Cat on Chair · B2C · cat-themed focus timer app
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
Workedfounder-brandmarket-selectionorganic-social
What they did
The co-founder (girlfriend, the illustrator) already had a REDnote account showing her illustrations with some followers, so they started there: beta recruitment and early promotion happened on REDnote, making Chinese and Taiwanese users the core market. Now expanding to English/worldwide audiences.
What happened
About 3,000 downloads in the first week and a few small viral moments on REDnote; most users still come from Chinese/Taiwanese markets.
- Stage
- launch
This shipped together with other changes, so the result can't be credited to this alone.
Related topics
Get tactics like this every Monday
New tactics from the week's founder interviews, each linked to where it was said.
More from this episode
- Cat on Chair: 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
- Cat on Chair: Get your app into Instagram creators' 'favorite apps' roundup postsOne post hit 2M+ views; a Threads reshare doubled downloads and revenue overnight
- Cat on Chair: 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
- Cat on Chair: Have the cat leave a gift after a finished session, and trash if you quit
- Cat on Chair: 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
- Cat on Chair: Let users pet the cat: it meows when tapped or when you say its name