Sub Club by RevenueCat

On the podcast: effectively scaling support for an app, why the time to first response is so important, and why you should treat support more like a concierge experience.

Key Takeaways:

💡 Personalized customer support is a competitive advantage - Eli emphasizes that providing fast, personal responses to customers sets brands apart from competitors. Even in a world of increasing automation, building a concierge-like experience can boost customer loyalty.

🤖 AI and human support can work in harmony - Eli explains how Captions blends AI-driven automation with human agents, allowing the support team to focus on more complex customer needs while AI handles repetitive tasks, creating a seamless experience.

⏳ Speed matters: Time to first response is key- Captions prides itself on a 58-second average response time, which Eli believes is critical to keeping customers satisfied and preventing churn. Quick responses signal that the company is engaged and ready to help.

📊 Building customers for life through proactive support - Eli shares Captions’ philosophy of nurturing “customers for life” by going beyond just resolving issues. Sharing customer success stories with the team helps build a culture focused on long-term user satisfaction.

🌐 Scaling with localization and 24/7 support - Captions serves users globally by providing 24/7 support and localized services, ensuring that customers in every market receive timely, effective assistance regardless of their language or region.

About Guest:

👨‍💻Head of Customer Experience at Captions, an AI-powered video creation and editing app designed to help users tell better stories through seamless video content.

👥 Eli is passionate about scaling customer support with a focus on personal, concierge-level experiences that build long-term customer loyalty, rather than simply deflecting inquiries with automation.

💡"Even if we don't resolve their issue right away, providing a fast, empathetic response builds trust and shows our users that we're here to support them—turning a quick interaction into a lasting connection."

👋 LinkedIn

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Episode Highlights - Eli

[3:18] Don’t just deflect: Why support isn’t just about reducing tickets—it’s about creating a concierge-like experience.

[8:26] Support as a moat:Great customer support can be your competitive edge, especially when users are comparing similar apps.

[12:15] Hiring right: How curiosity and embracing change are key traits for building a top-tier support team.

[16:44] The AI edge: Blending AI and human agents to enhance, not replace, the customer experience.

[21:22] Scaling globally: How Captions offers 24/7 support across different time zones and languages.

[27:50] Community roots: The role that platforms like Discord can play in early-stage customer feedback and feature development.

[34:10] Docs and AI: Keeping documentation up to date is crucial for effective AI-powered support.

[41:35] Turn feedback into features: Captions' approach to quickly implementing user feedback to create loyal customers.

On the podcast: the rebound of consumer subscription valuations and investor interest, how to generate Net Revenue Retention in consumer, and why you should pinpoint where your app sits on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

Key Takeaways:

📈 The subscription app industry is rebounding in 2024 - After setbacks in 2022 and 2023, surviving companies are now leaner, more focused, and showing strong profitability and retention. This resurgence is reflected in both private transactions and public valuations, signaling positive momentum.

💡 Net Revenue Retention (NRR) is achievable in consumer apps - Top-performing apps boost NRR by stabilizing churn and driving revenue growth through price increases, family plans, and premium features. The key is delivering ongoing value to loyal users while maintaining strong retention.

🎯 Maslow's Hierarchy of Subscription Needs offers a roadmap for retention - Successful apps align with user passions by addressing needs like safety (e.g., Life360) or self-actualization (e.g., Calm). Integrating features like leaderboards and community functions deepens user engagement and fosters long-term loyalty.

🛡 Platform threats like Apple's "Sherlocking" can be overcome with specialization - Apps that go deep in their verticals (e.g., Flo or AllTrails) offer premium, differentiated experiences that platform-native features can’t replicate. Innovation and specialization are key to thriving despite competition from OS-level features.

🚀 Flo’s success shows the power of retention and long-term engagement - Flo’s $200M raise and $1B+ valuation were driven by its freemium model and strong user retention across life stages. By building long-term relationships with users, Flo has positioned itself as a leader in the female health space.

About the Guest:

👨‍💻 Technology investment banker and partner at GP Bullhound.

💵 Eric is passionate about providing advice and capital to consumer subscription software (CSS) businesses.

👋 LinkedIn

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Episode Highlights

[4:32] The Rule of 40: A good rule of thumb for correlating your business’s trading value with your growth rate and profitability.

[9:10] Rising tide: Successful app businesses like Flo are part of a recent wave of mergers and acquisitions in the CSS industry.

[15:39] Land and expand: How consumer subscription services are improving net revenue retention (NRR) with their existing users.

[23:15] Sherlocked: The threat of Apple and Google releasing new platform features that compete with niche subscription apps.

[31:52] Law and order:How app business owners and investors are thinking about new regulations like the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

On the podcast: The benefits of building something you personally care about, how to balance user feedback with product intuition, and why process, frameworks, and outside advice are often worth ignoring.

Key Takeaways:

🚀 You don’t need complex processes to build a successful product

Building something meaningful doesn’t always require elaborate processes or formal business structures. With passion, a clear vision, and consistent execution, developers can create successful products without overcomplicating the journey.

🔄 A strong feedback loop with your community can drive product evolution

Engaging with an active user community creates a continuous feedback loop that helps developers iterate faster and build more relevant features. Listening to real users and balancing their input with your vision can transform a product into something that truly resonates.

📈 Pricing strategies require experimentation, not perfection

Initial pricing doesn’t need to be perfect. By experimenting with different price points over time, you can find a balance that works for your users. Significant price increases might not impact demand as much as you’d expect, giving you room to adjust and optimize without overthinking the starting point.

💡 Reactive development can lead to faster, more informed decisions

Acting quickly in response to persistent customer requests can help validate new features and insights faster. Instead of over-analyzing, shipping updates rapidly provides real-world feedback that guides better decision-making.

💸 Plan for risks when relying on third-party dependencies

Building heavily on a third-party API can expose you to unexpected changes in pricing or policies, potentially leading to unsustainable costs. Always evaluate the long-term stability and alignment of external platforms with your business goals to safeguard against disruption.

About Guest 

👨‍💻 Indie iOS developer and creator of the Apollo for Reddit app.

📱In addition to Apollo, Christian is also the creator of Juno, Pixel Pals, and a burgeoning YouTube channel.

👋LinkedIn

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Episode Highlights

[3:33] Origin story: Christian’s time at Apple and path to indie development.

[4:58] Positive feedback loop: How collecting user input from Reddit users helped shape Apollo.

[8:23] Go your own way: There’s no one-size-fits-all formula for creating a successful app.

[15:25] Passion project: Truly caring about what you’re building is one of the most important factors for success.

[26:48] Just say no: How to decline feature requests without alienating your users.

[30:10] Choose your own adventure: Understanding the venture-backed model versus indie development.

[36:30] End of the line: How and why Christian made the decision to shut down Apollo.

[47:40] Vision for the future: Christian’s post-Apollo projects: Juno, Pixel Pals, and YouTube.

On the podcast: The impact of Apple Search Ads on organic search, how to save money on brand defense, and why ROAS shouldn’t be the only thing you optimize for.

Key Takeaways:

📊 Optimizing brand keyword bids can protect traffic and reduce costs
Running ads on brand keywords helps protect your traffic from competitors. By experimenting with lower bids, you can often maintain visibility while reducing costs, ensuring that you capture valuable traffic efficiently.

💸 Long-term ROAS is key for subscription app growth
Subscription apps should focus on the lifetime value (LTV) of users rather than just immediate ROAS. A campaign that breaks even over 365 days, rather than in the first week, can still be highly profitable if it contributes to stacking valuable subscriber cohorts that generate long-term revenue.

🔄 Broad match keywords can uncover valuable, unexpected search terms
Using broad match in Apple Search Ads can help discover new, high-intent keywords that might not have been initially considered. Regularly reviewing search term reports allows you to identify and capitalize on these hidden opportunities, expanding your app’s reach effectively.

🌍 Emerging markets offer untapped Apple Search Ads potential
As Apple expands its App Store presence in new regions, testing campaigns in countries like Brazil can lead to unexpected gains. Often, these markets have less competition and lower CPAs, making them fertile ground for scaling your app’s user base efficiently.

🛠️ Custom product pages can enhance campaign performance by targeting specific user segments
Leveraging custom product pages in Apple Search Ads allows you to tailor the App Store experience to specific keywords or user segments. This strategy can improve conversion rates by aligning the app's messaging and visuals with the search intent, making it especially useful during seasonal promotions or for targeting niche audiences.

About Guest

👨‍💻 Data engineer and founder of Search Ads Optimization.

📢 Dilip helps app developers and marketers optimize their Apple Search Ads campaigns and increase their ROI using data-driven insights and automation.

👋LinkedIn

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Episode Highlights

[5:35] Everybody’s changing: Trends for Apple Search Ads in 2024.

[11:09] Running (brand) defense: Experimenting with lower bids to save money while maintaining the level of impressions you want.

[19:16] Widening the search: How to leverage exact match and broad match keywords in Apple Search Ads.

[29:46] ‘Tis the season: How different times of year and holidays can affect CPA and ROI for Apple Search Ads campaigns.

[35:05] Playing the long game: Why subscription app developers should think about long-term — not short-term — return on ad spend (ROAS).

[48:16] Tipping the scales: How to scale Apple Search Ads.

[55:11] Custom-fit: How to implement custom product pages in your Apple Search Ads strategy.

On the podcast: How to find success with web2app, the value (and challenges) of “owning the transaction”, and why avoiding app store fees isn’t a great reason to experiment with web2app, but might work out anyway.

Key Takeaways:

💰 There’s much more to web2app than avoiding app store fees - In fact, looking at app store fees alone disregards the benefits of going via the app store, such as a substantially better conversion rate. Even if web acquisition is cheaper, those users are not worth the same to your business.

🔍 Better advantages of web2app to focus on include…Greater flexibility with attribution, access to new audiences (via organic and paid), and support for B2B use cases, among others.

💼 Use web2app for B2B billing -IAPs lack an elegant solution for B2B billing, whether it’s making it easy for individuals to expense purchases or offering teams a simple way to manage group billing.

🎯 Web2App allows for greater customization of user journeys -To fully capitalize on web funnels, tailor user journeys based on their entry point — for instance, a user coming from a branded Google search shouldn’t see the same journey as one coming from TikTok.

📈 Web2App is crucial for scaling up advertising -When ad campaigns plateau, running both web and app campaigns in parallel helps reach new audiences and convert users who might not engage with app install ads alone. This approach allows for better targeting and expands your overall reach.

About Guest:

👨‍💻Independent subscription app growth consultant.

💸Thomas has worked with hundreds of clients and helped manage tens of millions of dollars in ad spend.

👋LinkedIn

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Episode Highlights:

[1:48] Web2App: The advantages of capturing users on the web before sending them to your app.

[6:51] One size doesn’t fit all: To reap the benefits of web2app, don’t just create one user experience on the web.

[11:30] Catch-22: The trade-offs of owning your customer transactions on the web versus paying app store fees.

[27:21] Learn by example: Who’s doing web2app well — and why it works for them.

[37:45] To B2B or not to B2B: How web2app helps B2B apps overcome the team billing and expensing challenges of in-app purchases.

[41:55] Owning it: Owning your transactions on the web can be a great way to reduce churn.

[44:34] World wide(er) web: Break through marketing plateaus by running both web and app ad campaigns in parallel.

[53:52] Cross-platformer: A web2app flow can help you go beyond the App Store and Google Play (to Roku, Apple TV, or the Amazon Appstore) to reach a wider audience.

On the podcast: Implementing effective offline marketing campaigns for acquiring, engaging, and retaining paid subscribers in the app space. 

Key Takeaways:

📢 Look beyond digital channels for app growth. Consider offline advertising channels such as radio, linear TV, and podcasts to reach untapped demographics. These channels can help you target non-digital audiences, particularly older, higher-income users who can be more lucrative for subscription-based apps.

🔄 Use diverse methods to measure offline marketing. Utilize a variety of attribution methods, including how-did-you-hear-about-us surveys, incrementality tests, and media mix modeling (MMM) to assess the effectiveness of offline channels. Accept the inherent ambiguity in measurement and use multiple data points to guide your strategy.

🎯 Embrace customer-centered metrics for better retention. Focus on creating proprietary metrics that align with your users’ goals rather than relying on standard industry metrics like daily active users. Babbel’s "learner success" metric prioritizes user progress and satisfaction, leading to higher retention rates.

🔍 Rethink freemium models to boost engagement and conversions. Freemium isn't always the best choice. Consider a hard paywall to increase user commitment and filter out less-engaged users. It’s about quality over quantity — attracting users who truly value your app.

🌐 Optimize both web and app experiences for user journeys. Users often start on the web before downloading your app. Ensure seamless transitions between platforms to improve user experience and conversion rates. Informative web experiences can ease app adoption.

About Guest

👨‍💻SVP of Growth at Babbel.

📢 Steven and his team have taken a non-traditional approach to marketing Babbel: leveraging offline advertising channels like radio and TV, measuring the success of marketing efforts through a proprietary model, and tracking metrics like learner success instead of monthly active users.

👋LinkedIn

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Episode Highlights

[0:44] There’s (more than) an app for that: Potential users aren’t just on the app stores, so shouldn’t your marketing campaigns be everywhere too?

[3:54] Radio star: How and why Babbel buys radio spots to advertise their subscription app.

[7:43] Attribution remix: Measuring the success of offline ads can be a challenge and requires a blend of data analysis methods (like user surveys, incrementality tests, and media mix modeling).

[13:57] Freemium isn’t free:Why Babbel rejects the freemium model in favor of a hard paywall.

[18:15] The measure of success:Is Monthly Active Users (MAU) really a good metric to optimize for? (For some mission-driven companies like Babbel, no.)

[18:46] You get what you pay for: Paid subscriptions — especially premium tiers — often see higher levels of user engagement and retention.

[21:43] Web slinger: An optimized web experience can boost app downloads and paid conversions.

On the podcast: How to make better decisions with data, the many pitfalls of collecting and interpreting data, and why the best executive dashboard is probably a hand-written weekly email.

Key Takeaways:
📝Balance data collection with business goals. Collecting all possible data can drown teams in noise and lead to compliance risks. Focus on collecting semantically important data that aligns with business goals and use cases to avoid unnecessary complexity and costs.

💡Prevent exponential cost increases by structuring data early. Establishing a well-structured data collection and management process early on prevents costly modifications and adjustments later. Early alignment and thoughtful planning are crucial.

🔒 Maintain control over data collection to simplify compliance. Managing your own data collection processes can reduce legal and compliance challenges associated with third-party data processors. This is especially crucial for adhering to regulations like GDPR.

🔧Opt for off-the-shelf data solutions early on. Leveraging open-source or ready-made solutions can save time and resources. Maintain a clear evaluation structure for transitioning to custom solutions when needed, and accept changes in data collection methods to avoid outdated systems.

📊Simplified insights over complex dashboards. Dashboards can overwhelm executives with too much data. Instead, providing a succinct, focused summary of key insights through something as simple as a weekly email can be more effective for decision-making.

About Guest 

📈 Director of Data Products at News Corp.

💡With over 15 years of experience, Taylor is an expert in building and implementing effective data collection and analytics strategies — helping organizations like Disney+, Business Insider, and Deloitte collect the right data and turn it into actionable insights.

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Episode Highlights

[3:44] Laying a foundation: Data collection is a lot like constructing a building — setting up the right framework from the beginning can save you a lot of time, effort, and money later.

[7:30] The Goldilocks zone: Collecting either too much or too little data is costly and can potentially have ramifications for data regulation and privacy laws.

[16:58] Information overload:Data is only helpful if you derive actionable information from it.

[20:33] Distilling data: What is a “data product” team? (And why might you need one?)

[26:13] Build vs. buy: Most companies should start with an off-the-shelf data collection solution instead of building something internally — then consider a switch later when the scale and financials make sense.

[33:45] What’s in a name? What you call specific data points and even your data collection system can be very important.

[42:11] Ditch the dashboard: Fancy data analytics dashboards need to be interpreted to be valuable — and without context, they can be misleading.

[51:27] Trix are for… kids?:How Taylor’s experience promoting the television show “Bluey” on Disney+ illustrates the incredible power of data analytics.

On the podcast: How Mojo grew to over $1M in MRR, the most impactful pricing and paywall experiments, and why it’s important to choose complexity instead of just letting it happen.

Key Takeaways:

💪Bravery to pivot leads to long-term success. Early popularity can be deceiving. Without strong retention, it's time to pivot. Build features users love to evolve from a gimmick to a sustainable business.

🧱Make your paywall more prominent. Show your paywall during onboarding. Then, iterate on messaging, design, and pricing, focusing on one element at a time.

💲Pricing will always annoy someone. If no one complains, you’re underpricing. Be strategic about who you upset and how many people.

🤝Viral loops reduce the need for ads. Heavy ad spend can hide a lack of product-market fit. Build sharing and virality into your app first, then consider paid acquisition.

