Sub Club
David Barnard, Jacob Eiting
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Interviews with the experts behind the biggest apps in the App Store. Hosts David Barnard and Jacob Eiting dive deep to unlock insights, strategies, and stories that you can use to carve out your slice of the 'trillion-dollar App Store opportunity'.
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Nov 23, 2022
Why More Apps Need To Be More Than Just Apps — Melissa Cash & Félix Boudreau, Pok Pok
On the podcast I talk with Melissa and Félix about why more apps should be more than just apps, the benefits of a hard paywall, and why a lower price might actually make you more money even if the A/B test shows it didn’t.
Top Takeaways
📱 More apps should be more than just apps
💳 Hard paywalls can (and do) sometimes pay off
💵 How a price change can lead to big returns — if the quality is there
About Melissa Cash & Félix Boudreau
👨💻 Melissa is Co-Founder and CEO and Félix is Head of Growth at Pok Pok
💪 Their first app, Pok Pok Playroom, is an Apple Design Award-winning preschool app that sparks creativity and imagination through open-ended play
💡 “It's important to think about your updates from a content and subscription value point of view, but also from a marketing point of view, and really try to balance those narratives.” — Melissa
👋 Melissa on LinkedIn | Melissa on Twitter | Félix on LinkedIn
Links & Resources
‣ Pok Pok Playroom
‣ Watch the app trailer on YouTube
‣ A mother's entrepreneurial inspiration
‣ Melissa on The Mom Halo podcast
‣ The Apple Design Award Story
‣ Melissa on the Snippets of Genius podcast
Follow us on Twitter
‣ David Barnard
‣ Jacob Eiting
‣ RevenueCat
‣ Sub Club
Episode Highlights
[1:40] Empowered play: What could it look like to equip and educate today’s children to think for themselves? Melissa shares the story of how her co-founders wanted to empower creative, independent play for their young son in a digital space.
[6:16] More than an app: There’s a much broader vision for Pok Pok in the works. Starting digital in a digital era gives the app a head start against business models that have been adapted to become digital.
[10:47] Investing in the future: The team at Pok Pok places a “hive mind” focus on the long-term strategy of the brand. They aim to earn the trust of parents (as well as their kids) for the best possible customer experience.
[13:15] You are the prototype: What did it take to build Pok Pok into an award-winning, successful app? Melissa shares about their robust testing and prototyping process.
[16:57] The data tracks: Félix talks about how to balance the protection of qualitative and quantitative data while getting the most out of what you can safely track and collect. They use intrinsic motivation to keep kids playing in healthy ways — a win-win-win for everyone.
[24:19] The monetization conversation: Creating an app that keeps evolving was the key to recurring revenue. Continual content with real value creation — for the parent as much as for the child — was the way forward.
[27:06] Easy lessons from a hard paywall: Testing the hard paywall took a lot of tinkering — resulting in some unintended (but welcome) consequences in user behavior. Now, there’s a video paywall in the pipeline.
[40:19] The price is right: Félix and Melissa discuss how to find the sweet spot with price testing that enables solid paid acquisition and LTV. Ultimately, doubling the price led to double the revenue.
[46:18] The power of storytelling: Subscription app entrepreneurs should learn how to tell good stories. Melissa and Félix share their wisdom about creating compelling stories in business and networking, as well as the importance of great in-app events.
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Nov 9, 2022
How Ethical Design at Blinkist Led to 23% Growth – Jaycee Day
On the podcast we talk with Jaycee about how Blinkist increased trial starts by 23%, how to balance user experience with business objectives, and why telling people how to cancel can actually lead to fewer cancellations.
Top Takeaways
⚖️ Balancing ethics and business means making tough decisions, but taking a smart approach lets you master both
🤝 Helping people unsubscribe isn’t the most intuitive thing for subscription app businesses, but ethical design patterns might be better for business in the long run
🔎 Transparency around the cancellation process can drive app success in multiple ways
About Jaycee Day
👨💻 Senior Product Designer at developer platform GitHub and previously at Blinkist
💪 Jaycee facilitated a sign-up increase of 23% following customer service complaints (which also dropped by 55%) at Blinkist. Even Apple took notice of her ethical design pattern
💡 “It's because of the transparency and the trust. … People have been burned so many times through other apps that it benefited us. … [Users thought,] Finally, an app that I can trust — they know how I feel, and they're listening. That was just super important: Letting people know that they can cancel [and that] they don't have to be scared of us.”
👋 Jaycee Day | LinkedIn | Twitter | Medium | GitHub
Links & Resources
‣ The story of Blinkist's 23% Conversion
‣ Ethical design pattern at Apple
Follow us on Twitter
‣ David Barnard
‣ Jacob Eiting
‣ RevenueCat
‣ Sub Club
Episode Highlights
[1:47] Origin story: From founding to freelancing, Jaycee helped transform Blinkist in under three years.
[3:52] Internet fame: The ethical design pattern Jaycee helped evolve offers subscription apps the ability to understand the product discovery process in a different light. She talks about its inception at Blinkist.
[9:05] Zombie subscribers: The balance between business and ethics isn’t always easy to strike. Jaycee explains how customer empathy helped with product design.
[11:51] The first pitch: The early stages of ethical design and the goal of reducing customer complaints initially came from trial reminder testing. The reminders had the unintended positive consequence of increasing push notifications.
[16:29] The big rollout: With things on the up and up for Jaycee and her team, they built an A/B test prototype with “overwhelmingly positive” results.
[20:47] You can stop complaining now: A 55% drop in customer complaints wasn’t just theory. Why did it work so well?
[24:03] Mission unsubscription: It may not be the most intuitive thing for subscription apps to help people who don’t want to be subscribed to unsubscribe. But this effort brings indirect benefits like reducing cancellations and increasing trial sign-up rates.
[27:21] Retain and engage: Jaycee discusses how Blinkist was limited in its tracking capacities, but it used some unconventional markers to establish that the efforts were working.
[31:10] The biggest subscription app article of the year: Promoting principles via the user experience community brings more attention and business success.
[33:48] The aftermath: People care about the ethics of user experience as well as the business side. Jaycee discusses the major ripple effect of the ethical design she spearheaded: Case in point, Apple features it on their website.
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Oct 26, 2022
How Consumer Subscriptions May Perform in a Recession — Eric Crowley, GP Bullhound
On the podcast we talk with Eric about the largest consumer marketplace that’s ever existed, the growing exit opportunities for Consumer Subscription Software businesses, and why the CSS industry may be relatively recession-proof.
Top Takeaways
👀 Simply occupying eyeballs isn’t the game plan anymore
💰The CSS space could be recession-proof
👴 The data and tooling landscape has matured, making it easier to build and grow subscription businesses
About Eric Crowley
👔 Partner at GP Bullhound, a global technology investment and advisory firm for entrepreneurs and founders
👨💻 Coming from an executive software startup background, Eric primarily focuses on M&A, capital raises, and advisory transactions at the firm
💡 “If the entire focus of your team is adding value and not just making sure information flows from stack one to stack two, you're going to build a better business, because you're out there listening to your customer [and] watching them use your service”
👋 LinkedIn and Twitter
Links & Resources
‣ Check out the Consumer Subscription Software (CSS) 2022 report
‣ GP Bullhound
Follow us on Twitter
‣ David Barnard
‣ Jacob Eiting
‣ RevenueCat
‣ Sub Club
Episode Highlights
[1:58] Mind-blowing CSS report insights: Apps are instantly downloadable and purchases are immediate for 5 billion people around the world.
[5:10] What the internet was meant to be: Apple is the new cross-border cash clearing house, and apps are leveraging some of the most advanced technology we have today.
