B2C · workout tracker app

How Liftbear grows

4 tactics and 3 figures from 1 interview.

Liftbear was a lifting and workout tracker an indie developer built for himself during a 12-month break from his job. It launched with no audience into a crowded category, and neither new features nor paid and store-listing marketing got it moving. He dropped it for HabitKit, which outsold it within a month.

Liftbear was built and shipped on iOS and Android within two months, with almost no followers and no marketing; it got about 100 downloads in its first week, then about 10 a week.Liftbear
Over the next six months the developer added features, worked on the store listing and tried Instagram and Apple Search Ads; Liftbear made about $100 in total and he stopped work on it.Liftbear
With six months of runway left, he built HabitKit on a two-month deadline; its first month beat Liftbear's six months combined, and it then made about $1.5K a month.HabitKit
He had set one goal for the year, living off his apps, and missed it, returning to his old employer with a raise; HabitKit later became his main business.Liftbear

Summary written 2026-10-08 from the tactics below. Figures are as founders stated them.

About Liftbear

What it is: Fitness/lifting tracker, Sebastian's first app
Launched: 2022
Team: Solo founder
Funding: bootstrapped
Outcome: About $100 revenue in its first six months; founder moved on to HabitKit

As described in the interviews, not independently verified.

Liftbear's 4 tactics

Liftbear · B2C · workout tracker app

Quit your job for exactly 12 months on savings; go back if you can't live off it

Missed the bar; went back to the old job with a raise, and the app took off later

Saved enough to live for at least a year, had no kids or loans, and knew a senior developer in Germany could easily get a job again. Timeboxed the indie experiment to exactly 12 months (April to April) with one success condition: reach ramen profitability (income he could live on). Left the employer on good terms so returning was an option.

Mixedfinancingvalidation

Sub Club by RevenueCat · 2024-06-26

Liftbear · B2C · workout tracker app

Build a workout tracker for yourself in 2 months and ship it

About 100 downloads in week one, then about 10 a week

With no strong idea, picked an app that didn't meet his own needs (a fitness/lifting tracker, a category with countless competitors) just to start moving. Built and launched it on the App Store and Google Play within the first two months of the indie year rather than polishing for 12 months. Launch had no audience behind it: few Twitter followers and no marketing.

Failedvalidationpositioning-niche

Sub Club by RevenueCat · 2024-06-26

HabitKit · B2C · habit tracker app

Drop the app that isn't growing and build a new one in 2 months

New app's first month beat the old app's six months combined

Rather than keep reviving Liftbear, started HabitKit as an experiment with a strict two-month build deadline, with six months of runway left. HabitKit's concept: a grid of colored tiles per habit. He had tried a web version years earlier and dropped it because habit tracking felt native to mobile.

Workedvalidationportfolio

Sub Club by RevenueCat · 2024-06-26

Liftbear · B2C · workout tracker app

Keep adding features and try ASO, Instagram and Search Ads on a flat app

About $100 total revenue in six months; dropped the app

After the quiet launch, kept building because he used the app daily: statistics, new exercise types. Alongside, optimized the store listing (ASO), tried Instagram marketing/ads and Apple Search Ads. Ran this for about six months.

Failedfeature-developmentaso

Sub Club by RevenueCat · 2024-06-26

Liftbear by the numbers

Metric	Value	Context	Said in
downloads	100 downloads/week approximate	First week after launch	Sub Club by RevenueCat 2024-06-26 21:46
downloads	10 downloads/week approximate	Weekly downloads after the launch week	Sub Club by RevenueCat 2024-06-26 21:46
revenue	USD 100 approximate	Total revenue over the first ~six months after launch	Sub Club by RevenueCat 2024-06-26 23:27

Topics

Validating an app idea before building3 Running a portfolio of apps1 Bootstrapping vs raising money1 Apple Search Ads and paid search1 App Store optimization (ASO)1 Meta ads for apps (Facebook and Instagram)1 Instagram marketing for apps1 Picking a niche and positioning an app1

Interviews

From Corporate Web Developer to Full-Time Indie Hacker — Sebastian Röhl, HabitKit · Sub Club by RevenueCat · 2024-06-26