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46 Comments

$270,000 sales in just 23 days 😇

Most people talk about don't sell your app with lifetime deal. But let me talk about "Oskar Moen" today who raised $270,000 in just 23 days.

Honestly, no one talk about how to get investment to grow SaaS. Without investment or liquid money its really tough to build SaaS, market that and get users on that. So how you will build or improve your SaaS? So for this kind of situation Founder should sell product as a lifetime deal. Then they can get huge amount of money for their next step. They can invest that on team, marketing and planning.

Get back to Oskar Moen, I salute to this guy 🫡. He launched Sendpilot on appsumo recently. And noticed in just 23 days he raised $270,000 and thats insane 🙌. I checked his message on appsumo slack channel how he did this.

Here is that:

  1. When a user bought deal from appsumo he asked for a review.
  2. When a user asked questions or need support he answered that in just 2 mins avg.
  3. After support he mentioned about reviews.
    Mainly, he clearly focused on user satisfaction and then review from users.

So why it works?

  1. Appsumo clearly mentioned that if 1 tool will get more sales, more positive reviews then appsumo will run single ads for that tool.
  2. Appsumo send dedicated mail for Sendpilot
  3. Appsumo send top 9 deals mail where Sendpilot mentioned
  4. Appsumo send top of the weeks mail where Sendpilot mentioned

Overall, as Sendpilot get more sales, more positive reviews, Appsumo did their best for this tool as well. So instantly they hit that amount.

I recently launched our app on appsumo as well, you are curious here is that: https://appsumo.com/products/slashitapp/

posted to Icon for group Growth
Growth
on March 30, 2026
  1. 1

    $270k in 23 days means something already existed before launch — an audience, a waitlist, a community, or a reputation. The number is real but the setup time doesn't appear in the headline. What was the pre-launch groundwork? That's the part worth documenting for everyone else trying to replicate it.

  2. 1

    The trap I see most founders fall into after a big LTD launch: they put everything back into product and assume organic will keep carrying them. It rarely does past month 2. The smart move is locking in a paid acquisition budget while the AppSumo reviews are fresh and social proof is live. That's when Meta retargeting on your AppSumo page visitors converts best. A $270k raise gives you real budget to test paid channels properly, not just run $5/day campaigns and wonder why nothing scales.

  3. 1

    using a lifetime deal as basically a bootstrap fundraising round without giving up equity is underrated, and $270k in 23 days is a strong proof of that. the real question is always what comes next though - LTD buyers are one-time revenue so the game starts when you take that cash and build a repeatable acquisition engine on top of it. paid channels, content, partnerships, whatever scales. do you know if he's reinvesting into paid growth now or still riding the appsumo community momentum?

  4. 1

    So a few things worth noting. Appsumo first of all has to approve you product for launcg.

    Then I asked several generative ai tools to analyse the strategy and the conclusion was that he probably had an email list or people who knew or had heard about him so it was easy to drive them to appsumo.

    i wanted to use the same strategy for my saas tool and I have submitted it on appsumo waiting to see if I will get selected.
    I will post the outcome on my product page.

  5. 1

    will follow up the updates!! good view

  6. 1

    That a very interesting view point mate im currently holding an SaaS and really not sure which is the best way to go. i know its a tool that is filling a gap in the market. so im gonna keep an eye on this

  7. 1

    Insane numbers, but in 2026, the real question is: is this a one-time "Ad-Spike" or a sustainable "Systemic Asset"? Most founders chase these peaks and then fall into a "Manual Trap" trying to maintain them. High-end scaling is about the architecture that keeps running when the initial hype fades. How much of this volume is already automated into your long-term authority loop?

  8. 1

    The $270k headline is impressive but the part worth focusing on is what happens after the LTD rush ends. Lifetime deal buyers are the most demanding users you'll ever have. They paid once and expect support forever. That's fine if the product is solid and you have systems in place, but if you're still the one personally handling everything, you've just created a large and very vocal customer base with no recurring revenue to fund serving them. The founders who do LTDs well use the cash injection to build the systems and team that make the ongoing support sustainable. The ones who struggle spend the next year underwater on support tickets while their MRR stays flat. $270k in 23 days is a great start. The real question is what the business looks like 12 months later.

