Savvy Navvy · navigation app for boats
Put your app in one standout boat maker's dashboard, then announce it
Many more manufacturers came asking than expected; now a B2B business
Workedpartnershipspr-launchevents
What they did
Walks every boat show without paying for a stand (stands are priced per boat-meter). Met Arc Boats, an LA electric wake boat maker building its helm from scratch, and partnered to supply charts and navigation tech for its helm display. Put out a press release. Followed up with boat builders and new marine electronics makers who build their own software stack or want a customizable one.
What happened
Many manufacturers the company didn't know were building new systems came inbound; now works with boat builders and marine electronics makers. B2B was doing roughly $2M+ a year by 2025 per the host.
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · Why He Crowdfunded Millions Instead of Raising VC — Jelte Liebrand, Savvy Navvy“We obviously did a press release on it, and so many people who we didn't even know were building new things because obviously, that's their R&D, and so it's not necessarily public yet, started to come to us going, "Hey, we like some of that. Thank you very much."”
“We don't actually have a stand at the boat show. I don't think that necessarily works well for apps.”
Related topics
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More from this episode
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- 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: Include 12 months of the app with new boats, paid for by the boat makerFounder says it feeds a consumer-to-manufacturer flywheel; no numbers
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- 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