TalkingParents · B2C · co-parenting communication app
Run your main calling feature on a small startup vendor instead of Twilio
Startup couldn't scale; flagship feature broke and they moved to Twilio
Failedteam-processfeature-development
What they did
For recorded calling (the flagship feature, needing masked locations and phone numbers and stream muxing), chose a startup over Twilio to help them grow, and underestimated long-term video storage costs. The vendor could not scale, so they re-engineered onto Twilio. Similarly, building subscription management in-house was 'a debacle' with every Apple/Google change, until they adopted RevenueCat. Integrations were designed to be swappable, which made switches possible.
What happened
Problems with the flagship feature; had to re-engineer onto Twilio. In-house subscription handling was abandoned for RevenueCat.
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · From Consultancy to $10M in ARR — Vince Mayfield, TalkingParents“And we had compared them to Twilio, and we decided we're going to go back with this new startup, and we're going to help them out, we're going to work with us and go forward. But the reality is they couldn't scale with us. And so we ended up making the transition to Twilio.”
“We tried to build that ourselves, and it was a huge mistake. It was a debacle.”
Related topics
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More from this episode
- TalkingParents: Stop relying on ads and courts; charge the parents who use the appBecame the base of a ~$10M ARR subscription business
- TalkingParents: Fly a co-founder around the country to pitch judges and court clerksAbout 60% of users are now ordered onto the app by a court
- TalkingParents: Keep the website free and charge a monthly fee for the mobile appsStarted at $4.99/month; founder now thinks it was priced too low
- TalkingParents: Ask customers what they'd pay for, then build those features into paid plansEvery price rise bundled features customers had asked for
- TalkingParents: Double the price for current subscribers, but add a feature they asked forLost about a quarter of subscribers vs. half expected; some came back
- TalkingParents: Add a $24.99 plan with video calls and a set bundle of minutesAttracted less price-sensitive customers, mostly on iPhone; some couples both pay $24.99
- TalkingParents: Charge each co-parent separately, so one's video calls nudge the other to upgrade
- TalkingParents: Sell free users copies of their records for court, digital or printed and bound
- TalkingParents: Track each visitor from first site visit to paying, using your own dataFounder says it's 'paying dividends' after two years; no numbers
- TalkingParents: Host regular webinars with outside experts who also take over your social and blog
- TalkingParents: Reply to every app review with a real, caring answer, even off-topic rantsFounder says people feel heard and stay subscribed; no numbers
- TalkingParents: Swap a cheap startup transcription vendor for one that scales and bills per callCut transcription cost in half and gained features
- TalkingParents: Use your consulting firm's income to pay for building your own appTook ~6 years and ~$1M before subscriptions worked; lean times along the way