[7:39] The end of apps?: There’s a reason to be bullish on the subscription business model. David explains why.
[10:52] Record-breaking non-game app revenue: For the first time in 2022, people are spending more on apps other than gaming.
[13:27] Having fun with luxury goods: With a downturn on the horizon, will in-app purchases take a hit? Why spend money on Candy Crush when you can still have fun for free? GP Bullhound sees CSS businesses as “enhancements at an affordable price.”
[20:09] Where’s the value?: During a recession, the bar for added value increases. Where does that leave subscription services? If it makes you better at your job (like Grammarly does for Eric), it’s a winner.
[21:40] On bankers hating averages: Eric talks overvaluations, undervaluations, and the sturdy infrastructure of the industry. (Hint: DuoLingo, Dropbox, and Bumble will be here in five years.)
[28:22] Cashing in on subscriptions: The cash efficiency of the consumer subscription model is finally beginning to show. Eric highlights that CSS entrepreneurs are gold miners, with plenty of companies selling them shovels and pickaxes.
[35:13] Exit stage right: From PE firms to small investors, opportunities to exit apps are many. Eric explains what that looks like for brands, consumers, and founders.
[40:38] Philosophy of selling: Eric sets out the thought process founders go through and the questions they should answer before moving ahead with a sale.
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Oct 12, 2022
How Elevate Labs Hit Cash Flow Positive in 2022 — Andrew Maguire, Elevate Labs
On the podcast we talk with Andrew about the journey to cash flow positive for Elevate Labs, the importance of creative, and why spending less money can sometimes be the key to figuring out paid user acquisition.
Top Takeaways
📈 The journey to cash flow positive is a long one, demanding tough decisions along the way
💵 Spending less money can sometimes be the key to figuring out paid user acquisition
🎨 Control and collaboration are key elements of a creative culture
About Andrew Maguire
⚙️ Chief Operating Officer at Elevate Labs and Managing Partner at Volo Ventures
💪 Andrew saw Elevate move from rolling back on ad spend in order to survive, to becoming cash flow positive with record growth in 2022.
💡 “How do you have values that are not just the poster on the wall that no one cares about, but are actually lived in the organization?”
👋 LinkedIn and Twitter
Links & Resources
‣ Join the Elevate Labs team
‣ Connect with Andrew on Linkedin
‣ Follow Andrew on Twitter
‣ Volo Ventures
‣ Elevate App
‣ Balance App
Follow us on Twitter
‣ David Barnard
‣ Jacob Eiting
‣ RevenueCat
‣ Sub Club
Episode Highlights
[1:46] Inspirational investment: Making waves at Elevate, Volo Ventures invested in RevenueCat based on Jacob’s juice for building a big company and solving real problems.
[6:48] Early elevation: The duality of Volo Ventures and Elevate gives Andrew insight to create great apps while investing at the same time.
[10:25] Living organizational values: An ongoing commitment to incorporate company mission into every aspect of work — from hiring to recognition and performance — is what makes a company really stand out.
[13:25] Pay to play: You need to spend money to make money. Jacob and Andrew discuss getting a handle on LTV, plowing money into advertising, the subscription model, and trials.
[19:20] The slow degradation of ATT: It’s not an overnight thing, but Elevate still took a hammering.
[21:26] Circling the wagons: Andrew talks about the experiments they ran, what worked, and what failed, including pulling back ad spend.
[24:32] The importance of creative and the power of ads: Everyone taking responsibility for the quality of the product builds a culture of creativity with ideas coming from all angles.
[33:22] Blending acquisition costs: When you’re building a second app, you can leverage the customers you already have for the old one to build an even better product. And sometimes free giveaways can scale ad spend in asymmetric ways.
[40:25] Becoming a “real business”: Hitting cash flow positive feels really good. Andrew found that focusing on being lean and scrappy allowed them to scale the business without having to raise more capital.
[46:13] The Volo connection: Andrew, David, and Jacob discuss what’s happening at Volo Ventures.
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Sep 28, 2022
From Spreadsheets to Data Science: Tools for Apps of Any Size — Adam Landis, AdLibertas
On the podcast we talk with Adam about when and why to use an MMP, which subscription events to track in your analytics, and why A/B testing doesn’t always work the way you think it works.
Top Takeaways
📏 Understand what your users are doing to help define — and then achieve — your goal
📈 Spreadsheets are a great start, but growing sophistication requires something more long-term
🔧 Turning events into actions is difficult but necessary
About Adam Landis
👨💻 Founder and CEO at AdLibertas
💪 Adam has helped hundreds of apps — including Crossy Road, Temple Run and Audio Mac — influence user behavior through data collection and analysis.
💡 “How do you make sense of all this data that's coming out of the app? How do you understand what users are doing? What is the impact? And then what is the outcome of the changes you make?”
👋 LinkedIn | AdLibertas
Links & Resources
‣ Learn more about AdLibertas
‣ Read AdLibertas updates from Adam
‣ Follow AdLibertas on Linkedin
Follow us on Twitter
‣ David Barnard
‣ Jacob Eiting
‣ RevenueCat
‣ Sub Club
Episode Highlights
[1:44] The OG of apps: At the genesis of the App Store, Google and Apple fought over ads — and that’s when Adam got started. AdLibertas was born just a few years later out of the need to understand the data coming from users.
[6:34] The progression of data sophistication: Brand new app developers are hungry for thousands of data points. But are those really necessary at the beginning? Adam dives into startups getting to 1.0, understanding product market fit and balancing product versus infrastructure.
[9:39] View from the data stack: Adam talks about minimum viability and the importance of understanding what your users are doing before anything else.
[15:27] Every app is unique, but data speaks uniformly: How do you do deep, complex analysis early? Adam offers a smart strategy on what metrics apps should track to garner the most valuable insights.
[24:16] Blending freemium and subscription is an art: Getting sophisticated and buying users means understanding their long-term value and the real sources of ROI.
[25:57] The essential MMP stack: Adam and David discuss the when, what and how of MMPs.
[31:56] SKANing: It’s the mess that no one wants to talk about. But don’t worry: It’s okay not to understand because no one knows what’s going on.
[34:36] All praise to A/B testing: When it comes to A/B tests, losing can be better than winning. Adam explains that the proper way to test is to set the boundary before the test and not look at the data during testing.
[40:05] CRM campaigning: Adam and David talk about getting the most out of CRMs in terms of retention and re-engagement.
[47:13] In with the old, in with the new: Do you focus more on product or marketing? It depends on how big you are.
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Sep 14, 2022
From Zero Revenue to a Full-Time Gig in Less Than a Year — Emmanuel Crouvisier, CardPointers
On the podcast we talk with Emmanuel about the magic of affiliate marketing, how to best use Stripe payments, and why you should probably build a web app before you build a native one.
Top Takeaways
✉️ Don’t skip user registration — and do it early in onboarding
💰 The road to subscription revenue isn’t a straight one
📈 The little things add up over time
About Emmanuel Crouvisier
👨💻 Founder at CardPointers, an app that makes it easy to optimize credit card rewards and has saved users over $200M.
💪 Emmanuel used affiliate marketing and a revenue share model to increase user retention, simultaneously rewarding loyalty and content creator talent.
💡 “Keep your costs really low. […] The companies that have been in this space before never last more than two years because they need a team of [up to] 30 people to run everything. Whereas [with CardPointers], it's just me, and my costs are literally hundreds of dollars per month — so it makes it easy for me to make a good business out of it.”
👋 Twitter | LinkedIn
Links & Resources
‣ CardPointers on the App Store
‣ CardPointers on Twitter
‣ Special Offer for Sub Club listeners
Follow us on Twitter
‣ David Barnard
‣ Jacob Eiting
‣ RevenueCat
‣ Sub Club
Episode Highlights
[1:42] Building inspiration: Emmanuel discusses what inspired him to found CardPointers, getting turned on to the world of credit card rewards and realizing just how much revenue subscription apps can bring.
