“Existing does not mean anything — congratulations — the bar is even higher now. Solid design that uses Apple's robust design frameworks looks pretty good these days — but once you reach that point you've just reached zero.”

Get to zero first — a well-built app is table stakes, not your pitch hook

A working, well-designed app that uses platform conventions and spellings correctly is no longer a differentiator — it's the minimum bar to be taken seriously. From 500 pitches a day, about 100 look like real companies; of those, maybe a dozen are in the writer's beat; of those, one has something genuinely above the baseline. Your pitch should lead with that thing above zero, not with the fact that you built it.