Sasha Earnheart-Gold

Building software independently
Created @nextunicornpod podcast
Stanford master’s thesis on VC investment selection

[Sasha Earnheart-Gold @EarnheartGold]

@averycode Congrats! What’s your main marketing channel?

[Sasha Earnheart-Gold @EarnheartGold]

@erbybody Do you use ReveueCat paywalls, or your own paywalls and connect them to ReveueCat? Do you A/B test paywalls?

[Sasha Earnheart-Gold @EarnheartGold]

@seraleev For Apple App Store ads, what’s your price target and max bid per tap in the US market? And what’s your average cost per install? And what’s your customer LTV?

[Sasha Earnheart-Gold @EarnheartGold]

@seraleev For ASO, in the app title, do you put your app name or primary keyword first?

[Sasha Earnheart-Gold @EarnheartGold]

If you still have conviction in the current app, and the churn is at least in the average normal range for mobile apps, I’d say try a new marketing channel instead of building a new app. That’s likely a faster path to more revenue, I think. Unless there’s any way to scale the current marketing channel that’s working — that would be even more ideal. Or improve conversion and/or retention. Also, if you already have built up a lot of app reviews for the current app, that will likely make getting new customers for the current app easier than for a new app that will start with 0 reviews.

[Sasha Earnheart-Gold @EarnheartGold]

@vitaliidodonov MRR

[Sasha Earnheart-Gold @EarnheartGold]

@pcshipp Have you been promoting them? What have you tried for marketing and promotion so far?

[Sasha Earnheart-Gold @EarnheartGold]

Oh, I expanded the image and I can see it now. I guess with 0.95x stated ROAS, I’d probably increase the ad spend. Your real ROAS is probably a bit higher because the average duration of subscription is probably longer than one initial subscription period anyway, right? And you can always further optimize onboarding screens, and paywall, and App Store preview screens, right?

[Sasha Earnheart-Gold @EarnheartGold]

@upbeat_dev @kedytcom Oh, do you have to request that?

[Sasha Earnheart-Gold @EarnheartGold]

@upbeat_dev Do you eventually turn off keyword phrases that are higher cost per install?

[Sasha Earnheart-Gold @EarnheartGold]

@athcanft I noticed that you use very understated colors in your onboarding screens. Like black and gray, with colors only as the selected answers and main CTA buttons. Do you think that converts better than a colorful background screen?

[Sasha Earnheart-Gold @EarnheartGold]

For an app like the other ones you mentioned, like PrayerLock or CalAI, that offer a free trial, would you still use a paywall with annual vs. weekly subscriptions (and make only annual have a free trial, or maybe make annual have a longer free trial than weekly), or would you instead change the paywall to have annual vs. monthly subscriptions (and make only annual have a free trial, or maybe make annual have a longer free trial than monthly)?

[Sasha Earnheart-Gold @EarnheartGold]

@athcanft Thanks. Good video. What if I have an app that does not have some kind of magical moment like the results of a scan? Would you still ask for a review in onboarding? Do you ask for stars review only, or also a written review? Is the review request an Apple StoreKit popup?

[Sasha Earnheart-Gold @EarnheartGold]

@athcanft @LexBuilds Do you list your app on both the Apple App Store and Google Play store? Do you make a separate paywall for each? And not use RevenueCat at all?

[Sasha Earnheart-Gold @EarnheartGold]

@johnvirality Rizz

[Sasha Earnheart-Gold @EarnheartGold]

@athcanft Thanks for this explainer video! Do you only run ad dollars behind TikTok videos that already performed well with a certain minimum number of views organically?

[Sasha Earnheart-Gold @EarnheartGold]

@jakemor @Superwall Would you recommend a hard paywall or a soft paywall? It seems like most independent app developers now recommend a hard paywall. But it seems like some of your advice is geared toward soft paywalls.

[Sasha Earnheart-Gold @EarnheartGold]

I meant, on the App Store, it seems like many people would prefer to click on an app with many reviews instead of the app at the top of search listings with very few reviews that is an ad. But maybe the people who tap on the ad are the people who don’t care about the number of reviews or don’t notice the number of reviews?

[Sasha Earnheart-Gold @EarnheartGold]

@upbeat_dev Do you use popups that request reviews within onboarding and at various moments in the app? Or just let people review naturally if they choose?