[7:21] Exhausting side hustle: Early on, CardPointers was an evenings and weekends-based project, applying smart strategies combined with persistent tinkering.
[11:15] Decisions, decisions: Emmanuel explains the decision he made in the early building phase, as well as his lucky break with Apple iOS 13 and watchOS 6.
[17:30] Same system, same project: Emmanuel discusses the benefits of a backwards compatible API with proper user accounts created from the get-go, reducing sign-up friction.
[19:47] The affiliate backdoor: On launch, he didn’t have any partnership links set up and he wasn’t getting anywhere by going through official channels. He got better results by reaching out to people through LinkedIn.
[23:26] $1,000 a month sounds cool: Though he was making progress with affiliate revenue, it’s not all easy and there are a lot of rules around compliance. This made a subscription model more attractive, and led Emmanuel to devise the pro tier for paying users.
[27:22] Understanding employers: It can be nerve-wracking to quit your day job. Emmanuel talks about how he managed the transition. He lucked out because his employer was supportive, too.
[31:52] Blow-up business: Emmanuel talks about how his current roadmap really shifted the trajectory of the business, including imminent plans in the pipeline.
[35:23] Big-time consumer: Studying up before — and during — the startup phase is crucial for unlocking your app’s real potential. Emmanuel learned (and continues to learn) from an array of sources including webinars and Twitter communities.
[42:40] Influencing the market: So many apps need to find the kind of product-channel fit CardPointers has in terms of influencer and affiliate marketing. Emmanuel explains how it took off as a channel that worked for him.
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Aug 31, 2022
Building a Product Improvement Loop — Darrell Stone, Citizen
On the podcast I talk with Darrell about going from zero to an 8-figure ARR in just 18 months, building a product improvement loop combining user research and A/B testing, and why expecting failure is one of the keys to success.
Top Takeaways
📈 Going from 0 to an 8-figure ARR in 18 months is doable
🙈 Sharing and selling data isn’t necessary to build and scale subscription apps
🎰 Structuring product development as a “bet” liberates you from needing to be right
About Darrell Stone
👨💻 Head of Product & Design at Citizen, the number one public safety app in the U.S.
💪 Darrell defined and scaled Citizen's consumer subscription product with a dual focus on acquisition and retentive, life-saving features.
💡 “Product [development] in consumer tech is very much a team sport. You have to approach it through the mindset that you're building a team that's going to win a thing.”
👋 LinkedIn and Twitter
Links & Resources
‣ Citizen App
‣ Citizen’s Career Page
Follow us on Twitter
‣ David Barnard
‣ Jacob Eiting
‣ RevenueCat
‣ Sub Club
Episode Highlights
[2:03] Leaving Uber to scale a startup: Darrell discusses the reasons why he left Uber to start a subscription app.
[5:20] Making the world a safer place: Citizen is a “moderated safety app.” It has more than 100 people actively listening to police scanners to enable provide real-time information about what is happening in communities.
[10:57] Charging for a public safety app: Darrell discusses the tension between monetization and Citizen’s mission of keeping people safe. He outlines the difference between the freemium and paid products.
[19:15] Citizen on the world stage: Darrell talks about taking Citizen global and how the company “a safety marketplace” to the world.
[22:20] World pricing: Darrell offers potential strategies for global cost and price differences.
[24:52] Understanding users: Darrell gives insight into how user research shapes A/B testing, product development and the improvement loop.
[30:05] Antifragile product development: One of Darrell’s go-to recommendation for people in product is Annie Duke’s interview on The Knowledge Project. Bumps are inevitable during the product development process — it’s how you manage it that matters.
[33:14] Lessons learned for top unlocks: Darrell discusses tips for being more right than wrong to unlock a real value-add, and how this took the company from zero to eight figures in ARR.
[37:45] Buy versus build: David and Darrell talk about how bringing on third party tooling can help achieve long-term company goals.
[41:45] Aligning the team to the bigger vision: Darrell explains how clear goals, rapid feedback loops and celebrating incremental progress help keep teams motivated through the whole process.
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Aug 10, 2022
Tinder: From Free App to $1B in Revenue — Phil Schwarz, Corazon Capital
On the podcast we talk with Phil about the thesis behind Tinder’s monetization strategy, the importance of product differentiation, and why some companies shouldn’t use subscriptions.
Our guest today is Phil Schwarz, Partner at Corazon Capital, a leading Chicago-based venture fund investing in early stage tech companies. Prior to joining Corazon, Phil served as the Chief Marketing Officer at Tinder during the rollout of subscriptions. He was also previously Head of Growth Initiatives at Match Group.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* 3 key innovations that propelled Tinder’s growth
* Tips for optimizing your paywall strategy
* How Tinder transitioned to a subscription-based model
Links & Resources
* Corazon’s website
* Follow Corazon on Twitter
* Corazon’s LinkedIn page
* Contact Corazon
Phil’s Links
* Phil’s LinkedIn page
Follow us on Twitter:
* David Barnard
* Jacob Eiting
* RevenueCat
* Sub Club
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Jul 27, 2022
Brand Marketing, Product-Market Fit, & App Growth — Gessica Bicego, Paired
On the podcast we talk with Gessica about how to think about brand marketing for apps, finding product/channel/messaging fit, and why you shouldn’t even refer to Bill Gates in an ad campaign.
Our guest today is Gessica Bicego, Chief Marketing Officer at Paired, the #1 app for couples. Prior to joining Paired, Gessica spent 6 years leading performance marketing and growth at Blinkist.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* How to build a moat around your brand
* Paired’s growth stack & favorite data collection tools
* Tips for allocating ad spending & measuring advertising campaigns
* Why Bill Gates sent Gessica a cease and desist letter
Links & Resources
* Albert
* Taboola
* Runtastic
* Fivetran
* Amplitude
* RevenueCat
* Snowflake
* Looker
* Phiture’s Mobile Growth Nightmares podcast
* Sub Club Podcast episode 39: 8 Principles for Sustainable Growth — Sean Ellis & Ethan Garr, Breakout Growth
Gessica’s Links
* Get Paired
* Current job openings at Paired
* Follow Paired on Instagram
* Follow Gessica on Twitter
* Gessica is on Instagram
* Gessica’s LinkedIn page
Follow us on Twitter:
* David Barnard
* Jacob Eiting
* RevenueCat
* Sub Club
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Jul 13, 2022
Running Effective In-App Experiments — Giancarlo Musetti, Ad Hoc Labs
On the podcast we talk with Giancarlo about soft vs. hard paywalls, how to think about product experiments, and why removing friction from onboarding didn’t actually help.
Our guest today is Giancarlo Musetti, Growth Product Manager at Ad Hoc Labs. Ad Hoc Labs makes several apps including Firewall and Dialed, but is most well known for Burner, an app that allows you to create multiple phone numbers to protect your privacy and better manage communication.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* How to make a smooth transition to a subscription-based model
* Tips for optimizing your paywall
* How to boost your app’s growth and user base
* Giancarlo’s three-step process for testing new strategies and features
Giancarlo’s Links
* Ad Hoc Labs’ website
* Burner app
* Firewall app
* Dialed app
* Ad Hoc Labs’ hiring page
* Giancarlo’s LinkedIn page
Follow us on Twitter:
* David Barnard
* Jacob Eiting
* RevenueCat
* Sub Club
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Jun 29, 2022
A Systematic Approach to Paywall Optimization — Live at App Promotion Summit NYC
On the podcast we talk with Darrell and Jake about optimizing your app’s paywall, how to increase revenue by giving users a better experience, tips for pricing your app, and how to reduce subscriber churn.
