Founder Playbook · Starter Story
9 tactics from Chris
This App Replaced My 9-5 ($150K/year)
Watch the full episode“The number one project is a to-do list app but there are 2 million to-do list apps out there. So I thought I'd do something similar and that was a wish list app because back then I was still using an Excel sheet for my own wish list because I thought there was no nice and pretty wish list app out there.”
Build A Prettier Version Of A Boring Tool You Already Use In Excel
Chris was managing his own wishlist in an Excel sheet because no app on the market looked nice enough. Rather than chase a crowded category like to-do lists, he picked a related, underserved niche where he was already the target user.
“In the summer I couldn't really motivate myself to keep developing after a full day of developing. So the start of 2025 I negotiated to have a 4 day week to have another full day for wish list.”
Negotiate A Four-Day Week As The Bridge From Job To Full-Time Founder
After years of evening and weekend work, Chris hit a wall: a full day of dev work at his job killed his motivation to code at night. Instead of quitting cold, he negotiated a 4-day week with his employer in early 2025, buying himself a guaranteed weekly day for Wishlist before going full-time.
“Start small. Start with an actual problem either you or someone else experienced because I guarantee you if you have this problem there's at least one more person on this earth with the same problem and that should be enough to start this project.”
Pick A Real Problem You Or A Friend Already Has — One Other Person Is Enough
Chris validated his wishlist app by scratching his own itch, since he was still tracking his Christmas list in an Excel sheet. He argues that if you personally have a problem, at least one other person on earth shares it, and that's enough signal to start.
“If I had set my goal 6 years ago to have 150k a year I would thrown away that project. So my first goal was not to get the million dollars but to have a random person who I don't know download the app. Since it was a side project monetization can come afterwards. Users first monetization later.”
Pick A Tiny Early Goal — Users First, Monetization Later — Or You Will Quit
Chris says picking the wrong goal would have killed the project early. Instead of chasing revenue, his first milestone was a single stranger downloading the app, which kept the bar low enough to keep shipping for years.
“Nowadays everyone would just vibe coded on a weekend but for me it took 6 years. So for me it was, I guess, a marathon and not just a vibe coding weekend.”
A Side Project Is A Six-Year Marathon, Not A Vibe-Coding Weekend
Chris started building Wishlist in 2019, shipped the first version in 2020, relaunched as 2.0 in 2023, and only quit his job in 2025. He frames realistic side-project timelines as a multi-year marathon rather than a weekend sprint.
“Being a developer also means that I'm naturally bad at marketing. So I just didn't do any marketing the standard way. Also I simply didn't have the money for it. And my goal was also not to make money. But what was crucial were my friends and family especially at the beginning because I just asked everyone I know for reviews. Reviews are super important for an app on the app store to to get ranked at the top.”
Reviews Are The App Store Growth Lever When You Skip Marketing Entirely
Chris ran zero paid or standard marketing and instead optimized for App Store ranking through reviews. He bootstrapped social proof by asking friends and family first, then engineered in-app review prompts at moments users felt good.
“Reviews are super important for an app on the app store to get ranked at the top. So I also made sure that my users would give me good reviews and that's why I show these in-app reviews at an appropriate timing. So for me I'm just showing it after the user has accomplished something. For example has added a wish or fulfilled a wish. So when the user feels good.”
Trigger In-App Review Prompts Only At Moments Of User Accomplishment
Chris ties the in-app review prompt to moments of user accomplishment, like adding or fulfilling a wish, when the user is feeling good. He credits this timing for the steady flow of positive reviews that pushed Wishlist up the App Store rankings without paid marketing.
“Every time I shipped a feature or just I fixed a bug for someone specific user I would text these users: Hi John I just fixed your issue, or hi John I just implemented the feature you requested, could you let me know how you feel about it. Once they get back to me with a positive answer only then I would ask them to review my app.”
Close The Loop Personally On Every Feature Request, Then Ask For The Review
Chris saved every support email and feature request from day one, then personally followed up when he shipped a fix or feature. Only after a user responded positively would he ask for a review, which became his core App Store ranking lever in lieu of paid marketing.
“How make money is through in purchases. For example if you want to have a custom wish list image you get into this pay wall then you can get a premium membership. More important um I get money through affiliate links. So if I were to add a wish from let's say Amazon um I can simply autoimp import it. Once I open this link from within wish lists I get money because it's I'm changing it to an affiliate link for me.”
Stack Affiliate Revenue On Top Of A Thin Premium IAP For ~99% Margins Solo
Chris stacks two revenue streams in his wishlist app: a premium membership unlocked behind paywalls for cosmetic upgrades like custom list images, plus affiliate revenue from auto-imported product links. When a user opens an Amazon wish from inside the app, it routes through his affiliate link, turning everyday gift-giving into recurring commission.