Opal · B2C · screen time app
Charge $120 a year and pitch it as paying for itself in work time
Guest says it unlocked very high LTV; no figures beyond price
What they did
What happened
In their words
Buying vs. Building: Scaling Beyond a Single App — Josh Peleg, BlueThrone
David BarnardOh, yeah. Well, they raised VC, though.
Josh PelegThey did raise VC, so I'll be paying a pretty penny for it. I don't know if I can afford it. But I love this app because the design is incredible. It looks like it was built by Apple in Cupertino itself. The problem it's solving is super significant, basically helping people stay off their phones. And they've unlocked this crazy LTV. You know what they charge yearly? 120. 120 bucks per yearly. And the whole logic... I've listened to a bunch of interviews by Kenneth, the founder, is super smart. The whole logic is, they target knowledge workers and they say, "If I can reduce your screen time by 50% a week, you'll be making more money in your probably high-paying job. And that more money you're making is well worth more than the 120 bucks a year you're going to be spending on my app. So you're better off spending the money." And it works. It's a fantastic business that solves a real problem. So, Kenneth, if you're interested, come find me, but I'm also not sure I can afford you. But yeah, shout out.
David BarnardYeah. Well, I love Opal as well. I've had Kenneth on the podcast. Actually, he just emailed me this morning about our App Growth Annual conference. So this is not to take away from Opal, but let's play it out. Some of the red flags, some of the challenges in the category. Because Opal and other apps have done well, there's now a proliferation of these apps, and so there's a ton of competition in the space. How have you been thinking about a space …
Get tactics like this every Monday
New tactics from the week's founder interviews, each linked to where it was said.
More from this episode
- Buy about 100 small utility apps valued mostly on profitMany had been pumped before sale and died; shallow products didn't last
- Buy only a few apps with strong organic traffic and invest in their teamsPortfolio cut to 5 apps, each a category leader or on its way; guest says it works
- After buying a music app, hire a GM from Spotify and triple the teamMAU grew from 200K to almost 6M; still near the top of its category
- Build an in-house team making cheap UGC TikTok videos for the appsFirst viral video took 6 months and several people; gets faster with practice
- Sell mugs, t-shirts and hoodies to a game's biggest spenders
- Sell power-ups on top of the subscription, like 2x more songs nearbyGuest says it captures what each user is willing to spend; no numbers
- Build solo without VC money, then sell the app within 18 monthsSold for over $4M; deal closed in 3 months with no investors involved
- Launch a rough app, prove people pay, then build the real techHost says it's now a genuinely great app; no numbers
- Push the lifetime plan on the paywall right before selling the appKnocks down negotiations; the buyer can't monetize those users again
- Cut ad spend from $50K to $10K a month to look profitable before sellingDownloads eventually follow the drop; guest calls it riskier than pushing revenue
- Add in-app coins that people earn from ads or buy in packsApps that crack consumables reach deeper LTVs, per talks with hundreds of founders
- Before buying an app, compare its return per dollar with more ad spend
- Stack category downloads over time to see if new apps grow the marketScreen time market grew with each new entrant; buying a non-leader looked OK
- Keep a bought app separate and sell one subscription for both apps
Tags: premium-pricing, roi-framing, annual-plan