We’re with Darrell Stone and Jake Mor in front of a live audience at the App Promotion Summit in New York City. The App Promotion Summit is America’s leading app marketing conference. Darrell is the Head of Product & Design at Citizen, the number one public safety app in the U.S. Jake is the Founder & CEO of Superwall, the best way to build in test paywalls without having to update your app.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* Where to put your app’s paywall
* Which features should you paywall?
* When to paywall all of your app’s features
* A clever way to win back users who cancel their subscription
Links & Resources
* RevenueCat
* Previous webinar with Jake on YouTube
Jake Mor’s Links
* Follow Jake on Twitter
* Superwall’s website
* Follow Supe…
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Jun 15, 2022
Building a Community that Demands an App — Mark Kennedy & Jeff Bailey, None to Run
On the podcast we talk with Mark and Jeff about community led growth, how they improved trial starts by 25%, and why running ads for a blog post might actually perform better than sending people directly to the App Store.
Mark is an RRCA Certified Distance Running Coach and created None to Run as a blog and personal outlet to stay in touch with his passion for exercise science and healthy living. Jeff has been developing iOS apps since 2009 and teamed up with Mark to build an app as the None to Run community started to take off and requests for an app could no longer be ignored.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* How to build momentum for your app
* Don’t launch your app until you’ve done this
* Tips for growing your audience
* How None to Run reached an 80% conversion rate
Links & Resources
* Mighty Networks
* Sub Club podcast episode 35: From Indie Side Project to $1M in ARR — Curtis Herbert, Slopes
* Ariel from Appfigures
* Lisa Jhung
Jeff & Mark’s Link…
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May 25, 2022
8 Principles for Sustainable Growth — Sean Ellis & Ethan Garr, Breakout Growth
On the podcast I talk with Sean and Ethan about the importance of a north star metric, optimizing for speed to value, and why product/market fit needs to be dialed in over time.
Sean has worked on growth at some of the fastest growing companies in the world, like Dropbox, Lookout, and Eventbrite. He not only coined the term “growth hacking”, but literally wrote the book on it. Today, Sean helps companies around the globe accelerate customer and revenue growth through workshops, keynote presentations, and select advising roles.
Ethan got his start in subscription apps working on product at TelTech, which was acquired by IAC in 2018. He co-invented and led the company's flagship app, RoboKiller and helped to grow TelTech's other top communications apps including TrapCall and TapeACall. Ethan now helps companies improve their growth trajectories through workshops, coaching, and as a trusted advisor.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* Sean & Ethan’s proven principles for achiev…
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May 11, 2022
Scaling Without a Marketing Budget — Mike Overell, ClassDojo
On the podcast we talk with Mike about building a principled, mission driven app, keeping product development focused on the right customers, and how ClassDojo scaled to tens of millions of downloads without a marketing budget.
Our guest today is Mike Overell, Revenue Lead at ClassDojo. Having founded his own company as well as working at McKinsey and Lyft, Mike is now using that experience to help every kid on earth get an education they love with ClassDojo. Mike also invests in and helps foreign founders crack the US as co-founder of investment collective Antipodes.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* How ClassDojo reached 50M users with zero marketing spend
* Tips for setting up the right paywall for your app
* How to monetize your app without impeding growth
* ClassDojo’s user-led growth strategy
Mike Overell’s Links
* Follow Mike on Twitter
* ClassDojo’s website
* Follow ClassDojo on Twitter
* ClassDojo’s jobs page
* Mike’s LinkedIn page
Follow us…
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Apr 27, 2022
Creative App Marketing Strategies — Cliff Weitzman, Speechify
On the podcast we talk with Cliff about the benefits of building for a niche, the one ad that changed things for Speechify, and why Cliff is now hiring comedians.
Our guest today is Cliff Weitzman, the founder and CEO of Speechify. As someone with dyslexia, Cliff built Speechify to help himself learn by having text read aloud. Cliff went on to blitzscale Speechify with an irreverent approach to SaaS norms and a willingness to experiment.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* How Cliff found early traction for Speechify
* Unconventional ways to build a great team
* How Cliff got marketing tips from the top e-commerce CEOs
* The art of successful cold calls
Cliff Weitzman’s Links
* Speechify’s website
* Speechify for iOS
* Speechify Chrome extension
* Speechify on Google Play
* Follow Speechify on Twitter
* Follow Speechify on Instagram
* Speechify is on Medium
* Check out Speechify on YouTube
* Speechify’s LinkedIn page
* Cliff Weitzman: Read to You o…
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Apr 13, 2022
The Rise of Consumer SaaS — Eric Stromberg, Bedrock
On the podcast we talk with Eric about the importance of refining your pitch, how to build a moat in consumer SaaS, and why your month one churn might not be as bad as you think.
Our guest today is Eric Stromberg, the Founder & Managing Partner of Bedrock, a technology investment firm currently managing approximately one billion dollars. The firm has made investments in companies like Flock Safety, Plaid, Cameo, The Athletic, and more. Eric is also the Founder of Check, the payroll infrastructure API and Universe Software, the holding company for Vertical Fintech businesses.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* Why higher churn rates at launch are OK
* How to maintain a competitive advantage for your subscription app
* Why Eric is bullish about the future of Consumer SaaS
Links & Resources
* Barry McCarthy
* Sub Club podcast episode 031: Growth, Revenue, and Marketing Strategies for Your App — Lisa Kennelly, Fishbrain
* Equilab
Eric Stromberg’s Links
* Eric's web…
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Mar 30, 2022
From Indie Side Project to $1M in ARR — Curtis Herbert, Slopes
On the podcast we talk with Curtis about his 9 year journey to reach $1M in ARR, why he shares revenue numbers publicly, and how taking inspiration from web businesses instead of other apps kept him ahead of the curve.
Our guest today is Curtis Herbert, an independent iOS app developer/designer/wearer of many hats. Curtis is the founder of Slopes, the app for skiing and snowboarding, and he took it from an indie side project to a thriving business.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* Marketing tips for consistent growth
* How Curtis transitioned Slopes to a subscription model
* Which tools and strategies had the biggest impact on Slopes’ success
* The tradeoffs of hiring employees as an indie developer
Links & Resources
* Tableau
* Vero
* Firebase
Curtis Herbert’s Links
* Slopes app
* Follow Curtis on Twitter
* Curtis’ website
Follow us on Twitter:
* David Barnard
* Jacob Eiting
* RevenueCat
* Sub Club
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Mar 16, 2022
Operating a Portfolio of 40 Apps — Michael Ritter, Maple Media
On the podcast we talk with Michael about operating a portfolio of almost 40 apps, the importance of delivering value to customers, and why you should never use teal on your paywall.
Joining me today is Michael Ritter, CEO and Founder at Maple Media. Michael and his growing team acquire and operate category-leading consumer apps. Popular Maple Media apps include: Pic Stitch, Weather Hi-Def Radar, Dialog, We Heart It, Player FM, WeekCal, and many more.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* Why customer support is crucial for subscription apps
* How to price your subscription based on the value it provides
* Tips for integrating ads into your subscription revenue model
* How to 10X your money on an app acquisition
Michael Ritter’s Links
* Michael’s LinkedIn page
* Maple Media
Follow us on Twitter:
* David Barnard
* Jacob Eiting
* RevenueCat
* Sub Club
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Mar 2, 2022
Subscription App Trends and How To Grow in 2022
On today’s podcast we’re hosting the Subscription Trends 2022 event. We talk with Thomas and Eric about navigating content fortresses as a developer. They share their thoughts on regulating Apple’s App Store, affiliate marketing, and breakout trends for 2022. We also talk about Web3 and Crypto, and answer questions from folks in the event’s chat room.
