BlueThrone · B2C · app buying and growth studio
Sell off dozens of simple apps and focus on 3-5 deep ones
Guest says far more effective; simple scanner apps had too few growth levers
Workedportfolio
What they did
Portfolio had 50+ shallow apps (QR code scanners, PDF scanners) where there were few levers to double revenue in 30 days. Sold them all and restarted with 3-5 'deep' apps that have multiple use cases and levers (e.g. dating apps: matching algorithm, UI/UX, soft currencies, pricing, packages).
What happened
Doubling down on 3-5 apps judged far more effective than 50+; company has since doubled ARR year over year.
- Effort
- 50+ apps owned before the switch
“Bluethrone used to have over 50 apps, and we actually sold them all and we started again, because we realized doubling down in 3, 4, 5 apps is way more effective than having 50 plus.”
“We ended up buying apps that were quite shallow products, things like QR code scanners and PDF scanners.”
Related topics
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More from BlueThrone
All 10 BlueThrone tactics- After buying a music app, hire a GM from Spotify and triple the teamMAU grew from 200K to almost 6M; still near the top of its category
- 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
- Buy about 100 small utility apps valued mostly on profitMany had been pumped before sale and died; shallow products didn't last
- Buy only a few apps with strong organic traffic and invest in their teamsPortfolio cut to 5 apps, each a category leader or on its way; guest says it works
- Build an in-house team making cheap UGC TikTok videos for the appsFirst viral video took 6 months and several people; gets faster with practice
More from this episode
- BlueThrone: Pay half at closing and guarantee the other half 12 months laterLets them offer a higher price because their risk is lower; no numbers
- Redesign the subscription offer and A/B test it hard after buying an appFree-to-paid conversion rose 'massively'; no exact figures
- Redo the store listing and launch in new countries after buying an appMonthly users grew from 200K to 5M, alongside other changes
- Add streaks, daily login rewards and game elements to the core appDay-7 retention rose from 18% to 34%, and is higher today
- Buy your first app through a broker instead of cold-emailing developersDirect outreach got no replies; the broker deal closed with a motivated seller
- Buy an app at about 3x yearly earnings with a loan its income coversJust closed: ~$350K, ~$5K/month payments vs ~$10K/month earnings
- Grow on App Store search and Apple Ads alone, one main keyword plus long-tailBuilt an app that sold for about $350K without paid social
- Show the paywall before asking people to sign upSales up 52%; swapping the order was the only change
- Make separate Google Play listings, each aimed at one keywordReached about $6-7K MRR on Android alone
- Buy the company that owns the app, not just the app, to keep rankingsAvoids app transfers that can hurt keyword rankings; seller pays less tax