App Masters · B2B · ASO agency and app studio
Launch a good-enough app, and only finish it if downloads show up
Speaker's standing process; no numbers
Unknownvalidationasopaywall
What they did
Build a good-enough version with standard onboarding and a hard paywall and put it live. No downloads -> stop, don't build features or tune monetization. Downloads -> aim for 5-10% trial starts; if trial-to-paid is below the 30-40% industry average, it's a product problem, not a channel problem, so finish the product.
“and if if there's crickets and I'm not getting downloads, [laughter] I don't finish the product.”
“But then forcing the start trial and the if the trial-to-paid is not there, then I know I have a product problem, not a a channel problem.”
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More from App Masters
All 4 App Masters tacticsMore from this episode
- Buy an app that ranks #1 but charges $2, then add a $60/year hard paywallRevenue up from $1-2K to $8-10K a month with the same downloads
- Remove the X from the paywall so users must start a trialTrial starts doubled from 6% to 13%; trial-to-paid unchanged; some one-star reviews
- Name your new app after a keyword with ~30 searches that nobody uses in their title#1 in week one, 100 downloads a day, $1,600 first month, ~$20K MRR years later
- Pick keywords where the top 3 apps have few reviews and lack the keyword in their titleUsed to launch and buy apps that reached #1; no pooled numbers
- Green Noise App: Name the app after the keyword and use the App Store autocomplete phrase as subtitleReached #1 for 'green noise'; still #3 with little upkeep
- Target 24 more versions of the keyword you already rank #1 for, and cut Apple Ads
- Indie App Santa: Buy a profitable app with a 10-year loan and pay it back from the app's profitMoney back in 3-4 months on one purchase; example leaves ~$5K a month after loan payments
- Buy apps that already get organic downloads but earn too little or skip a channelBest buys fit this; one $18K purchase without it flopped
- Try Meta ads on a small organic app, including a hard paywallOnly ~$1 revenue per install; economics didn't work
- Send Meta sign-up, paywall-view and checkout events while still optimizing for purchasesGuest says the ad account got smarter; no numbers
- Show paid Instagram and Facebook users a paywall with no X; let organic users close itReported to perform a lot better; no numbers shared
- Switch from a closable paywall with no trial to a hard paywall with a free trialPerformed a little better; no numbers
- Rank for a niche keyword first, then climb to broader onesOutranked Canva on a keyword
- Build just the viral feature as a TestFlight and let creators film it