Super excited by the growth, but it also stems from a very specific situation so even though it's a good amount, it hasn't been as a result of a huge amount of learning yet.
Appsumo is a lifetime deal site (LTD) where if you're accepted, you can offer a lifetime deal to your SaaS business through their site. They have thousands of passionate users, and because of their experience in knowing what their community wants, you have the potential of earning $100k+ in net sales. It can be a double-edge sword because a) you might not do that well with the community, b) you have a money bump but then have to support folks for lifetime and it isn't recurring revenue, and c) the community is very passionate so you'll know quickly whether or not they approve of what you're doing.
On the other hand, it is a fantastic way to get validation of your product and the need WITH money attached. If you treat it as an alternative to an investment round that brings with it a few thousand passionate users, then it's totally worth it. If you think it's going to be your business's salvation then it's not the right move.
Hi Chuck! Very meta question - I was just making a distinction between those who paid one-off (Appsumo) and those who signed up to a recurring monthly payment (MRR) obviously we won't know how much we retain until after, but we've crossed over the 30 day mark for most and seem to still be growing :)
Really interesting and I think with any LTD site you have to balance a few things and manage expectations. As a business model, it obviously isn't sustainable because you get one big chunk of money but then have to support users forever, so if that's why you're doing it, it isn't a great reason. If, however you look at it as an alternative to raising investment AND getting yourself a few thousand passionate users pretty quickly, it's a great tool. We also structured it so we offered a deep plan discount for AppSumo users to upgrade to our highest option (that wasn't part of the deal) to test and hopefully get a bit of MRR.
Yep - they are a great group of folks (and the AppSumo team is awesome). I don't necessarily think it's for every type of product, and there are pluses and minuses, but it's a great boost of validation.