Subscription League

Despite a lot of doom and gloom out there about the slowdown of VC investment and how start-ups need to brace for the impact, smart and well-disciplined investors are still looking for home runs, and funding opportunities are still available for the best subscription app companies. In this episode with Eric Crowley, partner at GP Bullhound, we talk about Consumer Subscription Software Flywheel, the investment north star that defines the main attributes of a successful CSS.Then we talk about how subscription apps can maximize investors’ attention by Building a paradigm-shifting Consumer Subscription Business Paring UX and UI with high-quality content and proprietary dataTargeting a nicheThinking as a third-partyListen to the episode to find out more about the investor’s inside scoop.For noteworthy quotes and key takeaways from the episode, read the article -  What venture investors look for in subscription apps with Eric Crowley (GP Bullhound).Episode Topics at a GlanceConsumer Subscription FlywheelWhat GP Bullhound look for in a companyUX and UKThe role of premium content and proprietary dataSuccess examplesHow to be the king of a niche GP Bullhound’s eventsMore about Eric CrowleyEric is a Partner at GP Bullhound, focusing primarily on M&A, Capital Raises, and Advisory transactions with expertise in consumer subscription software, tech-enabled agencies and ad-tech.  Over his career, he has completed transactions totaling over $3 billion in enterprise value. Prior to GP Bullhound, Eric served as an executive at a software start-up where he focused on financial management and driving growth. In addition, Eric worked at Lazard and Antares Capital focusing on middle market transactions.In addition to his CPA, Eric has an MBA from the University of Chicago and a B.S. degree from Xavier University.Eric Crowley’s LinksEric Crowley’s LinkedIn profileCSS Spinning the CSS flywheel to delight consumers.Medium.com articles by Eric CrowleyTechcrunch article - Taking consumer subscription software to the great outdoorsTimestamps00:20 Introducing Eric Crowley and GP Bullhound01:08 Consumer subscription flywheel03:35 What GP Bullhound looks for to invest in companies05:13 The importance of UX and UI06:55 The role proprietary data takes in building a business mode08:41 Transitioning from founder-backed to venture-backed companies11:20 Post-pandemic subscription net businesses12:59 Examples of creative ways to engage consumers15:01 Will the Winner-Take-All trend continue?16:56 Best success stories18:24 The digital to analogue transition19:28 Should funders worry about reaching specific APIs?21:03 Consumer subscription software conference23:10 Where to learn more about GP BullhoundTrancriptEpisode production by Mobdesign: https://podcasts.mobdesignapps.fr

With his background as a software engineer and app productization expert, Sunny Dulay was inspired by his personal journey with Headspace, a meditation app, and founded an app development and management studio, Breakthrough apps. Breakthrough is dedicated to helping fitness coaches to productize their coaching into an app. Since its birth, the company has been growing exponentially, with a one-of-a-kind business model that sets itself apart from app aggregators.Breakthrough and its clients come together on a mission to productize fitness activities by bringing in complementary assets: coaches bring in their brand and community, and Breakthrough provides the technology and app business know-how.Breakthrough is a business enablement platform similar to Shopify. Instead of presenting multiple services/coaches in a single place, it provides an infrastructure for coaches to monetize and productize their service within their unshared and exclusively branded digital space.Listen to hear about  The founder’s vision and lessons learned from the world of health and fitness appsHow the company was founded and where it is goingTips on how to onboard an existing community onto an appImportance of brand awareness and communityFor noteworthy quotes and key takeaways from the episode, read the article - Company Spotlight: Health and Fitness App Productization Platform, with Sunny Dulay (Breakthough)Episode Topics at a GlanceSunny Dulay's background and introductionBreakthrough Apps founding journeyBreakthrough’s