Turning a Side Project into a Six-Figure Subscription Business – Eric Duffett, Shot Pattern

On the podcast we talk with Eric about his journey from a failed first app to success with his second, the advantage of building for problems people are already talking about, and why he turned down a lucrative acquisition offer to keep building.Top Takeaways:🔍 Demand-first discipline winsTesting for willingness to pay before writing a line of code can spare you five years of false starts. Quick interviews or landing pages that capture real purchase signals reveal genuine demand—an indispensable early litmus test against building in a vacuum.🔄 Ride existing habitsRather than convincing users to adopt completely new rituals, plug into behaviors they already practice. When pros were manually measuring holes on satellite maps, the real breakthrough was automating that exact process in real time—sidestepping the steep education curve of a brand-new workflow.🛑 Bet on a long-term vision, not a quick exitAn early $75K acquisition offer can feel like a no-brainer, but sometimes the best move is to walk away. Turning down a strategic buyout kept ownership in entrepreneurial hands and paved the way for multiples of that valuation through continued iteration and growth.💼 Treat side projects like businessesA side hustle stays a hobby until you put real money on the line. Investing $5K in core data and infrastructure forced a shift from tinkering to professional-grade execution—transforming assumptions into data-driven priorities and unlocking deeper product opportunities.🤝 Niche community fuel sparks growthNo launch strategy outpaces genuine community engagement. By sharing expert tips in specialized forums and social channels before and during build, small audiences morph into early adopters, trial converts, and your most effective brand advocates.Resources Very Good Ventures (Website)Seth Miller (LinkedIn)Curtis Herbert (LinkedIn)Eric’s story (RevenueCat blog post)Follow us on X: David Barnard - @drbarnardJacob Eiting - @jeitingRevenueCat - @RevenueCatSubClub - @SubClubHQEpisode Highlights: [3:24] If at first you don’t succeed: How (and when) Eric realized his first app, Undaunted Golf, didn’t have good product-market fit.[7:28] Try, try again: Why Eric’s second golf app, Shot Pattern, was a success.[11:21] If you build it: Instead of just launching on the App Store, Eric implemented a content marketing strategy to promote Shot Pattern.[13:18] Back to black: How Eric’s $5,000 upfront investment in Shot Pattern unlocked some key product differentiators and paid off in a big way.[20:23] Sell, sell, sell?: After receiving an acquisition offer from a potential buyer, Eric used RevenueCat’s app benchmarks to analyze Shot Pattern’s performance data and determine a rough valuation.[25:06] Have a little faith: What happened when Eric turned down a $75,000 buyout offer and kept working on Shot Pattern.[31:25] Video games: How Eric increased Shot Pattern’s annual revenue to $185,000 with video ads.[37:24] Quit your day job: What would make Eric consider quitting his full-time teaching job to focus on his growing subscription app business.[39:18] One-man show: Besides partnering with some content creators, Eric does most of the work for Shot Pattern by himself.[42:25] Success story: How RevenueCat helped Eric launch and grow a successful app business that changed his life.