allmyapps - story of an almost successful startup

App Store for Windows PC

Story of an almost successful French startup

by @thibauld – ex-CEO of Allmyapps

2009A great start!

Software installation on PC is broken, let’s fix it!2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

2 co-founders: Arnaud (@coulondre) and I2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

70K€ euros raised from friends and family2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Patrice

Jeff

Lionel

Gab

Damien

Maria

BrigitteSeb

Hughes

Patrick

1st Launch: 30K users and 1st deal with Intel US2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

2010The euphory

LeWeb09, Startup Academy, Techcrunch France2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Marie

Sam

Hiring and building our team2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Sylvain

Maxime JeromePatrice

MaximeXavier

Alex

Elodie

Fred

Gawen

1st App Store for Windows released!2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

2011The mistakes

2011The mistakesssss!

Big marketing push. Burn rate soars to 120K2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

The race to our 1st million users

Objective: Convincing Tier 1 software publishers to sell on Allmyapps

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Pb #1

We could not get them to sell on Allmyapps2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Pb #1

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Pb #2

It took us time to realize we had

BIG on-boarding issues

Product/market fit wasn’t there yet :/2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Pb #2

It took us time to realize we had

BIG on-boarding issues

Our cash level was reaching the “danger” zone2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Pb #3

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

+1M€ bridge financing

Objective: product iteration and Series A2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

+1M€ bridge financing

Fund raising attempt in the US… FAILED2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Fund raising attempt in the US… FAILED2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Fund raising attempt in the US… FAILED2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

New strategy!

all my apps on all my devices

Dropbox for Apps2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

New strategy!

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

New fundraising attempt in Europe…

FAILED2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

New fundraising attempt in Europe…

2012The struggle

Only 4 more months left to live….2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Pb #3 (again)

From 15…. to 8 employees :(2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Only solution left: downsizing

Capitalizing on our current product2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Back to Windows App Store

<Microsoft logo>

Marketing budget: 0€2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Full SEO acquisition strategy

<Google logo>

App Promotion2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

New business model

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

New product - Allmyapps v2

Released on September 27th 20122009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

New product - Allmyapps v2

Race against time….2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Sept

1K€

Revenues Cash left175K€

Sept

Race against time….2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

OctSept

12K€

1K€

Revenues Cash left

100K€

175K€

OctSept

Race against time….2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

OctSept Nov

17K€

12K€

1K€

Revenues Cash left

63K€

100K€

175K€

OctSept Nov

Race against time….2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

OctSept Nov Dec

24K€

17K€

12K€

1K€

Revenues Cash left

33K€

63K€

100K€

175K€

OctSept Nov Dec

3 months of cash missing :/2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

OctSept Nov Dec

24K€

17K€

12K€

1K€

Break-even is around the corner!

Break-even

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

+300.000€ final investment

Objective: reaching profitability2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

+300.000€ final investment

2013The recovery

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

OctSept Nov Dec

24K€17K€

12K€

1K€

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

OctSept Nov Dec

24K€17K€

12K€

1K€

28K€

Jan

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

OctSept Nov Dec

24K€17K€

12K€

1K€

28K€

50K€

Jan Fev

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

OctSept Nov Dec

24K€17K€

12K€

1K€

28K€

50K€

66K€

Jan Fev Mar

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

OctSept Nov Dec

24K€17K€

12K€

1K€

28K€

50K€

66K€

Jan Fev Mar

Break-even

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

OctSept Nov Dec

24K€17K€

12K€

1K€

28K€

50K€

66K€

Jan Fev Mar

WE ARE

PROFITABLE!

Break-even

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

+200.000€ B2B deal

+25% monthly average growth2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Daily allmyapps downloads

-

5 000

10 000

15 000

20 000

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

We’re out of the death zone…

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

We’re out of the death zone…

Back to our growth plans!

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

We’re out of the death zone…

Back to our growth plans!

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

But then this happened…

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

But then this happened…

0

100000

200000

300000

400000

500000

600000Weekly allmyapps.com traffic

Google killed 70% of our traffic… overnight!2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

But then this happened…

0

100000

200000

300000

400000

500000

600000Weekly allmyapps.com traffic

Google killed 70% of our traffic… overnight!2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

But then this happened…

0

100000

200000

300000

400000

500000

600000Weekly allmyapps.com traffic

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

We’re BACK to the death zone…

Out our growth plans :(

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

We’re BACK to the death zone…

Out our growth plans :(

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

At this point…

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

At this point…

ALL IN !

We make it… or we crash it!2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

At this point…

ALL IN !

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

The main issue:

DISTRIBUTION

Let’s find another distribution channel!