business modelWhat Breakthrough looks for when partnering with a new coach/influencerDifference between Breakthrough’s offerings and an aggregatorSunny’s learning from the fitness spaceCommunity onboarding tacticsMore about Sunny DulaySunny Dulay is the Co-founder and CEO of Breakthrough, an App Builder for Wellness Coaches. He is an experienced software engineer, product manager & sales manager. Based on his personal life-changing experience with a single coach-based app, Sunny is a believer in on-demand personality-based coaching through an app. His mission is to help coaches around the world productize and scale their coaching business with an app. The Breakthrough team helps coaches in wellness niches like Yoga, Meditation, Fitness, Nutrition & Sports launch & grow their apps. The Breakthrough platform has generated $2M+ for coaching apps. Sunny lives in NYC!Sunny’s LinksAbout BreakthroughStretch App Launched by BreakthroughWellness coach and want to launch or grow your app? Get in touch to make your appContact SunnySunny’s LinkedInTimestamps00:21 Sunny Dulay background and introduction 02:40 The journey of founding Breakthrough Apps 06:36 Breakthrough Apps business model and money flow 07:31 Do you have examples of similar businesses? 08:13 Advantages of a brand and community before launching 10:43 Coaches' communities: engagement and retention 12:30 Sunny's strategy for the revenue split 13:28 What criteria are you looking for in coaches? 15:14 How can you shine compared to an aggregator? 18:47 Sunny's tactics to connect coaches and their community 22:10 App store fees vs self-store investment 24:09 Sunny's learnings frEpisode production by Mobdesign: https://podcasts.mobdesignapps.fr

Named to TIME‘s list of the 100 Most Influential Companies of 2022, Together Labs is a Silicon Valley-based 3D social networking company that innovates technologies empowering people worldwide to connect, create and earn in virtual worlds. Jenny Pollock, Lead Subscription Monetization Manager at Together Labs, is involved in every aspect of interlocking subscriptions and revenue optimization, driving IMVU, the emblematic brand of the company, to the world’s largest friendship discovery and social metaverse platform with more than 7M MAU.In this episode of Subscription League Podcast, we sit down with Jenny to talk about her advice on how app developers and marketers can leverage quantitative and qualitative user research to guide the product roadmap and monetization strategy. Listen to the full episode to find out about her 4-step user research framework and all her pro tips on user research. For noteworthy quotes and key takeaways from the episode, read the article - Leveraging user research to maximize subscription app monetization with Jenny Pollock (Together Labs).Episode Topics at a GlanceWhat does Together Labs do? Day in the life of a lead subscription monetization manager at Together LabsSubscription tiers and user personas of IMVU explainedThe value of listening to your community User research: qualitative vs quantitative Jenny's four-part framework for user research Advice to start-ups for managing data How to have great user interviews More about Jenny Kay PollockJenny Kay Pollock leads monetization at Together Labs, where she focuses on strategies that help keep IMVU a top 5 social app by spending in the US. Jenny routinely speaks on mobile monetization, women in the workplace, and building a tech career. She has published on these topics in outlets like Forbes and Ellevate. Find her discussing all things tech on Twitter at @Jennykaypollock.  Jenny’s LinksUser Research Worksheet Jenny's personal website  Jenny's LinkedinJenny's Twitter  Together LabsTimestamps00:18 We're in a bedroom today! 00:50 Jenny Pollock background and introduction 01:16 What does Together Labs do? 02:12 What are your day-to-day responsibilities? 03:09 Subscription tiers of IMVU 04:20 How did IMVUA get into the top 5 social apps? 05:40 The difference between creators and regular users 07:03 Sharing revenue with the IMVU creator community 09:00 The value of listening to your community 10:05 User research: qualitative vs quantitative 11:40 Jenny's four-part framework for user research 13:00 Advice to start ups for managing data 15:21 How to have great user interviews 17:13 User research framework step #2: experiment 18:55 User research framework step #3: get creative 21:46 User research framework step #4: product roadmap 25:32 The motivation behind IMVU's VIP offering 27:27 Benefits of using this tiered model 29:00 Routing users to the right subscriptions 30:05 The value of Purchase League30:57 Wrap UpEpisode production by Mobdesign: https://podcasts.mobdesignapps.fr