📈Choose complexity based on impact. Focus on your team’s strengths. Growth can be product-led or through, for example, paid acquisition, depending on what suits your team and app best.

About Guest

👨‍💻CEO and co-founder of the video editing app Mojo.

🎬 Former GoPro employee and graduate of the Y Combinator accelerator program, Francescu and his team have built one of the top mobile apps for creating and editing social video content.

👋LinkedIn

Resources

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Episode Highlights 

[4:27] AI + Mobile = ❤️: Why AI is probably the next mobile revolution.

[6:16] Going Pro: How Francescu got his start building mobile subscription apps.

[7:44] Pivot… PIVOT: Despite early success with their augmented reality app, Francescu and his team had to shut it down and pivot to a new idea.

[15:12] Pricing and paywalls and packaging, oh my:Why you need to show your paywall during onboarding (and other monetization lessons Francescu learned building Mojo).

[27:42] Viral moments: Building social sharing features into your app could save you time and money on user acquisition.

[36:19] The product-led growth trap: Developing new product features isn’t always the key to growth.

[41:15] Priced to annoy:If no one is mad about the cost of your app, your prices are probably too low.

On the podcast: Quitting a job to build your own apps, returning to that job after failing to gain traction, and the inflection point that allowed our guest to finally quit for good.

Key Takeaways:

💡If your first side project doesn’t take off, try again — Reviving a lackluster launch can be tempting, but it might indicate a lack of demand. Instead, start fresh with a new idea and watch for early signs of product-market fit.

💰Invest more in your product once you have “pull” and a channel — Achieving early product-market fit and having a reliable acquisition channel allows you to focus on enhancing your product and experimenting with monetization strategies.

🔞Avoid relying solely on one acquisition channel — While a dependable early channel like ASO is crucial, it comes with risks outside your control. Diversify by investing in owned or paid channels to adapt to changes more effectively.

🧑‍💻Building in public offers numerous advantages — Developing your app publicly immerses you in a supportive community of indie developers, providing motivation, inspiration, and valuable feedback. However, it can also attract copycat competitors.

📈"Test higher prices" should be at the top of your to-do list — Raising your app’s price may seem risky, but many indie developers are overly cautious. A/B testing can help you safely explore the impact of different price points without significant customer backlash.

About Guest

👨‍💻 Independent app developer and creator of HabitKit and Liftbear.

💡Sebastian began his career as a corporate web developer and became a full-time indie app developer after his habit-tracking app HabitKit took off.

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Episode Highlights

[1:04] Web versus mobile: What motivated Sebastian to switch from web to mobile app development.

[4:17] Free solo: Having a corporate day job might not let you stretch your creative muscles as much as building your own concepts.

[6:43] Drive: If you’re going to build an indie app or venture-backed startup, make sure it’s something you needto do.

[12:13] Risky business: The riskiness of leaving a full-time job to pursue an indie venture is different for everyone, depending on life stage, finances, and family obligations.

[16:39] Just ship it: Your first idea might not be great, but getting started will lead to new, better ideas.

[24:04] If at first you don’t succeed: Sometimes it’s better to give up on an idea that isn’t working so you can focus on one with better product-market fit.

[28:38] Doing the (side) hustle: Making the decision to keep your day job or fully commit to your side gig can be tough.

[34:45] Changing the channel: The app stores are a black box — it’s a good idea to invest in additional acquisition channels in case of algorithm changes.

[38:26] Building in public: Having a following on social media can be a great source of support and user loyalty outside of the app stores.

[45:00] Raising prices:Don’t be afraid to experiment with higher prices — many apps are leaving money on the table.

On the podcast: Another Apple WWDC conference is in the books, and as usual, we’re excited to dig into everything Apple announced — and what it means for iOS developers and RevenueCat users. This year’s announcements covered everything from small quality-of-life enhancements in App Store Connect to the deprecation of some of Apple’s oldest in-app payments code.

Key Takeaways:

🏪 StoreKit 1 is deprecated — After 15 years, the old and creaking first version of StoreKit is being deprecated by Apple. It’ll likely stick around as so many legacy apps still use it, but StoreKit 1 will not receive new updates and features. 

🧠 Apple Intelligence — AI, rather than spelling the end of apps, could usher in a new era for apps. By building AI directly into the OS, connecting to services in a privacy-conscious way, Apple is opening up the potential of AI to all apps on the App Store. 

👀 Vision Pro — While Vision Pro is now available in new markets and has received an update to VisionOS, it still feels like a “publicly available beta”, where the audience size remains small. Great for experimentation, but not a place to build a business (yet). 

🧘 Quality-of-life improvements — Apple announced plenty of quality-of-life updates such as reduced screenshot requirements (now only one size per platform!), deep links for custom product pages, and a better experience for TestFlight users. 

🏆 Win-back offers — A fourth offer type is now available, which applies to users whose subscriptions have lapsed, something which wasn’t easy before. Win-back offers also come with functionality we haven’t seen before with the other offer types. 

🔏 AdAttributionKit — In what seems to be a successor to SKAN, Apple has announced a new privacy-focused ad attribution framework. AdAttributionKit better standardizes what existed before and comes with some new features (such as compatibility with third-party app stores).

About Hosts:

David Barnard is a Growth Advocate at RevenueCat and creator of apps like Launch Center Pro and Weather Up.

Jacob Eiting is the CEO of RevenueCat and an expert on subscription apps and in-app purchases.

Charlie Chapman is a Developer Advocate at RevenueCat, an indie developer of apps like Dark Noise, and host of the Launched podcast.

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Resources:

Episode Highlights

[2:00] Goodbye to an old friend: After 15 years, Apple’s StoreKit 1 (recently renamed “original API for in-app purchase”) has been deprecated.

[7:09] AI in the OS: With natural language abilities integrated at the OS level, Apple Intelligence could change how developers build and users interact with apps.

[16:42] Vision of the future: Apple Vision Pro 2.0 is a cool opportunity for developers to experiment with, but it’s still early days (and the addressable market is currently small).

[21:07] App Store Connect updates:Apple announced multiple quality-of life improvements for App Store Connect, including the ability to nominate your app to be featured on the App Store, new tools for generating marketing assets, deep links for custom product pages, an improved TestFlight user experience, and reduced screenshot requirements.

[39:04] Baby, come back: App Store Connect now lets you set up win-back offers, giving you a new way to re-engage lapsed subscribers and raise your LTV.

[49:03] Streamlined purchasing:Users can now complete their entire purchase within the App Store (or you can opt out of this feature if you’d rather direct users to the purchasing flow within your app).

[50:21] Advanced Commerce APIs: With complex SKU bundling and the ability to track digital content from multiple apps within the same developer account, the updated App Store will support more complex monetization use cases.

[52:49] SKAdNetwork 2.0?: Apple’s new AdAttributionKit, which feels like an upgraded successor to SKAdNetwork 1, provides enhanced reengagement capabilities (but only works with iOS 17.4 or later).

On the podcast: What to do when there are no jobs to be done, how to build innovative features, and why copying Duolingo’s engagement strategy probably won’t work for your app.

Key Takeaways:

🏆 To win over a mass market, you need to discover your app’s trigger. Apps serving niche audiences often have a well-defined job-to-be-done. Apps aiming for broad appeal, however, need to identify the triggers in a user’s daily life they will optimize for, in the absence of a specific user goal.

🪄 A framework for user retention. Apps that serve a mass audience need to work extra hard to engage and retain users. While niche apps might be inherently more retentive, they too would benefit from making the app: magical, relevant, intuitive in real-time, novel, and pleasurable.

🥅 Why you mightnotwant to make “the Duolingo” of your niche. Apps like Duolingo try hard to shame you for not using them but make completing the day’s goal quick and easy. This approach may not be suitable for all long-term goals and doesn't work well when your aim is to retain as many users as possible.

🧑🏼‍🎨 Innovation isn’t accidental, it’s designed - here’s a framework to help:

Always align with your mission.Visualize the specific user you’re building this feature for.Specify the triggers you’re addressing.Know the job to be done for the user.

Think through all of these areas when prioritizing your backlog.

👍🏼 Some features should be considered must-haves. Features that all your competitors have, fulfill a promise you sell users on, or whose absence will drive users to a competitor, or cause high levels of frustration if missing, should be prioritized. Deciding whether to prioritize these over innovative additions is up to you.

🦄 The other feature category to build for is “delighters.” While it’s difficult to know whether a feature will delight users, they typically drive retention, complete a known job in a delightful or magical way, and create “aha” or “wow” moments for the user.

About Guest

👨‍💻 VP of Strategy and creator of core features at Welltory.

💡Asya leads her team to build thoughtful, mission-aligned features that delight 8+ million active users.

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Episode Highlights

[0:44] The Welltory story: How (and why) Jane Smorodnikova founded Welltory.

[6:55] Trigger happy: Some apps don’t have an obvious “job to be done.” When this happens, finding and nurturing the trigger for users to open your app is crucial.

[10:18] Making magic: Welltory’s framework for building a delightful, sticky app: Make it magical, make it relevant, make sense in real time, make it novel, make it pleasurable.

[21:14] The Duolingo of wellness apps?:Why Duolingo’s retention strategy wouldn’t work for Welltory.

[26:16] An innovation framework: When deciding what new features to build, align with your mission, know your personas, identify their triggers, and figure out what immediate and high-level problems you’re solving for them.

[37:11] Driving retention: The secret sauce for retaining users for the long term? Make your app experience magical and novel, provide relief, personalize and gamify the experience, and give users bragging rights and social sharing features.

[40:32] Feature deal-breakers: Make sure you build both must-have and nice-to-have features to avoid frustrating users and prevent them from switching to a competitor app.

On the podcast: How developers can launch and optimize their app listings on the Google Play Store. A conversation from Google I/O 2024 with Sarah Karam, director of Apps Partnerships at Google.

Key Takeaways:

There are now more ways to optimize revenue with Google Play Commerce, such as installment subscriptions and automatically adjusted local pricing. 

On Android, the leading apps diversify their monetization. Instead of offering just subscriptions, for example, they offer IAPs to cater for diverse user preferences. Tipping, for example, has seen huge growth. 

The leading Android apps also adjust their overall approach to cater for the huge and diverse user base. Just replicating your iOS strategy will only serve a small fraction of potential customers. How can you serve someone on a $200 phone as well as a $2000 one? 

“The consumer rarely buys what you think you sell” and understanding this can lead to secondary product-market fit, unlocking new growth. Stop thinking about your app in terms of the feature(s) it offers and more about what problem it solves. 

About Guest

👨‍💻 Director of Google’s Apps Partnerships team.

🤖 Sarah is passionate about helping developers succeed on Google Play Store and the Android ecosystem.

👋LinkedIn

Resources

Google Play Academy

Guidelines to Getting Featured on Google Play

Guides to Help Grow Your Business on Google Play

Google I/O 2024 Keynote

Engage SDK

Custom Store Listings

Google Play business community on X

Android Developer YouTube Channel

Episode Highlights:

[3:57] Feature presentation: Getting your app featured on the Google Play Store can be great, but it isn’t the most important thing (and you still need to market your app to take advantage of being featured).

[8:46] Proactive engagement: Google’s newly announced Engage SDK(currently in developer preview) will surface apps at relevant times for users in the context they’re most likely to engage.

[13:53] Easier ways to pay (and get paid): New commerce options — including newly accepted forms of payment, installment payments, and student and senior plans — allow Android developers to serve more users around the world.

[23:37] Custom is key:Google Play Store listings can now be customized by the keywords users searched to find the app.

[29:38] Diversifying payments: Apps that offer in-app payments (IAP) in addition to subscriptions tend to perform better than apps that offer subscriptions alone.

[31:54] iOS =/= Android: To take full advantage of the Play Store, developers need to think about the diverse devices, budgets, and preferences of the 2.5 billion Android users around the world.

[34:40] Baby steps:Small experiments (like offering a paid 7-day pass instead of a free trial) can help you determine what works best for your app and tailor your offerings for diverse markets.

[45:00] Penny for your app?: Tipping is a surprisingly effective way of letting users pay for your product.

On the podcast: How the Microsoft 365 team optimizes their apps for the app stores and the top paywall optimization tips for enterprise apps and start-ups.Part 2 of our conversation with Ramit Arora.

Key Takeaways:

💼 Use jobs-to-be-done to inform your app store optimization (ASO) keywords strategy. Optimize for keywords that align with what your potential audience is hoping to accomplish. To discover what these keywords are, use the same user research that informs your product roadmap. 

🔐 Use Apple Search Ads (ASA) to unearth highly profitable keywords for ASO. A mistake that some apps make is to rank for keywords that are easy to rank for, not for ones that will drive revenue. Use ASA to discover which keywords are driving subscription growth, not just downloads and engagement. 

💲 High-impact paywall experiments that work for Microsoft will probably work for you. These include making the more expensive (family) plan the default option, anchoring the price of yearly plans to the monthly equivalent (emphasizing value), and ensuring that free trial offers use the word “free” on the CTA button itself. 

About Guest:

👨‍💻Product Manager on the Microsoft 365 (Office) Mobile and Mac team.

🚀 An expert in subscription management, growth, and monetization strategy, Ramit leads the apps like a start-up.

👋LinkedIn

Episode Highlights:

[3:31] Choosingkeykeywords:Don’t go after keywords simply because they’re easy to rank for — select keywords that will actually drive value for your business.

[8:54] The golden ratio: Even Microsoft has to balance their LTV vs. CAC.

[10:58] Android vs. iOS: Right now, it’s more difficult to monetize on Android, but it’s a promising market.

[13:01] Testing, 123: Microsoft optimizes paywalls with friendly CTAs and GIFs that show (rather than tell) the value proposition.

[15:55] Premium presentation: Simple changes like switching the order of subscription options on your paywall can result in a lift in conversions and revenue.

On the podcast: Microsoft 365 app monetization and optimization, and how Microsoft is building successful apps–recorded live in Vegas at the Mobile Apps Unlocked (MAU) conference.

Key Takeaways:

📱 The App Store advantage: Microsoft's data reinforces that the App Store, despite the fees attached, offers significant advantages. The seamless experience from things such as pre-attached payment methods results in a conversion rate from trial to paid that is five times higher than on other direct channels.

🚀 On the App Store, think like a startup (even if you’re not): Despite Microsoft’s strong brand, success in the App Store requires the agility and innovation of a startup. The platform's democratic nature allows new startups to challenge established companies. Continual innovation is essential and you need to be at the top of your game with ASO.

🔗 Bundling apps can mean better retention: Combining multiple apps into a single subscription can boost user retention by meeting a variety of needs. Even if a use case is one-off, there will be other use cases met by other apps. This strategy generally involves developing a wide range of features rather than focusing deeply on a single application.

🧠 Integrate AI thoughtfully: When integrating AI, it's important to consider if it genuinely enhances the tasks users perform and brings a desktop-level experience to mobile devices. This ensures the technology is both practical and user-focused, and not simply jumping on the bandwagon. 

⚖️ As you scale, prioritization never becomes any less important: As the number of monthly active users grows, you need to think bigger and bigger in terms of impact. Focus on optimizations that affect large user groups. Simple improvements in app reliability, performance, and the purchase process can often impact the largest number of users.

About Guest

👨‍💻Product Manager on the Microsoft 365 (Office) Mobile and Mac team.

🚀 An expert in subscription management, growth, and monetization strategy, Ramit leads the apps like a start-up.

👋LinkedIn

Episode Highlights

[1:14] From desktop to mobile:Microsoft is famous for its desktop software, but it’s increasingly prioritizing its mobile apps to keep up with consumer trends.

[3:09] Paying by phone: Users prefer to make purchases using their mobile device — trial-to-paid conversion rates are nearly 5x higher on mobile than other channels.

[4:56] The start-up mindset: Think like a start-up to stay agile against the competition in the app stores.

[6:21] Value they can’t refuse: To retain users over the long term, Microsoft bundles multiple products and features into a single cost-effective app.

[8:22] Staying ahead of the curve:The key to becoming and staying a leading app? Neutralize the competition, differentiate, and incubate.

[17:19] Lighting up the small screen: Apps like Photoroom and Microsoft Copilot are using AI to make tasks historically done on a desktop easy on a mobile device.

[21:09] You can’t do it all: Prioritize the app optimizations and features that will have the biggest impact on your business.

On the podcast:The importance of passion for the product you’re working on, how to differentiate in a crowded market, and why achieving the ‘viable’ in Minimum Viable Product is harder than ever.

Key Takeaways:

📉 Ad-based revenue models too often lead to a degraded user experience. For ad-supported products, the real customer is the advertiser, not the end user. This causes a conflict between doing what’s going to create the best product and what’s going to drive the most advertising revenue. 

