AfterMVP
How Wishlist grew

Wishlist growth strategy

A simple wish list app to create, manage, and share gift wishlists

wishlists-app.com Founded 2019 By Chris
MRR $6.0k
Users 1.1M
Stage Established
Category Consumer SaaS
Starter Story This app replaced my 9-5 ($150K/year)
Growth roadmap

8 moves, in order

  1. Pre launch / University (2019 2020)
    Personal network

    Built the first version of the app as a personal learning project to solve his own problem (using Excel for wishlists). Launched the first version in 2020.

    App live on App Store; first real-world users acquired
  2. Early growth (2020 2022)
    Friends and family reviews

    Personally asked every friend and family member to download the app and leave a review on the App Store. Chris describes this as awkward but essential for App Store ranking.

    Enough reviews to begin ranking organically in App Store search
  3. Early growth (2020 2022)
    In app review prompts

    Implemented in-app review prompts triggered only at positive moments — after a user adds a wish or fulfills a wish — ensuring the user feels good before being asked to rate the app.

    Consistent stream of positive App Store reviews driving organic ranking
  4. Early growth (2020 2022)
    Personal support email loop

    Saved every support email and feature request from the start. When a bug was fixed or feature shipped, personally emailed the specific user who requested it. Only asked for a review after receiving a positive reply. This turned support into a review-generation and retention engine.

    High user satisfaction, strong review velocity, word-of-mouth referrals
  5. Relaunch (Late 2023)
    App store launch v2

    Used 2 months of free time between finishing university (July 2023) and starting full-time job (October 2023) to do a full rewrite and relaunch as Wishlist 2.0 with a clean codebase.

    Hit 100,000 registered users at the time of the Wishlist 2.0 launch
    Users 100k users
  6. Monetization (2023 2024)
    Affiliate links

    Integrated affiliate link monetization: when users import a product from Amazon or other retailers via URL, the app automatically rewrites the link to an affiliate link, earning commission on purchases.

    Primary revenue driver alongside in-app purchases; contributes to ~$150k/year revenue
  7. Monetization (2023 2024)
    In app purchases paywall

    Added premium in-app purchase features (e.g., custom wishlist images) behind a paywall/subscription, converting a portion of the free user base to paying customers.

    ~4,000+ paying customers; ~6k MRR in low season, ~5x during high season (Christmas)
    MRR $6.0k
  8. Scale (2024 2025)
    App store organic seo

    Continued compounding App Store ranking through sustained review volume and product quality. No paid marketing used at any stage — all 1.1M registered users and 110k MAU came from organic App Store discovery.

    1.1M registered users, 110k MAU, ~$150k/year (~$12.5k MRR annualized with seasonality); founder quit full-time job July 2025
    Users 1.1M users

How Wishlist got its first 100 users

Chris's first user acquisition tactic was purely personal: he asked every friend and family member he knew to download the app and leave a review. He acknowledges this was "super awkward at first" but critical for App Store ranking. He had no marketing budget and no audience — just direct personal outreach to his immediate network. Alongside this, he built a personal support loop from day one: he collected every support email and feature request, then personally followed up with users when he fixed their bug or shipped their requested feature. He would message users individually ("Hi John, I just fixed your issue") and, only after receiving a positive reply, ask them to leave a review. This tight feedback loop generated authentic early reviews and word-of-mouth referrals.

Wishlist's unfair advantage

Chris was an app developer by trade, so he could build and maintain the app entirely himself at near-zero cost (99% margins). He also had a personal pain point that validated the idea — he was using Excel for his own wishlists. No pre-existing audience or marketing budget; the advantage was purely technical self-sufficiency and low overhead.

The channel that scaled Wishlist

App Store organic search / reviews (ASO driven by review solicitation strategy)

What didn't work for Wishlist

Chris explicitly stated he did "zero marketing" and "didn't do any marketing the standard way," and had no budget for paid marketing. He implies standard/paid marketing channels were not used at all, rather than tried and failed. The slow 6-year timeline suggests there was no single fast-growth channel — growth was purely organic and gradual.

Watch the original

This app replaced my 9-5 ($150K/year)

Starter Story

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