Intelligent Artifice, formerly the Mobile User Acquisition Show podcast

How a two-person app studio launched 16 apps with AI, with Gabe Kwakyi

0:00
40:53
15 Sekunden vorwärts
15 Sekunden vorwärts

Gabe Kwakyi has 16 apps live, all built with AI.

The gap between building an app and getting results is the whole conversation. When anyone can ship an app in a day, what is actually hard?

Gabe co-founded and ran the ASO and ad agency Incipia, co-authored a book on advanced app store optimization, and later led Lingvano, a sign language learning app. Today he and his partner run Rhythmic Apps, a studio of apps that includes Ink, a journaling app, and Togella, a couples' question app. In this conversation we cover what happens when you go from one app to a portfolio, what traction really looks like, and what is working and not working in ChatGPT ads and web-to-app.

Traction is a threshold, not a finish line. Gabe's starting signal is $10K in ARR. He lists the benchmarks he looks for: a trial conversion rate of 10 to 20%, a trial-to-subscription rate of 30 to 50%, day one retention of 20 to 40%, a cost per install under $2 or a cost per trial under $25. Even with two apps at that level, he says he would not claim product market fit.

The bottleneck moved. Before AI, the bottleneck was developers and expertise. Now one person can one-shot an entire app in about a day, which moves the bottleneck up the funnel to distribution, positioning, messaging and intuition. He also explains why organic App Store downloads are being squeezed, and why he calls viral success stories success bait.

ChatGPT ads and web-to-app. Gabe has been testing ChatGPT ads. His read is that it is not there yet as a direct response channel, even though CPMs, CPCs and CTRs look decent, and he explains how context hints replace keywords and audiences. In web-to-app, one app he works with had a fraud rate of 80% or more on trials, a challenge he says AI alone will not solve.

Video Chapters:

00:00 Introduction
02:46 Why Gabe started his own app studio
05:05 What changed: people now manage agents that write software
06:27 The aha moment: building a full app with AI
08:27 A portfolio of 16 apps: which ones are working
11:36 What product market fit looks like: the benchmarks
14:25 Does app store optimization still work? The organic squeeze
19:03 AI moved the bottleneck from building to distribution
23:06 Is it really easy to go viral with AI creative?
28:21 ChatGPT ads: context hints and what is not working yet
33:51 Web-to-app: attribution and the fraud problem
36:28 Managing 15 apps: where the time goes
38:28 Wrap-up and where to find Gabe

Topics covered:

- Why Gabe started an app studio after leaving a CEO role
- Why people now manage agents that write software
- Running a portfolio of apps and what counts as working
- Benchmarks for traction: trial rates, retention and cost per install
- Why organic App Store downloads are being squeezed
- Why AI moves the bottleneck from building to distribution
- Why viral success stories are success bait
- ChatGPT ads and context hints
- Fraud in web-to-app and how to manage a portfolio of apps

Learn more:

Episode page: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/how-a-two-person-app-studio-launched-16-apps-with-ai-with-gabe-kwakyi/
Gabe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielkwakyi/
Rhythmic Apps: https://rhythmicapps.com/
Ink: Daily Journaling Prompts: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ink-daily-journaling-prompts/id6761030956
Newsletter: https://intelligentartifice.kit.com

Weitere Episoden von „Intelligent Artifice, formerly the Mobile User Acquisition Show“