  9. 1

    That’s actually a really solid breakdown 👏

    A lot of people criticize lifetime deals, but cases like Oskar Moen show that if done right, it can be a powerful growth lever — especially for early-stage SaaS.

    What stood out to me is not just the LTD strategy, but the execution: fast support, actively asking for feedback, and building trust quickly. Most founders ignore this part and then blame the platform.

    I’ve been experimenting in a similar space recently, and one thing I’ve noticed is that platforms like AppSumo reward momentum more than anything — once you trigger that loop (sales → reviews → visibility), things compound fast.

    Also interesting how user satisfaction directly feeds distribution here — almost like an internal SEO system within the marketplace.

    Curious to see how your launch performs over time. Are you focusing more on reviews first or conversions?

  10. 1

    This is a great breakdown — especially the part about speed + reviews compounding distribution on AppSumo.

    I think what worked here isn’t just “lifetime deal”, but:

    → fast support (2 min response is insane)
    → strong user satisfaction
    → pushing reviews at the right moment
    → letting the platform algorithm do the distribution

    So it becomes a flywheel, not just a one-time sale.

    On the lifetime deal part — I kind of see it as a tradeoff:

    You’re basically exchanging future revenue for immediate distribution + cash + momentum.

    For early-stage products, that can make a lot of sense.

    I’m seeing something similar while building DealUp —
    when users feel immediate value and engagement, growth becomes much easier to compound.

    Curious — after the initial spike, how are you thinking about retention and long-term monetization?

  11. 1

    $270k in 23 days is insane. genuinely curious about the distribution channel that drove this — was it mostly appsumo, organic search, or something else?

    im at the complete opposite end of the spectrum: 63 IH posts, 342 cold emails, 26 gumroad products, and $0 revenue. the math says it should convert eventually but clearly theres something about product-market fit and distribution channel selection that separates $270k launches from $0 ones.

    one thing i keep coming back to: the product itself matters less than having an audience ready to buy when you launch. did you have a waitlist or existing audience before the 23-day run? thats the piece im missing — trying to sell to strangers who have never heard of me.

  12. 1

    270k in 23 days is wild. the LTD model gets a lot of hate but it clearly works as a capital raise strategy. curious though — after the LTD rush ends, whats the plan for recurring revenue? ive seen a few founders get stuck where LTD buyers dont convert to monthly, and then you have a huge support burden with no recurring income to fund it. would love to hear how they plan to handle that transition.

  13. 1

    Interesting breakdown — especially the part about reviews driving distribution.

    I’m working on a hardware security product (inline device between modem and router), and I’m starting to realise that getting initial traction is much harder than building the product itself.

    Curious — do you think something like this could work outside SaaS (e.g. hardware), or is AppSumo-style momentum very specific to software?

  14. 1

    The point about 2-minute support response times is key. People underestimate how much 'support' is actually 'marketing' during an AppSumo launch. If you treat the support tickets as a sales funnel for positive reviews, the platform rewards you with that massive reach. It’s basically a full-time job for those 23 days, but clearly, the ROI is there if you can survive the surge.

  15. 1

    One thing that doesn't get enough attention in B2B SaaS is how much the onboarding experience dictates long-term retention. You can have great features but if someone has to spend 45 minutes configuring before they see value, they're gone. The tools that stick are ones where a user sees a meaningful result in the first session.

  16. 1

    $270k in 23 days is insane. genuinely curious about the distribution — was this all through one channel or did you stack multiple acquisition channels simultaneously?

    im on the exact opposite end of the spectrum right now. 75 IH posts, 33 dev.to articles, 367 cold emails, $0 in revenue. the product exists (agency contact data + SEO scanner), the content exists, but the buyer-channel fit is wrong. im selling to developers when the buyer is a salesperson.

    what was the single biggest driver of those first sales? was it organic traffic, paid ads, an existing audience, or something else entirely? trying to figure out where the leverage actually is for a $19 digital product.

  17. 1

    The 2-minute average support response time is the underrated detail here. Most people will read this post and think the takeaway is "launch on AppSumo," but the real flywheel is: fast support → happy users → reviews → AppSumo promotes you more → more sales. The platform rewards the behavior, not just the product.