Our guests on the show are Thomas Petit and Eric Seufert. Eric has a depth and breadth of experience with mobile apps and games that few can match. Over the past year, Eric has written extensively about App Tracking Transparency and the future of mobile advertising on his trade blog, Mobile Dev Memo.
Thomas Petit is a world-renowned mobile growth expert independent consultant. Thomas began his work in the subscription app space, eventually becoming a freelance consultant, and has worked with several large subscription apps.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* How to make a living as a solo app developer
* Are web apps the f…
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Feb 16, 2022
Lessons From an Unlimited Marketing Budget — Colette Nataf, MileIQ & Lightning AI
On the podcast we talk with Colette about selling MileIQ to Microsoft then buying it back, experimenting with an unlimited marketing budget, and unlocking higher retention with a focus on prosumers.
Our guest today is Colette Nataf, Head of Growth at MileIQ and Co-Founder of Lightning AI. From founding multiple startups to spending more than $100M on marketing in growth roles at several great companies, Colette has spent her career using data science to grow businesses.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* Colette’s take on Apple’s ATT and its effect on marketing
* Outsourcing to an outside agency vs. growing your team
* Analyzing lifetime value and customer acquisition cost for long-term subscribers
* How to balance your business and family life
Colette Nataf’s Links
* Colette Nataf’s LinkedIn page
* MileIQ
* Lightning AI
* Colette's maternity leave blog post
Follow us on Twitter:
* David Barnard
* Jacob Eiting
* RevenueCat
* Sub Club
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Jan 19, 2022
Growth, Revenue, and Marketing Strategies for Your App — Lisa Kennelly, Fishbrain
On the podcast we talk with Lisa about marketing an app with no revenue, the challenges of adding new revenue streams, and the importance of brand marketing in a post IDFA world.
Our guest today is Lisa Kennelly, Chief Marketing Officer at Fishbrain, the #1 app for people who love fishing. At Fishbrain, Lisa manages a team of 20 people, and is responsible for everything from brand positioning and product marketing to business development and e-commerce. Lisa also mentors startup founders on marketing and strategy.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* How to make the transition from growth to revenue
* Finding additional revenue opportunities beyond subscriptions
* Tips for balancing brand awareness marketing and performance marketing
Links & Resources
* VSCO
* Clue
Lisa Kennelly’s Links
* Lisa’s LinkedIn
* Follow Fishbrain on Twitter
* Fishbrain’s website
* Fishbrain Is on Instagram
* Fishbrain’s Facebook page
Follow us on Twitter:
* David Barnard…
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Jan 5, 2022
How To Not Screw Up Switching Your App to Subscriptions — Matt Ronge, Astropad
On the podcast we talk with Matt about how to not screw up switching your app to subscriptions, why offering lifetime subscriptions might not be a great option, and what it’s like when Apple ‘sherlocks’ your product.
Our guest today is Matt Ronge, co-founder and CEO of Astropad. Having worked at Apple, Garmin, and founded several companies of his own, Matt is an experienced engineer and entrepreneur with a passion for building creative tools.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* How to switch your app from paid to subscriptions
* Should you offer lifetime subscriptions?
* Why you should be charging more for your app’s subscription
* Tips for limiting subscriber churn
Links & Resources
* Garmin
* Giovanni Donelli
Matt Ronge’s Links
* Follow Matt Ronge on Twitter
* Matt's blog
* Matt’s blog post: How NOT to screw up switching your app to subscriptions
* Matt’s podcast
* Astropad
* Luna Display
Follow us on Twitter:
* David Barnard
* Jacob…
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Dec 13, 2021
The 4 Foundational Frameworks of Consumer SaaS — Robbie Kellman Baxter, Peninsula Strategies
On the podcast we talk with Robbie about finding your super users, the real reasons for subscription fatigue, and why pricing isn’t as important as you might think, especially early on.
Our guest today is Robbie Kellman Baxter, consultant, keynote speaker, and author. She’s advised many of the world’s leading subscription-based companies, including serving on the advisory board of Strava. Her most recent book, “The Forever Transaction” is a deep dive into everything consumer subscription, and a must read for anyone in the space.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* Identifying and attracting lifetime value customers
* How to get and maintain customer loyalty
* Three causes of subscription fatigue
* Why customers cancel their subscriptions
Links & Resources
* Strava
* Intuit
* Survey Monkey
* Oracle
* The Subscription Economy
* Tien Tzuo: Subscribed
* Eric Crowley
* Seth Miller
* CrossFit
* Shopify
* Calm
* Matthieu Rouif
* PhotoRoom
* Go…
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Dec 1, 2021
How to Thrive Despite Apple’s ATT — Eric Seufert, Mobile Dev Memo
On the podcast I talk with Eric about the value destruction of App Tracking Transparency, the limitations of SKAdNetwork, and how to thrive as an app developer in this new paradigm.
My guest today is Eric Seufert. Eric has deep operating experience, having worked in growth and strategy roles at consumer tech companies such as Wooga and Rovio, but he also founded and sold a marketing business intelligence company, Agamemnon, and is an active investor in the mobile gaming and ad tech categories. Eric has a depth and breadth of experience with mobile apps and games that few can match. Over the past year Eric has written extensively about App Tracking Transparency and the future of mobile advertising on his trade blog, Mobile Dev Memo.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* Will Apple’s ATT be a net loss for Apple?
* Can SKAdNetwork be saved, and does Apple want to save it?
* Is focusing on organic traffic a flawed strategy?
* What does the future of app install ads look like?
Li…
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Nov 17, 2021
Growing an App to 1M Paid Subscribers — Ron Schneidermann, AllTrails
On the podcast, we talk with Ron about the magic of consumer subscriptions, experimenting with freemium strategies, and how private equity isn’t always as bad as you’ve been led to believe.
Our guest today is Ron Schneidermann, CEO at AllTrails, the ultimate guide for outdoor adventures. AllTrails was early to the consumer subscription space, launching a $3/month premium tier way back in 2012. Ron joined as CMO and COO in 2015, and then took over as CEO in 2019, helping to grow AllTrails to over 1 million subscribers and tens of millions of active users worldwide.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* How to refine and optimize your freemium strategy
* Two things you need to keep an eye on as a founder
* The pros & cons of outside funding vs. organic growth
* How Ron fast-tracked AllTrails’ profitability
Links & Resources
* Accenture
* Hotwire
* Yelp
* Liftopia
* Alex Honnold
* Spectrum Equity
Ron Schneidermann’s Links
* Ron Schneidermann’s LinkedIn…
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Oct 27, 2021
Optimizing Your Subscription App for Growth — Eric Crowley, GP Bullhound
Our guest today is Eric Crowley, a tech investment banker with GP Bullhound. With investments in companies ranging from Spotify to Whoop, and clients such as AllTrails, Pinkbike, and Lingoda, GP Bullhound provides transaction advice and capital to many of the leaders in the Consumer Subscription Software space.
On the podcast we talk with Eric about his 2021 report on Consumer Subscription Software, the truth about LTV calculations, and the new era of organic user acquisition.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* Was 2020 just a “COVID Bump,” or a shift in consumer behavior?
* Are the Bumble & Duolingo IPO multiples justified?
* How savvy developers are adapting to Apple’s App Tracking Transparency
* The truth about LTV
* The new era of customer acquisition
Links & Resources
* Spotify
* Whoop
* AllTrails
* Pinkbike
* Lingoda
* Bumble
* Duolingo
* Instacart
* Match Group
* Netflix
* Noom
* Weight Watchers
* Tinder
* The Dyrt
* Day One Jou…
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Oct 6, 2021
From Bootstrapping to Partnering With Sony — Seth Miller, Rapchat
Our guest today is Seth Miller, Founder and CEO at Rapchat. Seth is on a mission to democratize music creation with Rapchat’s mobile app. Rapchat takes the friction out of making music, and has helped millions of artists unleash their creativity.
