The Story
Erikas is a designer-turned-entrepreneur from Lithuania (now living in Paris) who built 5 Shopify apps generating $4.5M/year with 90% profit margins - all with zero marketing spend. His main app, Kaching Bundles, alone does $400K MRR.
He started his journey making just $2/hour at a local web design agency right after school. While freelancing, he stumbled upon the Shopify Partners page and saw that the top 25% of Shopify app developers make nearly $300K/year. That number seemed huge compared to his freelance income, so he decided to build in the Shopify ecosystem.
Since launching in August 2022, his apps have generated over $400 million in additional revenue for merchants using them.
The Shopify App Opportunity
Why Platforms Work
- •Shopify App Store does all the marketing for you
- •Built-in distribution to millions of merchants
- •Platform handles payments and trust
- •Focus on product, not marketing
The Gap Erikas Found
- •Solo developers/indie hackers: Great technical skills but poor UX
- •VC-backed companies: Great UX but move slowly (months/years for new features)
- •His opportunity: Combine great UX with fast iteration
Finding Winning Ideas
Three Criteria
- •Easy to build - Must be buildable in a couple months max
- •Broad market - Useful for any Shopify store (easier to market)
- •Low competition - Space to squeeze in
Validation Process
- •Joined Discord communities of dropshippers
- •Joined e-commerce Facebook groups
- •Posted a screenshot of his app design (not even built yet)
- •Post blew up: 100+ likes, tons of comments asking where to download
- •That was his validation signal
The Apps
Kaching Bundles (Main App)
- •$400K MRR
- •Helps merchants create product bundles to increase average order value
Other Apps
- •Kaching Post Purchase Upsell
- •Kaching Pop-up Upsell
- •Kaching Card Drawer Upsell
- •All in the discount/upsell category
The Review Strategy (Game Changer)
Why Reviews Matter
- •Reviews drive App Store rankings
- •Rankings drive organic installs
- •Organic installs = $0 marketing spend
How to Get Reviews
- •In-app prompts - Ask for reviews directly in the product
- •Monthly emails - Show merchants how much revenue the app generated, then ask for review
- •Customer support - 95% of reviews come from support interactions
The Gamified Bonus System
- •Monthly leaderboard tracking who gets most reviews
- •"Persuader of the Month" award
- •Calculate conversion rate: times asked for review → reviews received
- •Bonuses for each review obtained
- •Creates healthy competition among support team
Support Quality
- •24/7 customer support
- •All agents are highly technical (can dig into merchant's code)
- •Top-notch support = happy customers = 5-star reviews
Building Without Technical Skills
Finding a Co-Founder
- •Treat it like sales - you're selling someone on your vision
- •Posted in local developer Facebook group
- •Pitched his value: Shopify experience, design skills, existing client base
- •Found technical co-founder who believed in the vision
Design Process
- •Study competitors deeply
- •Go through their UX, take notes on likes/dislikes
- •Create design that's objectively better
- •Build with co-founder
Monetization Strategy
Launch Free First
- •Reduces friction for installs
- •More installs → more reviews → better rankings
- •Grandfather early users when you add pricing
- •Only monetize new users
Pricing Model
- •Subscription tiers based on usage
- •Always offer free trial
- •Full refunds, no questions asked (risk of 1-star review too high)
Tech Stack & Tools
- •Slack (team communication)
- •Intercom (customer support)
- •Features.vote (feature suggestions from users)
- •Linear (internal task management)
- •Mantle (Shopify-specific metrics, funnels, affiliate partnerships)
Business Numbers
- •$4.5M ARR
- •90% profit margins
- •5 Shopify apps
- •$0 marketing spend
- •2 years to scale
Day in the Life
- •Wake up whenever (no alarms)
- •Check emails in bed, scroll Twitter
- •Differentiate tasks: quick wins (30 min) vs. deep work
- •Doesn't feel like work - passionate about what he does
- •Doesn't count time
Key Advice
For Starting Out
- •Two people are enough: designer + developer
- •Do customer support yourself initially to understand pain points
- •Scale team only after you start getting more tickets
For Finding Ideas
- •Build on platforms with built-in distribution
- •Look for gaps between indie hackers (bad UX) and big companies (slow)
- •Validate with real users before building
Community
- •Hang around other builders
- •Learn from their mistakes
- •Find co-founders in communities
Resources
- •Follow Erikas: https://x.com/malisauskasLT