    We're building an AI ad creative tool right now and actively debating the LTD route. The upside is obvious — cash injection plus a wave of early users who stress-test everything. But the risk with AI-heavy SaaS is that LTD users generate ongoing API costs forever, so the unit economics can flip on you fast if you don't structure the tiers carefully. Anyone here done an LTD for an AI product and found a good way to balance it? Curious how others think about capping usage without making the deal feel stingy.

  18. 1

    congrats on the numbers. genuine question — what was your distribution strategy for the first 100 sales? im sitting at 26 products on gumroad with $0 revenue and the common thread in every success story i read is that the product itself matters less than how you get it in front of the right people.

    did you launch to an existing audience, use paid ads, or was there a specific channel that drove most of the early sales?

  19. 1

    The 2-minute support response time is the real lever here. Most AppSumo launches sink because founders treat support as an afterthought after the rush. Oskar essentially bought his way into AppSumo's promotional machine by making the algorithm work for him through reviews and velocity.
    The part worth noting: this only works if the product actually holds up under that volume of new users. Lifetime deal buyers are the hardest audience to satisfy and the fastest to leave brutal reviews.
    Good luck with the SlashIt launch.

  20. 1

    The review-first strategy is the real takeaway here. Oskar basically built a flywheel — great support leads to reviews, reviews trigger AppSumo's promotion machine, and that drives more sales which generate more reviews. Most founders launching on AppSumo focus purely on the product page and ignore the post-purchase experience entirely.

    The 2-minute average response time is wild though. That level of responsiveness early on is basically a competitive moat on a marketplace like AppSumo where most sellers take hours or days to reply. It signals to buyers that this is a founder who actually cares, which makes them way more likely to leave a positive review.

    One thing I'd add from our own experience building a SaaS — lifetime deals are a double-edged sword. The cash injection is real and can fund development for months, but you also need a plan for what happens after. The LTD buyers are your most vocal users (they paid once and expect forever), so building for them while also creating a recurring revenue path takes careful product segmentation. Curious how Sendpilot is handling that transition.

  21. 1

    The key takeaway here goes deeper than just "ask for reviews" — what Oskar essentially built was a support-to-promotion pipeline where every customer interaction became a conversion opportunity. The 2-minute average response time is doing heavy lifting because it catches users during their highest-enthusiasm window, right when they've just purchased and are exploring the product. That emotional peak is when review requests convert at 3-5x the rate of a follow-up email sent days later.

    The part I'd add nuance to: LTDs work brilliantly as a cash injection strategy, but the long-term economics depend entirely on whether the product has a natural upsell path. Founders who run LTDs without a clear plan for converting those users to recurring revenue often end up with thousands of support-heavy users generating zero MRR. The most successful AppSumo launches I've studied use the LTD as the entry point and then layer usage-based pricing or premium tiers on top.

    For anyone considering this path — what was the refund rate like during those 23 days? AppSumo's 60-day refund policy means the real revenue number often looks different a couple months after launch, and I'd be curious whether the aggressive review strategy also helped reduce refund requests by creating deeper product engagement early on.

  22. 1

    The review velocity flywheel is real. Fast support response plus an explicit ask right after a good interaction gets AppSumo's algorithm working for you fast.

    What most founders miss on LTDs: those early buyers become your loudest community if the product actually delivers. Not just reviews but honest product feedback and word-of-mouth referrals to paid customers later.

    The timing on the review ask matters too. Asking right after you close a support ticket converts 3-4x better than a generic email blast. The emotional peak is real.

    Good breakdown of what actually drove the numbers.

  23. 1

    Really interesting breakdown of the AppSumo flywheel — the insight about response time driving reviews, which then triggers AppSumo's own promotional machine, is something most founders underestimate. It's not just about having a good product on the platform, it's about engineering that feedback loop from day one.

    I've been going back and forth on the LTD debate for my own SaaS. The cash injection argument is compelling, especially early on when you need to fund development and marketing simultaneously. But I think the key people miss is that LTDs work best when you have a clear upsell path or usage-based pricing layer on top — otherwise you're just trading future MRR for upfront cash.

    Curious about Oskar's retention strategy post-LTD. Did he share anything about how he plans to monetize the LTD users beyond the initial purchase, or is the play purely about using that capital to acquire recurring customers through other channels?

  24. 1

    The 2-minute average response time is the real differentiator here. Fast support in the early days builds trust that turns into reviews, and reviews compound into visibility. AppSumo rewards momentum, and momentum starts with caring about each individual user. Good breakdown.

