A couple of days ago I completed the sale of Live Message. In this article, I wanted to share what I built, why I decided to sell the project.
Why I started a side project?
When I start a side project, I usually have a clear reason to do so. The reasons can vary, from wanting to learn a new technology or to solve a problem I’m experiencing.
Live Message had a bit of an unusual start. Back in 2017, when Samsung released Note 8, Live Message, which is exclusive for Note series, really caught my attention.
Aww, that looks so cool.
I asked myself as an Android Engineer how did they do it. Till February 2018, when people went on Tet holidays, I just stayed home spending 16 hours a day for 2 weeks on bringing a clone of Live Message to life. Eventually, I made it. After a few weeks, I left Vietnam with my team. After having settled down in Bangkok, it’s where I first published Live Message to Play Store.
Reacting to the Launch
I built an MVP of the app in 2 weeks, and launched the app in March of 2018. While at work, I randomly checked my Play Store account, I was blown away with the response I received. There were some numbers. That was the first money I ever made by In-App purchase. I was so happy.
I drew a roadmap for it and tried to achieve it.
- In June 2018, Instant App was added (link https://medium.com/@Cuong.Le/live-message-goes-instant-7f6fbb199366 )
- In October 2018, after having moved to Singapore with a new job, I kept it update to Note 9 version (link https://medium.com/@Cuong.Le/whats-new-in-live-message-872f64549747 )
- In March 2019, it stepped out of shadow of the original app, AR was supported
Exploring Options
While the advertising and IAP revenue were nice in 2018, it tends to drop in early 2019. It wasn’t enough to pay me to work full time. What could I do to expand the app, to add new features that users might want to use, and to pay for.
I came up with a few ideas, but they are time-consuming, I lacked of resources to optimise on low-end phones and marketing.
Looking for Partners
There are a lot of Android OEMs but only Samsung Note has a pen to leverage to the app. Although I had a number of promising conversations with companies from all over the world, proving once again but nothing concrete materialised.
Deciding to Sell
Although I had explored ways to expand the app, I could simply have let it run as it was. The app kept bringing in visitors all by itself, mostly as a result of the great launch I had. Eventually though with no update, no promotion this would have stopped.
If the app was to continue to be a success it needed to be updated, to be promoted, to grow. If this wasn’t going to happen with me, then it would have to be under new ownership. I just wanted the app to continue to be a success.
Maintaining the app didn’t take a lot of time, but having a popular app with a lot of potential burns a lot of mental energy. I was constantly thinking about the app, how it could be grown. This played a big part in my decision to sell. I wanted to remove this mental expense, to free up my mind to focus on other projects where my time could be better spent.
Making the Sale
When it first launched, it started $3000. After a week, there weren’t too much interaction. I listed down to $2500. The second week passed, there was 1 bid. then second, third bid came at $2700. In the third week, somehow Live Message was marked as editor choice.
A number of people reached out to me about acquiring the app increased significantly. Ultimately, when all negotiations appeared to have stalled, I did find a buyer willing to buy it at $3750.
I think I got a fair price, and hope the buyer thinks they did too.
I know the app will continue to be a success under new management.
Final Stats
