On January 2017 they launched Setapp. In 6 months they achieved $1 million ARR.
How did they do it?
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They discovered an unsolved need on the market and created a product “Netflix of Mac apps” as near to perfect as they could make it.
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They positioned their perfect product as a “closed beta” and personally invited over 1000 journalists, bloggers, and industry influencers “… to be the first to try it and share your feedback.”.
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Almost everyone in the closed beta started writing about the app.
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They gave early adopters an option to subscribe to a mailing list through a landing page and gain early access if they promoted the product.
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They released the product publically (giving away free 7-day trial), targeting big media.
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They created a Facebook Group for their most engaged customers to collect feedback and test new features.
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They focused on improving conversion rates: Visit → SignUp → Engaged User → Paid User. The biggest impact came from promoting the right aspects of a product’s value to the right segment of customers during the most relevant and timely stage of the funnel for those users.
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They focused on 2 key metrics: “Month over month market share growth” and “Month over month profit growth”.
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They created a referral program: “Get a free month for every friend invited”.
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They tested local non-English markets with Google AdWords. Focused on the markets that generate the highest ROI.
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Based on the feedback, they added an annual pricing plan and student plan.