Practitioner pattern · Josh Peleg (Heads M&A at BlueThrone, an app acquirer he pitches as a buyer for founders during the episode)
Once a TikTok works, spin up 20 to 100 more videos on the same idea
Buyers value a repeatable viral machine over one-off hits; no numbers given
What they did
In their words
Josh Peleg - $172M of App Building Advice in 50 Minutes
Josh Peleg… and you're trying to measure the impact of your TikToks on top of that. It can be very, very difficult. I don't think there's a there's a right answer here, to be honest with you. It kind of depends on how you value it. My personal take at the moment is I want to know what you're spending on on TikTok, and I want to know what you think, give or take, downloads it's bringing in, and how the videos perform. You know, a question I always ask
Josh Pelegwhen I'm trying to analyze an app and understand like how this business is working holistically is this: I don't want to know the last video that went viral. I want to know the machine you've built to replicate it. How often are you going viral? How quickly can you re-do a do a creative? How quickly, once a creative works, can you start spinning up 20, 50, 100 videos on the same creative? Like, that's the actual question. It's like what machine have you built to try and replicate this time and time again?
Joseph ChoiAnd even if you classify it that way, then organic ASO itself is sort of a machine. It's just a machine of, you know, public perception of your app and where it's ranking in the App Store, as well.
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More from this episode
- Pitch the app as #1 in women's health instead of competing in all of healthBecame the first women's health unicorn: $200M+ raised at a $1B+ valuation
- Aim the app at first-time runners doing couch to 5K, not all sportsEarned a strong valuation; Strava bought it to reach beginner runners
- Charge $20 a month or $150 a year for a meditation app~25K downloads a month bring in over $1M a month (Sensor Tower estimate)
- Build the app around a trusted podcaster, and put his voice in the first sessionTiny download numbers earn $200K-$1M+ a month; creator-dependence makes the app harder to sell
- Run over 100 experiments a monthGuest cites it as part of what made it a top health app; no direct numbers
- Buy a beginner running app so new runners later move up to your app
- Buy a viral food-scanning app for its knack for pulling in new users
- Sell the app again after its growth has already slowedResold for over $100M less than the $475M paid five years earlier
- Buy apps that already found fans, then add a full team to grow themWorked really well, per the guest; no portfolio numbers given
- Buy apps that get lots of downloads but lose users, then fix the productA couple of such deals brought outsized returns for founder and buyer, per the guest
- If you charge under $10 a month, test $20 on 10-20% of users
- Use weekly plans for apps people need for a short time, like datingWorks well in dating and follower-tracking apps; fine for cash flow, weaker for an exit
- Pick a buyer type, study its last 5 deals, and start talking a year earlyGuest's favorite deals came from founders he'd messaged with for ~12 months
Tags: tiktok, creative-iteration, viral-machine