Launched by RevenueCat

On the podcast: Eric Duffett shares how he built Shot Pattern — a golf GPS app that brings "moneyball" thinking to the course — as a side project while teaching high school full-time. He talks about his first failed app, why automating an existing community workflow created instant product-market fit, turning down a 75K acquisition offer, cracking Meta ads with a scrappy zero-budget screen recording, and growing to one million dollars in total sales without ever leaving the classroom.

Top Takeaways:

⛳ Find people already doing it the hard way
If a community is solving a problem with spreadsheets, Google Maps, or shared workarounds, you don't need to convince them they have a problem — you just need to make the solution easier.
🚫 Don't rebuild your entire app for one person's feedback
Overweighting the first piece of feedback you get, especially when it requires a massive pivot like adding a new platform, is one of the most common traps for first-time developers.
📉 Intellectually knowing and emotionally knowing are different things
You can predict a seasonal downturn or a slow period, but the anxiety of watching revenue drop to zero still hits differently when you're living through it.
🎬 Market before you build
The difference between a hobby that nobody finds and a business that grows from day one can be as simple as sharing screenshots and talking about what you're making while you're still making it.
💸 Your LTV has to work before you spend a dollar on ads
Paid acquisition only becomes a money printer when your conversion and retention numbers are already strong from organic users — otherwise you're just paying to lose money faster.
🎥 The scrappy creative wins
A raw, unpolished screen recording made by the founder can outperform expensive influencer content because it speaks directly to the audience in their own language.
🏋️ Grit without product-market fit is just suffering
Resilience is a necessary skill, but grinding on something nobody wants for years doesn't make you a better entrepreneur — it just delays the moment you find the thing that actually works.

About Eric Duffet:
🚀 Indie Developer and creator of Shot Pattern, a specialized golf GPS and course management app designed to help golfers lower their scores by visualizing their personal "shot cone" directly over satellite maps of the golf course
👋 LinkedIn
🌐 Learn more about Shot Pattern

Episode Highlights:
[00:00] Introduction to Shot Pattern: “Moneyball for golf”
[02:14] Eric’s background: teaching, finance, and early app development
[03:40] Golf experience and coaching background
[05:58] First app: meditation for athletes and lessons learned
[10:47] Rookie mistakes: Android pivot and early marketing missteps
[13:08] Design insights from working with UI/UX students
[17:00] Understanding product-market fit through a simple school app
[20:07] Starting Shot Pattern as a personal side project
[21:46] Early app features: measuring arcs and dispersion on Apple Maps
[25:17] Early marketing and organic growth via Twitter
[29:35] Investing in golf course data to enhance the app
[33:04] Prototype simulations and early community feedback
[35:10] Declining $75K acquisition offer to continue independently
[38:14] Facing seasonal slowdowns and sustaining motivation
[42:04] Running Meta ads and achieving high LTV
[46:50] Effective ad creative targeting the right golfers
[49:58] Balancing development, business, and family
[56:32] Hiring a contractor for marketing and operational support
[01:00:23] Future plans: delivering more value through analytics and AI reports
[01:02:31] Competition and validation in the golf app space

On the podcast: Austin Blake shares his journey from film student and Apple superfan to the creator of Stuff, a task management app built for people who care deeply about design and productivity. He explains the challenge of competing in crowded markets, building software that “feels right,” and what it’s like getting featured by Apple.

Top Takeaways:

🛠️ Out-persist the crowded market
You do not need to reinvent the wheel to succeed; you can stand out in a saturated space simply by committing to continuous development and polishing the user experience over several years.
🤖 Let AI agents review each other
When learning a new platform, you can accelerate development by using AI to generate code and setting up multiple AI agents to review and refine each other's plans before you inspect the final code.
⏱️ Shorten your trial to find the magic number
A month-long free trial is often too much time for users to feel the urgency to upgrade; reducing your trial to seven days can significantly increase your trial-to-paid conversion rate.
📦 Rethink native paradigms from scratch
Porting an app to a new platform requires more than stretching the UI; you must implement the platform-specific interactions, like keyboard navigation and native undo states, that users subconsciously expect.
⏳ Always triple your launch buffer for new platforms
App Store review guidelines are highly inconsistent across platforms; even if your app's core features are already approved on mobile, expect unexpected rejections and budget at least three weeks for a desktop launch.

