How Shipaton turned Mansour Mahamat’s hobby app in to a business

Mansour Mahamat, a frontend developer living in Sweden, transformed his Shipaton project into a thriving business by blending his passion for Brazilian jiu-jitsu with his mobile development skills. Initially using SwiftUI to create an app for logging jiu-jitsu training sessions, Mansour switched to React Native to accelerate development and expand platform compatibility. His strategic use of TikTok for marketing, coupled with a disciplined 5 a.m. routine, enabled him to build a significant user base and convert the app into a business used by multiple gyms. The app, now supporting multilingual capabilities and a companion web platform for coaches, evolved from a personal project to a professional tool, leading Mansour to explore a new B2B version for gyms, incorporating feedback from the jiu-jitsu community. His journey emphasizes the importance of passion, consistency, and community engagement in turning a side project into a successful venture.