Worldwide distribution deal with Systweak2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

January 2014

New distribution channel: OK2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Results

-

20 000

40 000

60 000

oct.-13 nov.-13 déc.-13 janv.-14 févr.-14

Daily allmyapps downloads

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

End of March 2014

30K€ revenues / month(back from 15K€ in January 2014)

We need 60K€ / month to break-even

BUT

In the “Danger” zone again!2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Problem

3 months to sell the company2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Decision

Let’s sell the company…

NOW!

2014Selling Allmyapps

9 employees

500K€ Debts

3M€ Loss carryforward (“déficit reportable”)

100K€ in the Bank + 150K€ CIR “yet to come”

30K€ operating loss / month

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Company facts

April

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

The context

Box software and games distributor

Wants to go into online distribution

Interested in:

– Our know-how / team

– Our technology

– Our users May

Company A

Offers to buy the company shares for 350K€

Keep all employees

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

The offer

May

Company A

Letter of Intention received but:

– Company A refused to properly incentivize employees to join the company

– As a result, all developers voiced their opposition to join Company A during HR interviews

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

The result

May

Company A

Letter of Intention received but:

– Company A refused to properly incentivize employees to join the company

– As a result, all developers voiced their opposition to join Company A during HR interviews

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

The result

May

Company A

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

The context French Coopetitor / We know each other

Profitable company

Interested in:– The product and its user base

– Our catalog of desktop applications

– The Tax (IS) economy

– Buying a competitor June

Company B

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

The operation as proposed by Allmyapps

A win/win deal:

– Sell of 100% shares for 500K€

– Risk free acquisition for Company B:

• Accretive even if synergies finally do not work as hoped thanks to the important Tax economy

June

Company B

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

The (Non) Offer

Strong first initial interest

Abnormally slow moving

Finally informally proposed to buy Allmyapps with options (BSA) of the company

July

Company B

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

The result

(non) offer contradictive to our 1st talks

Not interesting for allmyapps shareholders

Company B was obviously trying to run out the clock

Our answer: NOJuly

Company B

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

The result

(non) offer contradictive to our 1st talks

Not interesting for allmyapps shareholders

Company B was obviously trying to run out the clock

Our answer: NOJuly

Company B

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

The context

Allmyapps business partner for 1.5 years

Leading company in the download space

Interested in:

– The product

– Our catalog of desktop applications

August

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

The offer

370K$ for allmyapps assets

200K$ for pre-identified key employees to help transition adapt our technology to their technical platform

30K$ for our mutual “contact agent”

August

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

The result

370K$ < Allmyapps total debts:

– I cannot take the decision to sell alone

– Needs approval of “administration judiciaire”

Our answer:

– OK but pending administration approval

August

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Sept

September 9th 2014

Liquidation procedure opening2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Sept

September 11th 2014

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Oct

Final judgement – Round 1

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Oct

Final judgement – Round 1

Company A

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Oct

Final judgement – Round 1

Company ACompany A Company B

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Oct

Final judgement – Round 1

Company A Company B

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Oct

Final judgement – Round 1

80K€

Company A Company B

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Oct

Final judgement – Round 1

80K€

250K€

Company A Company B

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Oct

Final judgement – Round 1

80K€

296K€(370K$)

250K€

Company A Company B

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Oct

Final judgement – Round 2

Company A Company B

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Oct

Final judgement – Round 2

80K€

Company A Company B

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Oct

Final judgement – Round 2

80K€

320K€

Company A Company B

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Oct

Final judgement – Round 2

80K€

320K€

361K€(450K$)

Company A Company B

October 21st 2014

bought

for 361.000 euros

“If you’re going through hell, keep going.”

Winston Churchill

“If you’re going through hell, keep going.”

Winston Churchill

If you’d like to know more about my next upcoming venture:@thibauld

Credits

Thanks again to all who contributed to this almost success story

Our early business, code and design angels

Patrice

Jeff Lionel Gab

Damien et Claude

Maria Brigitte

Seb

HughesPatrick

Leo

Andrea

Our funny and hardworking (sometimes) interns ;)

Adrien, Matthieu, David, Slim

Laurence, Reda, Cyprien, Pierre, Vivien, Loukmane

Feiyu, Xiaodong

Our hardworking team

Mikky, Xavier, Patrice, Gawen, Jean-Tristan, Frederic, Arnaud, Maxime, Elodie, Jerome, Thibauld, Alex, Sylvain, David

Axel Maxime Seb Patrick Jeremy

Our supportive investors and board members

Marie PaulineSamantha

Rodrigo Nenad

My friend and co-founder

Arnaud

My friend and co-founder

Arnaud

Hélène

And his supportive wife!

My beloved wife and partner for life!

Paola

My beloved wife and partner for life!

And finally my entire family for their never ending support

Paola