The Story Of Prime Circa

The Tablet Era

In April 2010, the first-generation iPad was released, marking a transformative moment. Viet Tran had recently experienced two layoffs—from WRT in February 2010 and from GSR the previous year. These experiences prompted him to become self-reliant and learn Objective C and Cocoa for iOS development.

On April 3rd, 2010, Tran received one of the first iPads in the United States. While the device was marketed for content consumption rather than creation, Tran immediately envisioned handwriting applications for the touchscreen tablet.

Notes Plus

Tran spent three months developing an app to capture touches and convert them to handwriting. Released on June 1st, 2010, Notes Plus Version 1.0 included features like mixed handwriting and text, palm rejection, close-up writing mode, and notebook organization. However, the user experience required improvement, with frequent mode-switching and accidental button touches being primary issues.

After initial success earning “$500 a day the first several days,” the app faded by version 1.2 in July 2010. Tran then spent three months completely rewriting the application.

Notes Plus Version 2.0 launched October 2, 2010, introducing gesture-based selection and deletion that blended editing modes naturally. Additional features included audio recording, shape detection, and notebook recovery. By October 25, 2013, the app ranked among “top 4 of Paid iPad Apps,” even surpassing Apple's Pages application.

On September 1, 2011, fifteen months after launch, Notes Plus generated its first million dollars in revenue after Apple's commission.

Prime Circa, Inc.

On September 3rd, 2010, Tran filed for Prime Circa, Inc. as a formal company. The name “Prime Circa” was deliberately chosen to mean nothing in English, challenging the company to build its own reputation rather than relying on a clever name.

Three motivations drove this decision: simplified tax filing, liability protection, and the ability to hire staff. Previously operating under his personal name provided direct accountability to users, but business growth necessitated formal incorporation.

Sustainability

Rather than creating simple single-purpose applications, Tran designed Notes Plus as a comprehensive productivity suite where users could remain within the application for extended sessions—similar to desktop software rather than lightweight mobile utilities. He recognized that iPad applications required different design philosophies than iPhone apps, which are typically quick-task utilities.

This approach demanded more development effort than one person could manage, necessitating team expansion.

Profitability

To maintain profitability while remaining self-funded, Tran built a small, highly efficient team. Rather than hiring expensive American developers at “$150K a year with all the benefits and overheads,” he established operations in Vietnam, where he had previous management experience.

Tran's hiring philosophy emphasized quality over quantity: developers must exceed his own skill level. The development team works remotely, with each developer independently managing small, modular components. Communication occurs via Skype, code reviews happen through GitHub, and project tracking uses WordPress's ticket system.

The Team

Prime Circa's first job posting on March 30th, 2011 attracted nearly 100 resumes within a month, mostly from candidates with published App Store applications. Xung Le became the first hire on May 12th, 2011 and remains with the company, having developed multiple successful dictionary applications with over a million active users.

The recruitment process is rigorous: candidates complete five rounds of evaluation spanning five to six weeks. Developer candidates face challenging code problems designed to require two to three weeks of work, which they must complete in one week. Fewer than 5 out of 100 candidates are hired. No team member has left Prime Circa since formation.

The Culture

With remote-working team members, company culture serves as essential cohesion beyond project updates. Prime Circa's culture emphasizes:

• Being different. The company challenges conventional approaches, always asking “why” before adopting practices. This philosophy extends to remote work—questioning why physical offices are necessary when better results emerge from distributed teams.
• Loving challenges. The company embraces unpaved roads, refusing to accept limitations others impose. Team members constantly push their professional boundaries.
• Taking risks. The culture values stepping outside comfort zones, living with uncertainty, and learning from experience.
• Being human. Despite ambitious goals, the company maintains sanity through common sense, logic, and work-life balance. Team members love their work but prioritize their lives even more highly.