🚀 The bar for what makes a “viable” MVP is always getting higher. While no app first ships as a fully-formed 1.0, it’s now rarely viable to launch an app as a barebones MVP (minimum viable product). There are just too many apps offering too much competition to not offer a compelling reason for a user to switch. 

🔍 The “Jobs to Be Done” (JTBD) framework allows you to dig deeper than surface-level features. Gathering user feedback is essential, but users rarely request what they truly want. JTBD demands going deeper than feature requests by addressing the underlying need that the user wants to fulfill. 

❓ To get to the root cause of a user problem, ask the “five whys”. When a user makes a request, get into the habit of asking “Why?”. The more times you ask, the more clarity you’ll have on what you actually need to build, giving you jobs-to-be-done that can best meet the needs of your users. 

🌀How to capitalize on “black swan events”. Adaptability and swift action are key to managing unexpected high-impact events. It's essential to pivot from past decisions without being anchored by sunk costs and to act and ship quickly to capture new opportunities.

About Guest:

👨‍💻Seasoned Internet entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience building groundbreaking apps.

🌿Formerly an early employee at Mint, Val had a vision for a better, more user-centered financial health app.

💡“Try to pick a problem that you want to work on for 10 years — even if it were to fail. That’s how I feel. Even if Monarch were to fail, I would feel good that we moved the ball forward, we did something, we helped people along the way.”

👋LinkedIn

Episode Highlights:

[7:54] Ads vs. subscriptions: Why subscriptions (not an ad-supported model) were Val’s first choice for Monarch.

[9:12] The real MVP: In today’s subscription app world, the bar for a minimal viable product has gone way up.

[13:46] Just ship it (or don’t?):Getting customer feedback during the design phase may take more time up front, but it means identifying your users’ key “jobs to be done” in fewer product iterations.

[23:10] The five “whys”:Ask yourself… what is your app reallyselling?

[24:56] Disappoint-Mint: How Val went from the Mint team to creating Monarch — and what happened when Mint shut down.

[34:17] Modern marketing: Talking to potential users on forums like Reddit can be an effective way to build trust and win fans.

[36:31] The butterfly effect: What’s next for the Monarch team and business.

[38:02] On a mission: Val and the Monarch team are passionate about helping users improve their financial health.

On the podcast: The past, present, and future of Meta ads, tactics to scale subscription apps on Meta, and why you should probably exclude younger audiences in your targeting.

Key Takeaways:

⍰  Why Meta Ads? Its vast reach and precision targeting make Meta the best platform for discovery. Ads seamlessly integrate with organic content, providing a native experience for users and transparency for advertisers.

📈 Simplify for efficiency. Kick off with broad targeting within a consolidated account structure. As your understanding and budget deepens, become more targeted with tailored ad variations. 

🎯 Strategic targeting tips. To elevate conversion rates early on, sidestep users under 25 or 30 and prefer manual campaign setups. This initial focus enhances control, paving the way for more automated refinement later on.

🧘 Navigating SKAN with patience. Prioritize trial events and give the data time to crystallize into actionable insights. Rushed evaluations can deceive; allowing at least a week can provide a more accurate picture of your campaign's impact.

🦾 Harness creative diversity and precise placements. Scaling up means evolving your creative approach to suit distinct audience behaviors across Meta's diverse platforms. Meticulously analyzing demographic and placement data ensures your ads resonate more profoundly with your target audience. 

🖥️ Tips for better ads. Study native content and competitors to design ads similar to what users already see. Test new creatives in separate campaigns to protect your main campaign’s performance.

About Guest

👨‍💻Independent consultant who helps subscription apps unlock Meta as their primary growth channel.

📈 Marcus has over a decade of experience with a background in both gaming and consumer tech, working with companies like Forge of Empires, Blinkist, and Tandem. You can also find him on LinkedIn sharing practical advice on Meta Ads, Web2App, optimizing paywalls, and improving user onboarding.

💡“Don’t target too narrow. These algorithms usually need a lot of reach so they can use the data to find the right audience for you. If you apply a ton of targeting restrictions on top, then usually you pay a premium for targeting more granularly while performance is not necessarily better.”

👋 LinkedIn

Episode Highlights

[9:18] Before and after: How Meta ad marketing changed after Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT).

[17:56] Working within limits: The pros and (multiple) cons of SKAN 3.

[20:36] Into the Meta-verse: Why subscription apps are uniquely situated to benefit from Meta ads.

[23:40] (Best) practice makes perfect:How to optimize Meta ad campaigns to find the right audiences and maximize ROI.

[32:56] Right on target: Unlock your app’s advertising potential with more advanced creative and placement strategies.

[35:06] The other half of the equation: Ads are just the beginning of the customer journey — make sure your entire funnel is a seamless and compelling experience for potential users.

[48:25] Get creative: For the best ad performance and ROI, create ad content that matches what your users are looking for on social platforms.

[52:13] The future is bright: Upcoming developments like SKAN 4 and Meta’s Aggregated Event Measurement (AEM) should make creating and analyzing Meta ads easier.

On the podcast: The many failures of his recent app launch, the surprising results of his first-ever A/B test, and the many reasons why you shouldn’t plan a big app launch.

Top Takeaways:

🔄 Continuous evolution over big bangs: For subscription apps, frequent updates create enduring value, outpacing the impact of sparse, major launches. This steady stream of enhancements keeps your app relevant and signals relentless improvement to your audience.

🌱 Opt for flexible launches: Avoid putting all your hopes in one major launch. A strategy that includes multiple, smaller launches allows for adaptability and maintains your app's presence against the backdrop of an unpredictable news cycle.

📰 Press is unpredictable: Understand that media coverage does not guarantee app success. The broad reach may not always align with your target audience and many factors are outside of your control. Keep swinging, though, as some hits will indeed make a substantial impact — just keep your expectations in check. 

💰 Adopt value-based pricing: Pricing should reflect what customers value in your app, not just the costs to provide it. Value-based pricing doesn't necessarily mean charging more, it just means charging the perceived value. Users don’t care about the costs of providing a service.

🔍 A/B testing insights depend on the nature of the cohort. The origin of your app's users — e.g. via launch events or organic growth — plays a crucial role in interpreting A/B test results. What did or didn’t work for one group isn’t necessarily applicable for the next — so test and draw conclusions appropriately. 

About Guest:

👨‍💻Growth advocate at RevenueCat and indie developer of apps like Launch Center Pro and Weather Up.

🍎 Although he’s neither a designer nor a developer, David has been building the kinds of thoughtful, intuitive apps he wants to use since the App Store first launched in 2008.

💡“The tough thing about getting attention is you do have to do something unique… and that’s the trade-off. The calculus for me was, ‘Let’s wait and try to make a big splash with all these things.’ But really, we could have already launched the widget, and just adding interaction would have gotten attention.”

👋 LinkedIn | Twitter

Episode Highlights:

[11:04] Just ship it: Don’t try to release a ton of new features at once — you’ll get more attention and benefits by releasing incremental updates.

[23:11] Failure to launch: What’s the worst that can happen on your app launch day? A major Apple announcement!

[32:09] Riding the wave: Offering a launch-day sale on your app is a great way to increase conversions when you release a major update.

[36:16] The value of value-based pricing: Set your app’s price based on your target customer’s perceived value of your solution, not your idea of how much it’s worth and costs to run.

[42:54] Dog-fooding the ’cat: David used several RevenueCat features (like Paywalls and Experiments) to set up and monitor the results of the Weather Up 3.0 launch.

On the podcast: RevenueCat’s 2024 State of Subscription Apps report, the state of the app industry more broadly, and why a slight drop in renewals in 2023 isn’t as bad as it may seem.

Key insights:

📈 Optimize conversion rates: With a 1.7% average conversion rate from downloads to paying subscribers, there's a wide gap indicating room for improvement. North America shows higher conversions, spotlighting the need for regional price optimization.

🗓️ Persistence pays off: The top 5% of apps outearn the bottom quartile by 200 times a year post-launch. If year one is tough, consider pivoting or trying a new approach.

🗺️ Strategic focus is key: North America leads in app revenue, but don't overlook markets like South Korea, Japan, and India. Choosing the right platform and regional focus is crucial.

💲 Retention is crucial: A 14% drop in subscriber retention highlights the need for apps to focus on retaining users who truly value their service. It's vital to distinguish between loyal users and those less engaged.

📱 Reactivation grows with scale: While over 10% of churned subscribers resubscribe, reactivation becomes significantly more impactful as your app grows. Early on, prioritize acquisition and retention over win-back campaigns.

About Guests 

🎙️David Barnard is Growth Advocate at RevenueCat and host of this very podcast.

👋🏼David’s LinkedIn

💻Jacob Eiting is the CEO of RevenueCat, a self-proclaimed computer person, and often co-hosts this podcast with David. 

👋🏼Jacob’s LinkedIn

Links & Resources

Check out RevenueCat online

Episode Highlights 

[1:31] Weathering the storm:After several years of turmoil in the subscription app industry, things finally started to settle down in 2023 — and app businesses are thriving.

[7:12] The business of intelligence:AI technology leapt forward in 2023, and mobile AI apps saw big wins.

[14:07] Stop guessing, start acting: The benchmarks in the 2023 State of Subscription Apps report can help you make data-driven strategic decisions.

[17:37] The state of the (app) union: Five key takeaways from the report that identify industry trends, potential pitfalls, and emerging opportunities.

[38:44] First impressions matter:Most trial starts occur within 24 hours, so make sure your user onboarding experience is compelling.

On the podcast: How to build a content marketing flywheel, the importance of content that’s inherently valuable, and why you shouldn’t give up on content marketing even if your early attempts only get a few views.

🛠️ Validate your app idea with minimal resources. Use a simple mock-up and some way to drive paid or organic traffic to gauge interest before development. Fares Ksebati tested demand for an app that didn’t exist by collecting emails via a basic website. This lean approach confirmed interest with over 200 sign-ups, showcasing an effective, low-cost validation method.

🌱 Startup accelerators: a selective boost for early ventures. For newcomers like Fares, accelerators are goldmines for skills in customer discovery and networking. They're most valuable for startups without a solid network or those aligned with the accelerator's focus. While they sharpen your pitch and connect you with mentors, their benefits may wane as your business matures. Choose one that fits your app's niche for the best impact.

🏃‍♂️ Content marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. Fares’s journey with MySwimPro underscores that content marketing requires patience and passion. Initially focusing on answering common swimming questions, the strategy wasn't about quick wins but building trust and brand over time. Early content may not drive immediate app usage spikes, but it lays the foundation for brand recognition and credibility. 

💸 Great content transcends user acquisition and unlocks direct monetization. Establishing a significant online presence, particularly on platforms like YouTube, offers dual benefits: attracting new users and generating revenue through ads and brand partnerships. This strategy highlights the power of creating engaging, value-driven content that not only draws in subscribers but also opens additional revenue streams.

🔍 The biggest mistake when experimenting with paid acquisition is not having the right analytics in place. Success in paid acquisition hinges on robust analytics for tracking campaign effectiveness and the ability to quickly adjust strategies. Without confidence in attribution and the ability to iterate quickly, budgets can be wasted on ineffective ads and you won’t be able to scale.

💬 Effective value communication eases the shift from free to paid subscriptions. Transitioning users from free to premium features necessitates a clear demonstration of added benefits. While consumers are increasingly willing to pay for software, that comes with higher expectations. But it’s important to remember that some users will always complain about price, regardless of cost, while some will always be willing to pay for the most premium subscription. Getting pricing right is a constant balance of qualitative user psychology with data-driven insight. 

About Guest:

👨‍💻Co-Founder and CEO of MySwimPro, an app that provides personalized workouts and training plans for swimmers.

🏊 An accomplished swimmer himself, Fares created MySwimPro to help swimmers of all skill levels improve their performance — even if they don’t have a team or coach.

💡“With content marketing, you have to do one of three things: You have to either educate people, entertain them, or inspire them. Now, if you're really good at any one of those, that's great. But if you're amazing, you can do multiple at the same time.”

👋 LinkedIn

Links & Resources:

Episode Highlights:

[3:41] Fake it ‘til you make it:In 2014, Fares validated the idea for MySwimPro by driving traffic to a website for an app that didn’t exist yet.

[10:07] Don’t reinvent the wheel: Use tools that already exist (like Google and YouTube) to find what potential users are searching for and get the word out about your app.

[19:38] Changing the channel: Your app should have a presence on the social channels that best fit the brand and marketing acquisition funnel you’re trying to build.

[23:59] Content marketing pays off (literally):Monetize your marketing content with ads and brand partnerships for an additional revenue stream.

[30:33] Start simple: These days, making great marketing content is easier than ever — all you need is a smartphone and an inexpensive microphone.

[42:12] The price is… wrong?: Some of your users are willing to pay more than what you’re charging, and developing new pricing packages can unlock more revenue.

On 25th January, Apple published its guidance on how it would comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). The response, in keeping with Apple’s response to other demands for reforms, effectively disincentivizes most apps from taking advantage of the changes. The changes are complex and confusing, and the answer to whether apps should make changes isn’t completely black-and-white. 

To help developers navigate these changes, we pulled together an “emergency” episode featuring RevenueCat’s CEO Jacob Eiting and Head of Product Jens-Fabian Goetzmann, Runway CEO Gabriel Savit, and Nico Wittenborn, founder of Adjacent. 

Here are the discussion’s key takeaways:

📲 The DMA Reforms How App Stores Work in the EU — The DMA mandates that app stores, like Apple's, cannot enforce the use of first-party app stores or in-app payment systems in the EU. Android already supports third-party app stores (sideloading), so Google’s focus has been on offering alternative payments via “user-choice billing”. For Apple, which does not support sideloading, the EU reforms have needed to be much more significant.   

🔓 Apple Releases Opt-In New Business Terms — Apple’s response was to introduce an optional new set of business terms with a dizzying number of changes to fees and choices for developers. By opting-in, developers unlock new ways to distribute their app and charge users, but doing so comes with changes to and additions to fees paid to Apple. The changes are complex enough that developers have to analyze the implications very carefully.  

🌀Fee Structure of the New Terms is a Complex Maze —Apple's new terms introduce a convoluted fee structure, where reduced commissions are coupled with the Core Technology Fee (CTF), where developers pay €0.50 for the first annual install over a 1M threshold. The CTF includes not just first-time installs, but first annual re-installs and updates from first and third-party app stores as well. This install fee effectively means that any high volume low average revenue per user (ARPU) app is likely to lose out by accepting the new terms. 

🛑 Third-party App Stores Unviable for All but the Biggest Players — The new terms aren’t so rosy for potential new “marketplace apps”, either. New app stores will not be exempt from the CTF, making the first 3M downloads of the marketplace app itself cost the operator €1M — €0.50 per install over the 1M download threshold. And then apps within that marketplace also have to pay the CTF fee. This means that opening a third-party app store is unviable except for the very biggest attempts or for stores that have a high-charge per install (e.g. a game marketplace where users pay a relatively high one-off fee per game).     

🔍 There Might Be Strategic Opportunities, but They Remain to Be Seen — Yes, most apps seem to be better off sticking with the original terms. But there might be opportunities for niche apps. For example, apps that have a low volume of installs but high ARPU (by having a costly yearly subscription, for example) might be able to absorb the CTF, even considering yearly updates. An additional as-yet unexplored change is that Apple has introduced 600 new APIs, meaning that there’s an opening for new third-party applications and integrations.   

About Guests

📱Gabriel Savit is CEO of Runway, a release platform for iOS and Android apps. Find Gabriel on X and on LinkedIn.

💲Nico Wittenborn is Founder of Adjacent, an early-stage VC firm. Find Nico on X and on LinkedIn.

😺Jens-Fabian Goetzmann is Head of Product at RevenueCat

Links & Resources

Episode Highlights

[2:31] What is the Digital Markets Act (DMA)? It’s a series of directives set by the EU that aim to limit the dominance of large tech platforms, dubbed “gatekeepers” (of which Apple and Google are a part), and provide more choices to developers and end-users.  

[10:34] The principal decision that developers need to make in response to Apple’s changes is: do we switch to the new terms or remain on the old? Right now, there is no indication that it’s a two-way door. 

[13:34] When opting into the new terms, there are effectively four separate models: stay distributing through the App Store using Apple’s IAPs; stay distributing through the App Store but use alternative payment providers; distribute instead on a third-party marketplace using alternative payments; or distribute on both the App Store and third-party marketplaces. 

[15:47] The Core Technology Fee (CTF), in the new terms, charges developers €0.50 per first annual app install on installs above the 1M threshold. This includes first annual reinstalls and updates, and it’s the CTF that is fundamentally making the economics of new terms unviable for most developers. 

[30:24] Why haven’t third-party marketplaces taken off on Android? It’s probably down to the size of the opportunity. Most apps, even if they’re multiplatform, make most of their money on iOS. Now that the possibility of third-party marketplaces is available on the most profitable platform, it suddenly becomes worth looking into.

