Practitioner pattern · Thomas Petit (Thomas Petit client that requires 2x immediate return on paid, Thomas Petit marketplace client with lopsided categories, VC-backed startup where Thomas first ran the whole budget)
Before buying ads, check your goal, cash you can lose, and revenue per install
Under $1 per US install on a subscription app, paid won't work
Workedpaid-socialvalidation
What they did
Three checks before any paid UA: (1) the real goal, dug into with repeated 'why' - minimum return per dollar and time frame, or non-return goals like velocity, critical mass, market share or marketplace balance; (2) cash availability - only gamble what you can afford to lose, since learning periods and payback delays are common; (3) current revenue per install by country and platform, noting the source mix (featured traffic lowers it, high-intent search traffic inflates it). Rules of thumb: under ~$1 per install in the US on a subscription app won't work; $0.20 has no chance; ~$1 can work for some games or cheap Android markets like Pakistan, Indonesia, Egypt.
What happened
In some cases the check says don't even try; it avoids bad surprises.
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · What it Takes to Succeed with Paid User Acquisition — Thomas Petit, App Growth Consultant“Like so it's very relative, but so those are the three checks, like goals, cash and ARPU, revenue per install.”
“okay, if you're making less than a dollar in the states on a subscription app, it's not going to work.”
“only gamble money you can afford to lose. Maybe it's going to come back, but maybe not, and even if it comes back, it may not come back in a week”
Related topics
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