Sub Club by RevenueCat

On the podcast: estimating the revenue potential of an app, crafting an exit strategy, and why LTV is such a terrible metric.Top Takeaways:🎯 Finding the right market fit – Not all apps have billion-dollar potential, and chasing massive markets often means competing with big players. Instead, focus on markets where your app has room to stand out. By positioning yourself in a "Goldilocks zone"—big enough to scale but niche enough to avoid overcrowding—you’ll lay the groundwork for sustainable growth.📈 Portfolios over all-in strategies – Instead of putting all your effort into scaling one app, building a portfolio of smaller, successful apps can diversify risk and drive steady revenue. Portfolios give you the flexibility to test new ideas and spread your earnings across multiple use cases, avoiding the pitfalls of over-concentrating on one product.🔍 When to expand features or create a new app – Apps with focused, singular value propositions tend to attract and retain users better than those overloaded with features. Before adding more functionality, ask: Does this align with the app’s core mission? If not, consider launching a complementary app to avoid cluttering your existing product.🧪 Price testing without regrets – Effective price testing requires patience and precision. Run small tests, and use early retention patterns—such as trial-to-paid or monthly renewal rates—to model the impact on long-term subscribers. Always prepare for possible retention dips by planning worst-case scenarios to protect your bottom line.✍🏻 Set up for a strategic exit – If acquisition is your goal, build your app to be buyer-ready. Private equity and strategic acquirers look for apps with clean operations, predictable revenue, and scalable systems. Crafting a clear differentiation and avoiding operational mess increases your chances of attracting high-value offers and makes the process smoother.About Patrick Falzon👨‍💼 Co-founder of The App Shop, Patrick helps app developers build sustainable portfolios, optimize monetization, and prepare for strategic exits.📈 With extensive experience in app monetization and growth strategies, Patrick is focused on creating streamlined user experiences while identifying opportunities for sustainable scaling and market differentiation.💡 “A big market is great only if you can take a substantial or specific share of that market. If it’s so competitive that you can’t garner any market share, it’s not actually valuable to you."👋 Patrick on LinkedInResourcesThe App Shop websiteFollow Us:• David Barnard: https://twitter.com/drbarnard• Jacob Eiting: https://twitter.com/jeiting• RevenueCat: https://twitter.com/RevenueCat• Sub Club: https://twitter.com/SubClubHQEpisode Highlights[1:41] The story begins: Patrick’s career evolution — from investing in to operating at Mosaic Group.[7:59] A stand-out app: Why RoboKiller, an app for blocking spam calls and texts, stood out in Mosaic’s portfolio.[9:07] Evaluating market size: Mosaic’s framework for assessing an app’s revenue potential balances market depth with competition and user demand.[14:20] Tough markets to crack: Mosaic avoided saturated app categories (like VPNs and personal finance), due to high acquisition costs and competitive pressure.[19:36] Depth vs. breadth: How Mosaic decided whether to enhance existing apps or create new ones.[25:52] Portfolio strategies: Building a diverse portfolio of smaller apps, instead of scaling a single app, can reduce risk and increase sustainable revenue.[32:14] LTV pitfalls: Patrick stresses the importance of capping LTV projections and focusing on shorter payback periods to make realistic growth decisions.[39:20] Exit strategy: Aligning operational processes, profitability, and a clean setup improves the chances of a successful app exit.[49:12] Retain to sustain: Why user retention metrics are key to building durable, long-term revenue.[1:01:05] Good press: How Mosaic leveraged proprietary data to secure media coverage, boosting RoboKiller’s organic growth and user trust.

In this discussion, Alex Prasad, CEO of V1 Sports, shares insights on driving growth through bold strategic shifts. He reveals how shifting from a freemium to a free trial model simplified monetization and increased user engagement. Alex advises questioning outdated assumptions and using user feedback for innovation. He highlights the benefits of user segmentation in identifying key needs and outlines how transitioning free features to paid ones led to remarkable revenue growth. Ultimately, he stresses the importance of focusing on highly engaged users for sustainable success.

Joseph Choi, Founder of the Viral App Founders Community, dives into TikTok marketing secrets. He reveals how TikTok’s algorithm favors engaging content, allowing apps to gain visibility without a huge follower base. Joseph shares e-commerce strategies for creating punchy, relatable videos that resonate with audiences. He emphasizes testing ideas through TikTok before full-scale development and discusses the power of working with micro-influencers for authentic reach. Tune in for insights on making your app go viral!

Ryan Beck, Co-founder and CTO of Pray.com, shares insights on navigating the challenges of faith-based app development. He discusses strategies for reaching older demographics, emphasizing the importance of trust built through traditional TV and radio ads. Ryan highlights that a unified roadmap across teams fosters agility and collaboration. He also dives into innovative monetization strategies, combining subscriptions and ads to enhance revenue while boosting customer loyalty through empathetic engagement. Discover how technology can harmonize with faith in the digital age!

Join Eli Winderbaum, Head of Customer Experience at Captions, as he delves into the art of personalized customer support in the age of automation. He emphasizes that fast, empathetic responses can distinguish brands from competitors, boasting an impressive 58-second average response time. Eli shares insights on harmonizing AI and human agents to elevate support quality while nurturing long-term customer relationships. Discover how Captions leverages global, 24/7 support and community-driven hiring to enhance user experiences across diverse markets.

Eric Crowley, a tech investment banker at GP Bullhound, shares his insights on the resurgence of the subscription app industry. He discusses the rebound in consumer subscription valuations and the importance of generating Net Revenue Retention. Crowley explains how aligning apps with Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs enhances user retention. Additionally, he highlights strategies for apps to navigate competitive pressures from major platforms, emphasizing the need for continuous innovation and a focus on delivering long-term value to users.

Christian Selig, a passionate developer behind the Apollo app, shares insights on building meaningful applications. He discusses the importance of user engagement and the evolution of products through community feedback. Selig emphasizes that successful app development doesn't require complex processes, advocating for a flexible approach to pricing strategies and product iteration. He also highlights the value of acting on customer requests quickly, promoting a culture of reactive development to foster innovation.

Dilip Reddy, an expert in search ads optimization, shares insights on maximizing the impact of Apple Search Ads. He discusses how optimizing brand keyword bids can save costs while protecting traffic from competitors. Reddy emphasizes focusing on long-term user value instead of immediate returns, particularly for subscription apps. He also reveals the potential of discovering high-intent keywords with broad match targeting and uncovers opportunities in emerging markets like Brazil for scaling user acquisition.

Thomas Petit, an independent app consultant specializing in web to app strategies, shares his insights on the complexities of transitioning from web to app. He emphasizes that avoiding app store fees isn’t the main benefit of web2app. Instead, advantages include improved user journeys, better targeting through dual campaigns, and effective B2B billing solutions. Petit also discusses the importance of understanding user intent and leveraging various payment options, ensuring a tailored approach for different audiences.

Steven Meyers, a marketing professional at Babbel, dives into innovative offline strategies for promoting a language learning app. He discusses the potential of traditional media like radio and TV to reach lucrative, non-digital audiences. Meyers emphasizes the importance of measuring offline marketing through diverse methods and creating user-centered metrics that focus on learner success. He also challenges the effectiveness of freemium models, suggesting a hard paywall to enhance user commitment and improve retention rates.