KBMH · B2C · kettlebell home workout app
Launch in 3 weeks with one program and no login screen
App approved despite bugs; grew into a 40K EUR MRR business
Workedvalidationfeature-development
What they did
Built the app for himself first, then made it usable for his wife. Learned Flutter to cover iOS and Android and launched in 2-3 weeks with one program, a timer, no videos, no login screen, and many bugs. Put effort into impressions, downloads and conversion before retention features. He also advises trying a landing page with screenshots and a waitlist button before building, but did not do that for KBMH.
What happened
Launched Sep 2024; the fast launch let him start selling and making content immediately. After three failed apps that over-built features.
- Stage
- launch
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
- KBMH: Post a workout reel every day until you hit 100, then judge~2,000 followers and a few hundred dollars after 3 months; later the base for 450K
- KBMH: Watch Brendan Kane's podcast talk and do every task in his free workbook20-40K new followers a month; single reels brought 60K and 52K followers
- KBMH: Put a few hundred dollars a month behind your best reelsPart of the 20-40K followers/month growth; not measured on its own
- KBMH: DM every new follower and sell interested ones on a Zoom callA couple hundred dollars in the first 3 months
- KBMH: Spend 3 months testing 30+ paywalls, prices and onboarding lengthsInitial conversion near 30% by end of Q1, settling ~16%; revenue reached 20-25K/month
- KBMH: Test different screenshots and app names on your App Store pageNew users 2,000 -> 6,000 per quarter with the same social traffic
- KBMH: Right after sign-in, show swipeable slides of what the app doesFounder says it worked very well; no numbers
- KBMH: Ask for an App Store rating in onboarding if users already know youTons of reviews; being moved to make room for the tracking prompt
- KBMH: Offer a free trial only on the yearly plan; monthly has noneHalf choose yearly; 50-60% of trials convert to paid
- KBMH: Give paying users a WhatsApp group where they can talk to the founderFounder says it raised conversion and retention; instant bug and UX feedback
- KBMH: When someone says they love the app, reply with the review link'Works like magic'; no numbers
- KBMH: Hire a senior developer who pushes back on your feature ideasSaved 'enormous' time and money; no numbers
- KBMH: When new users skip the paywall, show a one-time 50% off yearly offerA large share of new revenue; regular subscription revenue unaffected
- KBMH: Show the one-time 50% off yearly offer to every existing free user500+ extra yearly subs and ~25K EUR in 3 weeks, after many refunds
- KBMH: Let creators make their own link and 25%-off code for a 50% commissionMost creators ignored it; active ones earned only $200-300/month
- KBMH: Engage with creators for 3 months, then pay them monthly for a weekly post4 creators signed; likely drive more revenue than tracking shows
- KBMH: Run a plain white image with one line of text as your adCPA about 5x lower than abs-and-promises ads
- KBMH: Turn your best organic reels into Meta adsSomewhat profitable, but well behind the plain text ads
- KBMH: Drop lookalike and interest targeting and let Meta pick the audienceBroad worked much better; lookalikes and men 35+ didn't work
- KBMH: Test 5 new ads a week for installs, then move winners to a sales campaignKeeps testing affordable; not every install winner converts on purchase
- KBMH: Tell Meta every trial start or purchase is a 25 EUR saleAds profitable within 7 days; trial-to-paid stayed stable
- KBMH: Track ads in a daily sheet, subtracting your usual organic sales firstShows ads profitable within 7 days; month on track for 100K EUR
- KBMH: Add web checkout so ad money comes back faster than App Store payouts
- Price at $9.99, $14.99 or $19.99, not odd amounts like $12.49Rounded prices tend to perform better in App Masters' data; no numbers