[41:41] There are instances where creating a third-party marketplace would be financially beneficial, such as a premium game distribution platform — higher-priced games ($20+) would negate the disadvantages shown by the CTF. 

[47:03] Unless things change, 99% of developers should probably not switch to the new terms. At best, it’s a bad idea, at worst it’s a huge distraction with the risk of owing Apple more in fees than revenue generated. There is a small subset of apps that could benefit, but those apps know who they are, and they’ll find a way to test the waters and mitigate the risk involved.  

[52:48] Another opportunity is the 600 new APIs that Apple is making available. It’s too early to say what that opportunity will look like, but there are likely to be some innovative third-party applications to come out of it.  

On the podcast: The strategic pitfalls in modeling Total Addressable Market, how freemium should work, and why Surfline’s current success was actually 38 years in the making.

Key Takeaways:

🎯SAM not TAM — The total addressable market (TAM) provides an overview of the market's potential size, but it's too general for strategic purposes. The serviceable addressable market (SAM) more accurately reflects the market portion you can realistically capture.

$ Understanding Price Sensitivity — Price sensitivity involves three key elements: Purchasing power (your market's ability to buy), commitment (likelihood of investing in your app), and value proposition (the value your app offers).

⚖️The Freemium Balance — Success in freemium models hinges on balancing increased conversions with retaining free users. If prioritizing one over the other becomes necessary, focus on retention to allow time for app improvements.

📈Growing Freemium Conversion Rates — A small percentage of free users convert to premium. The strength of freemium lies in its potential for increased conversion rates as your app improves and retains free users over time.

🤝Monetizing Through Partnerships — For free users, displaying ads can monetize the audience that may not convert. For premium users, focus on partnerships offering exclusive deals or benefits to enhance value and average revenue per user (ARPU).

About Guest:

👨‍💻Vice President of Strategy, Business Development, and Analytics at Surfline, an app that provides surfers updates on current wave conditions.

🏄 An avid surfer himself, Paul joined the Surfline team because he was passionate about the product.

💡“The biggest issue that I see with most companies that are going out to market and putting together their commercial strategy is they'll use TAM and they'll model everything off of that… But in reality… it's really important to figure out what the serviceableaddressable market is.”

👋 LinkedIn
🏄‍♂️ Check out Surfline

Episode Highlights:

[4:11] The 38-year-old startup: Surfline was originally founded as a 1-800 phone number in 1985 and added consumer subscriptions in 2001 (before Netflix did!).

[5:57] When TAM fails: Total addressable market (TAM) is an unrealistic number for modeling the number of users you’re likely to get — instead, calculate the serviceableaddressable market (SAM).

[14:46] Different approaches to TAM:You can calculate TAM from the top down or bottom up, whichever makes more sense for your business.

[19:04] The formula for price sensitivity: To effectively price your app, you need to understand (1) your users’ purchasing power, (2) your users’ level of commitment, and (3) the strength of your value proposition.

[24:40] Keeping the “free” in freemium: Remember to balance conversions with free user retention — it’s much easier to convert existing free users than it is to acquire brand-new users.

[37:48]Ads for all: Consider partnering with relevant brands to provide special offers to further monetize your paid subscribers.

On the podcast: Scaling to $5M in ARR on paid ads, positive and negative results from 121 A/B tests, and why they still haven’t built an Android app. 

💡 The Power of a Single Metric: Concentrating on just one key metric can be remarkably effective. In the early stages, it's common to take on too much. By zeroing in on a solitary metric, it becomes simpler to iterate and conduct large-scale testing.

👀 Subscriptions as a Market Fit Gauge: The subscription model acts as a litmus test for your app's value. Gating access early and observing if users are willing to pay offers clear evidence of your app's worth.

💬 Flexibility in Attribution Methods: There's no one-size-fits-all approach to attribution. Various apps adopt diverse strategies. Often, straightforward methods like asking users about their discovery path during onboarding can be the most reliable.

🤳🏼 Prioritizing Creativity in Paid Marketing: If your strategy leans heavily on paid marketing, expect to dedicate at least 80% of your efforts to crafting creative content. For smaller teams, collaborating with content creators and influencers can be an effective strategy for scaling. 

📱 Choosing a Single Platform for Initial Launch: Easing early-stage challenges is feasible by focusing on a single platform. Many startups overextend by launching on multiple platforms simultaneously. Opting for a single platform, such as iOS, allows you to concentrate your limited resources on achieving initial milestones before considering a broader launch.

About Guest:

👨‍💻Founder and CEO of Opal, an app that helps users limit their screen time and find focus.

📱 Even though iOS includes screen time management tools, Kenneth and his team believed they could improve the experience – and that users would pay for it.

💡“Essentially, if you get people to pay for your products… that's a pretty strong signal that you have something pretty valuable.”

👋 LinkedIn

Links & Resources:

Episode Highlights:

[1:09] A three-phase approach: How the Opal team tackled building a subscription business for a screen time management app.

[4:54] When ad spend is worth it: Opal implemented paid marketing from the beginning – and it paid off.

[10:44] Attribution made easy: Sometimes the simplest method of finding out where users came from – just asking them! – is the most useful.

[13:08] Contracting creatives: Consider hiring independent contractors who care about your mission to build your ad content.

[17:22] From premium to freemium: Many apps (like Duolingo) start out free, then add paid subscriptions later. Opal is doing the opposite.

[25:53] Work smarter, not harder: Releasing your app on a single platform (instead of iOS, Mac, web, and Android all at once) can save your team a lot of time and money.

[30:07] Lessons from 121 A/B tests: Prioritize the bigger swings that will significantly increase your uplift early on.

On the podcast: How to pitch your app to the press, the importance of focusing on differentiation, and why customizing your pitch to an individual writer is so much more effective.

Top Takeaways:

PR for user acquisition (UA) is best suited for acquiring very specific users. If you’re looking for big numbers then there are better channels to use. But PR allows you to pinpoint your UA to reach smaller, higher-intent audiences, such as early adopters or power users, who help you fulfill a particular goal.

When working with PR agencies or consultants, know what kind of outcome you’re after. For apps that just want to reach a wide audience, a firm focused more on outreach at scale might be sufficient. But most apps will benefit more from a strategist who will help craft deep meaningful stories over the long-term.

When pitching, think about the writer, not just the publication. Find the writer who will have the greatest personal interest in your story — not only will your pitch success rate be higher, but the subsequent write-up will be much more meaningful and useful to you down the road. 

Keep your email pitch brief and your press-kit comprehensive. Use the subject line and body copy to highlight uniqueness; feel free to use images but keep it brief. Your press kit, however, should provide enough detail for the journalist to write their story out-of-the-box — but don’t go as far as to write it yourself.

To effectively pitch your app to TechCrunch, specifically, focus on what sets your app apart. A well-executed idea with quality design is just the starting point. Elevate your pitch by highlighting unique features and differentiation. Adding personal stories can further enhance the appeal and depth of your pitch.

About Guest:

👨‍💻Former Editor-in-Chief of TechCrunch.

✍️ With over 14 years of experience as a tech journalist, Matthew is an expert in the art of the pitch.

💡“Those stories tend to be the most potent, valuable, and interesting long term, especially for early-stage companies. You convert somebody into a believer, a believer in the thing that you’re doing, the thing that you’re trying to accomplish, the mission that you have. And those writers will become sort of chroniclers of your progress over time. If you’re able to capture one or two of those [writers] ... to get into the minds and hearts of individual writers at a publication, it’s so much more valuable than, ‘Oh, we got covered by Publication X.’”

👋 LinkedIn

Links & Resources:

Episode Highlights:

[1:12] Pitch perfect:How to pitch your app to a tech reporter in a cold email (that they’ll actually read).

[14:01] Stand out from the crowd: A competitor’s downtime or failure may be a good opportunity to market your app, but it isn’t enough — you need to highlight your app’s differentiating features, too.

[18:05] Know your audience: Choose not only the right publication but also the right reporter to write about your app.

[26:41] Broad versus targeted UA: Getting your app featured in a publication like TechCrunch can help you acquire a highly interested group of users (early adopters, power users, and people who will send you feedback).

[38:12] The big leagues:What TechCrunch is looking for in a pitch.

[45:15] To PR or not to PR?: Whether or not you should work with a PR firm depends on your app.

[48:18] The whole kit and caboodle: Create a press kit that makes it easy for a journalist to tell your app’s story.

On the podcast: Phil's Subscription Value Loop framework, what it means to create robust value for customers, and why A/B testing shouldn't be your first step in price optimization.

Top Takeaways:

📈Quantitative growth models can help inform your growth strategy. These models are built around key user actions and growth loops incorporating variables like acquisition, retention, and monetization. They serve not just to align the company around common growth objectives but also as a tool to identify strategic leverage points for driving user and revenue growth.

📲Thesubscription value loopcan model successful consumer subscription apps.This loop, devised by Phil Carter, is a framework for consumer subscription apps that focuses on value creation, delivery, and capture. It identifies the most impactful areas to allocate resources, aiding in decision-making for product development and marketing strategies. It emphasizes the importance of balancing value creation for the user with the business's need to capture value, ensuring a sustainable and efficient growth model.

🔁The 4Rs ofvalue creation— robust, rapid, repeatable, remarkable —emphasize creating a product that solves real customer problems with strong product market fit, delivering value quickly, ensuring long-term engagement and value through repeatable benefits, and being compelling enough to spark word-of-mouth promotion. This framework guides in developing products that not only meet immediate user needs but also maintain their relevance and appeal over time.

💲Value deliveryis efficiently connecting users to your valuable product. The playbook of relying on paid marketing to acquire users no longer works, due to increased app store competition and reduced efficiencies caused by ATT. The healthiest subscription app businesses are built on a robust organic acquisition strategy as a foundation, where paid ads are supplementary.

🎯The 5Ps ofvalue capture— paywall, pricing & packaging, payments, promotions — focus on the strategic elements crucial for monetizing a subscription app. Paywall strategies should, as well as adopt general best practices, be tightly aligned with the nature of the app; pricing & packaging perhaps offer the greatest leverage for later-stage apps; payments is about an awareness of alternative payment methods and ensuring you have a clear and transparent payment flow; and promotions should be thoughtful and targeted.

About Guest:

👨‍💻Founder and CEO of Elemental Growth, an advising consultancy focused on helping app businesses unlock their potential.

🔁 Phil developed the Subscription Value Loop, a framework for understanding how to maximize growth in consumer app businesses.

💡 “If you don't have a repeatable value prop that can sustain long-term retention, and your primary growth loop is paid ads, that's where you see a graveyard of companies that have just completely failed.”

👋 LinkedIn

Links & Resources:

Companies Phil has helped:

Episode Highlights:

[0:44] From consultant to growth guru: Phil’s journey into the subscription growth world began with mission-driven app businesses like Quizlet.

[5:25] What you need to know to grow: Any quantitative growth model will be “wrong”… but you’ll learn so much building one, you should still do it.

[8:30] The Subscription Value Loop: A framework for identifying product-market fit, building a remarkable solution, and investing profits into shoring up your competitive advantage.

[13:48] The 40% rule:Determine product-market fit by how disappointed customers would be if they could no longer use your app.

[23:05] Perfecting the elevator pitch:A great app onboarding experience is snappy, immersive, and packs a punch.

[33:32] Avoid churn: Build repeatable experiences designed to bring users back again and again.

[38:24] Go viral: Find out how to get and keep your users talking.

[45:37] Organic is healthier: In today’s crowded (and post-ATT) app stores, paid ads can’t realistically be your primary growth lever.

[50:22] Keep the engine running: Balancing how much value you capture versus provide can be a challenge — especially when it comes to free users.

[1:11:12] The price is right: How to determine the optimal packaging and pricing for your app.

On the podcast: Profitably scaling TikTok ads, price optimization, and what the team learned from burning hundreds of thousands of dollars on Instagram ads.

Top Takeaways

📈 Use Micro-Influencers for Early Growth: Niche influencers with between 10k-100k followers provide a direct source to a highly relevant audience. Ladder incentivized Instagram influencers, while the app was in a very early stage, by offering a revenue share; this reinforced the collaborative nature of the partnership and made it financially viable for Ladder. (00:02:39)

💲Adapt Your Pricing Based on Your Core User: Be adaptable with your pricing model based on customer research and feedback. Ladder shifted from a higher price point to a lower one as they learnt more about what value proposition was for their core users. To reach this conclusion, they surveyed their users and analyzed the data using Van Westendorp's pricing analysis. (00:19:36)

🕺🏽Maximize TikTok by Tailoring Your Content: Whereas on Instagram you’re gradually building up an audience, on TikTok you should assume posts are reaching a unique audience every time. This means content on TikTok needs to be made for TikTok — it needs to either entertain or educate, edited in the TikTok style, and should work in isolation without prior knowledge. (00:41:04)

🕸️Using a Web Funnel to Optimize Ad Spend: Ladder efficiently targets the right TikTok audience by directing them to a web quiz. This strategy quickly reveals user preferences, bypassing longer conversion funnels. By embedding pixels in quiz questions, they gain real-time insights into ad performance, enabling rapid optimization of ad spend. (00:49:38)

🪜 Building a Retention Mechanism within the App: By building your product around retention metrics, you’ll naturally build a retentive product. For Ladder, its use of team chats are wildly popular, creating accountability and motivation in its users. And because these social elements drive so much consistency and retention, they work hard on driving users to these chats as quickly as possible. (01:04:49)

About Greg Stewart

📱CEO and Founder of Ladder, a fitness app dedicated to providing the world's best strength training plan from the world's best coaches, every single day.

💪 Greg took Ladder from zero to a million dollars in ARR with a zealous early focus on product iteration.

💡 “As a consumer business, I have learned that there is no muscle more important than growth — investing in growth, product-side growth, [and] retention. To have those learnings and that dial being controlled outside the building now makes no sense whatsoever to me.”

👋 LinkedIn | X, formerly known as Twitter

Links & Resources

‣ Connect with Greg via LinkedIn

‣ Connect with Greg on X

‣ Join Ladder

‣ Ladder on X

Episode Highlights

[0:54] Covid obstacles: Ladder launched during the pandemic but was initially geared toward gym goers. Early UA wasn’t about focus on revenue, but on product iteration to validate product-market fit.

[4:35] Loyal followings: Instagram microinfluencers were a key part of Ladder’s early strategy for driving UA — aiming for “perfect alignment” with fitness coaches.

[8:34] Onboarding: Ladder had a specific method for recommending programming based on lead source.

[12:41] From influencer to team member: The right partners were a fundamental part of Ladder’s success, not as a creator or tool-based platform but as a consumer business.

[16:46] Hardcore product iteration: Greg and his team built a set of tools for coaches after they hit a million dollars in ARR.

[22:54] Honest ad lessons: Instead of focusing on ad optimization and efficiency, Ladder asked how to tell the right stories to the right people.

[24:40] Decreasing price: The team went deep on analysis before lowering the price, with a single-minded commitment to Ladder as a customer-based business.

[30:35] New Year’s resolutions: A lack of growth following their best month ever mobilized Ladder to create a framework leading to effective growth loops.

[34:07] TikTok tactics: With diminishing returns from their Instagram efforts, Greg and his team decided to forge a new path via TikTok, which ultimately paid off.

[39:20] Money where your mouth is: “Organic is the best indication of winning content,” Greg says. But engaging content needs an effective CTA. The roundabout but telling answer is to understand your customer and provide value rather than paying too much attention to acquisition or monetization.

[48:29] CTAs that work: To reel them in, be upfront and direct to customers — and offer verifiable results.

[49:56] Hacking algorithms: Web quizzes are winners for identifying buyer personas, driving a critical move for managing spend.

[57:05] Bye-bye, LTV:CAC: Payback period is much easier to grapple with than variables that are out of the control of the team, helping Ladder to iterate on its annual offering thanks to a good handle on retention.

[1:05:06] High retention: Relentless focus on the customer’s view and experience is the key to driving UA and retention.

[1:14:56] Skeptical prerogative: Rather than building copycats and raising money, ensure there’s a clear differentiator around which the entire business is built. That way lies growth and scaling.

On the podcast: Landing PR for a niche app, negotiating strategic partnerships, and pretending to have an app helped validate that he should build one.

