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

Pat Walls… app blew up, you just built something really cool. People loved it. They shared it organically. They shared it through word-of-mouth. You don't hear about that as much anymore. So I'd love to talk about how did you actually come up with the idea for this, and how did you know it could be something that hundreds of thousands of people would potentially use? How'd you have the conviction to go all in on this cool Cat on Chair Pomodoro timer idea?

RyanThe idea actually came from a necklace my girlfriend made. It's a little cat sitting on a chair. I named it Cat on Chair, and I really loved the name, so I knew I had to use it to build something around it. And everyone knows cats love curling up beside you while you work. As cat owners, we especially know there are something so calming, healing about those moments. So having a cat sit on your chair while you focus just made the perfect sense. My girlfriend is a big Animal Crossing fan, so she suggest we should add some customization to the app, like different furnitures, different cats, backgrounds, so the whole experience feels more personal and give people more reasons to keep coming back.

Pat Walls… And I can see why this is popular for a certain sort of niche audience, right? That kind of likes cats, they like cute things, they want to collect different furniture like you do in Animal Crossing. So it kind of makes sense to me, but I'm still trying to understand how this thing actually makes almost $20,000 a month when it's really just a Pomodoro timer. I'm curious why this does so well when there are thousands of Pomodoro timers out there.

RyanIt'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. So a lot of best features coming from asking, how do we replicate the physical experience of having a cat in a digital app? 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? We have quotes for each cat based on their backstory and personality. Our users push us even further. 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. And definitely, my girlfriend's illustrations play a huge role in this. Her style is truly …

Pat Walls… Yes, I can use my Pomodoro timer, and it gives me utility, and I could build that in, you know, two hours with AI coding. But what AI can't do is build this like handcrafted, this experience. I don't know if you have any thoughts on that on other app ideas that you want to build or for anyone watching this that wants to build cool, unique, and simple apps, and clearly is working for you. So I don't know if you have any advice or ideas on that.

RyanI would say just start from finding an app you already using or you are generally interested in, and then go deep on your competitions. Like study all the App Store reviews, social media, everything, and then think about how you can remix features or mechanics from other industries. Games are definitely a good place to start, because they are full of elements designed to motivate and retain users. And of course, if you can find an illustrator to collab with or use AI to develop a distinctive visual style, that definitely would help to set your app apart.

Pat WallsOkay, cool. Well, thanks for sharing that. I think there's huge opportunities in this space to build playful software. I think it's super cool. So on that note, I'd love to see it. Could you give us a demo of this Cat on Chair productivity app that makes almost $20,000 a month?