Cat on Chair · B2C · cat-themed focus timer app
Let users pet the cat: it meows when tapped or when you say its name
What they did
- Stage
- product
In their words
$18K/Month From This Ridiculously Simple App Idea
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 unique, and there's nothing quite like it in the market. So when we put everything together, Cat on Chair, it adds playfulness, personality that the competition doesn't have. Some of users shared great feedback with us. One user told us, after her cat passed away, she found a similar-looking cat in our app, and it feel like she could see her cat again.
Pat WallsWow. There's something about this that I just love. It is this app, it feels like handcrafted. It feels like a piece of art. It feels unique. Like no one else could build this app other than you and your girlfriend because of this idea that you have. I just think this is so cool. This feels like the future of software. 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 …
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More from this episode
- 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
- 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
- Get your app into Instagram creators' 'favorite apps' roundup postsOne post hit 2M+ views; a Threads reshare doubled downloads and revenue overnight
- Turn a plain Pomodoro timer into a cat game with collectible furniture and catsOver $18K in the last 30 days; 127K downloads in a crowded category
- Have the cat leave a gift after a finished session, and trash if you quit
- Give the app away free; sell pro features for $29.99 lifetime or $19.99 a yearMost sales come from the $29.99 lifetime plan
Tags: user-feedback, voice-input