I Lost $$$ Selling My App (Avoid These Mistakes)

Hey bro,

I exited my second app, Puff Count, but looking back, there are 3 things I’d do differently to get a higher price. Learn from my mistakes so you don’t repeat them.

Mistake 1: Paid Ads vs. Organic

Organic growth started Puff Count—20M+ views and 120K followers on TikTok. But we scaled with paid ads. And in the eyes of buyers, that’s not ideal.

Why? The buyer couldn’t take over and profit from ASO (App Store Optimization) and organic traffic. They had to figure out paid ads too.

That meant higher costs and more work.

Is it a no-go? No. But it decreased the exit price quite a bit.

Mistake 2: Streamlining the Marketing

I was the face of Puff Count. I posted all the TikToks, made all the content, and drove all the organic growth. No team. No marketers. Just me.

And eventually, I burned out. So I stopped posting for a year. Big mistake.

Looking back, I should have hired someone to take over TikTok and be the “new face” of the brand. That would have increased organic traffic and made the app more appealing to buyers.

The best-performing apps today, like Cal AI and Rizz, dominate creator marketing. If I had locked in a content team, I’d have driven more organic growth and boosted my exit price.

And that brings me to the biggest mistake...

Mistake 3: Not Preparing the Business to Run Without Me

I like to think that everything is for sale—for the right price.

But I didn’t set up the business to function without me.

If I had built a team earlier, the transition would have been smoother and the business way more attractive to buyers.

Sure, I could have kept printing $45K/month. But eventually, I knew I’d lose interest.

So I decided to exit while I still had momentum. I found a studio that saw the vision, believed in its growth, and acquired it.

What This Means for You

If you want a juicy exit, make your app easy for someone else to take over.

This is exactly why I’m building my new app, Posted.

With Puff Count, I lost momentum because I stopped posting. I didn't want to guess which creator was the right fit and didn’t want to pay upfront for videos that wouldn’t perform.

With Posted, you never have to guess which content will perform.

You can run content contests where creators compete for prize money. And you only pay for winning content.

If you’re a brand owner and want to get started, go here: https://postedapp.com/brands

See you in the next email.

Peace,
Steven

Work 1o1 with me on your app: https://www.joinsaasaccelerator.com/ 

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