Conor

Building apps!

[Nick Ugre @nick_ugre]

Budgeting apps make $100k/mo,

so @conoroh_dev and I thought: why not us?

We built and marketed Squirrlo in 30 days.

$500+ revenue. Small, but promising.

An influencer video hit 650k+ views, but with subtle placement and not the right audience.

Meanwhile our own TikToks at 1k views drove 50% of revenue.

Views mean nothing if the product isn't what's pulling viewers in.

[Caleb Dean 🏴‍☠️🇦🇺 @CalebDeannn]

this applies to a lot more than just retention

i see founders spending too much time running A/B tests on pricing, paywalls, subscriptions, etc

a conversion rate of 7% verse 11% doesn’t make much difference on 1000 users

i’d rather have 10k downloads with a 5% conversion

than 2k downloads with a 10% conversion

[Faramade Abayomi @faraesthetix]

There’s no reward for avoiding AI. Nobody is giving you donuts for
writing everything from scratch, you’re just slower.

Using AI doesn’t mean you shouldn’t understand what you’re building. You still have to think, you validate, you need to understand what you’re building deeply or else you’ll just build nonsense faster.

[Andrew @andrewxroas]

If you want to build a successful app AVOID indie hackers like the plague

You might think it's just a group of people building software like you but they literally have the most anti-business mindset possible

For starters:
- They believe competition = bad
- Their ultimate goal is 10k MRR (such low goal)
- They think product > distribution
- They avoid all forms of paid marketing
- They all glaze the same X creators that made them think this "indie hacking" path is feasible

You must unfollow all of these people and get them off your timeline otherwise you'll soon adopt their limiting beliefs

[Zach Yadegari @zach_yadegari]

Cal AI has been acquired by MyFitnessPal 🚨

Henry and I started Cal AI as 17-year old high school students with one mission: make calorie tracking easier with AI.

In just 18 months, we’ve helped millions of people lose millions of pounds. And we broke $50m in ARR along the way.

We are at an incredible inflection point in history where ANYBODY can build a product that can improve lives and make millions.

As founders, we get a lot of praise. The truth is that this would not have been possible without our incredible 30+ person team. We are so proud of what this team has accomplished, and are thankful to everyone that has been instrumental in Cal AI’s development and success.

Cal AI will continue as a separate app from MyFitnessPal. The combined team will share resources to continue helping people achieve their fitness goals!

[Conor @conoroh_dev]

@neildownandpray 🤣🤣🤣

[Conor @conoroh_dev]

@Supabase 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[Conor @conoroh_dev]

@Tyler__Lewis_ Thanks!

[Conor @conoroh_dev]

Spent an ungodly amount of time polishing on my onboarding screens but I think it was worth it.

#BuildInPublic

[Conor @conoroh_dev]

@FirstHumanManu I haven't released the app yet, but if i experiment with different onboarding flows then yes, this is entirely possible.

[Conor @conoroh_dev]

You don't ship perfect code. You ship working code. Then you iterate.

#BuildInPublic

[Conor @conoroh_dev]

Early traction tip: post an offer in r/AppGiveaway. It’s a great way to drive installs and get real feedback on your app.

#buildinpublic

[Conor @conoroh_dev]

Early traction tip: post an offer in r/AppGiveaway. It’s a great way to drive installs and get real feedback on your app.

#buildinpublic

[Conor @conoroh_dev]

@mikesligo I hope so!

[Conor @conoroh_dev]

@oranahh Thanks!

[Conor @conoroh_dev]

@powyoudoin Appreciate it!

[Conor @conoroh_dev]

@itsalejandrolr I couldn't agree more! So much better than being a small cog in a big machine.

[Conor @conoroh_dev]

Most indie hackers would make more money getting a FAANG job than spending 2 years on a SaaS that makes $2k MRR.

But they'd learn nothing about distribution, product-market fit, or building a business.

[Conor @conoroh_dev]

@Venkatsoftware6 Appreciate it

[Conor @conoroh_dev]

Launching Clann was humbling.

0.6% conversion rate isn’t great to say the least. I'm certain my screenshots were killing the install rate.

I’ve fixed those, so now we’ll see how things go. Next up is the app logo. I want something that actually represents what Clann is about.

#BuildInPublic