Sub Club by RevenueCat

On the podcast: Setting sensible goals for paid marketing, how to measure and learn from the results, and why a single ad creative can completely change the trajectory of a company. Top Takeaways 🥅 Set clear and realistic goals before investing in paid UA — and make sure you can afford to experiment. It can be tough to get to ROAS positive, and even tougher to get that return quickly. 💰 Monthly...

On this episode: balancing mission and monetization, the challenges inherent to referral programs, and why Lose It! had to abandon a big push into paid user acquisition. Top Takeaways 🆓 Excellent free products need a large user base to upsell — messaging millions of users about special offers can deliver fantastic returns. (10:32) 🚂 Extend onboarding for increased trial engagement by asking more...

On this episode: We talk with Guillem about how Hevy got traction early on, growing without paid marketing, and why you might not want to raise your price, even if customers would pay more. Top Takeaways 🏛️ When shaping your MVP, establish a clear framework to guide your product development. Particularly for small teams or those bootstrapping, maintaining a lean approach is crucial. Identify your...

On this episode: The evolution of Headspace’s freemium model, balancing mission and monetization, and why referral programs sometimes work better without incentives. Top Takeaways 💰 Don’t be afraid to experiment with gating 100% of your content . Not only can this result in a significant lift in paid users, in cases where an app requires some effort from the user (such as with meditation), gettin...

On this episode: the one small tweak that increased revenue 5X, growing an app organically, and how hiring an ASO consultant actually tanked downloads. Top Takeaways 💰 Not all problems can be solved with money, so see if you can fix your own problems internally — like team communication — before paying for external help. 💡 Highly relevant ASO keywords with lower search volumes are a better bet f...

On this episode: the trap of building for existing subscribers, incentivizing word of mouth, and why paid marketing should be an accelerant, not the foundation of your growth strategy. Top Takeaways 📱 Growth comes from focusing on product retention: Build a product users really want, creating an engaged customer base and fueling the growth loop down the line. 🗣️ ‌ Build a viral growth loop based...

On the podcast we talk with Shaun about the power of community, the importance of testing your freemium strategy, and why you might not want to offer a free trial. Top Takeaways 🎆 Understanding unintuitive power laws is the ticket to explaining — and benefiting from — explosive app growth. 🪝 Deciding what goes behind the paywall is 90% of an app’s success — but developers typically only spend 10...

On the podcast, Ariel dives into the fundamentals of ASO and how to research and optimize keywords. He also explains why ratings matter much more than reviews, and why you should never, ever duplicate keywords. Top Takeaways: 🔍 It’s not that it’s hard to get discovered with ASO — it’s that it’s hard to get discovered without doing enough ASO. Expect to spend more time exploring on the front-end,...

On the podcast, we talk with Alice Muir about how best to onboard premium users, what lifecycle optimization looks like both tactically and strategically, and how to spot users before they churn. She shares insight into why focusing on CRMs for win-back strategies is only part of the story, and the best campaigns to entice users to stick with their subscriptions. Top Takeaways: 📧 Email is good fo...

On the podcast we talk with Jason about some of Strava’s big growth wins, the importance of feature education, and whether or not all product teams should actually be growth teams. Top Takeaways 🛠 The shift in mindset that comes with "growth engineering" — it's about a greater focus on the user and a willingness to go a little faster than usual... 🌀 While chaos in an app business may be unavoidab...

On the podcast I talk with Ryan about the TikTokification of video ads, how partnerships help increase the value of premium subscription tiers, and why you should be thinking about retention, not just downloads, when working with influencers. Top Takeaways 🗣️ User acquisition can be more challenging for apps with niche audiences, which is why you should focus on channels where you can target by in...

On the podcast I talk with Sylvain about the top subscription app insights you should be thinking about, how important cohorting is when looking at growth metrics, and why good advice can turn bad if you apply it at the wrong stage. Top Takeaways 💎 In an early stage, engagement is more important than growth 💎 When looking at retention for your subscription apps, segment your users based on their...

On the podcast we talk with Lexi about data.ai’s State of Mobile report, the countries subscription apps should focus on for growth, and why things still look bright for apps despite a decline in overall spend. Top Takeaways 🕹️ Mobile app spend is down, but that may not be a bad thing 🤳 Non-gaming apps see additional growth with resilient spend ✍️ The subscription model underpins growth for non-g...

