App Masters

We grow apps faster, better & cheaper.

From top-charting apps to the world’s biggest brands to small indie app startups, we guide you through our successes and failures to ensure that you have a proven framework to ultimately find your success.

http://www.appmasters.com/

Founder & CEO

Indie App Santa

Groupon for apps.

We help indie app developers promote and kickstart their mobile apps.

We have two big missions:

1. Make entrepreneurship accessible to anyone worldwide by providing an affordable platform for developers to promote their apps.

2. Give anyone around the world premium access to great apps. Your spending power should NOT dictate your access to great products. We provide great deals on amazing apps to users ALL OVER THE WORLD.

Dreamers welcome.

Acquired the company in October 2024.

Chief Executive Officer

BlueThrone

We buy great mobile apps from iOS developers  who want to cash in, enjoy an early exit, and move forward with their next exciting project.

Advisor

Breakthrough

Breakthrough is a SaaS platform that empowers wellness coaches to transform their expertise into a personalized mobile app. Our platform allows wellness coaches to productize themselves, creating a dynamic and immersive experience for their followers. By leveraging our app, Breakthrough Partner Coaches can monetize their content, foster a vibrant community, and establish one-to-many relationships with their audience

Fun facts:

⏳ A wellness coach can build & launch an iOS and Android app in 3 weeks.
💸 Breakthrough has processed over 7 figures USD for coaches
🙆🏼 the #1 Stretching App was launched using Breakthrough
👨🏻‍🦽 The only wheelchair fitness app on the app store is powered by Breakthrough

Features of the platform for wellness coaches
📱 Launch an app with your brand
📦 Package subscription & in-app products to make money
🥳 Have an in app community
🎧 Users can make playlist with your content
📅 Automated daily content delivery
📬 Stay in touch with your followers through segmented email & push notification
💻 Fully self serve to manage the app

Founder Institute

Mentor for Startups

Founder Institute operates as an early-stage startup accelerator which enables entrepreneurs to launch new technology companies.

Founder Institute conducts training, program sessions, and public events. The company provides sessions on startup research, naming and branding, hiring and firing, revenue and cost, product development, marketing and sales, and fundraising. 

The company was founded in 2009 and is based in San Francisco, California

Mentor

CopyMasters.co

Sold to private buyer. 

Get unlimited copywriting for your business.

Imagine always having content ready for you…

Copy Masters is a team of trained and skilled copywriters to help you scale your content marketing and generate more leads.

Our copywriters can create:
- Audio Into Article
For people who hate writing. Just talk out your blog post and we’ll organize your crazy thoughts.

- SEO Optimized Blog Content
We create sticky webs of SEO-friendly content that the Google spiders love.

- Audio Transcription
Some people don’t want to hear your voice they rather read your podcast or videos. Google will love ya too!

- Press Releases
Announce new features, products and funding with press releases that even the Kardashians will envy.

- eBooks
We create eBooks that deliver value, attract leads and prove that you are the real deal.

- Email Newsletters
Get engaging, sultry email newsletters that subscribers can’t wait to open, click and buy.

- Authority Content
We create content and post on authority blogs to show off your brilliance (and attract new business).
	
- Research
Research is time consuming and boring! That’s why you should let us do it.

Learn more:
https://copymasters.co/

Founder

SmartShoot

SmartShoot is a marketplace that connects customers with the best local filmmakers and photographers. Whether you’re a business with a $1M budget for your 30-second TV spot or an individual looking for the perfect photographer for your daughter’s wedding, SmartShoot is the place!

Director of Product Marketing

TurnHere, Inc

Wigix, Inc.

- Oversee and execute all marketing channels including email, affiliates, PPC, SEO and PR
- Engineer social/viral marketing campaigns to increase user acquisition
- Conceptualize and manage multiple projects to enrich user experience
- Spearhead programs based on evaluation of customer and market trends
- Formulate long-term online marketing and company growth strategies

Senior Marketing Manager

Avanquest Software

•	Optimize SEO and paid search campaigns for multiple e-commerce websites
•	Develop e-mail messaging and offer strategy, including copy and creative
•	Collaborate with partner companies to implement co-marketing initiatives
•	Initiate new marketing programs to increase traffic, sales, and brand awareness
•	Build and manage multiple websites to improve conversion, content freshness, and customer interaction

Online Marketing Manager

I am the founder of App Masters the app marketing agency that helps grow apps faster, better & cheaper.

