Savvy Navvy · navigation app for boats
Include 12 months of the app with new boats, paid for by the boat maker
Founder says it feeds a consumer-to-manufacturer flywheel; no numbers
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What they did
Deals vary by model: a high-end pontoon boat comes with 12 months of Savvy Navvy paid by the manufacturer (e.g. via QR code); other deals bundle an extended trial; some get a gray-labeled flavor of the app showing boat-specific info, including in CarPlay on pontoon/entertainment boats. Manufacturers promote the app. The loop: consumers ask builders for Savvy Navvy support, builders integrate it, buyers see it on the boat as validation.
What happened
Boat builders at shows say customers ask whether their boats work with Savvy Navvy; founder describes it as a flywheel.
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · Why He Crowdfunded Millions Instead of Raising VC — Jelte Liebrand, Savvy Navvy“so either it is a case of, well, you're picking the high end of this pontoon boat, it comes with 12 months of Savvy Navvy. And so, ultimately, the manufacturer pays us for QR code or whatever it might be”
“It's like the consumer wants it. Therefore, the manufacturer wants to provide it. The manufacturer provides it. The consumer sees that and now has more validation that this is the right thing to get, and that's how that flywheel works for us.”
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More from this episode
- Savvy Navvy: Raise money from your own users through equity crowdfunding instead of VCFirst round 3x oversubscribed in 6 days; ~£1M rounds since; 2,500 investors
- Savvy Navvy: Tell crowd investors the good, the bad and the ugly in every updateWon Seedrs Entrepreneur of the Year, voted by investors; enabled repeat rounds
- Savvy Navvy: Walk the docks with a clipboard and ask every boater what bugs themShowed the problem went far beyond ocean racers; founder says it convinced him
- Savvy Navvy: Put your app in one standout boat maker's dashboard, then announce itMany more manufacturers came asking than expected; now a B2B business
- Savvy Navvy: Give boating instructors the app free and build the teaching tools they ask forInstructors send students to it first; founder says no numbers
- Savvy Navvy: Sell a two-year plan at about 30% off to get cash up frontBiggest win of the year; ad spend now paid back as soon as it's spent
- Savvy Navvy: Skip sign-up entirely and create a hidden anonymous account insteadLooked great in the test, fell apart at full rollout; support grief erased gains
- Savvy Navvy: Offer a free tier in the US but charge from day one elsewhere
- Savvy Navvy: Stop all email marketing