Cat on Chair · B2C · cat-themed focus timer app
Turn a plain Pomodoro timer into a cat game with collectible furniture and cats
Over $18K in the last 30 days; 127K downloads in a crowded category
Workedpositioning-nicheproduct-activationretention
What they did
Instead of competing on timer features, themed the app around cats: a hand-illustrated cat jumps on the chair while you focus. Borrowed Animal Crossing-style customization (different cats, furniture, animated backgrounds) bought with rewards from sessions, gave each cat quotes based on its backstory and personality, and used the co-founder's distinctive illustration style. Guiding question: how to replicate the physical experience of having a cat in a digital app. Ryan advises studying competitors' reviews and remixing mechanics from games.
What happened
App reached 127K downloads and over $18K in the last 30 days despite thousands of Pomodoro timers existing; hosts credit the handcrafted design for the organic sharing.
- Stage
- product
“It'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.”
“My girlfriend is a big Animal Crossing fan, so she suggest we should add some customization to the app, like different furnitures, different cats, backgrounds, so the whole experience feels more personal and give people more reasons to keep coming back.”
“think about how you can remix features or mechanics from other industries. Games are definitely a good place to start, because they are full of elements designed to motivate and retain users.”
Related topics
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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: 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
- 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: 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