About Austin Blake:

🚀 Indie Developer and creator of Stuff, a task management app focused on combining simplicity, beauty, and powerful productivity workflows. Former Apple contractor and incoming Developer Advocate at RevenueCat.
👋 LinkedIn
🌐 Learn more about Stuff

Follow us on X: 
Charlie Chapman - @_chuckyc
RevenueCat - @RevenueCat
Launched - @LaunchedFM 

Episode Highlights:
[00:00] Why Austin built “another” to-do list app
[00:42] Meeting at WWDC and joining RevenueCat
[03:22] From film school to advertising to coding
[04:55] Growing up as an Apple superfan
[07:11] Learning to code after getting ignored by Evernote
[08:35] Building MightyNote and Achievements
[11:58] Early lessons about onboarding and subscriptions
[14:03] Quitting his job to go all-in on indie development
[16:24] Working at Apple while building Stuff on the side
[18:55] Why Austin chose task management as his focus
[20:40] Competing in crowded app categories
[22:22] The magic and inspiration behind Wunderlist
[25:39] Designing apps that “feel right”
[26:47] Building task dependencies into Stuff
[28:09] Launching Stuff through pre-orders and community feedback
[31:33] The pros and cons of large TestFlight betas
[38:14] Launching the Mac version of Stuff
[40:04] Getting featured by Apple for AI-powered features
[42:12] Pricing strategy, subscriptions, and free trials
[45:01] Building trust through dev logs and transparency
[50:14] Designing for macOS vs iPhone and iPad
[56:22] The realities of App Store review for Mac apps
[59:12] Austin’s favorite creators, apps, and inspirations

On the podcast: Daniel Kennett shares his journey from indie developer to creating Cascable Studio. He tells the story of the challenges of building his app that supports over 250 cameras, the process of reverse-engineering hardware, and why his background in indie development shaped his approach to the business.

Top Takeaways:

🏗️ The framework doesn't matter — the app does
Users don't care whether you used SwiftUI or RealBasic; they care whether the app is polished and fits the platform.

💸 If they can afford a $4,000 camera, charge accordingly 
Pricing for a professional audience means resisting the race to the bottom; your users' willingness to pay reflects the value of the tools they already own.

📈 Slow, steady growth is still growth 
A consistently rising line over five years, even without a single breakout moment, can eventually replace a full salary — if you don't panic and quit.
🔄 Multiple revenue streams are a survival strategy, not a luxury
An SDK licensing business and a webcam app built on existing infrastructure turned a COVID revenue crash into a three-week turnaround.
🧱 Architecture decisions you make early can pay off years later
Pulling camera connection logic into a standalone framework was an accidental decision that later became both a licensing product and the foundation for a pivot app.
💍 The people closest to you live through your failures too
Having a partner who saw the worst of it and still supported the next attempt — with sensible goals and financial guardrails — made the difference between a reckless gamble and a calculated bet.
🎯 Subscription-only can alienate a professional audience
When Adobe went subscription-only, it angered the entire photography industry overnight; offering both subscription and one-time purchase options lets customers choose their relationship with your app.

About Daniel Kennett:
🚀Senior macOS and iOS developer, currently running an independent software company, Cascable AB, that ships professional photography tools like Cascable Studio, a professional camera control app that empowers photographers with advanced features for non-iPhone cameras.
👋 LinkedIn
🌐 Learn more about Cascable

🌐 Daniel’s Website
Follow us on X: 
Charlie Chapman - @_chuckyc
RevenueCat - @RevenueCat
Launched - @LaunchedFM 

Episode Highlights:
[0:00] Introduction to Daniel Kennett and Cascable Studio
[1:00] Daniel’s background: From a self-taught coder to indie developer
[5:00] The story behind Cascable Studio
[8:30] The early days of indie development: Challenges and successes
[12:00] Reverse engineering and building a tool for photographers
[15:30] How adding camera support transformed the app's growth
[18:00] Learning from failures and the importance of not giving up
[20:30] Why a niche market can lead to success: Focusing on non-iPhone cameras
[24:00] Managing financial challenges and building a sustainable indie business
[27:00] The role of simplicity in app design and user experience
[30:00] Expanding into new markets: Licensing SDKs for other developers
[32:30] Why Daniel prefers to build with minimal outside funding
[35:00] Lessons from working with hardware manufacturers and building partnerships
[37:30] What's next for Cascable Studio and future goals for indie development
 [40:00] Daniel’s advice for future indie developers: Focus, perseverance, and learning

On the podcast: Bria Sullivan shares her journey as an indie developer to creating Focus Friend, a focus timer app that quickly gained traction with the help of Hank Green. She discusses the foundation of Focus Friend, the challenges of balancing her business and personal life, and the wonderful experience working with Hank Green.
Top Takeaways:
📱 Success isn't just about coding
The most successful indie developers rely more on product instinct and marketing intuition than raw engineering talent.

🧪 Validate with your target audience early
Real-time feedback loops, like live-streaming development choices to followers, can pinpoint exactly what users want before you build the wrong thing.

