Elevate · B2C · brain training app
Email your previous app's users when you launch a new one
A small but meaningful early boost, per the cohost
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What they did
When launching Elevate, the team (coming from MindSnacks) sent a blast to the MindSnacks email list: 'Hey, if you're interested.'
What happened
Jacob says such small boosts are a big deal when going from 0 to 1; no numbers.
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · VC Funding vs. Bootstrapping for Subscription Apps — Martín Siniawski, Podcast App“We did that at at Elevate, coming from MindSnacks. We sent out like a blast to our MindSnacks list like, "Hey, if you're interested." And when you're in that like 0 to 1, those little boosts are a big deal.”
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 Elevate
All 5 Elevate tactics- Soft launch a rough version on Android and watch replays of every user~500 downloads a day; learned a lot without needing scale
- Make the free version thin so almost everyone has to start a trialBig jump in trial starts, but lower user affinity, per co-host
- Run sales and discount promotions once someone can own themCohost calls it a huge unlock; no numbers
- Send reminders as local notifications that users can't switch off
More from this episode
- Streema: Use Facebook app notifications to spread a radio app virallyPeaked at 130K new users a day but earned $100; Facebook shut it down
- Streema: Grow a website from long-tail Google searches when you have no budgetBecame the channel that worked; took years to kick in
- Podcast App: Switch from ads to a subscription you actually promoteCompany grew 3-4x; subscriptions now most revenue, ~130K paid subscribers
- Podcast App: Name your app after what people search for: 'The Podcast App'Cohost calls it the perfect search name; no numbers given
- Rest: Promote your new sleep app to your podcast users at night
- Rest: Notice people use your app to fall asleep, then build a sleep appRest launched; no results yet
- Podcast App: Try your own shows, curated playlists and a WhatsApp listening clubDidn't pan out as a growth leap
- RevenueCat: Email batchmates, then install your SDK in their app yourself at a coffee shopLanded early customers like Podcast App; no numbers
- Podcast App: After a YC rejection, raise from insiders, get traction, and reapplyGot into YC a year later; raised only ~$1.5M in total
- Podcast App: Size your market from the old medium's ad spend and subscribers neededMath showed a $100M/year business needed only millions of subscribers
- Luminary: Raise $100M and launch a paid app with 50 exclusive podcastsNever managed to scale