Tobias Boerner, now Chief Marketing Officer & Co-founder of a Luxembourg-based app  aggregation company, Appic, has been laying a series of remarkable stepping stones in his career. The most noticeable are his achievements at LOVOO, one of the biggest dating apps in Europe which he made an exit for about $70 million, and Fastic, a five-star intermittent fasting app used by over 26M users worldwide, 92% of whom are happy customers. The Fastic app is also looked upon by many subscription apps and marketers for its exemplary onboarding process and its approach to building users’ trust and satisfaction with consistent delivery of personalized experiences. For the Subscription League Podcast episode 15,  we sat down with Tobias to discuss the nitty-gritty of how the Fastic app differentiates itself from other fasting apps with its extraordinary onboarding strategy.For noteworthy quotes and key takeaways from the episode, read the article - All about subscription app onboarding with Tobias Boerner (Appic)Episode Topics at a GlanceWhat is Fastic app AboutFastic app’s onboarding explainedWhat is the ideal onboarding experienceDos and Don’ts for onboardingOnboarding strugglesKey numbers to benchmarkPaywall or no paywall during the onboardingMore about Tobias BoernerTobias is a serial entrepreneur and Angel Investor. His passion is growth, product marketing and UX/UI. In his previous roles as a CMO and Co-Founder of LOVOO, Tobias was part of 2 exits worth 70M$ and 500M$.After this almost 10-year journey in the dating environment, he started a new chapter as co-founder and growth officer for Fastic and helped them grow into one of the leading brands for well-being. Besides his passion for marketing, Tobi has made it his mission to be ahead of the times in market developments in the tech environment. With Admiral Studio he founded a collective in the NFT & Web3 space. Tobi is the CMO & Co-founder of App Aggregator Appic since 2022 where he is building a powerhouse for global mobile apps.Tobias Boerner’s LinksTobias’ LinkedinAppic’s official websiteFastic - world's leading fasting appWorld's first web3 marketing platformTimestamps00:21 Welcoming Tobias Börner 00:52 LOVOO: dating app 01:19 Fastic: fasting and health app 02:57 Epic.io: investment and benefits 03:40 Why is there a long onboarding process for Fastic? 05:39 Purpose of the onboarding categories 08:02 What is the ideal onboarding experience? 08:35 Response to very heavy onboarding flow 09:20 Other apps that inspired Tobias 09:54 Absolute don'ts for onboarding 11:28 Advice and tips for onboarding 12:45 Tobias' main struggles with designing onboarding 13:55 Onboarding without A/B testing 14:59 At what point do you not invest much effort anymore? 16:01 The expected effect of good onboarding 16:52 What % does good onboarding convert at? 17:25 The uplifting effect of good onboarding 19:30 Do you recommend a paywall in onboarding? 22:21 Did you run into bugs that helped? 24:01 Counterintuitive learning from TobiasTranscriptEpisode production by Mobdesign: https://podcasts.mobdesignapps.fr

We are steering down the barrel of recession, but consumers’ appetite for subscriptions will likely continue to develop, and an increasing number of subscription businesses will share the pleasure. Subscriptions account for 82% of revenue regenerated on average by non-gaming apps. In the U.S., the annual spending on top subscription apps in the Apple App Store increased by ⅓ over a year, reaching 6 billion in 2021. Revenues on Google Play also rose a massive 78% to reach 2.5 billion the same year. What’s driving the rise of Subscription models?For consumers, it promises lower barriers to entry, convenience to purchase, and access to novel and curated content.For app businesses, it promises monetization and security.Despite the proven benefits, there are still many challenges that apps struggle with such as the notorious “subscription fatigue.”Listen to the full episode to learn about the state of the subscription economy, and success strategy recommendations by Peggy Anne Salz, a leading mobile marketer, and the chief analyst and founder of MobileGroove.For noteworthy quotes and key takeaways from the episode, read the article - The Subscription Model - the state, benefits, and success tips by Peggy Anne Salz (MobileGroove)Episode Topics at a GlanceThe state of the Subscription EconomyDealing with Subscription fatigueBenefits of Subscriptions How Subscription Apps can rise above challengesExample of SpotifyMore about Peggy Anne Salz As the chief analyst and founder of MobileGroove — a top 50 ranked destination providing analysis, custom research, and strategic content marketing to the global mobile industry, and mentoring and consulting to tech startups — Peggy Anne Salz is recognized as one of the leading experts shaping the mobile world. Peggy is also a nine-time author, a frequent Forbes contributor and guest contributor for a variety of leading media outlets — including Harvard Business Review — where she shares her insights on mobile marketing, mobile apps, customer engagement, and business innovation.Peggy produces podcasts, videos, webinars, and blogs to equip mobile marketers with best practices and growth strategies to power campaigns, brand storytelling, and user engagement. She is also the Chief Content Officer of MMA Germany.Peggy Anne Salz’s LinksPeggy’s Linkedin ProfilePeggy’s Twitter Peggy’s YouTube ChannelMobile Presence PodcastPeggy’s Author page on ForbesOther social media and contentMMA GermanyTimestamp00:22 Peggy Ann introduction01:11 Potential upcoming subscription trends02:12 Key points about the subscription economy05:20 Good examples of subscription apps07:51 How to connect with your customers10:42 Dealing with subscription fatigue13:24 What are psychographics?17:40 What's the power behind value graphics?20:10 Why are subscriptions so successful?22:00 Benefits to subscription apps26:24 Must-haves for subscriptions28:52 Your brand and retaining subscribers32:55 Peggy's book Episode production by Mobdesign: https://podcasts.mobdesignapps.fr

Learn about the importance of a growth mindset in business and how to shift to it. Discover the role of the head of growth, understanding customer motivations, and selecting the right North Star metric. Explore a case study on transforming a nightlife app to increase usage. Uncover the impact of customer conversations and the value of informal conversations and learning from failures in business growth.

Luni’s journey as an app empire started out only about four years ago as developers of utility apps such as Scanner. Their business extended to creativity and wellness apps, including Fitness Coach(wellness), Omada(social sports betting), Meditation Nest(wellness), and Photo Studio(creativity). Luni boasts all together over ¼ million daily downloads. The company’s success is essentially based on providing gratifying app content and continuous improvement through frequent testings and optimizations. Luni is also a big advocate of influencer marketing. About 60% of Luni’s users are based in the United States.Adrien's secret recipe for starting from scratch to reach success?Have a well-made application with good, fresh, and content, engaging content - it’s the basics.Kick off with paid traffic to gain the first user base. This will help generate data to leverage for future testings and optimizations.Once users start sticking around, perform frequent A/B testings on paywalls and onboardings. Use tools like Purchasley, Amplitude, and Appsflyer that allow you to achieve this efficiently.Build a branding strategy and gradually switch to targeting organic traffic. Also, leverage influencer marketing.Listen to the episode to steal all the step-by-step tips for growing small apps from scratch to success!For noteworthy quotes and key takeaways from the episode, read the article -  Subscription Marketing 101: tips to drive acquisition and retention with Adrien Miniatti (Luni)Episode Topics at a GlanceLuni’s journey to becoming an app empireApple Search AdsUser acquisition strategy mixing organic and paid approachInfluencer marketingA/B testingUsing 3rd party tools like PurchasleyReasonable conversion rates to