📈 There's a formula for the Top 100 
Getting to $50k-$120k a year in indie app revenue relies more on systematic execution of known frameworks than pure luck.

🎭 Working with creators requires boundary setting
Influencers have immense reach but often suggest features that don't make good standalone products; you have to guide the product vision.

🕵️ Privacy is a feature, not just compliance
When your app is tied to a beloved public figure, users scrutinize data collection heavily; sometimes you have to sacrifice ad tracking to protect the brand's trust.

About Bria Sullivan:
🚀 Indie Developer and Creator of Focus Friend, a gamified focus timer app designed to help users stay focused with a cute “bean” character. Also the creator of Boba Story, a game where players run a boba shop.
👋 LinkedIn

🌐 Learn more about Focus Friend

🌐 Learn more about Boba Story
Follow us on X: 
Charlie Chapman - @_chuckyc
RevenueCat - @RevenueCat
Launched - @LaunchedFM 

Episode Highlights:
[0:00] Introduction to Bria Sullivan and Focus Friend
[1:00] Bria’s background: From self-taught coder to indie developer
[5:30] The story behind Focus Friend: Creating a productivity app for Hank Green’s audience
[10:00] Balancing indie app development with personal life challenges
[12:30] Marketing through TikTok: Building an audience before launch
[15:00] The struggles and success of Boba Story
[17:30] The evolution of Focus Friend: Iterating and listening to feedback
[20:00] Collaborating with influencers: How Bria worked with Hank Green
[22:30] The role of design and simplicity in a successful app
[26:00] Monetization decisions: Choosing a subscription model without being intrusive
[29:30] Overcoming the obstacles of indie development
[32:00] Reflections on growing as an indie developer and working with influencers
[34:00] Bria’s approach to creating apps that resonate with users
[37:00] What’s next for Bria Sullivan and her apps
[40:00] Advice for future indie developers and creators

On the podcast: Joe Allen has been building Teleprompter Pro for 15 years — and he'll be the first to tell you he's not sure how much of that growth he actually caused. He talks about why he waited 5 years after the app could sustain him before finally going full-time, how a simple email list became his safety net through the transition to subscriptions, and the two weeks he spent battling App Store Review to get his new app Captions approved — including the phone call that finally cracked it.

Top Takeaways:
🛠️ Build for the itch you already have
The best indie apps start as tools their creators needed, not market opportunities they spotted.
🌱 Let the App Store river carry you 
Sometimes organic growth comes from being in the right place at the right time, and the healthiest approach is to accept you don't control every drop of water.
📈 Don't rush the full-time leap
It's okay to let a side project sustain itself for years before making it your sole source of income.
🤝 Support is a feature, not a chore 
Treating customer support as a core part of the product builds loyalty and reveals the actual features users are looking for.

📧 An email list is your only real safety net
Having a direct line to your customers is the single most important asset when platform algorithms change or business models shift.

About Joe Allen:
🚀 Indie Developer and Creator of Teleprompter Pro, an app designed to make content creation easier by providing a portable teleprompter solution, and Captions, a tool designed to add dynamic captions to videos, enhancing accessibility and engagement.
👋 LinkedIn

🌐 Learn more about Teleprompter Pro
🌐 Learn more about Captions

Follow us on X: 
Charlie Chapman - @_chuckyc
RevenueCat - @RevenueCat
Launched - @LaunchedFM 

Episode Highlights:
[0:00] Introduction to Joe Allen and Teleprompter Pro
[2:00] Joe’s Background: From Media Studies to Indie Development
[5:10] The Birth of Teleprompter Pro: Turning Freelance Work into an App
[7:30] Transitioning from Side Project to Full-Time Indie Developer
[10:00] Overcoming the Challenges of Indie Development: Learning on the Go
[12:45] Growing Teleprompter Pro: Building a Product for Creators
[15:00] Pricing and Business Strategy: Moving to a Subscription Model
[17:30] Navigating User Feedback and Iterating on Teleprompter Pro
[20:00] Lessons from Building Teleprompter Pro and Going Full-Time
[23:00] Customer Support: Balancing Personal Engagement with Growth
[26:00] Developing Captions: A New Tool for Content Creators
[29:00] Monetizing Teleprompter Pro and Building Long-Term Sustainability
[32:00] Moving Beyond the App: Joe’s Approach to Scaling and Growing
[35:00] The Role of Email Marketing and Customer Relationships in Indie Development
[38:30] The Emotional Side of Indie Development: Success, Challenges, and Growth
[41:00] Expanding the Team: How Hiring Help Changed Joe’s Workflow
[44:00] Reflecting on the Journey: What Joe Learned as an Indie Developer
[47:30] Closing Thoughts: The Future of Teleprompter Pro and Captions