Today we’d like to introduce you to Arthur Iinuma.
Thanks for sharing your story with us, Arthur. So, let’s start at the beginning, and we can move on from there.
I was raised by a single mother, along with my older brother. We lived frugally growing up, hopping around between cities. Perhaps one of the most consistent resounding memories of my childhood was asking my mom to buy the things that I saw other families enjoying, like Ninja Turtles, RC cars, gaming consoles and eventually personal computers – but each time, being turned down because we didn’t have the money to afford those things. This turned into a longing for a better life in which I would be able to buy the things I wanted, and never have to worry about money, again.
After graduating from college, I landed an entry-level job at Morgan Stanley. I worked tirelessly, diligently and with a mission to succeed. In under three years, I was a top performing broker, eventually landing a VP job at another global firm. But being trapped in the corporate life still felt like I was on a mission to a glass ceiling, always limited by what my employer was willing to pay me. As my mother was now retired, I needed something that would enable me to take care of my future family along with the single parent that helped me to get to where I was. Serendipitously, I had been spending time with a college friend of mine that I hadn’t seen in years.
While back from a stint in Asia, I was between jobs, and homes, and was crashing at his place while ironing out an approach to start a real estate company. Around the same time, he began having ambitions to create a company of his own – a cross-platform mobile framework for apps. After several engaging conversations, we decided to put our heads together, and try to figure something out. The first order of business was to find money – so I reached out to some 40 different venture capital companies, but we were too far from a functional product for anyone to fund, so we pivoted towards a services model, and as they say, the rest is history.
That was ten years ago, and today we have several businesses under our belt, with ISBX being our flagship, employing some 60 individuals across two time zones.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Our business wasn’t an instant success. In fact, the first couple of years we were operating at a loss. Running a business like this is not pretty. There was a ton of stress and pressure, and without the clients to keep our schedules filled, sometimes we were having heated discussions about trivial things.
Eventually, we figured out a proper marketing approach and started booking clients. The stress transitioned to one of hiring and retention, operating costs, and scalability. Today we have very different problems, but we all agree – we wouldn’t trade our jobs for anything out there.
ISBX – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are an app development and software services company. We design and build mobile apps, websites, backend systems, firmware, and have particular expertise in highly technical executions for enterprise and large-scale startups. We have built software for consumer electronics products with wireless connectivity, to platforms that enable remote clinical trials.
We’re proud of the breadth of our experience and knowledge, our long-standing presence in the industry and the long-term clients that call us partners. I think we are unique in the industry in that we staff a significant team here in Los Angeles, and have a track record of building high-profile software platforms.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I met my wife through my career. I’ve also proven to myself that you can have a friendship and a successful business relationship, at the same time. Being recognized, winning awards, and working with great clients is pretty awesome too.
Pricing:
- Generally, most of our app projects start at around $75,000 for a small build.
- The reality is that our median price for a two-platform (iOS + Android) build is generally running between $150,000 – $250,000 from start to launch, roughly the same price as the startup cost for a small business.
Contact Info:
- Address: 3415 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Suite 1000 Los Angeles, CA 90034
- Website: www.isbx.com
- Phone: 310-437-8010
- Email: info@isbx.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/isbx_corp/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/isbxcorp/
Image Credit:
Art Iinuma, Lucy Choi
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