On the podcast we talk with Brennan about the challenge of building and growing kids apps in 2022, how to make effective decisions with minimal data, and why AppsFlyer had to build Sago Mini a custom SDK. Top Takeaways 🧒 Building and growing kids apps is hard 🤔 Making effective decisions with minimal data is a challenge 💕 Find the right partner to invest in solving tough challenges together — e...

On the podcast we talk about RevenueCat’s State of Subscription Apps report, all the nuance that didn’t make it into the report, and why your app landing in the bottom quartile of some metrics might not be as bad as it seems. Top Takeaways 🤔 Understand your own business model and unique leverage 📈 Consider the stage of your app when looking at benchmarks 🖐️ 5 key insights: conversions, renewals,...

On the podcast we talk with Osman about Duolingo’s culture of experimentation, data and testing as a moat, and why passive aggressive push notifications actually work in the right context. Top Takeaways 🧪 Leverage a culture of experimentation to create a top user experience 📊 Data and testing are Duolingo’s best moat 👍 Passive-aggressive push notifications might work in the right context About...

On the podcast we talk with John about the far reaching implications of the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, how app developers should be thinking about the opportunities created, and why Apple making so much money from the App Store might be bad for Apple long-term. Top Takeaways ⚖️ The EC’s DMA is set to shake things up in a big way — but how isn’t completely clear 🪟 Don’t panic, app devel...

On the podcast I talk with Dan about how to design experiments that answer the right questions, common A/B testing pitfalls to avoid, and how a simple checklist might just save your complex experiment. Top Takeaways 🍞 Conclusions from tests sometimes go stale faster than you realize 👌 Minimizing the cost of running tests will improve decision making 🤪 Check your sanity — or don’t live and die b...

On the podcast I talk with Melissa and Félix about why more apps should be more than just apps, the benefits of a hard paywall, and why a lower price might actually make you more money even if the A/B test shows it didn’t. Top Takeaways 📱 More apps should be more than just apps 💳 Hard paywalls can (and do) sometimes pay off 💵 How a price change can lead to big returns — if the quality is there...

On the podcast we talk with Jaycee about how Blinkist increased trial starts by 23%, how to balance user experience with business objectives, and why telling people how to cancel can actually lead to fewer cancellations. Top Takeaways ⚖️ Balancing ethics and business means making tough decisions, but taking a smart approach lets you master both 🤝 Helping people unsubscribe isn’t the most intuitiv...

On the podcast we talk with Eric about the largest consumer marketplace that’s ever existed, the growing exit opportunities for Consumer Subscription Software businesses, and why the CSS industry may be relatively recession-proof. Top Takeaways 👀 Simply occupying eyeballs isn’t the game plan anymore 💰The CSS space could be recession-proof 👴 The data and tooling landscape has matured, making it...

On the podcast we talk with Andrew about the journey to cash flow positive for Elevate Labs, the importance of creative, and why spending less money can sometimes be the key to figuring out paid user acquisition. Top Takeaways 📈 The journey to cash flow positive is a long one, demanding tough decisions along the way 💵 Spending less money can sometimes be the key to figuring out paid user acquisi...

On the podcast we talk with Adam about when and why to use an MMP, which subscription events to track in your analytics, and why A/B testing doesn’t always work the way you think it works. Top Takeaways 📏 Understand what your users are doing to help define — and then achieve — your goal 📈 Spreadsheets are a great start, but growing sophistication requires something more long-term 🔧 Turning even...

On the podcast we talk with Emmanuel about the magic of affiliate marketing, how to best use Stripe payments, and why you should probably build a web app before you build a native one. Top Takeaways ✉️ Don’t skip user registration — and do it early in onboarding 💰 The road to subscription revenue isn’t a straight one 📈 The little things add up over time About Emmanuel Crouvisier 👨‍💻 Founder at...

On the podcast I talk with Darrell about going from zero to an 8-figure ARR in just 18 months, building a product improvement loop combining user research and A/B testing, and why expecting failure is one of the keys to success. Top Takeaways 📈 Going from 0 to an 8-figure ARR in 18 months is doable 🙈 Sharing and selling data isn’t necessary to build and scale subscription apps 🎰 Structuring pro...