer guidelines and rejected every single app we had ever made. Just like that, they cut off a vital marketing channel for hundreds of thousands of small businesses. When I got the call, I was devastated. It was the first time in years I felt completely helpless.

To make matters worse, Apple banned us first, leaving our competitors untouched. It was infuriating. I felt like our leadership in the industry had painted a target on our back. I even called the founder of another app-building company to warn him. “This isn’t just about us,” I said. “It’s about our entire industry. You need to prepare, because that ax is going to keep swinging.” Instead of listening, he suggested we must have done something to deserve it.

Fighting Back and Finding Our Focus

The pressure mounted quickly. My employees wanted to know if they still had jobs. Customers started calling by the hundreds, demanding answers. I took most of those calls myself, absorbing the negativity like a sponge. My wife Michelle was my anchor. She’d bring me coffee late at night and listen to my plans, pointing out weaknesses and helping me think clearly. “You’re focusing too much on Apple,” she said one night. “You should be thinking about your customers.”

She was right. My gut reaction was to defend my , but the real challenge was supporting our customers through this crisis.

We launched a two-part strategy. First, I asked Apple for an extension while we formulated an appeal. Second, I put our engineers to work on a progressive web app (PWA) builder. PWAs look and feel like native apps but run in a browser, bypassing the App Store entirely. This was our Plan B, a crucial pivot for anyone trying to build in the tech world.

With our backup plan in motion, I reached out to a reporter at TechCrunch. The story she published the next day sent shockwaves through the tech community. We followed up with an online petition that emailed a senior Apple executive with every signature—we got over 4,000. Our big moment came when I shared an app we helped build that was designed to prevent teen suicide. It had even been featured on . “Do these apps really not belong in the app store?” I wrote to Tim Cook.

Our argument was simple: we were helping people turn a , just like an accountant helps with bookkeeping. Without us, these small businesses would be locked out. After a lot of back and forth, and a final, heartfelt email explaining the community impact, something shifted.

I got three calls the next day from Apple. An executive confidentially told me they were changing the guideline. The nightmare was over. They realized we had a powerful underdog story, and it made sense to be on the right side of it.

The Culture That Kept Us Afloat

That fight with Apple could have been our undoing, but our team’s resilience saw us through. Building that resilience wasn’t an accident. Long before the crisis, I had learned the importance of focus and motivation, especially for a business that had grown from a .

Initially, we tried to be everything to everyone, which means you’re really talking to no one. We eventually narrowed our focus to specific industries like restaurants and schools. This clarity made everything easier, from marketing to product development. When you know exactly who your customer is, you can serve them better. This is a vital lesson for anyone or a larger enterprise.

Focus sets the direction, but motivation provides the wind in the sails. We fostered a culture of lighthearted competition, with teams competing for steak dinners. We took the whole company on fun outings, like a day at the horse races. I wanted to build a company where I’d want to work, a place where people felt valued. If someone seemed down, I’d tell them to take the day off. It’s that extra 20 percent you get from happy, motivated people that makes all the difference in a crisis.

We had survived. Our was growing, profitable, and more resilient than ever. I had matured as an entrepreneur. But I also knew I was ready for something new. The journey had been incredible, but it was time for the next chapter.