Starter Story · 2026-07-26

$18K/Month From This Ridiculously Simple App Idea

Ryan, a former product designer, built Cat on Chair with his illustrator girlfriend using AI coding: a Pomodoro timer where a cat jumps on your chair while you focus and leaves a gift afterwards. First app; launched Aug 27 2025 after a REDnote beta, reached 127K downloads, ~$80K revenue in 8-9 months and $18K in the last 30 days, mainly in Chinese/Taiwanese markets. Growth came from REDnote virality and an Instagram app-collection post (2M views) reshared on Threads in Taiwan.

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7 tactics

Cat on Chair · B2C · cat-themed focus timer app

Invite dozens of REDnote followers to beta test for a month before launch

~3,000 downloads in launch week, but serious bugs remained for months

“We invited dozens of people on REDnote to beta test it. We spent about a month gathering feedback, fixing bugs, iterating on it.”

Mixedvalidationcommunity

Starter Story · 2026-07-26

Cat on Chair · B2C · cat-themed focus timer app

Launch first on REDnote, where your co-founder already has followers

~3,000 first-week downloads; a few small viral moments; users still mostly Chinese/Taiwanese

“It was mainly because my girlfriend had a REDnote account before, showing her illustrations, and so she had some followers there already. So that's where we started in the beginning.”

Workedfounder-brandmarket-selection

Starter Story · 2026-07-26

Cat on Chair · B2C · cat-themed focus timer app

Get your app into Instagram creators' 'favorite apps' roundup posts

One post hit 2M+ views; a Threads reshare doubled downloads and revenue overnight

“the app truly took off when some Instagram influencers started sharing app collection posts featuring us, and one of them exploded and hitting over 2 million views.”

Workedinfluencerword-of-mouth

Starter Story · 2026-07-26

Cat on Chair · B2C · cat-themed focus timer app

Turn a plain Pomodoro timer into a cat game with collectible furniture and cats

Over $18K in the last 30 days; 127K downloads in a crowded category

“It's really hard to innovate on the feature set of Pomodoro timers. There are already tons out there, but combining with a cat theme and the customization mechanics, we are able to add unique features that motivate people to keep using it.”

Workedpositioning-nicheproduct-activation

Starter Story · 2026-07-26

Cat on Chair · B2C · cat-themed focus timer app

Have the cat leave a gift after a finished session, and trash if you quit

“The gift collection system was just inspired by the memes of cats bringing dead mice to their owners, so we thought, why not have the cat leave a gift after a successful session and leave a trash if the session fails?”

Unknownretentionproduct-activation

Starter Story · 2026-07-26

Cat on Chair · B2C · cat-themed focus timer app

Give the app away free; sell pro features for $29.99 lifetime or $19.99 a year

Most sales come from the $29.99 lifetime plan

“It is a free app. Everyone can download it, use it. Uh but we have many pro features, and our lifetime plan is $29.99, and our annual is $19.99.”

Workedpricingpaywall

Starter Story · 2026-07-26

Cat on Chair · B2C · cat-themed focus timer app

Let users pet the cat: it meows when tapped or when you say its name

“So they wanted to actually interact with the cat, to pet the cat, so we added a meow animation that triggers when you tap on the cat or just say its name out loud.”

Unknownfeature-developmentretention

Starter Story · 2026-07-26

Numbers mentioned

Subject	Metric	Value	Quote
Cat on Chair	downloads	127K downloads approximate	“Overall, we crossed 127K downloads”
Cat on Chair	revenue Close to $80K over 8-9 months since launch	USD 80K approximate	“we made close to 80K for a span of eight, nine months”
Cat on Chair	revenue Last 30 days from April 13 (2026); 'over 18K'	USD 18K/month approximate	“In the last 30 days from April 13 to uh we made over 18K.”
Cat on Chair	downloads First-time downloads in the same last-30-days window	24K downloads/month approximate	“in terms of first-time downloads, it's around 24K downloads”
Cat on Chair	price Lifetime plan; most sales come from it	USD 29.99/one-time	“our lifetime plan is $29.99, and our annual is $19.99”
Cat on Chair	price Annual plan	USD 19.99/year	“our lifetime plan is $29.99, and our annual is $19.99”
Cat on Chair	count Family share plan can be shared with up to 6 people	6 people	“We also have a family share, which people can buy it and share with up to six people.”
Cat on Chair	share Share of sales from the lifetime plan	most sales approximate	“Most of sales come from the lifetime.”
Cat on Chair	rank Peak rank, free productivity apps, Taiwan App Store	3 rank	“at the peak, we hit rank three for free productivity apps and rank 11 for all free apps in Taiwan”
Cat on Chair	rank Peak rank, all free apps, Taiwan App Store	11 rank	“at the peak, we hit rank three for free productivity apps and rank 11 for all free apps in Taiwan”
Cat on Chair	downloads First week after launch	3,000 downloads/week approximate	“We had about 3,000 downloads in the first week”
Cat on Chair	time to milestone May 2025 start to first version ready in August; launched Aug 27	3–4 months approximate	“By August, we finally had the first version ready.”
Cat on Chair	views Instagram influencer app-collection post featuring the app	2M viewsper post approximate	“one of them exploded and hitting over 2 million views”
Cat on Chair	growth rate Downloads and revenue after the Instagram post and the Taiwanese Threads reshare	roughly doubled overnight approximate	“That chain of events essentially doubled our downloads and revenue overnight.”