Building
How to make money
Revenue is the clearest feedback a product ever gets. Getting it early is uncomfortable and worth it.
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Charge before you feel ready.
The gap between “I’d use that” and “here is my card” is the whole business. Free users are a focus group; paying users are a verdict.
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Match the model to the rhythm of use.
Daily habits support subscriptions -- that’s why Duolingo, Calm and Strava all sell them. Occasional use wants a one-off price, and forcing a subscription onto it produces churn you’ll blame on the product.
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Price on value, not on what it cost you.
What it took to build is your problem. What it’s worth to them is the price. These two numbers are unrelated and confusing them leaves most of the money on the table.
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Ads need a scale you probably don’t have.
Advertising pays meaningfully at volumes most independent apps never reach, and it degrades the experience on the way. Buzzscraper ships with zero adverts and zero purchases, a deliberate choice that means it has to earn its keep another way.
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Where the paywall sits matters more than what it says.
Put it after the moment someone understands the value and before the moment they’re satisfied. Too early and they never got it; too late and they don’t need it.
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Free trials suit considered purchases; freemium suits habits.
A trial creates a deadline, which works when someone is evaluating. Freemium creates a habit first and charges for depth later, which works when the free tier is useful.
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Raise the price before you cut the product.
Under-pricing is more common than over-pricing, and it’s the mistake that kills otherwise healthy products. Test upward before you strip features to justify a discount.
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Watch payback period, not cost per install.
The number that decides whether you can scale is how long it takes a user to pay you back. Cost per install without that context is trivia.
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A small number of people paying properly beats everyone paying nothing.
A thousand people who pay is a business. A hundred thousand who don’t is a hosting bill and a hobby with good PR.
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Revenue is oxygen, not a scoreboard.
It buys attempts. That’s its real function, not proving anything to anyone, just keeping you in the game long enough to get another go.