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Kenny Alami's avatar

Nice revenue bump there! Looks like people really like what you have. I’m wondering if ads would work for you we good positioning. Maybe in that poker sub Reddit you’ve been participating in?

Also, curious to see how YouTube goes for you. I’d love to give it a shot at some point. I find text is fun but video is a great way to connect as well!

I was curious about reading your issue since it’s been a while I saw something from you here, and what a nice surprise to see a mention in it. Thank you 🙏

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Kunal Modi's avatar

Great update. Congrats on your growth. It is awesome to see your progress.

You touched up on topics that I have struggled or still struggling with. Below are my thoughts / learnings / questions for you.

1. Recurring Revenue

A normal consumer has become used to subscriptions. Fatigued? Yes. But they assume all apps have a subscription plan. My app had "pay per use" plan (e.g. buy credits valid for 1 year). I have responded to so many emails explaining my customers that they won't be charged monthly.

3 months ago, I launched a monthly subscription plan. First month saw 10 subscribers. I was elated. Monthly revenue was up. Numbers looked great. By the third month the churn started and I was scratching my head. Feedback suggested it was a low value for money plan. However in 2 months, I got addicted to that MRR. It was like "monthly salary" from my 9-5 - very similar to your experience about "predictable" revenue. To be honest it was disappointed to see monthly revenue go down. All this while, the pay-per-use plans saw a steady growth.

Lesson - It is hard to change consumer mindset. MRR is great but don't let it become the new addiction. Let customers decide - monthly or lifetime. In your case you may want to experiment with annual plans if you think the lifetime pricing is underpriced.

2. YouTube

I have been very poor on producing content consistently - whether it is X, my newsletter or videos. How long do you spend on videos? Have you faced a challenge being consistent with your videos?

3. Redo the UX

It is great you are spending time upfront to improve the UX of your app. I made some early decisions for my app and it is had become harder to rewrite some parts. For example, the use of Amazon Cognito for user sign ups / sign ins. The UX is subpar (being polite here) and it is a size able effort to move to another provider. I don't regret the choice since it helped me validate the idea quickly. The lesson for me is to keep reevaluating the UX as you grow. Don't let it become a monster.

4. Agree 100% - Kenny's content is awesome.

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