From top-charting apps to the world’s biggest brands to small indie app startups, App Masters guides you through our successes and failures to ensure that you have a proven framework to ultimately find your success.

I’m also an author, speaker, and host of the #1 app marketing YouTube channel. I have interviewed the biggest names including the co-founder of Shazam, Crossy Road, Mafia Wars, Color Switch, and more!

🚀 Being an app founder is not for the faint of heart.

You’ll face:

• Long nights staring at metrics that refuse to move.
• Users who churn faster than you can acquire them.
• Paywalls, ads, and monetization experiments that flop.

But here’s the truth 👇

Every big app you admire started with the same challenges. The difference? They didn’t stop.

They learned to:
✅ See rejection as feedback.
✅ Treat failed experiments as tuition.
✅ Obsess over distribution, not just features.

Case in point: We sold one of our apps for 5 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀—not because it had a massive feature set or we finally unlocked Meta ads.

The turning point?
We simply fixed the 𝗔𝗦𝗢 and got the app ranking for 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗸𝗲𝘆𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 with a search score of ~30.

That alone turned the app into a profitable asset—and eventually, an acquisition.

💡 The founders who win aren’t the ones with the “perfect idea.” They’re the ones who keep testing, keep iterating, and keep showing up for their users.

If you’re in the trenches right now, keep going. That small breakthrough you’re waiting for could be just one keyword, one experiment, or one iteration away.

👊 Keep pushing. Your future self will thank you.

𝗣.𝗦. Go into the comments for the video that shows how to find these keywords.

Steve P. Young

🚀 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗮 $0.99 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 57% 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀—𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗨𝗽 𝗢𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 3𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻.

Most teams think the onboarding paywall is their only shot at conversion.

But here’s the truth: sometimes the real revenue driver hides later in the journey.

We discovered a client had a $0.99 introductory weekly plan (renewing at $7.99/week) that was the #1 sale-generating plan, accounted for 57% of overall sales, and...

👉 It only appeared on the 3𝗿𝗱 𝗮𝗽𝗽 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻.

No pricing test. No complex funnel. Just a quietly brilliant setup.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗼 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹:
• 𝗟𝗼𝘄 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝘆. $0.99 made premium feel risk-free.
• 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝘂𝗽𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗺. After one week of value, $7.99 felt justified.
• 𝗪𝗶𝗻-𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗰. It converted users who had 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 the onboarding paywall.
• 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝘂𝗽: RevenueCat reports that intro discounts can boost conversions from 3% 𝘁𝗼 14%—a 433% 𝘂𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘁.
• And from the user’s side, 73% 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆’𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 76% 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀. 

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁:
Used as a low-priced, “second-chance” offer, they can unlock a huge revenue stream hiding in plain sight.

🚀 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗔𝗦𝗢 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 6-𝗙𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗔𝗽𝗽 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀

Most indie founders think growth requires huge ad budgets.
But the truth? The right 𝗔𝗽𝗽 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗔𝗦𝗢) strategy can take you from $0 → $100K+ in revenue.

At App Masters, we’ve used this exact system to help apps:
✅ Hit $1K/month within weeks
✅ Scale to $90K+ in annual revenue (70%+ from organic search)
✅ Grow to $42K in their 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 with zero ads

Here’s the playbook:
🔑 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 6–10 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗸𝗲𝘆𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 (search score ~30) in title, subtitle & metadata (don’t forget Spanish Mexico for US indexing).
📈 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 with a limited-time 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 promoted on sites like AppAdvice and Indie App Santa.
🛠️ 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗔𝗦𝗢 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 to uncover competitor keywords and target low-competition, high-traffic terms.

