Startup

How I Built ShipDauRoi and Reached Top 50 on the App Store

February 28, 202415 min read

The Idea

In 2017, I noticed a gap in Vietnam's logistics market: small shop owners on Facebook and Instagram needed affordable shipping, and existing services were too expensive or too slow.

The idea: an app connecting small shops with freelance shippers nearby. An Uber for package delivery.

I called it ShipDauRoi, roughly "Ship Anywhere" in Vietnamese.

Building the MVP

No co-founder, no funding. Here's how I built the first version:

Tech Stack

iOS (Swift): built first, since that was my expertise
Firebase: Realtime Database for orders, Authentication for login, Cloud Functions for business logic
Google Maps SDK: live tracking and route drawing
APNS: push notifications for order updates

Timeline

Weeks 1 to 2: Core architecture and Firebase setup
Weeks 3 to 4: Shop owner flow (create order, track delivery)
Weeks 5 to 6: Shipper flow (browse orders, accept, navigate, confirm delivery)
Weeks 7 to 8: Testing with real users, bug fixes, App Store submission

Key Technical Decisions

Firebase over a custom backend: with no backend experience, I got live order updates, authentication, and hosting without writing server code. The tradeoff was being tied to one vendor, but speed mattered more for an MVP.

Live tracking with Firebase Realtime Database: shipper locations were written every 5 seconds, so shop owners saw movement on the map. This impressed early users the most.

Offline support: orders were cached locally and synced when connectivity returned. With spotty internet in smaller cities, this was essential.

Launch and Growth

Getting the First 100 Users

With no marketing budget:

Facebook groups: I posted in local business groups in Ho Chi Minh City, where shop owners already were.

Direct outreach: I visited shops, showed them the app, and installed it for them.

Shipper recruitment: motorbike driver communities, pitched as extra money in your free time.

The Traction

Within 3 months:

500+ active shop owners
200+ registered shippers
1,000+ deliveries completed
Average rating: 4.6 stars

Word of mouth drove the growth.

Reaching Top 50

In early 2018, ShipDauRoi reached Top 50 in the Business category on Vietnam's App Store. What drove it:

Consistent 5 star reviews: from shop owners
Daily active user growth: of about 5% week over week
Low competition: in niche delivery at the time

The Hard Lessons

Lesson 1: Technology is the Easy Part

Building the app was straightforward. Running the business was not:

Customer support (via Zalo and Facebook Messenger, at all hours)
Shipper disputes (damaged packages, late deliveries, payment arguments)
Fraud prevention (fake orders, identity verification)
Cash flow (collecting fees from shippers, paying out to shop owners)

I was not ready for how much operations a marketplace takes.

Lesson 2: You Can't Scale Alone

At peak, I was:

Fixing bugs and shipping features for ShipDauRoi
Handling customer support
Managing shipper relations
Doing accounting

I couldn't hire without funding, and I couldn't raise funding without a co-founder or a plan beyond "it's growing."

Lesson 3: Timing Matters

In late 2018, GrabExpress, Ahamove, and other companies with real funding launched competing services. They had:

Marketing budgets I couldn't match
Android apps (I only had iOS)
Dedicated operations teams
Investor backing

Within months, growth stalled and then declined.

Lesson 4: An Android App Was Critical

Building only for iOS meant missing roughly 70% of Vietnam's smartphone market. Plenty of shop owners and shippers were on Android. That was my biggest mistake.

I would have used Flutter from the start and shipped both platforms at once.

The Outcome

I shut down ShipDauRoi in late 2018. What I took from it:

I proved I could build and launch a product alone
I learned how marketplace businesses work
I saw the gap between building software and running a business
The Top 50 ranking became a resume line that opened doors

Shortly after, Pizza Hut Digital Ventures hired me to build their global iOS platform, partly because of ShipDauRoi.

What I'd Do Differently

Find a co-founder: with business and operations expertise from day one

Build for both platforms: from the start, with Flutter

Validate with a no code MVP: first

Focus on a smaller niche: (e.g., only food delivery in one district) before expanding

Seek funding earlier: a small seed round could have paid for an Android app and part time operations help

Advice for Developer Founders

If you're a developer thinking about building your own product:

Ship fast, learn fast.: Don't overbuild the MVP.
Talk to users before writing code.: My assumption was right by luck. Don't count on that.
The product is not the app.: It is the whole experience: support, reliability, trust.
Know your limits.: If you can't do operations and development at once, find someone for the other side.
It's always worth trying.: ShipDauRoi didn't become a unicorn, but it made me a better developer.