Fake it until you make it

To solve the chicken and egg challenge and to get your app started, there are some simple solutions. One of them is: Fake it until you make it. It sounds like cheating, or at least it sounds like something that is bad, while in fact it is not. It's a workaround for the chicken and egg problem. No, we are not going to lie, at most we will just pretend. If you are developing a dating app, ask all your relatives and friends to sign up with a nice profile photo. You can use this approach not only for user data, but for all types of content. If you are working on a B2B app, you could purchase some company data, enrich it, and present as if it is your own. Refer to Chapter 10, There is an API For That!, about mash-ups to read more information about that topic. Another option that would work well (for example, think of an app displaying job information) is to get data from various other sources and start as an app offering aggregated data. There are many ways to get started and they all are aimed at growing your app by developing content and your user base.