Seth earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration, with an emphasis on management information systems, from Ohio University. Before founding Rapchat, Seth worked as a consultant for Adidas, and an IT Systems Engineer.
On the podcast we talk with Seth about bootstrapping his way to signs of product market fit, raising money from strategic partners like Sony Music, and what it’s like to have Facebook completely rip off your app.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* Finding the right niche for your app
* Bootstrapping and early funding
* Using the right marketing channels for your app
* Filtering out the wrong users for your app's paid features
* How to transition your app from free to paid
Links & Resources
* Son…
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Sep 15, 2021
Finding Product Market Fit by Unbundling Photoshop — Matthieu Rouif, PhotoRoom
Watch the video version of this show on YouTube »
Matthieu Rouif is the co-founder and CEO of PhotoRoom. PhotoRoom enables anyone to create studio-quality photos on their iPhone. Before founding PhotoRoom, Matthieu was the Senior Project Manager at GoPro. Matthieu is also the co-founder and CTO of HeyCrowd, and co-founder and CEO of As-App.
Matthieu earned his graduate degree in materials science and engineering from Stanford University, and his bachelor’s degrees in economics, and physics from École Polytechnique. While at École Polytechnique, Matthieu was a member of the skydiving team and debate team. Matthieu also served as a Parachutist Commando Officer in the French Air Force.
Matthieu started developing apps in 2009 as a student at Stanford, and subsequently started two iPhone app companies. He was part of the Replay app team when they won App of the Year in 2014. Matthieu started PhotoRoom after leaving GoPro in 2018.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* Matthieu’s…
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Sep 7, 2021
Apple’s App Store Conundrum — Ben Thompson, Stratechery
On the podcast, we talk with Ben about all things app stores. From Apple’s revolutionary launch of the App Store in 2008 to the monopoly-like powers both Google and Apple now wield today. With multiple lawsuits filed, government investigations ongoing, and developer sentiment at an all-time low, we take an honest look at the challenges and trade-offs in trying to bring two of the world’s largest companies to heel.
Ben Thompson's Links
* Stratechery
* Ben’s Twitter: @benthompson
Follow Us:
David Barnard: https://twitter.com/drbarnard
Jacob Eiting: https://twitter.com/jeiting
RevenueCat: https://twitter.com/RevenueCat
Sub Club: https://twitter.com/SubClubHQ
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Aug 25, 2021
How Apple’s App Tracking Transparency Affects Developers — Shamanth Rao, RocketShip HQ
Watch the video version of this show on YouTube »
Shamanth Rao is the founder and CEO at Rocketship HQ. Shamanth also hosts the Mobile User Acquisition Show podcast, and is the lead instructor for the Mobile Growth Lab workshop series.
RocketShip HQ is a boutique growth marketing firm with 8 figures in managed spend. Before founding RocketshipHQ, Shamanth led growth marketing resulting in 3 exits: Bash Gaming (sold for $170mm), Puzzle Social (acquired by Zynga), and FreshPlanet (acquired by Gameloft). Shamanth has also helped many other mobile apps grow and scale.
Shamanth is passionate about teaching and sharing everything he’s learned about mobile growth. Much of his time and energy goes into the Mobile User Acquisition Show. Shamanth strives to ensure that the wisdom he’s gained reaches as many people as possible.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* The history of user acquisition and algorithmic targeting
* How Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency has shifted users to And…
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Aug 11, 2021
The TikTok Marketing Playbook — Maddie Kirby, 1 Second Everyday
Watch the video version of this show on YouTube »
Maddie Kirby is currently the Senior Social Media Manager for the video journal app, 1 Second Everyday. Maddie started her social media marketing career at Ozwest. Ozwest is an exclusive distributor of Zing branded toy products and the Ozwest toy line in the USA and Canada.
While working at Ozwest, Maddie started growing her personal social media presence. Maddie has almost 400k followers on TikTok. Since joining 1 Second Everyday in 2019, Maddie has been instrumental in leveraging TikTok to organically drive millions of downloads.
Maddie has a bachelor’s degree in advertising from the University of Oregon, and has also worked for companies such as Bytedance, Inc., Egg Strategy, Transition Productions, and Atomicus Films.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* How to promote your app with user-created content
* Clever tricks to get your app noticed
* Why TikTok is a great place to market your app
* A great strategy for growi…
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Jul 28, 2021
Growth Tactics from the Top Apps in the App Store — Andy Carvell, Phiture
Watch the video version of this show on YouTube »
Andy Carvell is the Partner & Co-Founder of Phiture, a mobile growth agency. Here he has worked with some of the biggest apps on the App Store, including Headspace, Spotify, Triller, and VSCO.
Prior to founding Phiture, Andy worked on the marketing and growth teams at SoundCloud. His team built SoundCloud's activity notification system, which delivered over 500 million pushes per month, and increased M1 retention by five percentage points in its first few months of operation.
Andy has been in the mobile industry since the late ‘90s, when he started working at Nokia. Andy has a deep interest in technology, strategy and the execution of ideas.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* Andy’s user retention techniques
* The most overlooked component in marketing your app
* How to optimize your customer’s App Store experience
* Andy’s formula for maximizing your app’s notification strategy
Links & Resources
* SoundCloud…
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Jul 14, 2021
Next-Level App Marketing Tips and Strategies — Alex Ross, Greg
Watch the video version of this show on YouTube »
Alex Ross is the co-founder & CEO at Gregarious, Inc. Gregarious is the company behind Greg, an app dedicated to helping people grow healthier and happier plants. Greg’s community has grown from 100 beta users in August 2020 to over 50,000 monthly active users today.
Alex graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, and studied data science and statistics at MIT. Alex has worked for companies such as Cisco, The Daily Aztec, and Cannon Trading.
Prior to founding Gregarious, Alex spent 4 years as Director of Engineering at Tinder. Alex also co-founded Enplug, a digital signage company that was acquired earlier this year.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* The two critical steps in making a successful app
* An ingenious strategy for partnering your app with retail companies
* Why you should involve your customers in content creation
Links & Resources
* Tinder
* Enplug
* fitbod app
* Y Combinator (YC)…
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Jun 30, 2021
Lessons Learned From 50 Million Downloads — David Smith, Widgetsmith
David Smith is a full-time independent app developer. Since 2006, David has owned and operated a small company focusing on creating applications for the iPhone and Apple Watch.
David has built many successful apps over the years. His most recent app, Widgetsmith, went viral and hit #1 on the App Store. It has over 50 million downloads. David’s other successful apps include Watchsmith, Pedometer++, and Sleep++.
David also co-hosts a weekly podcast called Under the Radar, where he and his co-host Mario Arment discuss Apple-related topics.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
* How to transition from a hobbyist to a full-time app developer
* Two big mistakes to avoid when starting out as an app developer
* How customers find new apps in 2021
* The biggest waste of time and money for an app developer
Links & Resources
* The LibriVox project
* Mirror app
* Launch Center Pro app
David Smith’s Links
* David’s Website
* Audiobooks app
* Widgetsmith app
* Wa…
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Jun 23, 2021
Quantifying Apple’s Developer Sentiment Problem — Ben Bajarin, Creative Strategies
Our guest today is Ben Bajarin, CEO and Principal Analyst at Creative Strategies. For the past 20 years, Ben has been studying the consumer tech market and providing actionable insight and strategic recommendations to many of the top technology companies in the world.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
* The results from Ben’s survey of iOS developers
* Why positive developer sentiment is invaluable to platform owners
* How much developers think is fair for Apple to charge
Follow Us:
David Barnard: https://twitter.com/drbarnard
Jacob Eiting: https://twitter.com/jeiting
Ben Bajarin: https://twitter.com/BenBajarin
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May 19, 2021
How to Sell Your App — Eric Owens, App Business Brokers
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
* The pros and cons of selling an app on your own versus going through a broker
* What to watch out for during negotiations
* What to expect after selling your app
Follow Us:
David Barnard: https://twitter.com/drbarnard
Jacob Eiting: https://twitter.com/jeiting
Eric Owens: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericowens/
Here’s the Outline of Our Interview with Eric:
(1:00) Eric and David have worked together before!