The milestone is clear:
👉 $1K/month proves product-market fit
👉 From there, refine keywords + promotions → six figures

ASO isn’t about chasing every keyword. It’s about laser-focused relevance + smart growth hacks.

Read the full blog post and video in the comments below.

🚨 Black-Hat vs White-Hat App Marketing 🚨

In the app world, growth is everything.
But how you get that growth determines whether you’re building a fragile house of cards—or a business that lasts.

Here’s the contrast:

𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸-𝗛𝗮𝘁 𝗧𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 🚫
– Fake reviews & keyword stuffing
– Bot installs & incentivized traffic
– Misleading ads & hidden subscription traps
– Cloaking and traffic laundering

These can give you short-term spikes, but they’re a ticking time bomb. Apps get banned. Accounts shut down. Reputations destroyed.

𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲-𝗛𝗮𝘁 𝗧𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 ✅
– Smart ASO & keyword testing
– Web-to-app funnels & referral loops
– Transparent paywalls & authentic creatives
– Retention built on personalization & trust

These take longer to build, but they compound. Instead of fighting platform policies, you ride the wave of trust and word-of-mouth. 

I'll be covering all Black Hat strategies at the RevenueCat App Growth Annual.

To request an invite, use the link below and comment if you're going to be there.

We’ve been sold the same myth for decades:
👉 𝘉𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸.

But the truth?
Most great products fail—not because they weren’t good enough, but because no one ever found them.

That’s why I’m excited to unleash a brand new presentation at App Promotion Summit New York called "𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗰𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁".
It’s about flipping the script: why distribution isn’t an afterthought—it’s the 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱.

If you nail your channels, growth follows.
If you don’t, even brilliance goes unnoticed.

I’ll be sharing case studies, strategies, and a new way of thinking about growth—one where the fastest way to scale isn’t adding more features, but finding the right path to market.

🎤 Can’t wait to share this on stage (register using the link in comments).

Use 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗸𝗲𝘆𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 in your CPPs to help your organic growth.

But here’s the catch 👇

Apple doesn’t automatically pick up the keywords from your screenshots, titles, or descriptions.

For them to work, you MUST:
✅ Add the keywords into your app’s 𝗸𝗲𝘆𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱
✅ Separate them with 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗮𝘀 (𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀!)

Example:
photo editor, ai photo enhancer, selfie retouch

This ensures Apple can match your CPP to those search terms—helping you create laser-focused ad and organic experiences that drive installs.

💡 The lesson: Design your CPPs for users, but don’t forget to power them with the right keyword setup behind the scenes.

Have you tested CPPs with targeted keyword campaigns yet?

In this episode, we’re joined by Chris Hewish, President at Xsolla - a global leader in video game commerce. With a career spanning Activision, DreamWorks Animation, Survios, and now Xsolla, Chris has decades of experience building strategies that fuel growth for games and apps worldwide. 

He’ll reveal why off-platform monetization is the next big revenue driver for developers and web shops are unlocking higher margins & growth potential for apps and games. Whether you’re an indie app developer or part of a top gaming studio, this session will give you the proven playbook for building scalable revenue streams outside the App Store and Google Play.

If you want to maximize app revenue, reduce transaction fees, boost user retention, and future-proof your app business model, you won’t want to miss this.


You will discover:
✅ Why off-platform payments are the future of game and app monetization
✅ The rise of web shops - and how to set them up for success
✅ Proven ways to boost retention, cut acquisition costs & gain user data
✅ How developers can balance compliance, user experience, and profitability


Learn More:
📲 Build your own Web Shop: https://lnkd.in/g23S4kkk

How Apps & Games Can Boost Revenue Beyond App Stores

💡 Ever wondered how to price your app?

Here are 3 proven ways founders do it:
1️⃣ Cost-Based → if you’re pre-revenue (< $5K)
2️⃣ Revenue/Profit-Based → once you’re making $$
3️⃣ User & Engagement-Based → for apps with huge audiences (think social & music apps 🎵)

👉 Which model fits YOUR app right now?

#AppValuation made easy with Evelin Herrera and Steve P. Young #MobileApps App Masters

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