Omaha-area entrepreneur lets his passion show with Fully Croisened

For Omaha-area developer Nathanial Ryan, Fully Croisened is, technically, a side project. But don’t let that label fool you. Ryan is passionate about Fully Croisened, which makes custom-branded mobile apps and games. So passionate, in fact, that he had the Fully Croisened logo tattooed on his left shoulder and bicep. As the company’s website explains,…

Nathanial Ryan advertises his passion for his new project, Fully Croisened, in a tattoo on his left shoulder and bicep. Photo courtesy of Ryan.

For Omaha-area developer Nathanial RyanFully Croisened is, technically, a side project. But don’t let that label fool you. Ryan is passionate about Fully Croisened, which makes custom-branded mobile apps and games. So passionate, in fact, that he had the Fully Croisened logo tattooed on his left shoulder and bicep. 

As the company’s website explains, “To be Fully Croisened, it means you have given something every ounce of effort, you believe in it, and that when completed you are proud enough to stamp your own name on it.” By all indications, that’s how Ryan feels about Fully Croisened’s early endeavors.

BECOME A SPONSOR

A 20-year veteran of information technology, Ryan recently decided he wanted to fuse his on-the-job experience with his passion for games. So, with help from his wife, Annette Ryan, and his cousin, Randy Ryan, he launched Fully Croisened company in July.

“By day I have built extensive business solutions primarily in Microsoft technologies, but by night have been a lifelong ‘gamer.’ ” Ryan said in an email interview. “Fully Croisened is the merging of those worlds and the mobile device platform is the perfect arena to ‘gamify’ and provide fun, engaging user experiences to users of our apps.”

Fully Croisened plans to target the small retailers, because Ryan believes there’s big opportunity in the sector. It is, he says, “an area that may not have IT departments or contracting dollars but can shift or utilize marketing dollars to connect with customers on the go in this mobile age.”

Ryan first realized that opportunity thanks to his observation of Annette’s tanning salon, Amber Rays. After witnessing a coupon-mailing campaign that cost Amber Rays $800 and generated no appreciable return, Ryan vowed to find a more effective way for Amber Rays to reach customers. 

“I created an app for her salon that was simple and included a digital scratch card to reveal an ad offering deals that she can change and update anytime,” Ryan said. “Well, everyone loves it, and then others started wanting it. So I formed (Fully Croisened), and here we are, adding new clients every week and growing.”

In September, Fully Croisened launched an app for Omaha-based salon Ashley Lynn’s. Last month, Ryan attended the Smart Tan convention in Nashville. He went hoping to scrounge up five new clients to cover the cost of the convention booth and the trip. (Left: Fully Croisened’s site shows off its Ashley Lynn’s app. screenshot from fullycroisened.com)

“At seven, I would have been ecstatic,” he said. “Well, we stopped counting at 15 and are about to release the first batch of those in the next couple of weeks.” 

Ryan uses Ansca Mobile‘s Corona SDK to build his apps and — no surprise here — is energetic in his support of the developer kit. Just ask him about his work as a Corona ambassador, a role he was invited to fill after attending a Corona Hackathon this summer in San Francisco. 

“Let’s just say that one afternoon with these guys will change your life,” Ryan said of meeting Ansca founders Carlos Icaza and Walter Luh at the Hackathon. “I suppose I was selected to be an ambassador by them because of my active involvement on the forums and openly sharing code with the community, but it’s an honor to be part of the extended Ansca family and I’m very proud to have that certified Corona SDK developer badge on my website.”

For more from Ryan, check out the first two minutes of the video below, which feature an interview of Ryan from the Corona Hackathon on Aug. 27 in San Francisco. 

Video from anscamobile on YouTube.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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