targetMore about Adrien MiniattiA passionate autodidact, Adrien Miniatti started coding at 13, recruited engineers at 19, and today spends more than 2.2 million euros per month on marketing to take the mobile applications of the Luni empire, a mobile app publisher and developer of a wide variety of applications, to the top. Adrien founded gaming studios and launched Luni about four years ago. Adrien is also an investor in several tech companies.Adrien Miniatti’s LinksAdrien Miniatti  LinkedIn profileLuni websiteLuni apps on AppStoreTimestamps00:19 Welcome and Introduction 01:05 Adrien Miniati Background 02:55 How do you approach user acquisition? 03:50 Organic User Acquisition Good and Bad 05:31 Advice for Early Start-Up 06:45 How are you building a brand? 08:25 Influencers Impact on Culture and Awareness 10:12 Converting Users to Customers with Fitness Coach 14:58 Profit and Conversion Rate 18:20 The Effect of App-Tracking Transparency 20:57 Apple Custom Code 25:09 Fitness Coach’s Development Process 30:42 Where to Learn MoreEpisode production by Mobdesign: https://podcasts.mobdesignapps.fr

BlueThrone, a leading app aggregator, started buying apps in 2021 and has grown considerably since then. Today, there are over 30 apps under the brand, and those developers they purchased apps from are free to do what they do best: create extraordinary apps.With BlueThrone is a culmination of experience, expertise and a proven record of changing the fortunes of apps, the company's CMO and Co-founder, Idan Waller, has some insider tips to share on what are the success factors that apply to all mobile apps and what the company looks for when acquiring a new app.Listen to the full episode to learn more about how the In-App Subscription model can help apps earn big and build extraordinary products. For noteworthy quotes and key takeaways from the episode, read the article -  Product market fit, Subscription Model, and Other Key Secrets of Success by Idan Waller (BlueThrone)Episode Topics at a GlanceBlueThrone’s app acquisition modelsWhat the company looks for in apps to invest inExample apps BlueThrone has grownWhy subscription apps get a higher valuationThe role of BlueThrone’s researchersMore about Idan WallerA die-hard digital entrepreneur. Idan Waller has rich experience in direct-response marketing, creating multi-million dollar funnels with the best direct marketers in the world. This led Idan to build Israel's biggest coaching company for digital-based SMB's. This business and marketing experience culminated in founding Bluethrone, with his brother and long-time business partner Alon. Bluethrone is like a VC for apps; it acquires and scales subscription app businesses. Idan Waller’s LinksBlueThrone’s free "App Valuation ToolBlueThrone WebsiteBlueThrone Linkedin PageIdan Waller's Linkedin Profile Timestamps00:22 Idan Waller & BlueThrone background 01:06 BlueThrone business model 01:56 Examples of apps grown by BlueThrone 03:49 How long do your developers stay? 04:49 What do you look for in apps you buy? 06:17 Origin of BlueThrone's 5k MMR rule 07:08 How to get on BlueThrone's radar 09:25 Things that stand out in evaluations for apps 12:00 Higher match in the evaluation process: subscriptions 15:07 How BlueThrone scales apps 16:27 Idan's "secret sauce ingredient" 19:22 Must-haves for apps that were initially overseen 22:32 Importance of BlueThrone's digital researchers TranscriptEpisode production by Mobdesign: https://podcasts.mobdesignapps.fr

In the beginning, Jodel's choice of growth model was selling traditional ad spaces because it was a more effortless and quicker option to scale as a startup. With the vision to provide advertisers with a unique experience to engage with the local community, Jodel revamped the In-App Advertising experience with In-App Purchases, simplifying the payment process and diversifying ad opportunities. Today, Jodel’s primary revenue stream comes from the combination of In-App Subscription and In-App Purchase of Consumables.  