Top Takeaways

🚀 Validate Early and Build Smartly: Start by validating your app idea with minimal investment — even just an image or a spreadsheet. Once validated, focus on creating an MVP that delivers core value to your users, allowing for effective market testing and valuable feedback. (01:06—11:00)

🎯 Mix Up Your Early Marketing: Early on, explore a mix of marketing tactics, both paid and organic, such as Apple Search Ads and targeted PR. Adapt quickly to focus on strategies that drive early user growth and traction. (11:00—14:06)

✍️ Craft Ready-to-Publish Stories for Media Pick-Up: Develop complete, compelling narratives about your app. A story that's ready-made and engaging eases journalists' workloads and increases the likelihood of your app getting featured. (12:34—15:58)

🤝 How to Close Early Partnerships: When approaching potential partnerships as an early app startup, remember that you’re a risk, so highlight your business’s reliability and responsiveness. Be proactive and flexible in negotiations, demonstrating your commitment to deliverables and reducing perceived risk to partners. (17:02—22:55)

🌐 The Broader Impact of Partnerships: Recognize that the value of partnerships extends beyond direct metrics like user acquisition. They are instrumental in building credibility, social proof points, and establishing a presence in your niche, which leads to organic growth and further collaborative opportunities. (34:41—38:13)

About Adam Allore

👨‍💻 Founder and CEO of Wavve Boating, an app that provides a better marine navigation experience that’s easy, collaborative, and fun.

⚓ Adam initially wanted to build a nautical navigation map that he would use, until he organized himself a booth at a boat show that ultimately led to him building the app thanks to overwhelming positive feedback.

💡 “The quantity of emails that we got was one thing, but seeing people light up and get excited by the app and experience that I built was what gave me that confidence to quit my job, pursue this thing full time, and make the beta a reality that I was telling people about.”

👋  LinkedIn

Links & Resources

‣ Connect with Aaron via LinkedIn

‣ Check out Wavve Boating

‣ Adam talking about the Wavve App

‣ Wavve Boating on X, formerly known as Twitter

Episode Highlights

[1:10] Ahoy, sailor: Working as an engineer, Adam realized that people struggled to read nautical navigation maps, which provided the inception point for Wavve Boating.

[4:53] Fake it till you make it: Taking the scrappy route can sometimes be the best path to kickstarting your idea — even if it requires a bit of hustle.

[7:26] Just build the beta: Even the bare MVP can be enough to attract investors and users. Unique product insight is where the margin really comes from.

[11:18] Gaining traction: Adam took a shotgun marketing approach before landing on app-based PR hits with a promising community element.

[17:15] Press power: Aaron assumed the initial press outreach kickoff would drive major user growth — it added value and drove recognition in the space (and yes, some user acquisition).

[20:26] Proactive negotiation: Potential partners (especially large ones) may view small startups as a risk — subscription app developers should aim to mitigate that risk.

[26:14] Basement finance plan: Panic led to solid planning as Adam reached out to the local angel network to raise capital and get things going, including a deal that represented his first foray into B2B sales.

[29:24] Market flows: Deep link usage for the paywall was one thing, but what really paid off for the app was ensuring it was as easy to activate and use as possible.

[32:05] DevOps on the cheap: Building for the addressable market of one company could pay off bigger if you take that idea elsewhere — if you know the business. Be careful about which projects you take on, as they may ultimately prove distractions.

[35:00] Partner-driven UA: 25% of Wavve’s total UA comes from partnerships. But plenty of users come through untracked and organic channels.

[37:29] Leveraging reality: Get the PR right, and landing partnerships can quickly snowball into further opportunities.

On the podcast: The ultimate freemium strategy, making low-risk bets with potentially asymmetrical outcomes, and how Aaron bounced back after almost running out of money.

Top Takeaways

📐As an app startup, while in the early stages of growth, you need to find the one KPI that you’re going to choose to focus on. “Startups can do one thing, barely,” says Foss, so find the KPI that shows that your app is working as intended and that users are finding value. For Nomorobo, this was robocalls blocked; if this KPI grew, then the app was doing its job and users were signing up.

🚀 Not every launch needs to go off with a bang. For Aaron Foss, there’s too much that can go wrong. Soft launches allow you to launch when you’re ready, not when your deadline says you are. You have the benefit of seeing and catching bugs before your app becomes overwhelmed with users.

🌱 To grow organically, and only organically, requires that you find the growth “hacks” that leverage what you already have. For Nomorobo, this meant making use of a free web user base to promote the paid app; programmatic SEO landing pages built using the data they were collecting; and using that data to outreach to the press with relevant stories.

🔎 The benefit of growing slowly and sustainably is that constraints lead to greater focus. When raising money to accelerate your business, it’s easy to overextend and do too many things at once. A slow, gradual approach forces you to focus on what’s the most important thing right now.

🛣️ Freemium works best when you consider it a user acquisition path, not a revenue model, and when those free users deliver additional business value. Being free will bring you more users, but what else do those free users deliver to your business? For Nomorobo, free users on the landline side bring in data to improve the mobile product, which can then be upsold to turn free users into paid.

About Aaron Foss

👨‍💻 Founder of Nomorobo, an app that stops annoying robocalls and spam texts forever.

💪 With a background in programming and an MBA, Aaron built an entire product to stop robocalls from the ground up.

💡 “This is Apple’s world: We just live in it. How insane is it to start an app company building an app that is against App Store rule?”

👋  LinkedIn | X, formerly known as Twitter

Links & Resources

‣ Connect with Aaron via LinkedIn

‣ Check out Nomorobo

‣ Check out this Mixergy interview about Aaron’s entrepreneurship journey

‣ Read up on how Aaron beat robocalls for good

Episode Highlights

[1:25] The end of apps?: Aaron was between selling his last company and looking for the next challenge when the clarion call came from the FTC to tackle robocalls.

[3:46] From telephony to commerce: For Aaron, $50K signaled that there was a big incentive to solve the problem of robocalls. The size of the bounty drove him to try to develop an innovative solution using existing technology.

[12:26] Close to the chest: Getting a product out validates whether spending your life building it is a good idea or not. Aaron found that the only way to win the competition was using SimRing, but he didn’t go into detail when pitching it.

[13:39] Post-win gameplan: Twilio (and a lot of negotiation) was the key to building the foundations of early Nomorobo.

[17:44] Monetization turning point: As one of the first subscription apps with in-app purchases, Nomorobo’s inflection point was the introduction of mobile apps. It turned out that a price point of $1.99 was cheaper when running with Apple.

[21:47] Big bang, no thanks: The demand to solve the problem of spammy robocalls meant Nomorobo never needed to do any paid acquisition.

[25:43] Hiring decisions: Going from solo to building a team is never an easy leap. Aaron found that the first step was to break off customer support, and another key was to work with contractors while remaining small and scrappy.

[30:59] Relaxed raising: The company found that raising on an as-needed basis worked perfectly well for their setup, but it didn’t come without its trials. Case in point: the white-knuckle $944 in the bank account that Aaron admits they were lucky to pull off.

[35:16] Top growth levers: While Nomorobo never paid for advertising, it had to grow. How did it manage to, and why is landline protection still free?

[42:38] Press management: With landline freemium strategy and programmatic SEO locked down, the next phase was managing press and getting featured by Apple.

[47:41] Life-changing money: Like Frank Sinatra, Aaron did things his way. He shares the story of the eight-figure exit.

[53:17] Value creation: If you want to run a business, it must create value. The more value you create, the more money you make.

On the podcast: How to profitably scale performance marketing, hard vs soft activation, and why you should keep an extra close eye on your marketing spend in November.

Top Takeaways

⬇️ To effectively scale your performance marketing, grasp your app's funnel from the top down. Start by honing in on app installs, enabling both you and the algorithms to learn. Progress down the funnel — optimizing for different app events as you go —  but be prepared for corresponding budget hikes. Throughout this journey, continually test and iterate.

⏲️ Test your ATT prompt timing, starting with first app launch. While the ideal placement for an ATT prompt may vary per app, consider starting your tests with the prompt at first app launch. Surprisingly, this timing has shown minimal impact on sign-ups, trials, and conversions in some cases. Use this as a baseline for your own tests to find the most effective timing for your app.

🎨 Feed your always-on campaigns with rigorously tested ad creatives. Start with a control and multiple variants differing in one element. After identifying the best message, test it across various design formats. This iterative process builds a portfolio of effective creatives for your always-on campaigns, where you can, ideally, leave them untouched as you continue the testing process.

⏯️ For a clear view of product-market fit, track hard activations. These are meaningful actions — such as listening to multiple stories — that reveal user commitment. Don’t make the mistake of thinking a trial-start makes a user engaged. Use these insights to refine the user journey. Make it as easy as possible for users to reach the desired level of engagement.

🍂 Master the seasonal ad cycle: November is a tough month for ad spend, so pivot to awareness campaigns to navigate the rising costs. Come December, particularly after the 15th, you’ll find a rebound in favor of digital products as e-commerce spending drops. This period, often referred to as “Q5,” is also an excellent time to leverage gifting strategies and New Year messaging.

About Hannah Parvaz

👨‍💻 Founder of Aperture, a full-service growth partner making good companies better by helping them to change the world in a positive way.

💪 Hannah has helped hundreds of apps grow, and was previously recognized as a 5-star mentor at GrowthMentor, taking home both App Marketer of the Year and Consultant of the Year awards. She previously worked with learning app Uptime, narrated journalism app Curio, drink app DUSK, and music app DICE.

💡 “Every app is different: Everyone needs different levels of success, but also everyone has a slightly different strategy.”

👋  LinkedIn | X, formerly known as Twitter

Links & Resources

‣ Check out Aperture

‣ Hannah’s website

‣ Interview with Hannah on Business of Apps

‣ “Tips for Creating the Right Mindset for Business Growth” interview with Hannah Paravaz

‣ “How to talk to your customers in order to make winning ads with Hannah Parvaz”

Episode Highlights

[2:01] Personal growth marketing: Former IBM CEO Ginni Rometty said, “Growth and comfort do not coexist.” Hannah feels this is true of her professional trajectory — an encouraging reminder for everyone in the app space.

[5:02] Scaling performance marketing: The first question you need to ask is, How are you measuring what you’re scaling?

[8:25] The measure of success: Hannah recommends A/B testing and analytics to build out funnels.

[11:05] Post-ATT ad performance: Experimenting with creatives relies on specific goals and tests based on one control and multiple variants. Lots of experimentation and analysis are the keys.

[16:02] Conversations with customers: Android’s Google Play store isn’t quite as stringent as Apple’s App Store, but customers need to know how many trials and installs they’re aiming for in order to maximize the growth they need.

[18:17] Subscription focus: Hannah takes a blended perspective to subscription apps, looking at funnel steps and where the biggest opportunities are, then moving into product.

[20:52] Action hierarchy: Developers need to figure out how many first meaningful actions and core actions must take place for users to truly activate.

[25:31] Finger in the air: Tracking ROI in the early stages ****is a guessing game, but once reality matches expectations, the activation average always becomes clear.

[31:26] The blended perspective: Optimizing performance starts with looking at each channel in isolation and closely monitoring performance.

[34:31] All the leaves are brown: Halloween brings a curse that lasts throughout November — a tough season for marketers and advertisers. Costs skyrocket, then drop on December 1 for “Q5,” which lasts until the beginning of January.

On the podcast: Spinning off a new product from secondary product market fit, the journey of getting into YC, and the give and take of raising venture capital.

Top Takeaways

🥾 Ground expectations for launching a bootstrapped business — prepare for years of challenges and minimal initial revenue while adapting, learning, and growing over the long term.

💰 Bootstrapping versus raising capital depends on you: Venture capital accelerates growth but increases accountability and responsibility, and you need to decide how you want to grow and whether you want to take that on.

📚 The B2B success playbook is about customer retention and iterative improvement, while B2C is high-risk, high-reward. Early success is harder, so tailor your approach and expectations based on the landscape.

➗ Diversification is a double-edged sword, and being a multi-product app business is still a challenge, making focus crucial. Leverage existing user data and resources to identify truly synergistic opportunities, while staying true to your core mission and expertise.

📱 Diversified app growth means balancing cross-promotion and unique growth strategies — but not all distribution tactics translate seamlessly between apps.

About Martín Siniawski

👨‍💻 Co-founder and CEO at Podcast App, a fast-growing podcast player now backed by Y Combinator (W18).

💪 Having founded Streema with 10 million monthly users, Martín is now focused on scaling paid acquisition at Podcast App. The two apps have a combined 100 million downloads.

💡 “My first rule of multi-product companies is to try not to become a multi-product company.”

👋  LinkedIn | X, formerly known as Twitter

Links & Resources

‣ Check out Podcast App

‣ Connect with Martín on LinkedIn

‣ Connect with Martín on X, formerly known as Twitter

‣ Listen to Martín on From Zero to 1M

Episode Highlights

[2:37] Wandering in the desert: Bootstrapping Streema was the perfect way to learn and make mistakes.

[6:10] Masochistic motivations: Getting momentum going with Podcast App came from Martín and his co-founder observing a growing trend of people moving from radio to podcasts.

[10:03] Rise and fall: The first attempt to raise funding failed, thanks to a hard-nosed interview.

[15:36] Interview prep round #2: The second interview at YC went much better for Martín and his co-founder with the help of hindsight from their bootstrapping experience — and a lot of thought.

[17:32] How big do you want to grow?: Involving other people introduces higher stakes and more responsibility, but it can also seriously accelerate your business.

[20:52] B2B vs. B2C: Martín and Jacob differentiate between the two ways of doing business.

[26:09] YC interview tips: Martín dives deep into the second interview.

[29:07] Winning SEO optimization: Initially focused more on ads, the Podcast App doubled down on subscriptions and recently became a multi-product company with 130,000 subscribers.

[35:05] Distribution speedrun: Acquiring users has come naturally for Martín and his co-founder, and he considers distribution to be a major factor in a successfully executed vision.

[37:47] CAC LTV as product-market fit indicator: Martín is focused on making it work — the bottom line is whether or not they have a viable business.

On the podcast: The B2B opportunity for B2C apps, the App Store alone being bigger than most Fortune 500 companies, and which current or future company will build the Berkshire Hathaway of consumer subscriptions.

Top Takeaways

📱 The App Store ecosystem is far from saturated. With a nearly doubled revenue from content being purchased since 2019 and hosting close to a billion subscriptions, the Apple App Store shows that there's still plenty of room for growth and opportunity. Despite debates about consumer fatigue, these numbers signify an ecosystem that is not only surviving but thriving.

👮 The regulatory spotlight could spark change in App Store fees. Amid increasing pressure from global and domestic regulators, the question looms: Will Apple and Google adjust their app store fees? If they do, it's not just a legal win, but also a potential cash flow boost for app developers. The decision could also be a tactical move for Apple to win back transactions currently lost to alternative payment systems.

🤝 The boundary between B2C and B2B is becoming increasingly fluid, offering a new avenue for growth. Brands like Peloton and Headspace, which thrived in the B2C space during the pandemic, are now venturing into B2B. This isn't a pivot but a strategic expansion, rooted in the belief that what consumers love, businesses will too. This trend underlines the potential of consumer-centric design in unlocking new business opportunities.

3️⃣ The Three C's: Content, Commerce, Community. Companies face three key challenges: acquisition, conversion, and retention. Content lures in users, commerce seals the deal, and a robust community keeps them coming back. It's not just a formula; it's the backbone of today's thriving subscription apps.

🤔There are untapped categories ripe for disruption.

While we often see a couple of dominant brands taking over established categories like dating or fitness, there are still numerous untapped markets in the consumer subscription space. Categories like Femtech and family management are just the tip of the iceberg, presenting just a few examples of the opportunities that await innovative apps.

About Eric Crowley

💼Partner at GP Bullhound, focusing primarily on mergers and acquisitions, capital raises, and advisory transactions for technology companies.

📈 With more than a decade in investment banking and edtech growth, Eric focuses on transactions for U.S. and Europe-based growth-stage CSS, adtech, digital services, and fintech companies.

💡 “Who's the Apple of female health? Who’s the brand you go to that is by far the best, [where] you don't question it, you buy it? There isn't one. There should be one, and — for something that happens millions of times a year — why isn't there an Apple of female health?”

👋  LinkedIn and X, formerly known as Twitter

Links & Resources

‣ Check out the CSS 2023 report

‣ GP Bullhound

‣ The evolution of consumer subscription apps

‣ Future subscription trends

‣ What venture investors look for when buying an app

Episode Highlights

[2:05] Doubling iPhone numbers: Apple’s consistently high growth sees 90 billion in profits this year.

[6:23] Apps are the internet: More people want to use apps over internet sites thanks to superior UX and UI, signaling more investment into apps.

[10:27] App economics: Consumer trends clearly indicate that apps have a lot more room to grow.

[15:01] Regulator attention: The growth of in-app purchases is pressuring Apple and Google to open up payments.

[21:48] Berkshire App-away: From textiles to hundreds of over $300 billion in revenue in 2022, the trajectory of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway portends what may soon happen in the app world.

[26:39] Making M&A waves: Eric talks through some recent significant CSS buyouts.

[29:12] B2B2C: B2B and B2C are blending, with movements between the two showing what Eric calls “growth extension,” rather than pivoting. But will they cannibalize each other?

[34:46] Three Cs: Content, commerce, and community are leading to more UGC.

[41:11] Becoming the Apple of X: So-called “category killers” show where the greatest potential for success in the app space lies.

