How to Grow an App Organically Without Funding with Nidhi Gupta

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Nidhi Gupta is the CEO and Co-Founder of SoLo Mob. She started from scratch and grew to over 2 million downloads in a few years. She bootstrapped the company entirely on her own. Today I have her on to talk about how to grow an app completely organically without any outside funding.

Nidhi was originally working in the oil industry. She was the only woman on an oil platform at one point! She worked for the oil company for 13 years and worked internationally as well. She grew in her business skills as she progressed through the company. Due to her travels, she lost track with the news for awhile, and she realized there was a need for a way to catch up with the news in her downtime.  She ended up building the app as a hobby, to meet her own needs.

In 2012, she launched the app, while she and her co-Founders we all still working their full-time jobs. It took 3-4 months to build the first version.

“The best thing you can do is listen to your users!” – Nidhi Gupta

Nidhi also shares in this episode:

• What her first focus in the process was
• Why a website wasn’t in the first iteration of her company
• The basic functionality for the first version of the app
• When they built in additional functionality
• How Nidhi knew how to build an app for the first time
• How people found her app
• What distribution channels they put the app on in the first place
• Why she is embracing slow and steady growth
• Why she left her job before the company was profitable
• How she focuses on user experience above all
• How she came on FT for $0 salary
• Why her Visa wasn’t an issue when she went FT
• How different business models have worked for the company
• How a Google award impacted their sales
• Why they ruled out banner ads for their monetization strategy
• The idea of being a LEAN startup and the implications on the app
• Why it’s important for their start-up to focus on influencing consumer behavior
• Why funding is a “necessary evil”

Nidhi’s Advice for immigrant entrepreneurs:

1.  Execute

2. Get good co-founders

3. Make a financially viable product

4. Take the leap

Connect with Nidhi:

Email: nidhi [at] solomob.net

Website:www.solomob.net

App: www.newshog.co