RevenueCat · B2B · in-app subscription software
Ask users how they heard about you, with a free-text box
Revealed ChatGPT and Claude were sending people; read daily
Workedanalytics-attribution
What they did
RevenueCat asks sign-ups 'How did you hear about us?' with options plus free-form answers, and the CEO reads every answer daily. Suggested for apps without onboarding: show it to ~5% of users with three big buttons and an easy dismiss.
What happened
Free-text answers revealed LLMs (ChatGPT, Claude) recommending RevenueCat for in-app purchases, something they would not have thought to ask about.
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · Bootstrapping a Subscription App to 5M MAU and 2X+ Revenue Growth — Bruno Virlet, Genius Scan“you could put for 5% of users pop them a survey, and it's like, "How did you hear about us?" Three big buttons, and make it really easy to cancel.”
“That's how I learned that ChatGPT was telling people to use RevenueCat when they asked how to do in-app purchases.”
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 RevenueCat
All 9 RevenueCat tactics- Launch a mobile app with a home screen people want to screenshotAbout 100x more sightings on X overnight; mobile usage near dashboard usage
- Email batchmates, then install your SDK in their app yourself at a coffee shopLanded early customers like Podcast App; no numbers
- Start on Amplitude; add a data pipeline once product changes break your definitionsCo-host says it smoothed definition changes for data users; no numbers
- Build the product so free users cost almost nothing to supportLets the company keep a generous free tier; no numbers
- Publish a yearly benchmark report built from your customers' anonymized data
- Drop cost limits on AI features and let venture money cover inference
More from this episode
- Genius Scan: Launch free for a few days, then switch to a $0.99 paid appDownloads fell from thousands a day to 1-2; switched back to free
- Genius Scan: Keep the app free with ads; sell a one-time upgrade that removes themStarted making real money from ads; founder gives no figures
- Genius Scan: Start charging monthly for cloud backup while keeping the one-time upgradeNo customer backlash; users understood storage costs recur
- Genius Scan: Let people who paid once keep their features when you switch to subscriptions
- Genius Scan: Drop the $0.99-a-month plan and sell only the $3 oneStill ~100 purchases a day, now all on the pricier plan
- Genius Scan: Show only the yearly plan on the paywall; tuck monthly one step deeperNearly everyone switched to yearly; no numbers
- Genius Scan: Keep the button for your top paid feature on screen, not in a menuHiding it cut paywall views ~10-20% for months; putting it back restored them
- Genius Scan: Test the words and icon on the in-app banner that opens your paywallOne wording converted 2x the old one; a deliberate A/B test confirmed it
- Genius Scan: Remove outside ads from the free app, even though they paid wellFounder believes happy free users drive recommendations; no numbers
- Genius Scan: Skip the paywall at signup; show it only when someone taps a paid featureFree users convert over time and recommend the app; no numbers
- Genius Scan: Answer every support email yourselves and build what people ask for repeatedlyFounders say it gives the best pulse on problems; no numbers
- Genius Scan: Beat the phone's built-in scanner with better scans and auto-export to DropboxGrowth never stalled when Apple added native scanning
- Genius Scan: Tune App Store name and ratings but skip paying for search adsTop five for 'scanning'; can't pass rivals who buy Apple ads
- The Grizzly Labs: Hire only when founders are overloaded, and pick people who work independently10 people, little management needed and low turnover
- RevenueCat: Check 5-10 key numbers every morning, with 30- and 90-day averages30-day above 90-day means healthy; no outcome reported