[49:44] It could be you: Nearly 80% of companies featured in the annual CSS report raised or sold for a great exit.

On the podcast: whether or not to increase your price, how to execute if you do, and why price increases often impact growth more than retention.

Top Takeaways

💳 Should you raise your app’s prices at all? It’s one of the most impactful ways of increasing lifetime value and revenue so the answer is yes: you should definitely consider raising prices. But it’s a balancing act. How do you not sacrifice long-term growth for short-term gain?

🌟 Avoid customer backlash by reaffirming the value proposition. Asking people to pay more for the thing they’re already getting is a tough sell, so reaffirm your value proposition by simultaneously launching new or teasing upcoming features ****to avoid customer backlash.

💰 Look at your retention metrics to determine whether or not to raise prices. Above-average retention metrics might indicate that you’re leaving money on the table and should consider a price increase — but if they’re not healthy, focus on product and retention first.

📈 Price increases tend to affect acquisition more than retention. Strong price increase execution means less churn from existing subscribers, with a little more pressure on new user acquisition.

🏆 Add tiers to give users options and strategically raise prices. Bundle higher tiers with extra features or introduce lower tiers for your core user base.

About Reid DeRamus

👨‍💻 Growth PM at Substack, a newsletter publication platform that provides writers and creators with infrastructure, payment, analytics and design to publish their work and send to email subscribers.

💪 Reid helped launch and grow Hulu, Crunchyroll, and HBO Max, taking his learnings and starting a company called Yem that helped individuals and small teams build their own media empires. Yem was then acquired by Substack, where Reid is now a Growth PM.

💡 “I need to figure out the value that my existing subscribers are getting [and] make sure I'm reinforcing that. But I also need to be mindful of how it'll slowly expand from my core audience today, too, if I want to continue driving subscribers.”

👋  LinkedIn | X, formerly known as Twitter

Links & Resources

‣ Growth Croissant

‣ How To Increase Your Price

‣ How To Improve Retention

‣ Boosting Retention with Better Onboarding

‣ Improving Retention with Audience Surveys

‣ Connect with Reid at LinkedIn

‣ Reid on X, formerly known as Twitter

‣ Substack on X, formerly known as Twitter

Episode Highlights

[1:13] Price increase: Raising prices is a great way to boost customer lifetime value and revenue but executing it well is a balancing act — with tradeoffs.

[5:40] Consumer sentiment: Asking customers to pay more for the same product is a tough sell. Take a cue from the standard set by Netflix and Spotify by teasing changes and with marginal — not double — increases.

[9:26] Subscription 101: Substack is a great analogy for consumer subscription apps. Health metrics can be “too good,” with writers significantly underpricing their work and not aggressively marketing.

[17:22] Surveys: Surveys don’t only help establish core price, but also what the most passionate fans might pay relative to core subscribers.

[19:18] Be sure to tier: Streaming platforms and a few pioneers in the subscription app space are leading the way in what is likely to become the default business model within the next five years. “Not all subscriptions are created equal,” Reid highlights.

[22:42] Hitting the ceiling: At what point are you bumping up against your total serviceable market?

[24:46] On reaching 12 million: Having a deep relationship with your audience can pay off much more than having the best video player, payment engine, website or app. It’s about persistently asking how you can deliver more value.

[27:51] Back to surveys: Figuring out where core users are finding value comes from surveys via Google Forms, or face-to-face on Zoom calls.

[31:47] Balancing act: There’s no universal right answer to drive business growth. Early on, find initial traction with a relentless focus on product-market fit.

On the podcast: “Black hat” app optimization, the benefits and drawbacks of hard paywalls, and why, despite Apple and Google’s best efforts, so many apps still use dark patterns and even blatantly break the rules.

Top Takeaways

🎩 Lots of (even the top) apps continue to deliberately break app store rules — even if you don’t break them too, you need to know what black hat strategies you’re up against. (3:46, 13:25)

🔍 Running “keyword install campaigns” mobilizes a large number of people to search for a particular keyword and download the app, tricking the app store algorithms by increasing app relevancy — and rankings — against that keyword. (7:21)

🔐 Don’t be afraid to lock down more content, use a hard paywall, or get more “aggressive” with paywall visibility. If people can use an app for free, they will. (18:59-37:09)

📊 Opinions don’t matter — data does. There are contrasting approaches to onboarding and monetization, so test what’s right for your app and look at the data. (40:01)

✅ Fully optimize your onboarding and your paywall through tinkering, then stabilize to drive revenue via the top of the funnel. (45:46)

About Steve P. Young

👨‍💻 Founder and CEO of App Masters, an app marketing agency that helps grow apps faster, better, and cheaper.

💪 Steve has spent over a decade growth hacking millions of app downloads, and knows the black hat strategies many top apps use to game the system.

💡 “My opinion does not matter. Everything is based on data.”

👋  LinkedIn | X

Links & Resources

‣ Check out App Masters

‣ App Masters on YouTube

‣ Connect with Steve at LinkedIn

‣ Steve on X

‣ App Masters on Facebook

‣ Steve on Instagram

Episode Highlights

[1:40] Knife to a gunfight: App Store ethics aren’t cleancut. How can you play by the rules when so many apps are using dark patterns to get ahead?

[5:03] Do what you gotta do: Black hat strategies like review-buying are just too tempting not to use in the journey from zero to one.

[8:31] Relevant hacking: Keyword install or boost — similar to ASO — campaigns are still possible to get higher in keyword rankings — as long as you have the right keywords.

[13:25] Legal disclaimer: Even if you don’t like cheating, knowing what competitors are doing is crucial to planning your own strategies.

[14:43] Very edgy: Steve dives into his top “edgy things” for increasing visibility and revenue.

[18:59] No hard paywall: When a growth hacking tactic yields thousands of organic downloads, why put in the X? Data talks, until Apple comes around.

[26:16] AI wall: Given the costs of running AI models, you’re giving away value if you don’t have a hard paywall.

[29:48] Scammy territory: There’s a fine line between bannable black hat strategies and gaming the system.

[34:52] Lock it up: Steve suggests locking as much as you can behind a paywall: Beware giving away value for free, and always look at the data.

[40:01] Your opinion does not matter:Keywords tell us which apps to build.

On the podcast: The right way to raise prices, the painful lessons from picking the wrong tools, and why you should respond to every single app review.

Top Takeaways

✍️ Start surveying as soon as you start developing, and don’t stop. Identify your MVP by understanding customers early on, and develop new features with key customer insights when you’re growing.

📈 Bundle extra value if you must raise prices to soften the blow of a tough sell and demonstrate attentiveness to customer needs.

🧰 Cheaper, easy-to-integrate tools might not scale on infrastructure and unit economics, which could lead to a painful re-engineering process down the line.

🏗️ Plan for scalability from the start by adhering to solid software engineering principles and ensuring your tooling integrations are easily switchable.

🤑 Provide premium support for a premium product price. Respond to every store review — each interaction leaves a lasting impression on customers and drives loyalty.

About Vince Mayfield

👨‍💻 Co-founder and CEO of TalkingParents, an app that helps divorced or separated parents manage communication and share responsibilities.

💪 Vince and his partner jumped from professional services to building a scalable app with $10 million in ARR.

💡 “People like to compartmentalize elements of their life and they don't want to have a million apps.”

👋 LinkedIn

Links & Resources

‣ Connect with Vince on LinkedIn

‣ Check out TalkingParents

‣ TalkingParents on Instagram

‣ TalkingParents on Facebook

‣ TalkingParents on Pinterest

‣ TalkingParents on X (formerly Twitter)

‣ Get TalkingParents from the App Store

‣ Get TalkingParents from Google Play

Episode Highlights

[1:35] Origin story: Making money while we sleep is the ultimate goal — Vince talks about how he moved from agency to product company to $10 million in ARR.

[4:44] From hired gun to product growth: Lack of app monetization and not understanding customers early on may make pivoting to a product focus challenging.

[7:59] Risk management for risk mitigators: How do you make money from the court system? Easy: Switch focus to the real customers.

[10:32] Freemium tinkering: Vince dives into the app’s early strategy for monetization and subscription — burning through close to $1 million in the process.

[12:59] Chartered surveying: When it seems like an app is charging too little, asking customers what features they want and need is the ticket to nailing down value.

[15:59] Downhill slalom vs. uphill climb: Raising already low prices can be delicate, but bundling additional value with a rollout often softens the blow. Look for opportunities to layer on deeper value.

[28:33] Nudges and needs: From surveying to app instrumentation, Vince and his partner had to understand the customer journey before making the right moves.

[32:08] The ultimate tool belt: Not paying attention to how apps can scale from the very beginning is an easy mistake for app developers to make — especially when using tools.

[38:28] Best-in-class assessment: Starting with best-in-class tools isn’t always doable, but adopting good software engineering techniques as you go is a satisfactory quick fix.

[41:28] Lightning round: Vince talks about why support matters and how that translates into running a business and customers’ responses.

On the podcast: Setting sensible goals for paid marketing, how to measure and learn from the results, and why a single ad creative can completely change the trajectory of a company.

Top Takeaways

🥅 Set clear and realistic goals before investing in paid UA — and make sure you can afford to experiment. It can be tough to get to ROAS positive, and even tougher to get that return quickly.

💰 Monthly ad budgets should ideally start at $10-20k for big, algorithmic platforms — increasing data volume for optimization — while lower budgets call for exploring non-algorithmic platforms and influencer marketing.

🤔 Successful ads are built on in-depth, comprehensive user understanding, including their triggers and responses to different messages — before investing in advertising.

🧪 Test and iterate radically and substantially in the the quest for the ideal creative: Promising concepts need further refinement and tweaking, especially given the unpredictable nature of what might work.

🤝 Focus on conversion rates, not just high user engagement

for ad campaigns — low conversion can negatively affect overall performance, and ad platforms like Facebook and Google aim for a balance between engagement and revenue.

About Thomas Petit

👨‍💻 Independent subscription app growth consultant.

💪 Thomas has worked with hundreds of clients and helped manage tens of millions of dollars in ad spend.

💡 “Know your expectations and know what you're after… a lot of people don't ask this question in a deep enough way.”

👋 LinkedIn | Twitter

Links & Resources

‣ David’s talk at Mau Las Vegas

‣ Revisiting the Fundamentals of App Marketing Post IDFA — Thomas Petit

‣ Check out MADV - Mobile. Ad.ventures on Substack

‣ Connect with Thomas on LinkedIn

‣ Connect with Thomas on Twitter

‣ Get involved in the Sub Club community

Episode Highlights

[2:50] Minimum viability: What does it take to start making paid UA work? The answer depends on what you want to achieve with it.

[9:44] The early bird catches the worm: If you know what you want from the get-go, Thomas explains why starting paid UA early might not be a bad strategy. But only gamble what you can afford to lose.

[14:00] A word on Facebook: If running on a tight budget, Thomas “strongly recommends against” buying ads on Facebook because of targeting and demographic challenges.

[18:44] Cash moves everything around: The guardrails around scaling on algorithmic platforms necessitate a five-digit monthly budget minimum. Below $10-20k a month you’re operating in a very tough spot.

[24:57] Good Ol’ Google: Operating on low budgets, choosing keywords for Google searches may still work. Using a simple landing page builder is an avenue to explore — but only very early on when you need to assess SEO and imagery. The three checks are: goals, cash, and ARPI.

[31:31] Scaling paid UI: Thomas goes deep into how to scale paid UI, and how MMPs and SDKs play into that.

[39:56] The measure of success: It’s critical to assess evolving trends based on changing spend. But attribution isn’t (and never was) an exact science. Look at whatever tools you have at your disposal for an estimate.

[45:39] His toolkit: Thomas talks about the tools he uses for modeling incrementality across product and subscription lifecycle events.

[53:44] Let’s get creative: With growing automation, getting ads right is crucial. Messaging, USP, and understanding your audience all factor into effective ads. Don’t rely on intuition.

[1:05:01] USP: There’s no secret formula for a single, winning USP, but you need to test it to understand what users react to.

[1:09:41] Spanning the gap: Some successful ads are indirect and don’t transition. The relation between downloads and transitioning is a tough nut to crack, but teasing and explicitly explaining it’s an app are good ways to try at least a slight transition.

[1:13:26] Clickbait install rate: Beware of the delicate interplay between clicks, reduced install rate, ad spend, and ROI.

On this episode: balancing mission and monetization, the challenges inherent to referral programs, and why Lose It! had to abandon a big push into paid user acquisition.

Top Takeaways

🆓 Excellent free products need a large user base to upsell — messaging millions of users about special offers can deliver fantastic returns. (10:32)

🚂 Extend onboarding for increased trial engagement by asking more personalized questions to boost trial start rates and tailor the user experience. (14:43)

👏 Celebrate user success to drive word-of-mouth marketing and organic growth, while strengthening the bond between users and your brand. (25:47)

🥇 Encourage setup of premium features during trials while carefully A/B testing each feature for user resonance. (31:49)

🏃 Identify key actions to boost user conversion with the power of data analysis: Target users with discounts or special offers to entice them to upgrade to a premium subscription. (36:29)

About Erin Webster-Shaller

👨‍💻 VP of Marketing at Lose It!, one of the first health and wellness apps on the App Store.

💪 Erin has been responsible for determining whether new features should be premium or free, as well as running A/B testing for messaging.

💡 “There’s a lot of gimmicks in the weight loss industry: We try to be authentic and real with what this product can help you do — but also not oversell it [and] promise something that isn’t realistic.”

👋  LinkedIn | Twitter

About Paul Apollo

👨‍💻 Senior VP of Operations at Lose It!.

💪 Paul has been with the company for nine years and has spent nearly that entire time in growth marketing.

💡 “We want to make sure that there is an excellent free product available for anybody who wants access to it.”

👋  LinkedIn

Links & Resources

‣ Check out Lose It!

‣ Work with Lose It!

‣ Connect with Erin on LinkedIn

‣ Connect with Erin on Twitter

‣ Connect with Paul on LinkedIn

Episode Highlights

[1:45] Mission-driven: Lose It! founder JJ Allaire was tracking calories on a spreadsheet when the App Store was born. Increasing satisfaction for happy users aligned perfectly with the app’s growth.

[6:18] No monetization: The app went from being totally free to freemium. The team didn’t even dabble with ads until very late in the game.

[7:28] Buying out Series A investors: Lose It! was so profitable it became fully founder- and employee-owned when it was acquired in 2022 by Ziff Davis.

[9:22] The feature adoption journey: The team doesn’t test locking features, but they do A/B test messaging and positioning. Apps and Devices is a big crowd-pleaser, Paul explains.

[14:02] Loss aversion onboarding: When Lose It! noticed inexplicably longer onboarding, they tested with more questions, which snowballed into significant success. Adding premium features to onboarding didn’t have the same effect.

[20:58] 135 million-pound loss: 50 million users came primarily from consistent word-of-mouth growth and organic acquisition. Experimenting with paid acquisition in 2019 didn’t work out.

[25:47] Pushing word of mouth: Erin explains how the company gets people to “spread the good word” to lose more, although experimentation showed that referrals aren’t a silver bullet.

[31:49] Lifecycle messaging: Paul jumps into the strategy of exposing freemium users to premium and keeping premium users engaged.

[38:07] In-app messaging: Lose It! experimented with in-app messaging versus email blasts.

On this episode: We talk with Guillem about how Hevy got traction early on, growing without paid marketing, and why you might not want to raise your price, even if customers would pay more.

Top Takeaways

🏛️ When shaping your MVP, establish a clear framework to guide your product development. Particularly for small teams or those bootstrapping, maintaining a lean approach is crucial. Identify your product's three core pillars, which will inform your decisions on which features to retain or eliminate.

🪞 Do you believe if you build it, they will come? That might be the case occasionally, but launching a new app can prove challenging. A practical initial strategy, covering roughly 80% of your bases, is to mirror successful competitors: target the same keywords, implement similar tactics. This isn't a long-term strategy, but it will position you ahead of those who do nothing and attract an initial user base.

🤝 When developing a social app, be cautious about how pricing changes might undermine user trust. If your app is predicated on social sharing, frequent or radical pricing experiments could incite negative discussions among your users. However, if you consistently offer good value, your users are likely to share this positive sentiment.

🪴 Cultivating organic growth early on primes your app for sustainable expansion, with paid acquisition serving as an effective boost. Growing primarily through organic strategies – such as social viral loops or App Store Optimization (ASO) – ensures your app's growth is not overly dependent on costly advertising, which can influence your pricing model.

🤹One of the perks of building a small team? It facilitates a concentrated focus on what's best for the product. While the allure of the indie route – keeping things super lean with minimal costs – can be tempting, it can hamper your growth scale. A team not only brings in diverse skills but also provides a buffer between product ideation and implementation.

About Guillem Ros Salvador

👨‍💻 CEO and co-founder of Hevy, a leading gym workout tracker and planner app for iOS and Android.