Listen to the full episode to learn more about Jodel’s journey to improve the app with new features, unexpected winners and losers in its optimization journey, and its most significant challenges today in increasing revenues. For noteworthy quotes and key takeaways from the episode, read the article -  Shifting from ads to In-App Subscription-led revenue generation with Tim Schmitz (Jodel)Episode Topics at a GlanceJodel's Hyperlocal Community and the challenges it represents Scaling with AdvertisementsCombining In-App Subscriptions and Consumables In-App Purchases Unexpected features: winners & losers User feedback and Being a user themselvesChallenges to increasing revenue and subscriptionsMore about Tim SchmitzTim is the COO and Co-Founder of Jodel. Over time he managed all functions of the company like Product, Growth, Community, Tech and Monetization. Prior to Jodel, Tim studied at ESADE Business School and worked in banking and consulting. Tim grew up with strong ties to software development due to his father who owns a software company. During his exchange semester at San Diego State University, Tim met Alessio Avellan Borgmeye with whom he founded Jodel together. Tim Schmitz’s LinksTwitterLinkedInTimestamps00:21 Presentation with Phiture 01:08 Welcoming Tim Schmitz and the Jodel app 01:33 Jodel's Hyperlocal Community and challenges it represents 04:08 Worldwide users for Jodel 04:48 Features and strategy behind Jodel's paywalls 09:31 How did you mix subscriptions and in-app purchases? 11:58 Strategy to determine what is free or purchasable 15:29 Unexpected features: winners & losers 17:13 Do you combine tests with user reviews to make your determinations? 20:39 Did you ever have a bug that became a feature? 23:35 How do you keep a pulse on feedback for hacking? 24:27 Challenges to increasing revenue and subscriptionsTranscriptEpisode production by Mobdesign: https://podcasts.mobdesignapps.fr

As a long-time fan and a collaborator of the consultancy, we invited Andy to Subscription League Podcast for the second time to draw tips for optimizing mobile app subscriptions.Andy is a Partner and Co-founder at Phiture, a multi-award-winning mobile growth agency and one of the top 100 fastest-growing agencies worldwide. If you are occasionally seeking advice on topics around subscription optimization and growth, you might already be familiar with Andy's expertise, often referred to by the In-App Subscription community. In the first episode of the podcast series, All about Retention, Andy shares some valuable insights on how to boost retention. This time, he focuses on paywall practice recommendations for the entire subscription journey and four escalating levels of subscriber intent.  For noteworthy quotes and key takeaways from the episode, read the article -  How to optimize mobile app subscription with Andy Carvell (Phiture)Episode Topics at a GlanceSubscription economy reality checkAn average number of subscriptions per personThe escalating sequence of intent Is it a good idea to offer promo codes?Growth tactics: paywall Onboarding tactics of Fastic appSetting the price for the lifetime subscription Phiture & Purchasely event details (Berlin, October 5thMore about Andy CarvellAndy has over 20 years of experience in the mobile industry. His company Phiture, is a Berlin-based mobile growth consultancy and agency co-founded in 2016 with Moritz Daan with over 110 employees. Phiture consults clients around the globe on mobile growth topics, helping them develop and implement holistic mobile growth strategies.Prior to Phiture, Andy led the user retention team at SoundCloud in Berlin. Andy published the Mobile Growth Stack in 2015, widely adopted as an essential framework for mobile marketers, which he continues to develop.Andy Carvell’s LinksTwitterLinkedInMediumSoundCloudThe Mobile Growth Stack: 2022 ReduxPhiture & Purchasely event details (Berlin, October 5th) Timestamps00:22 Introducing Andy Carvell 00:43 Andy and Phiture's background 01:30 How the subscription economy is doing 02:44 How many subscriptions does an individual user have? 04:20 Questions app publishers should be able to answer 06:33 How long it takes users to go from installation to subscription 09:38 How to interact with users 11:28 How do you pick your strategic objectives? 14:28 Escalating sequence of intent 17:40 Do you offer promo codes or discounts? 18:34 Growth tactics: paywall 22:51 Free vs premium products 24:16 Setting price for the lifetime subscription 27:23 Phiture & Purchasely event details TranscriptEpisode production by Mobdesign: https://podcasts.mobdesignapps.fr