(1:25) How Eric became an app broker.
(5:09) The top reasons app developers decide to sell their businesses; capital gains taxes; David’s experience selling his first app.
(8:03) Why people buy app businesses.
(10:11) Do app buyers typically purchase successful apps or fixer-uppers?
(13:35) The benefits of selling a successful app “prematurely;” David’s Mirror app.
(15:25) The challenges of selling iOS apps: iCloud, Passbook, Sign In with Apple, Catalyst; Gas Cubby.
(19:13) How app business valuations are calculated…
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May 5, 2021
From Sleep Devices for NFL Athletes to a $500k ARR Subscription App — Leon Sasson, Rise Science
Our guest today is Leon Sasson, Co-Founder & CTO at Rise Science, a company dedicated to helping people overcome sleep challenges, feel better, and be more productive.
Since its inception in 2014, Rise has primarily focused on elite athletes, helping some of the top NFL, NBA, and college football teams with their sleep. But in 2019 they decided to enter the consumer subscription space, which became even more important in 2020 as COVID challenged their B2B model. Leon and the team at Rise went from no experience in consumer subscriptions in late 2019 to over $500k in ARR today.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
* The blurring line between B2B and consumer SaaS
* A/B testing and subscription lifestyle analysis
* How to create a fantastic onboarding experience for your users
Follow Us:
David Barnard: https://twitter.com/drbarnard
Jacob Eiting: https://twitter.com/jeiting
Leon Sasson: https://twitter.com/leonsasson
Here’s the Outline of Our Interview with Leon:
(1:25)…
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Apr 22, 2021
Revisiting the Fundamentals of App Marketing Post IDFA — Thomas Petit
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
* Why most apps should do at least some paid user acquisition
* How paid user acquisition has evolved over the past decade
* How to think about marketing in the post-IDFA era
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Apr 8, 2021
Building an Apple Design Award-Winning Photo Editing App — Majd Taby & Jasper Hauser, Darkroom
Our guests today are Majd Taby and Jasper Hauser, co-founders of the Apple Design Award-winning app, Darkroom.
Prior to founding Darkroom, Majd spent time at Apple, Facebook, and Instagram working as a product-focused engineer. Alongside Darkroom, Majd has also published a photobook documenting the Syrian Refugee Crisis.
Jasper is a 3-time Apple Design Award winner, with 18 years of industry experience in creating digital products and mentoring people. Prior to founding Darkroom with Majd, Jasper founded Sofa, which was acquired by Facebook in 2011.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
* What Apple looks for in a featured app
* Why getting press isn’t always great for conversions
* The benefits and drawbacks of bootstrapping your app
Follow Us:
David Barnard: https://twitter.com/drbarnard
Jacob Eiting: https://twitter.com/jeiting
Majd Taby: https://twitter.com/jtaby
Jasper Hauser: https://twitter.com/jasperhauser
Here’s the Outline of Our Interview with Majd and Ja…
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Mar 24, 2021
Going All-In on Indie App Development — Ryan Jones, Weather Line & Flighty
Our guest today is Ryan Jones, long-time indie developer of Weather Line and Flighty. Before going full-time on his apps in 2019, Ryan spent time in operations at Apple and as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at McGarrah Jessee, a full-service product marketing agency.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
(3:53) Ryan’s background in mechanical engineering and the oil industry.
(6:35) Ryan’s first app, Weather Line, hit #12 in the App Store
(11:09) Weather Line’s Super Forecast
(16:21) Networking with famous app bloggers as a growth hack; the “reply guy”
(34:41) The fine line between zero tracking and anonymous tracking.
(44:31) Integrating customer feedback into your app; user studies.
(46:22) Ryan’s controversial opinion on customer support.
Follow Us:
David Barnard: https://twitter.com/drbarnard
Jacob Eiting: https://twitter.com/jeiting
Ryan Jones: https://twitter.com/rjonesy
Quotes:
“When I talk to people about apps… the first thing that they say is, ‘What makes…
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Mar 10, 2021
How to Pitch Your App to Tech Journalists — Ed Zitron, EZPR
Our guest today is Ed Zitron, the founder and CEO of EZPR, a media relations company based in San Francisco. Ed has worked with everyone from drone-maker Skydio to game-maker PUBG to app-maker SmartNews. He has a unique approach to media relations and is quite effective at helping his clients get results.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
(4:41) Why PR is so much more difficult these days; Facebook; Cambridge Analytica; Theranos.
(11:37) Joanna Stern may be the best tech journalist working today; The Verge; Engadget.
(12:55) Does cold emailing tech journalists still work?; DoNotPay.
(16:42) How to pitch your app to a tech journalist; Sarah Perez.
(18:38) Getting press coverage in large vs. niche publications; catering to journalists’ interests; Skydio.
(26:40) Make it super easy for tech journalists to write about your app; hero images.
(27:57) You should hire a PR agency if you truly have a special app; Wyze; Meater.
(30:04) Don’t waste money on a press release—you…
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Feb 17, 2021
Pioneering a New Genre of Audio App — Faye Keegan, Dipsea
Our guest today is Faye Keegan, co-founder and CTO of Dipsea. Part technology company and part story studio, Dipsea is the first audio platform for women's sexual wellness. Prior to founding Dipsea, Faye spent time at Neighborly as a software engineer and Bridgewater as an investment associate. With a background in economics and investment analysis, Faye isn’t your typical startup CTO.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
(4:16) The growing popularity of audio as a medium; Headspace; Calm.
(11:21) Building a content library for a SaaS app; content analytics; Elevate.
(17:00) The challenges of building a sexual wellness app for the app stores; HBO’s Game of Thrones; the Showtime app.
(22:59) Dipea’s tech stack; Firebase; RevenueCat.
(34:29) Scaling a SaaS app team; hiring for different strengths and a shared product vision.
(36:55) How Dipsea is expanding into new uses cases: self-improvement and sleep.
(38:28) User engagement; getting feedback from users on what to build…
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Feb 2, 2021
The Next Big Opportunity in Software — Eric Crowley, GP Bullhound
Our guest today is Eric Crowley, a tech investment banker with GP Bullhound, focusing on consumer subscription software (CSS), enterprise software, and financial technology. With investments in companies ranging from Spotify to Fishbrain, and clients such as AllTrails, Partnerize, and Motif, GP Bullhound provides transaction advice and capital to many of the leaders in the consumer subscription software space.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
(8:52) Prediction: There will be 50 more publicly-traded CSS businesses in 10 years.
(25:38) Web 3.0 is subscription-only CSS services.
(32:30) Cost structures for CSS vs. SaaS; Calendly.
(49:08) The evolving investment ecosystem: what does the future of CSS look like?