💪 Guillem and his co-founder took the basic idea of Strava to create a community-focused weightlifting app. Hevy has been downloaded more than two million times so far.

💡 “We try to take in as much feedback as possible. We ask for feedback all the time inside the app, and we're always in contact with users by email. That seems to be a great way to just gather feedback.”

👋  LinkedIn | Twitter

Links & Resources

‣ Check out Hevy

‣ Work with Hevy

‣ How Hevy was built

‣ Read about Guillem’s journey

‣ Connect with Guillem on LinkedIn

‣ Connect with Guillem on Twitter

Episode Highlights

[2:06] Building dreams: After five years of app building, Guillem learned from failures to move from mobile gaming into fitness (as both a hobby and a profession).

[5:28] Pain point analysis: Moving from triathlons to the gym, Guillem realized the missing ingredient was community.

[7:45] Rapid 1.0 ship: Ruthless cutting and asking the key question of what the real MVP is was the key to shipping quickly. Tracking, analytics and social were the foundations of their MVP.

[13:25] Burgeoning communities: Sometimes, single-digit downloads are the spark you need to get going — and that can give you insight, understanding and word-of-mouth growth. Then, one day, the communities pop up.

[19:00] Ramen profitable: Within a year and a half, Guillem was working on Hevy full-time. Germany’s unemployment benefits went some way in helping him get there.

[23:09] Two million downloads: Compounding word of mouth and a slew of New Year's resolutions vaulted Hevy to the next level — sustained with a good product.

[26:22] Pricing thoughts: Guillem and his partner quickly realized that because Hevy was higher-quality and more social than competitors, they could keep the price low and still turn a profit.

[29:53] Near-zero acquisition costs: Even the behemoths didn’t pay to acquire users in the early days.

[34:44] Hiring management: Hevy’s team of 10 keeps operations lean while broadening their vision more than Guillem and his partner could alone.

On this episode: The evolution of Headspace’s freemium model, balancing mission and monetization, and why referral programs sometimes work better without incentives.

Top Takeaways

💰 Don’t be afraid to experiment with gating 100% of your content. Not only can this result in a significant lift in paid users, in cases where an app requires some effort from the user (such as with meditation), getting them committed with a free trial early on can boost engagement levels versus free users.

⚠️ Promoting your strongest performing plan at the expense of your others doesn’t always have a positive effect. Let’s say your annual plan might display the best performance in terms of revenue or retention, giving it too much prominence can cause lower intent users to sign-up for it, leading to fewer trial-to-paid conversions. In these cases, giving users choice could produce the best results.

👪 Users on family plans can show the strongest retention rates. When users subscribe to your app as part of a family or group, there’s a degree of accountability involved: if one member is using it, then the others are less likely to want to cancel as a result.

🗣️ When designing onboarding experiences, think about the product and lifecycle messaging together. Having the option of communicating with users both in and out of the app means you can get more creative with your onboarding — for instance, offering a “prize” for completing the first month, and using email to remind users when they’re lagging behind.

💬 Some apps will benefit from referral schemes that are less transactional. Rather than receive some monetary reward, some apps’ users are more motivated by the intrinsic reward of being helpful. But you can experiment with more unique benefits for being a top referrer, such as exclusive content or in-person events****

About Shreya Oswal and Keya Patel

👨‍💻 Shreya is Senior Director of Product Management, Membership at Headspace, and Keya is the former Director of Product Management, Growth.

💡 Shreya: “Bringing that free trial online and letting users choose for themselves was a big win for the business and a big win for members in terms of picking the right product for them.”

💡 Keya: “Experimenting with the extreme of what happens if you condense onboarding as much as possible and ask for a conversion moment or an upsell [works] from a data perspective. So it wasn't necessarily a failure.”

👋 Shreya on LinkedIn | Twitter

👋 Keya on LinkedIn | Twitter

Links & Resources

‣ Check out Headspace

‣ Headspace for Work

‣ Headspace-Ginger merger

‣ How Freemium Can Outperform Free Trials – Shaun Steingold, Momentum Labs

‣ Connect with Shreya on LinkedIn

‣ Connect with Keya on LinkedIn

Episode Highlights

[1:53] 80/20 rule: Keya talks about Headspace’s evolving freemium strategy where 80% of their content was locked behind a paywall. They tested the effect of locking even more content — with a positive impact on conversion.

[6:26] Big shoes to fill: Shreya’s follow-up experimentation involved locking 100% of content, with a high double-digit lift. To attract long-term users to switch, they offered a 75% discount.

[8:22] Costco sample strategy: Headspace wants to continue to experiment by giving users a taste of what they can benefit from.

[10:58] Freemium do’s and don’ts: Building habits and engagement comes from commitment and early skin in the game.

[13:04] Price testing: Keya dives into the experiments and results of Headspace’s price testing efforts.

[16:18] Annual versus monthly: Where Keya left off with annual subscription efforts, Shreya picked it up from a net new, lower-intent monthly angle.

[20:55] Package experimentation: The ideal length of time for a free trial isn’t immediately clear when switching from free content with a paywall and no trial.

[24:24] Propensity model: Shreya breaks down what a propensity model is and how to build it.

[26:18] Student and family rollouts: Not everyone necessarily had the same access or ability to pay for Headspace — while revenue matters, so does company mission.

[30:47] Onboarding failures and wins: Additional questions in testing led to lower drop-off rates — from single-select to multiselect reasons. Both very short and very long onboarding failed.

[35:08] Product and lifecycle interactions: Keya explains how communication outside the app opened doors for incentivization within the app.

[37:44] Referral revamp: Headspace found intrinsic, less transactional referrals to be more effective in the long run.

On this episode: the one small tweak that increased revenue 5X, growing an app organically, and how hiring an ASO consultant actually tanked downloads.

Top Takeaways

💰 Not all problems can be solved with money, so see if you can fix your own problems internally — like team communication — before paying for external help.

💡 Highly relevant ASO keywords with lower search volumes are a better bet for engaging audiences earlier and seeing snowballing success.

🌅 Putting a paywall early enough in the onboarding process might just supercharge revenue and growth.

📰 When you don’t have an advertising budget, start with local journalists and tie press releases to key events in the year.

🌳 Organic referral mechanisms — ****like screen sharing success and milestones — can be very effective while enhancing user experience.

About Ania Wysocka

👨‍💻 Founder of Rootd.

💡 “I‘m so obsessed with the user experience, that it's important to work with others who also are obsessed with user experience.”

👋  LinkedIn | Twitter

Links & Resources

‣ Check out Rootd

‣ B2B with Rootd

‣ Rootd on Instagram

‣ Connect with Ania on LinkedIn

‣ Connect with Ania on Twitter

Episode Highlights

[1:31] Strong roots: Ania created Rootd not as a result of surveys or user research, but in response to her own personal need.

[8:31] Contract buzzkill: Working with contractors can be a challenge — alignment of values is the key.

[10:13] Fundraiser tales: If you haven’t hit a wall in development, it might not yet be time to seek investment. Fixing internal processes first can pay dividends later.

[12:53] Early ASnOwball: Sticking with keywords that might initially yield lower volumes can ultimately drive traffic that helps your app snowball. Ania found contracting ASO counterproductive.

[17:49] Dialing in the funnel: A paywall at the beginning of the onboarding process increased Rootd’s revenue by five times — with no negative feedback.

[20:55] Get their attention: Local journalists love to promote local business stories, and tying stories to specific world events can work wonders when there’s no advertising budget.

[25:03] Apple Editor’s Choice: Sometimes it pays to be as persistent as possible in submissions for getting featured.

[28:20] Paid marketing experimentation: Don’t pay for marketing until you’re ready to experiment.

On this episode: the trap of building for existing subscribers, incentivizing word of mouth, and why paid marketing should be an accelerant, not the foundation of your growth strategy.

Top Takeaways

📱 Growth comes from focusing on product retention: Build a product users really want, creating an engaged customer base and fueling the growth loop down the line.

🗣️ ‌Build a viral growth loop based on word-of-mouth. A product that exceeds user expectations is the ultimate way to drive word-of-mouth — even if your app isn’t naturally social.

👥 Paid advertising is an accelerant to user acquisition (UA) — not your sole UA channel. It should come after product focus and word-of-mouth virality.

😀 ‌Measure and improve retention by finding your minimum engagement milestone. Look to your ICP for clues.

🙅‍♂️ Talk to your users who aren't subscribers. There's a tendency to focus user research on super-users, but they won't tell you much about why others aren't subscribing.

About Jesse Venticinque

👨‍💻 Co-founder and chief product officer of Fitbod, a fitness app offering workouts that improve as you do.

💡 “There’s a trap of listen[ing] to super successful, engaged customers as a clue for what the unsuccessful customers are missing.”

👋  LinkedIn | Twitter

Links & Resources

‣ Check out Fitbod

‣ Work with Fitbod (Currently hiring a Core Experience Lead PM!)

‣ Jesse’s product approach

‣ Connect with Jesse on LinkedIn

‣ Connect with Jesse on Twitter

Episode Highlights

[2:07] Solving a personal problem: The business has grown largely on revenue alone, thanks to what Jesse calls a “maniacal focus on product retention” and a goal of challenging the status quo.

[5:56] Catching a big break: The key to scaling was pioneering a subscription model based on AI and machine learning, as well as having the right product-market fit by tapping into a “secret hiding in plain sight.”

[8:26] Money in the bank: Although they found themselves in an underdog industry, the Fitbod team crucially found investors who aligned with their mission and values.

[12:06] Viral growth loop: Word of mouth is still a major growth driver for Fitbod today — especially given that Fitbod isn’t a naturally social product. They’re also considering content as another growth loop, both blog-based and user-generated.

[15:40] Hooking them in: The best consumer companies have discrete, repeatable actions to create a habit loop. Reward visibility and shareability are critical components of this.

[17:58] Referral science: Offering free referrals is a way to understand and measure the growth loop. This approach also offers hard data, whereas word of mouth is more challenging to measure.

[20:29] Everyday workout: Driving retention requires deep analysis of the metrics, like when users are canceling before the end of subscription periods and account dormancy.

[26:27] Leverage = focus: When retention is good, focusing on conversion and activation is a viable way to drive mass adoption.

[28:44] Contextualizing feature requests: Once you establish your ICP, scale and own the market for that audience. Then, build for the non-ICP.

[31:32] Digging into activation: Jesse explains that user research is critical to avoid focusing too much on the most engaged users at the expense of less engaged ones.

[35:09] The depth of need: Before building a feature, identify a participant pattern with (at least) medium confidence. Then you can develop a hypothesis.

On the podcast we talk with Shaun about the power of community, the importance of testing your freemium strategy, and why you might not want to offer a free trial.

Top Takeaways

🎆 Understanding unintuitive power laws is the ticket to explaining — and benefiting from — explosive app growth.

🪝 Deciding what goes behind the paywall is 90% of an app’s success — but developers typically only spend 10% of the time thinking about it.

🆓 Beware the free trial, which could create negative experiences and conversion rates — and might not outperform a freemium model.

🌍 Absorbing the cost of a freemium model comes down to creating an engaged, irreplaceable community, which is more likely to buy and lead to higher conversions.

🫶 Don’t focus on rates and formulae at the expense of what matters: Where users are in their emotional journey and how the app fits into their lives.

About Shaun Steingold

👨‍💻 Founder and managing director of Momentum Labs and CEO of Healthi.

💡 “I love opportunities where you have a business model that fundamentally disrupts an industry. Said another way: You and your business and products have a bigger margin than your competitors. That's been the thesis behind a lot of my career and what I've worked on.”

👋  LinkedIn | Twitter

Links & Resources

‣ Learn more about Momentum Labs

‣ Check out the Healthi app

‣ Look into iNavX, the “Google Maps for the Water”

‣ Connect with Shaun on LinkedIn

Episode Highlights

[1:45] From HP to SVB to apps: App developers have access to a free global scale and distribution network that only a privileged few corporations had in the past — harking back to when Eric Crowley said the App Store was the biggest marketplace in human history. Mobile apps that replace tangible products continually win out thanks to convenience for consumers.

[5:05] Proto-cyborgs: Apps have the power to augment physical activities — from fitness to physical hobbies — in a world where we still haven’t yet reached “peak app.”

[6:57] Gaining momentum: ****Shaun realized that the App Store ranking moat meant buying was better than building. Riding the first wave of app-buying firms, Momentum Labs chose top apps at rank three or lower where growth potential is exponential compared to those with the top spot.

[10:13] Buffett wisdom: “Great businesses for fair prices” seems like a good maxim. But right now, the market seems to be crazy prices for fair businesses because it’s not accounting for the unintuitive: that power laws still prevail, and people need to get wise to them.

[14:53] Featherlight ASO: Momentum has a very light hand on the tiller when it comes to ASO — they frontload most of the work and then (almost) don’t touch it. Performance consistency and longevity matter more.

[19:00] Never take our freemium: The initial backlash against subscription models needs to give way to understanding that software is a living, breathing thing. Freemium is about trying before you buy, and hooking with additional features — working out what these features are is 90% of an app’s strategy for success.

[23:51] Trialing the free trial: Shaun’s never used free trials with his apps, because he’s found that they can create negative engagement — reflected in lower conversion rates.

[28:34] Boundless, joyful experience: The key to not having a free trial is the freemium strategy. Freemium models done well entice without moments of pause or negative experiences — ultimately encouraging users to upgrade for more features and additional value.

[35:32] Community values: The best business asset — for app lifecycles and moats — is community. Building engagement improves conversion. The strategy for Healthi highlights how additional value generates revenue and helps grow apps to full potential.

[39:38] It’s a kind of magic: It’s easy to get caught up in rates and formulae at the expense of what really matters, which is how a product fits into someone’s life and emotional journey.

On the podcast, Ariel dives into the fundamentals of ASO and how to research and optimize keywords. He also explains why ratings matter much more than reviews, and why you should never, ever duplicate keywords.

Top Takeaways:

🔍It’s not that it’s hard to get discovered with ASO — it’s that it’s hard to get discovered without doingenoughASO. Expect to spend more time exploring on the front-end, but this isn’t a “set it and forget it” strategy. 

⭐ Make sure that you're optimizing for ratings: they are more impactful for discoverability than download numbers alone. 

📛 When choosing an app name, make sure you put the most important keywords as early as possible. 

📊 Don’t rely on intuition for your ASO strategy — always look at the data.

🔑 Spend as much timeusingthe keywords as you do on finding them —beyond just in your text meta.

About Ariel Michaeli

👨‍💻Founder and CEO of Appfigures.

💡“If you only trust intuition, you probably won't see results.”

👋 LinkedIn

Links & Resources

‣ Check out Appfigures

‣ Appfigures’s Advanced ASO Secrets Guide

‣ Join Appfigures (they’re hiring!)

‣ Connect with Ariel on LinkedIn

‣ Which Keywords are Your Competitors Targeting?

Episode Highlights

[1:48] The A to Z of ASO: Should I care? they ask. Usually, it’s because they don’t know what ASO is. But it’s harder and harder to get found in the App Store, so you can’t deny the benefits.

[4:09] Black box optimization: ASO impacts both conversion and discovery, so how do you blend the two? Ariel suggests you forget about the algorithm, and focus on the people instead.

[5:52] ASO vs. SEO:So what isthe difference? It’s hard to explain briefly. But you have much less control over ASO than SEO — it’s about limitations. 

[9:16] Great expectations:It’s not hard to get discovered with ASO — it’s hard to get discovered without enoughASO. Understanding your app and core competitors is the foundation of changing how much impact your app makes.

[12:46] Artificial boosting:Why should older apps get more traction? The good news for new apps is that Apple has now leveled the playing field.

[18:10] ASO key factors:App name, subtitle and keywords all affect ASO. Get relevant, important keywords in as early as possible because that’s where the value is, says Ariel. Plus: Some live keyword help.

[27:24] Capture their attention:People have to understand what they’re looking at before they download an app. With apps for everything now, how do you stand out? Screenshots and video previews are the answer.

[31:35] Rate beats review:Apps with more ratings beat those with more downloads. Ratings feel more organic to users, so Apple — and its algorithm — factors this in.

[35:35] The ultimate sin:Keyword duplication is the biggest no-no. But other common ASO mistakes include ignoring popularity scores, trusting your instincts, and failing to utilize app names for keywords. (Cleaner isn’t always better where it really matters: downloads.)

[39:12] Competitive focus:With some niches, like games, up to two keywords matter. Category rookies and those in highly competitive environments should be focused. Those with more ratings and downloads should angle for other keyword combos.

[43:59] Do your research:You need to look at the data to see what keywords really matter for your app. It helps to check competitor reviews.

[49:32] Paid marketing:Number of ratings, especially on Google Play, really matters. When people don’t download, it signals no one wants it. Expect Apple to follow suit. 

