Sunflower · B2C · addiction recovery app
Pitch investors with revenue growth and a future vision, not user counts
First user-focused deck failed; the revenue-and-future deck raised post-YC
Workedfinancing
What they did
First deck led with the founder's track record (Rupa 5 to 75M, 4,000% UA growth), ~23K MAU, 762 reviews and a 1M downloads/month dream; it largely failed. Post-YC deck: a big future market, proof of product-market fit and outcomes (users staying sober), positioning within AI, a revenue chart going up (not users), and a letter of intent for a pilot to show a bigger market.
What happened
Second deck raised 'a bunch of money' post-YC; ~$6.5M raised in total.
Related topics
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More from this episode
- Sunflower: Hire the biggest creator in your niche as a salaried team member with equity50-100K link clicks a month from one creator; founder calls it the core of go-to-market
- Function Health: Get the best-known expert in your field to be the face of the companyGiven as an example of the approach working; no numbers
- Rupa Health: Ask conferences what they'd give you for double their top sponsor packageFounder says it beats small test buys: better treatment and brand effect; no numbers
- Sunflower: Launch a bare-bones first version with three features, then keep improving itUgly v1 grew into the current product; no early numbers given
- Sunflower: Start free like Duolingo, then add a monthly paywall once AI costs pile upFree model failed: investors wanted revenue and AI costs hit hundreds of thousands
- Sunflower: Add a yearly plan and pre-select it on the paywallAdding annual brought some annual revenue; defaulting to it brought 'a lot more'
- Sunflower: Default to paying now, with a toggle to switch on the free trialMade more money than the default-annual paywall; no numbers
- Sunflower: Lower your prices when your users have little moneyLower prices made more money; no numbers given
- Sunflower: Before the paywall, promise to remind people before their free trial ends+48% revenue, +70% annual revenue, +46% trial conversions, +30% trial starts
- Sunflower: Build everything around the one simple thing users do every dayTimer is the most important feature; AI chat alone had poor retention
- Sunflower: Let the in-app AI coach follow up on its own and reply in the community4M+ messages handled in a year; users say it saved their lives
- Sunflower: Put in your own money, then ask people you made rich to invest$100K of own money plus ~$350K from his network after years of no funding