FoodNoms

257 days after launch and 387 days after starting out, I crossed the $1K MRR (post revenue split with Apple) threshold!

The journey has been a series of ups and downs, and I’ve learned a ton along the way. I recently wrote a blog post sharing a reflection on my first year building this product: https://ryanashcraft.com/a-year-of-being-indie/.

Brief summary of the journey so far:

• Found a base following on Twitter
• Got noticed and was featured on major Apple blogs on day one
• Was very receptive to feedback and kept on iterating, even as download counts dwindled and revenue flatlined
• Got noticed again by Casey Liss and mentioned on ATP, which triggered a second wave of downloads (this time, with much better activation and retention numbers)

Being an indie and playing in a super competitive space on the App Store isn’t easy, but it also isn’t impossible. At the end of the day, I love what I’m doing and excited for what’s next.

FoodNoms had a fantastic launch with coverage from MacStories, 9to5Mac, and iMore.

The day after I posted to Product Hunt, and on Saturday posted to r/apple for self-promo Saturday.

The launch went above and beyond my expectations. I netted 6,393 downloads and 477 subscribers in launch week.

Yesterday was a really successful day on Twitter. 😅 The nutrition label scanning tweet (https://twitter.com/food_noms/status/1178699681242763264) garnered over 100 likes and 31,000 organic impressions, and now @food_noms has over 100 followers.

This morning I also announced the new foodnoms.com, which showcases all of the differentiating features of the app. Would love to hear your feedback!

Announced on Twitter this morning that FoodNoms is now in an open beta. I paired it with announcement about the app's latest feature – the ability to scan nutrition labels. So far the response has been terrific.

With this announcement, I signed up 30+ new beta testers so I'm now over 100 total. This is really a vanity metric – but it's validating. More importantly, I'm starting to get more of a steady stream of feedback from a variety of individuals who are excited about the app.

On this date I tweeted from the @food_noms account to announce the project. I had just made it to a point where I thought it was worthy of opening up to random strangers on the internet for beta testers. I retweeted it from my personal account and I was pretty happy with the initial reaction. I signed up >30 beta testers that day and started collecting feedback and Twitter followers.

I had just given notice at my last job and was looking forward to taking time off from full-time employment. I was planning on taking 2-6 months off and I wanted to start a project to keep me busy.

On June 16, I wrote down a bunch of ideas for iOS apps. I knew I wanted revisit iOS development. The last time I shipped a serious iOS app I had just graduated high school in 2010. A lot has changed since then, and I have learned a lot.

I chose to work on FoodNoms (at that point the name was "Crouton") instead of my other ideas. Even though the food tracking space is highly competitive, I was way more passionate about this idea than all the others.