[51:08] Secondary ASO localizations:Apple uses English localization for keywords, but — in the U.S. — Spanish too. Use both, and you’ve got twice the keywords. Russia and other countries are on the way too, which means you can duplicate between sets (even if not within them).

On the podcast, we talk with Alice Muir about how best to onboard premium users, what lifecycle optimization looks like both tactically and strategically, and how to spot users before they churn. She shares insight into why focusing on CRMs for win-back strategies is only part of the story, and the best campaigns to entice users to stick with their subscriptions.

Top Takeaways:

📧 Email is good for two things: drip campaigns — offering a staggered, increasing discount to entice signups — and long-form content to keep premium users engaged.

📲 Consider using in-app messaging as proxy testing for paywalls if you don’t have access to A/B testing tools or are working with different regional pricing.

🎁 Using CRM for quick win-backs is a band-aid for churn — instead, you need to consistently add value to people’s lives.

🤔 Tap into human psychology and increase retention by reminding people of what they’re going to lose by unsubscribing.

💸 Balance discounts with the need to entice more high-intent users back into the app, because at some point discounts mean you’re losing money.

About Alice Muir

👨‍💻 She’s the Senior Growth Consultant at Phiture.

💡“In my experience, the low-hanging fruit is the strategy and strategic lifecycle targeting, because you would be surprised at how many apps … have absolutely nothing in place for people that have started a trial or are already subscribers.”

👋 LinkedIn

Links & Resources

‣ Check out Phiture

‣ Phiture’s Subscription Stack

‣ Connect with Alice on LinkedIn to guest write for Phiture

‣ The 4 Foundational Frameworks of Consumer SaaS — Robbie Kellman Baxter, Peninsula Strategies

Follow us on Twitter
‣ David Barnard
‣ Jacob Eiting
‣ RevenueCat
‣ Sub Club

Episode Highlights

[2:09] Top app learnings: Alice has worked with — and learned from — a number of subscription apps.

[3:17] Subscription onboarding strategy: Many top apps in the App Store don’t have a strategy focusing on those already subscribed or who’ve started a trial. Sometimes a simple message is all that’s needed.

[7:36] Feature highlight: Premium experience onboarding must emphasize additional features — not just what the free experience offers. Asking users what they like best in each experience never hurts.

[9:59] Channel blending: Email is great for drip campaigns — offering a staggered increased discount — as well as long-form content to keep premium users engaged. Push has limitations however, so it’s better to use for win-back scenarios.

[12:54] In-app messaging: Using full-screen in-app messages that look like native paywalls can be used as a proxy for testing the latter, Alice explains — with caveats.

[19:25] Next-step growth: For big apps with a lot of data, correlation analysis is a huge area of opportunity. The same can’t be said for startup apps, which lack this data. But what does it look like?

[24:50] From correlation to causation: Alice explains her strategy for driving value from correlation and funnel analysis for drop-offs.

[27:10] Churn prevention strategy: A holistic approach to long-term success harmonizes with Robbie Kellman Baxter’s view. A cost-of-living crisis is causing people to scrutinize their costs like never before, so apps need continual content for real added value.

[32:05] Spotting the churn: Alice suggests segmenting already-disengaged users, dissecting the reason, and re-onboarding them if necessary.

[37:19] Winning win-back campaigns: Reminding people of lost benefits, creating a sense of urgency, celebrating membership, and implementing screenshot capture functionality for premium features are all possible tactics for reinforcing the value proposition.

[39:32] Making discounts work: Discounts can seem attractive, but might encourage long-term loss — the key is to balance discounts with attracting high-intent app users. Reminding people what’s coming can be highly effective.

On the podcast we talk with Jason about some of Strava’s big growth wins, the importance of feature education, and whether or not all product teams should actually be growth teams.

Top Takeaways
🛠 The shift in mindset that comes with "growth engineering" — it's about a greater focus on the user and a willingness to go a little faster than usual...
🌀 While chaos in an app business may be unavoidable, the secret is learning to embrace "managed chaos"
🔬 How the key to growth is testing — and creating a safe space where it's possible to test every idea
👩‍🏫 Why having employees who use the app every day is both a blessing and a curse (hint: it's connected to the new user experience and feature education)

About Jason van der Merwe
👨‍💻 Director of Growth Engineering at Strava
💡“Make it easy enough to test any and every idea.”
👋 LinkedIn | Twitter

Links & Resources
‣ Check out Strava
‣ Work with Strava
‣ Check out Jason’s site and musings on growth and more

Follow us on Twitter
‣ David Barnard
‣ Jacob Eiting
‣ RevenueCat
‣ Sub Club

Episode Highlights
[1:58] Growing as an engineer: Jason explains what the role of a growth engineer entails — most importantly, thinking like a product manager.
[4:10] If it’s not on Strava, it didn’t happen: Growth by word-of-mouth is the holy grail. How Strava grew before Jason joined looked different to how it grew once he joined.
[10:31] Flying blind:The board said that top companies have growth teams and to make it happen. Jason’s team had no idea what they were doing at first — it all started with tinkering and analyzing the metrics.
[16:26] From 0 to 100:Jason talks about how Strava’s growth team grew from nothing into five multidisciplinary teams with 70 people.
[20:37] Conflicts and scaling:Smaller meetings are more successful, but can be a challenge for creating a more overarching narrative.
[26:26] Core values:Strava has different teams focusing on different values, but allteamsare platforms.
[28:13] Feature education:Developers can miss fundamentals — Jason explains how Strava factors this into development. Perfect observability remains a problem, but Jason says it’s important to move forward and make decisions in spite of that.
[31:31] Test churning:Because he was close to the problem, Jason could test nonstop. But now his role has changed, he needs to trust his teams and help them do their jobs well — illustrating the importance of engineers thinking like product managers.
[34:39] Stay focused:When debate about what to do becomes time-consuming and you’re not moving fast, you know it’s time to test more. Metrics like measured (not modeled) outcomes are key at Strava.
[40:09] Black box:No app developer has control of the App Store. App store optimization (ASO) might ease the pressure, but at the expense of the novelty effect. The best advice? Don’t depend on it.
[45:30] The power of copy:Visual design can be distracting for users, as well as powerful. But copy — no matter where it is — alwayshas a huge impact.

On the podcast I talk with Ryan about the TikTokification of video ads, how partnerships help increase the value of premium subscription tiers, and why you should be thinking about retention, not just downloads, when working with influencers.

Top Takeaways
🗣️ User acquisition can be more challenging for apps with niche audiences, which is why you should focus on channels where you can target by interest and search.
🎯 SEO feeds the retargeting funnel more than it drives direct conversions — but keyword data is valuable for product positioning.
🤗 Influencer marketing is extremely effective across the whole marketing funnel — from acquisition to retention — helping to build trust and authenticity.
🦾 Marketing automation is essential for educating users how the product will improve their life once they've gotten into it — especially for more complex products.
🖥️ Apps make more money from web subscriptions, so retarget users to drive them to sign up on the web rather than mobile.

About Ryan Watson
👨‍💻 Director of Growth Marketing at onX
💡 “Our motto is: ‘We want to awaken the adventurer in everyone.’ It’s very focused on the experience that they're having, and not just how the tool operates.”
👋 LinkedIn | Twitter

Links & Resources
‣ Work at onX
‣ onX on LinkedIn
‣ onX on Twitter
‣ onX on YouTube

Follow us on Twitter
‣ David Barnard
‣ Jacob Eiting
‣ RevenueCat
‣ Sub Club

Episode Highlights

[1:47] Hunting origins: Ryan takes listeners through the background of onXmaps, Inc., the market-dominating subscription app you might not have heard of if you’re not a hunter.
[7:03] Find the product fit: If you’re looking to build a business, look at underserved niches.
[13:34] Easy and hard:Narrow niches come with their own challenges.
[18:00] Channel selection:Targeting via interest is crucial to marketing to a niche audience.
[19:34] SEOperation:SEO does convert, but more importantly feeds the retargeting funnel.
[21:18] Secret channels:Ryan shares some of the more successful channels that might not be considered at first.
[22:41] TikTokification:Short form video is on the rise — how do you leverage that “escape-style content”? There’s still a market for long form podcasting too.
[27:08] Influencer culture:Working with a large number of the right influencers is important for authenticity, but sometimes in-house video works better. What’s crucial is a constant flow of video.
[29:17] Retention:People don’t think about retention as much as they should, Ryan says. Ads can actually be a retention strategy.
[31:39] Howdy, partner:Elite members get special deals. For onX, it’s about “provid[ing] true value of what matters to your audience,” Ryan explains.
[36:23] End-to-end:It’s all about figuring out your creative door-opener for getting people interested in your product.
[40:03] Personnel balance:Having a strong in-house creative team versus hiring from outside is a personal preference, and depends on the product.
[40:44] MMP: Ryan talks all things experimentation on ATT, SKAdNetwork, organic lift, and directing traffic between the web and the app stores.
[45:13] Bundling:onX believes in specific concept-based apps for specific users. Sometimes there’s cross-conversion.

On the podcast I talk with Sylvain about the top subscription app insights you should be thinking about, how important cohorting is when looking at growth metrics, and why good advice can turn bad if you apply it at the wrong stage.

Top Takeaways
💎 In an early stage, engagement is more important than growth
💎 When looking at retention for your subscription apps, segment your users based on their subscription status
💎 Launching only a monthly plan first can help you improve the product
💎 Gifting is a great way to increase the spend ceiling
💎 You need to ask for the annual upgrade beyond sign up

About Sylvain Gauchet
👨‍💻 Director of Revenue Strategy at Babbel and founder of Growth Gems
💡 “Whether your onboarding is going to be short — because you get people to experience the background removal — or it's long because you need to sell them on the idea, it's still about convincing them. It’s for you to figure out what’s the best way to convince them.”
👋 LinkedIn | Twitter

Links & Resources
‣ Learn a language at Babbel
‣ Sign up for the Growth Gems newsletter
‣ Gabor-Granger Pricing Model Explanation and Survey Template
‣ Check out Gabor-Granger on YouTube
‣ How To Price Your Product: A Guide To The Van Westendorp Pricing Model
‣ Check out Van Westendorp on YouTube

Follow us on Twitter
‣ David Barnard
‣ Jacob Eiting
‣ RevenueCat
‣ Sub Club

Episode Highlights

[2:11] The curator: On top of working a full-time job, content consumer extraordinaire Sylvain “mines” the best growth insights to share in a biweekly newsletter.
[3:13] Top Gems: Strategy
[3:17] Get out and explore: Andy Carvell, co-founder at Phiture, preaches big swings for big results in place of sophisticated measuring and A/B testing. The stage you’re in shapes the tactics you use.
[7:05] Clash of priorities:On top of revenue, theCAC/LTV ratio considers health andgrowth instead of one or the other, says Michael Berliner, former principal product manager at MasterClass.
[13:02] Engage all systems:Without engagement, growth is meaningless, according to bestselling author Nir Eyal. Don’t scale until you’ve nailed engagement and know that people are willing to pay.
[15:29] Avoiding extremes:Eric Seufert, analyst and strategy consultant at Heracles Media, says that if you’re blowing up, you should spend on paid acquisition much earlier than you think — even before onboarding and perfecting the product. Just don’t focus too much on a specific channel — extremes aren’t good.
[20:22] Engineering success:Testing velocity is critical. Canva head of revenue and product growth David Burson knows you have to get comfortable with just enoughengineering and moving fast. Growth and product engineering aren’t the same — you’re going to fail sometimes.
[23:32] Ease the tension:Monetization, engagement, and virality need balance, says independent mobile growth consultant Thomas Petit. Doubling the price for double the short-term revenue sometimes works, but at what cost for long-term retention?
[26:35] Top Gems: Retention
[26:40] Segment, re-engage:You can’t look at everything in aggregate, Sylvain says — if you do, you won’t understand the story behind user behavior. But as Thomas Petit also highlights, segmenting on a subscription basis helps you to target appropriately through re-engagement.
[29:27] Month by month:For cash flow, annual plans reign supreme. But monthly plans offer incremental improvement opportunities, says PhotoRoom co-founder and CEO Matthieu Rouif.
[33:30] Winning by proxy:It’s very difficult to impact the tail end of retention. Finding earlier patterns and indicators helps you to optimize for the proxy — and provides the only way to do so, says RBI head of digital marketing Anja Obermüller.
[36:41] Talking tactics:Strategy matters, but the technicalities of involuntary churn could be the key to increasing retention. Patrick Campbell, CEO of ProfitWell, advises looking at the Tactical Retention Zone as well as the Strategic Retention ends of the value spectrum.
[39:35] Top Gems: Onboarding & Activation
[39:40] Seeing is believing:Thomas recommends notA/B testing in the early stages — make the change directly instead. If it matters, you’ll know when you’ve made the desired impact. You don’t have to mimic mature, late-stage companies like DuoLingo that religiously A/B test everything.
[42:59] Onboarding is separate: Darius Mora, formerly the CMO of Reflectly, knows how important onboarding optimization is — to the point that you should view onboarding as a separate product.
[45:06] The art of persuasion:Don’t bother with a how-to tutorial, says Leon Sasson, co-founder and CTO of Rise Science. Instead, educate and convince: Demonstrate how the product affects users’ lives and why they should care.
[50:14] Collateral damage:Leon also emphasizes a classic mistake with funnel optimization: Making moves in one direction hurting elsewhere — say, increasing trials negatively affecting long-term retention. Use counter-metrics to avoid these pitfalls, which don’t have to be that sophisticated.
[52:06] Countdown to experimentation:Growth trainer and coach Ethan Garr is keen to stress that you don’t jump into tactics — you experiment instead. Just because something works for someone doesn’t mean it’ll work for you, so avoid copying tests.
[54:32] Realignment:What happens beforeis as important as what comes after, Sylvain says. Phitur senior designer Marissa Hsu clarifies the importance of setting the right expectations during onboarding for ensuring user acquisition continuity.
[59:26] Top Gems: Monetization
[59:31] Surveying the landscape:Giancarlo Musetti, growth product manager at Burner, strongly recommends surveying to understand the best ways to deploy paywalls. Especially if you’re in the early stages, talk to users.
[1:03:16] It’s all about the percentages:You can’t ignore the percentage of users who see the paywall. Monitor it, because many apps make it difficult for people to actually pay for them. Of the peopl...

On the podcast we talk with Lexi about data.ai’s State of Mobile report, the countries subscription apps should focus on for growth, and why things still look bright for apps despite a decline in overall spend.

Top Takeaways
🕹️ Mobile app spend is down, but that may not be a bad thing
🤳 Non-gaming apps see additional growth with resilient spend
✍️ The subscription model underpins growth for non-gaming apps
📈 Look to non-U.S. markets for new opportunities
💝 The most successful apps will offer frictionless, personalized experiences

About Lexi Sydow
👨‍💻 Head of Insights at data.ai, a unified data AI company that combines consumer and market data with artificial intelligence to offer insights into trends.
💡 “We’ve gotten to a place where it’s become very native behavior — not just in the app store sense, but even mobile commerce. … It’s those habitual things that we do that reinforce our habits.”
👋 LinkedIn | Twitter

Links & Resources
‣ Get the State of Mobile 2023 report
‣ Work at data.ai (remote and hiring!)

Follow us on Twitter
‣ David Barnard
‣ Jacob Eiting
‣ RevenueCat
‣ Sub Club

Episode Highlights
[2:16] History report: From starting as “The Retrospective” to including more forward-thinking pieces, publishing the Annual State of Mobile report has been a decade of fun for data.ai — and a valuable resource for app developers.
[4:54] More reports: Lexi outlines data.ai’s various other reports that help separate real trends from massaged data.
[7:48] An evolutionary thing:Most changes to data.ai’s reports have been organic, largely thanks to a maturation of the industry, analysis, and the team’s understanding.
[11:54] It’s data, it’s AI, it’s data.ai:data.ai’s sophisticated team collects data based on their own products, utilizing AI in the process. This helps them make their own accurate estimates, and they’re proud of that.
[18:39] M.E.T.H.O.D.: Lexi dives into the hows of data collection in the age of privacy, including data.ai’s growing categorization of apps.
[21:53] Marquee landmark year: For the first time ever, spend is down. Lexi details the data and what it tells us.
[28:03] Concentrate:The top three countries for app spend have their own chart in the report. But it’s not all dominated by China, the U.S., and Japan.
[30:21] GDP transformed:While China is three or four times the size of the U.S., China’s spend is only marginally greater than the latter. There’s still a lot of headroom for China to move.
[39:30] Top app categories:In many categories, subscription apps take the top spot. Usually in the top 10, storage subscription app Google One jumped straight to number one in consumer spending this year.
[42:36] What is a phone?:It’s becoming — if it hasn’t already become — native behavior to use phones to do everything. Meaningful personalized experiences convert to subscriptions and in-app purchases.