Practitioner pattern · Josh Peleg (Heads M&A at BlueThrone, an app acquirer he pitches as a buyer for founders during the episode)
Use weekly plans for apps people need for a short time, like dating
Works well in dating and follower-tracking apps; fine for cash flow, weaker for an exit
Mixedpricing
What they did
Weekly subscriptions perform well where users want the app only briefly: dating apps (people want off quickly) and Instagram follower/unfollower tracking apps used for a week after a breakup. Weekly gives cash up front, but retention-driven acquirers value it less than sticky monthly/annual revenue.
What happened
Strong in short-duration categories; not a good long-term strategy for an exit.
Related topics
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New tactics from the week's founder interviews, each linked to where it was said.
More from this episode
- Flo: Pitch the app as #1 in women's health instead of competing in all of healthBecame the first women's health unicorn: $200M+ raised at a $1B+ valuation
- Runna: Aim the app at first-time runners doing couch to 5K, not all sportsEarned a strong valuation; Strava bought it to reach beginner runners
- Waking Up: Charge $20 a month or $150 a year for a meditation app~25K downloads a month bring in over $1M a month (Sensor Tower estimate)
- Waking Up: Build the app around a trusted podcaster, and put his voice in the first sessionTiny download numbers earn $200K-$1M+ a month; creator-dependence makes the app harder to sell
- Flo: Run over 100 experiments a monthGuest cites it as part of what made it a top health app; no direct numbers
- Strava: Buy a beginner running app so new runners later move up to your app
- MyFitnessPal: Buy a viral food-scanning app for its knack for pulling in new users
- MyFitnessPal: Sell the app again after its growth has already slowedResold for over $100M less than the $475M paid five years earlier
- BlueThrone: Buy apps that already found fans, then add a full team to grow themWorked really well, per the guest; no portfolio numbers given
- BlueThrone: Buy apps that get lots of downloads but lose users, then fix the productA couple of such deals brought outsized returns for founder and buyer, per the guest
- If you charge under $10 a month, test $20 on 10-20% of users
- Pick a buyer type, study its last 5 deals, and start talking a year earlyGuest's favorite deals came from founders he'd messaged with for ~12 months
- Once a TikTok works, spin up 20 to 100 more videos on the same ideaBuyers value a repeatable viral machine over one-off hits; no numbers given