Hotspot Events · B2C · social events app
Build simple utility apps instead of social apps when working alone
Social app failed; utility apps passed $1M in revenue
Workedpositioning-nicheportfolio
What they did
After his first app (social, Hotspot Events) took 6-8 months and failed, concluded social apps are very hard to scale and moved to utilities and tools, which are easier for one person to scale. Advice: build something simple with one to three good features and a great onboarding.
What happened
Utility apps have since done over $1M in subscription revenue.
- Stage
- strategy
“After that first app, I quickly realized that apps that are social are super hard to scale, so I've actually moved on to utilities and tools, and these are much more easy to scale as a one-man person.”
Related topics
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More from this episode
- Payout: Screenshot 20 rival apps' onboarding into Figma and remix the best screensPaywall 'converting really well'; ~1,300 subscriptions from 12K downloads
- Payout: Offer weekly and yearly plans, and nudge people toward yearlyPaywall 'converting really well'; no conversion rate given
- Payout: Write a short data spec, then give AI your screen designs to build the appBuilt in under 2 weeks vs 6-8 months for his first app
- Payout: Get a creator who already covers your niche to promote the appDrove thousands of downloads; no cost given
- Payout: When a creator video takes off, have other creators copy it, then run them as adsBuilds a library of ads with known performance; no numbers given
- Payout: Build an app that plainly helps people make money$0 to $20K/month in about 50 days
- Payout: Check TikTok and Instagram comments for people asking about the problem, then just build