  25. 1

    Really interesting breakdown of the AppSumo flywheel effect. The key insight here isn't just "get reviews" — it's that Oskar turned every single customer interaction into a relationship-building moment. The 2-minute response time is doing so much heavy lifting because it signals to buyers that they're getting real support, not just a one-off deal.

    For anyone considering the LTD route: one thing I've been thinking about while building our own SaaS (AI-powered ad creative generation) is that lifetime deals work best when your marginal cost per user is low and the product compounds in value over time. If serving each LTD customer eats into your infrastructure budget, you end up regretting the cash injection pretty quickly. But if your product is mostly software with minimal per-user cost, that upfront capital can be rocket fuel for marketing and hiring. What was your experience with unit economics on AppSumo — did the math work out long-term?

  26. 1

    The review-flywheel insight is underrated. Most people treat AppSumo as a one-time cash injection, but the real leverage is that positive reviews trigger AppSumo's own distribution — dedicated emails, top deals lists, etc. It's a compounding loop, not a linear one.

    Curious whether the 2-minute avg support response time was sustainable or if that was a sprint-mode thing during launch week. That kind of responsiveness is a massive differentiator early on but hard to maintain as volume grows.

  27. 1

    Interesting example.

    I do not think the takeaway is that lifetime deals are always good or always bad. The real question is whether they solve the right problem at the right stage. If a founder uses them to buy time, improve the product, and speed up learning, they can work really well.
    What stands out here is not just the revenue number. It is the execution behind it: fast support, tight review loops, and strong user satisfaction.
    That is what turned distribution into real momentum.

  28. 1

    Is this sustainable long term? I get that it is helpful at the beginning, but can a business like this survive from one time payment services?

  29. 1

    The insight about response time is underrated here. Two-minute average reply time on support questions is what separates founders who sell on AppSumo from founders who make real money on AppSumo. Most people treat LTD launches like a "set it and forget it" thing, but Oskar basically ran it like a live customer success operation.

    I think the broader lesson applies beyond AppSumo too — any marketplace or platform rewards you for engagement velocity. We've seen something similar building our SaaS: the faster you close the loop between "user tries something" and "user gets a result," the more likely they are to tell someone about it. For us it's generating ad creatives in under 30 seconds from a URL. For Oskar it was turning a support question into a positive review before the user moved on with their day.

    The real question for anyone considering an LTD launch: can you handle that level of support intensity for 3-4 weeks straight? Because that's really what you're selling — not just the product, but the founder's attention.

  30. 1

    the 2-min support response is the real lever here. reviews follow trust, not asks. most founders flip this and wonder why appsumo conversions are flat. what product did he launch?

  31. 1

    That makes sense, but I think a lot of people underestimate the trade-offs with lifetime deals. We’ve seen cases where it brings in quick cash, but then you’re carrying long-term support for users who paid once while your costs keep growing.

    The AppSumo dynamic you mentioned is interesting though. It’s not just the deal, it’s the feedback loop. Fast support leads to good reviews, which leads to more exposure and more sales. Feels like the real lever there is responsiveness, not just pricing.

    Did you notice if most of those users stuck around long term, or was it more of a spike during the campaign?

  32. 1

    Great breakdown! I'm at a similar stage and these insights are super helpful. Have you found any particular metrics most useful for tracking progress early on?

    1. 1

      Yes we already getting sale from that. Now, only couple of hours of launch and getting sale that we didn't expected.

  33. 1

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  34. 1

    This sounds fantastic...

    Built a Coaching platform. 0 traction after months of marketing It.

    I just built an AI invoice chaser with a unique no-API approach.

    It sounds like it's time to give AppSumo a try...

    1. 1

      Ofcourse, we already gained fund and also we publish on appsumo. Cause they have huge audiance base. That will help you for sure.

  35. 1

    That's great way to get your saas on top

  36. 1

    Huge congrats, Mahmudul vai

    This is such a smart play on using lifetime deals as “fundraising” for SaaS

    Wishing big success for Slashit on AppSumo, hope you cross Oskar’s numbers soon inshaAllah 🙌

    1. 1

      In Sha Allah. Did you use this app?

  37. 1

    Thanks for sharing the great insight.

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