Follow Us:
David Barnard: https://twitter.com/drbarnard
Jacob Eiting: https://twitter.com/jeiting
Eric Crowley: https://twitter.com/crowxu
Quotes:
“An easy bet to make is that there will be 50 more CSS publicly-traded businesses in 10 years than there are today.”…
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Jan 20, 2021
Building a Lean Growth Machine for the World’s Largest Journaling App — Darius Mora, Reflectly
Darius Mora is the Chief Marketing Officer at Reflectly, the world’s largest journaling app. Reflectly is consistently in the top 5 Health & Fitness iPhone apps in the US, competing with companies 10X its size. Over the past 6 months, Reflectly has broadened its scope, acquiring 8 new apps in the mental fitness space.
Darius has been in the app space for almost a decade and founded 4 app startups prior to joining Reflectly in 2018. He’s been focused on ASO, free marketing, paid user acquisition, and retention for both Android and iOS apps.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
(2:58) How Darius joined Reflectly.
(4:48) How Reflectly added subscriptions and grew to 12 million users.
(13:40) 3 solutions for getting past the growth “glass ceiling;” second product-market fit.
(18:57) User retention and churn; the “leaky bucket;” Apple’s 85/15 revenue split.
(24:52) A quick and easy hack for boosting retention: add paid subscriptions.
(29:28) Split-testing strategies;…
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Jan 12, 2021
Transitioning a Free App with Millions of Users to Subscriptions — Vu Pham & Nick Robinson, Zero
Today on the podcast we have two guests from Big Sky Health: Vu Pham, who works on the product team, and his colleague Nick Robinson, Chief Business Officer.
Big Sky Health was founded to help people live healthier, longer lives with the help of technology. They are currently working on 3 apps: Zero, the world's most popular fasting app, Less, an app for more mindful drinking, and Oak, a meditation and breathing app.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
(6:07) Zero helped create the “fasting app” category.
(9:17) How Zero is scaling health advice to millions of patients; Dr. Peter Attia.
(13:13) Striking a balance between free features and paywalled premium content.
(25:44) Data tracking; long-term revenue goals and retention.
(32:38) Balancing a mission-driven mindset with paid conversions and return on ad spend.
(41:33) Business success metrics; ARR; volume vs. conversion.
(46:15) Forecasting ARR with auto-renewal status; A/B tests; churn.
Follow Us:
David Barnard: ht…
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Dec 16, 2020
Building a $100k App Business in 6 Months — Zach Shakked, Hashtag Expert
While in college Zach built Hashtag Expert, an app for finding top-performing hashtags. After growing it organically for a bit, he started doing paid acquisition and quickly scaled it to hundreds of thousands of dollars a month in revenue. You can see exactly how much Zach spent to grow Hashtag Expert to that level because he publishes an interactive dashboard that shows the past couple years of income and expenses. Zach is now writing an email newsletter on his process of building a new app business with the goal of earning $100k in profit within the first 6 months.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
(2:28) How Hashtag Expert was born.
(7:58) Reporting in Facebook ads; Zach’s ad strategy as a bootstrapped app company.
(19:40) Pricing and paywall placement experiments; the elastic demand curve; Jake Mor.
(35:10) Zach’s latest project: a meal planning app that helps with weight loss; Weight Watchers; MyFitnessPal.
(41:11) The status of the $100k app challenge 3 months in.…
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Dec 2, 2020
Performance Marketing in a Post-IDFA World — Eric Seufert, Mobile Dev Memo
Since Apple’s big announcement about upcoming privacy changes in iOS 14, mobile app developers have been scrambling to understand how these changes will affect their businesses. With IDFA effectively dead in the water, developers will no longer be able to use device-level attribution and high-resolution tracking to send targeted ads to their users. So what can they do?
In this week’s episode, we asked mobile marketing expert Eric Seufert for his take. Eric has had quite a career in mobile. From VP of user acquisition at Rovio to his recent consulting projects with subscription app companies, Eric has a depth and breadth of experience with mobile apps and games that few can match. He’s also a prolific writer. He wrote a book on freemium economics and has written hundreds of insightful articles on his site Mobile Dev Memo.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
(1:07) Managing user acquisition at Rovio; freemium app dynamics at scale.
(6:30) Why it’s hard to determine the effe…
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Nov 18, 2020
Hot Takes — The New App Store Small Business Program
In This Episode
Apple recently shocked the App Store developer community with news that small developers with revenue of less than $1M per year will pay a commission of 15% instead of 30%. Within hours of the news dropping, David and Jacob recorded this episode with the hottest of takes, exploring what this means for the future of the App Store.
Here's what we cover in the episode:
(1:32) Is this a good thing or a bad thing? (For once, David takes the cynical view!)
(4:39) 97% of developers using RevenueCat qualify for the program.
(7:13) What this means for ad spend, CAC, and LTV ratios.
(9:26) Doing the math: How much of a difference can this really make?
(14:16) 97% of developers are affected by this change — representing only 5% of all App Store revenue.
(18:56) What happens if you cross the $1M revenue threshold?
(26:00) The $1M “magic number”; the 85/15% split.
(36:35) How Apple could help different types of businesses succeed in the App Store; Kindle.
Follow Us:…
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Nov 13, 2020
Taking a Fitness App to Y Combinator and Beyond — Jake Mor, FitnessAI
Starting a mobile-first subscription app business can be tough — there are a lot of decisions to make. Should you bootstrap or raise investor funding? How will you classify your business? When is the right time to monetize your app?
Fortunately, you don’t have to go it alone! One of the best ways to chart your course is to learn from the experiences of developers who’ve been through the process before. And one of the best ways to do that is to go through an accelerator like Y Combinator.
This week, David and Jacob caught up with Jake Mor to find out how he navigated the process of building a subscription app from the ground up. Jake is the founder of FitnessAI, an app that builds personalized weight lifting plans to help people achieve their goals without having to hire a personal trainer. The app was released in early 2019 and quickly grew to over $85k in MRR! Based in part on that growth, FitnessAI was accepted into the Y Combinator Winter 2020 batch and raised a seed round c…
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Oct 30, 2020
The Trillion-Dollar Subscription App Opportunity — Nico Wittenborn, Adjacent
We’re at an interesting point in the evolution of the subscription app ecosystem. Mass adoption of smartphones, consumers’ increasing willingness to pay for digital services, and a better business model — Personal SaaS — are all coming together to create a huge opportunity for mobile-first subscription app developers. Just how big is this opportunity?
(Full disclosure: Nico is so bullish on the future of subscription apps, he recently invested in RevenueCat!)
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
(4:10) The formula for a breakout SaaS business: engaged users.
(5:00) Stickiness, engagement, and churn: B2B SaaS vs. consumer app businesses.
(6:56) Identifying nascent markets before they become mainstream; meditation apps (Headspace & Calm).
(14:00) The lines between consumer and business use cases are getting blurry.
(19:51) We’re in the early stages of figuring out subscription app pricing; Salesforce.
(24:46) Pricing your subscription app: balancing adoption, data coll…
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Oct 29, 2020
Introducing the Sub Club Podcast — Jacob Eiting & David Barnard
Welcome to the Sub Club podcast: a deep dive on building and growing subscription app businesses. Hosts David Barnard and Jacob Eiting will guide you through the ins and outs of subscription apps — sharing insider tips, predictions, and insights from industry experts.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
(00:58) Meet your hosts David Barnard and Jacob Eiting.
(05:11) Sub Club is the first podcast focused on subscription apps.
(05:15) Personal SaaS is a nascent industry.
(6:18) The first billion-dollar mobile subscription companies; Lightricks, Calm, Headspace.
(16:50) How to submit feedback and suggestions for the Sub Club podcast.
(37:19) New platforms and form factors; AR
(44:15) The “AWS-ification” of mobile app development.
Follow Us:
David Barnard: https://twitter.com/drbarnard
Jacob Eiting: https://twitter.com/jeiting
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