Hi r/Entrepreneur,

My name is Kevin and I design, develop, and market a series of light show apps for iOS and Android under the Light DJ brand. 2 years ago, I made a post about my journey into Entrepreneurship which you can find here. Today I’d like to provide an update on my business and answer any questions that you may have about my methods.

From 2017-2018 I had few major projects. My first priority was to update the Android app to match the effects of the iOS version. Previously I had decided to build these as two native apps rather than a hybrid app and that’s resulted in two slightly different feature sets between the apps as they’ve grown at different paces. Now the apps produce the same lighting effects and I intend to maintain effect parity going forward. I still think having two native apps is the right option for my purposes. Using native tools and support makes it easy to integrate third-party libraries and debug on Stack Overflow when things go awry. I develop on iOS first because it’s easier to prototype with Swift, then I port the feature to Android/Java from there. Writing the code the second time isn’t too bad since going from Swift to Java is fairly simple, plus translating it forces you to do a thorough review of your own code. I’ve fixed more than a few bugs this way.

Nanoleaf Aurora support was another focus this period. The hardware had just been released and I was excited to branch out from bulb-based effects to panels. Integrating with new third-party hardware is risky and exponentially increases testing time so I have to be selective as to who I integrate with. I chose Nanoleaf because I could see the potential of the product and because they have mass-market availability in Apple Stores and Best Buy. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Nanoleaf's CEO Gimmy Chu and his team a few times. They’ve been great to work with, open to suggestions, and are just really cool people. My latest version includes support for the new square Canvas tiles too and I’ll continue to update the code as new shapes are released.

In September 2017 I released a moonshot app called Light DJ Studio which presents a new concept in mobile light shows. Users record a light track guitar-hero style, in sync to any Apple Music track. They can save the track for later playback or (as of Oct 2018) share it with the Light DJ community so that others can enjoy it too. Currently the app is completely free while the library of user-submitted tracks slowly grows (currently ~40) and anyone that submits a track gets free access for life if I ever do monetize it. I designed the light recordings so that they work with any light setup, so even if the creator makes their light recording on Hue it will still work on Nanoleaf or LIFX or vice-versa. There’s a ton of potential in this app and I hope to one day work with DJs and other musicians to release exclusive light shows for the app.

In January 2018, Philips Hue announced its Hue Entertainment API, which provided an opportunity for my app to stand out from the other entertainment apps for Hue. Hue Entertainment allows games and other media to stream real-time effects to your living room. For me, this meant high-performance effects like faster strobes and smoother waves that travel across the room. I spent about 2 months redesigning all 40 effects in my app to work with the new API and Light DJ was one of the first apps to have this support. While the performance improvements were astounding, sales were not. Since my business model was "pay-once, get everything” the power users who really wanted this feature got it for free, but users who were new to Hue or my app didn’t care or know what it was, so it did not add much apparent value. Add to that the traditional spring slump that happens as people start getting outdoors more around April & May and my daily proceeds started to dropping to double-digits. Clearly drastic changes were needed to save my business.

I considered creating more in-app purchases for new hardware support, but I really hate nickle-and-diming users for every little thing and it results in a ton of extra code to handle all the extra limitations. If my business is to be successful then consistent recurring revenue is a must and so in the end I decided that the only rational option was to move to a subscription model. This has provided many benefits:

• Recurring subscription revenue is easier to predict. That makes me more comfortable hiring people to help me grow my business and helps me sleep at night.

• I can afford to pay for marketing since the average revenue per user is higher.

• Users are more engaged. Average time-in-app is up, and so are daily/monthly active users. The theory is that users who pay more for an app value it more and are more likely to use it.

• I can continue to add features and hardware support freely without having to be concerned with things like selling a certain feature then moving/merging it later and having to figure out how to continue to give partial access.

• 50% reduction in Apple fees on subscriptions over 1 year.

• Ability to support cross-platform subscriptions (coming soon).

There were a few downsides to moving to subscriptions, however. The move was not popular with users who were used to the previous freemium model and hadn’t upgraded, resulting in negative reviews. Previous purchasers received free lifetime updates, so they are not a source of revenue. The price of the Android subscription started the same as iOS even though it had fewer features so I lowered the price after a month of dismal sales. Though the subscription includes a 7-day free trial, users were hesitant to sign-up so I introduced a preview period for users to try out the app for a bit before committing. Additionally in order to sell auto-renewable subscriptions on the App Store you need to sell something “of substance”. For me, that means I’m obligated to produce and provide 2 bonus effects per month to users as part of the subscription (abstract promises like “future updates” won’t cut it). I make the effects in batches of a dozen or so and it takes me a few weeks to create and test them for both OSs. While I generally enjoy making these it’s still a task that I’ll be required to do every 6 months or so for as long as the app is producing revenue.

Metrics:

Ok, so here’s why a lot of you clicked. The truth is that I don’t spend all day staring at my metrics looking for incremental improvements. My focus is always on finding the best way to add value to my service and creating a valuable service is what will drive good numbers. I follow the Valve Manifesto as I believe that it’s a better way to create a quality product.

Of note in the sales data: New Years Eve continues to be the biggest day for downloads and sales of the app. Subscriptions were introduced July 1, resulting in 1 week of no sales (there was a last chance sale on June 30). In addition to subscriptions I continue to offer a fully unlocked version of the app in both app stores (at a higher price) for users that don’t want to deal with the subscription.

Sales data (viewable for a limited time): (removed)

Daily Active Users: ~1,200

Monthly Active Users: ~33,000

Subscription conversion: 59%

Subscription retention: 74%

Outlook:

For 2019 my focus is on improving retention by increasing the value of subscriptions through new community features including pattern and sheet sharing, cross-platform subscriptions, cloud-backed settings, and a web portal where users can purchase and manage subscriptions. Nanoleaf Canvas support will be a big help when it comes to marketing content creation since the square panels are easier to work with than the triangles. Aside from that I have a whole laundry list of app features that I’ve been wanting to create and a dozen or so unfulfilled user requests that will keep me busy. I’ll also be on the lookout for any new hardware that could work with the app.

I hope this post provides a bit of insight into my business and helps encourage future developers to give it a shot on the App Store. I'd love to answer any questions you have about my business or development practices.

Cheers,

Kevin