How We Scaled Our App To 300K Users Who Earn Money Through Our Paid Surveys
I’m Karolis Toleikis, CEO and co-founder of Pawns.app. It’s a unique app that provides people worldwide with a low-effort passive income through completing surveys and sharing their unused bandwidth.
Anyone in the world with internet access can join our community and earn cash, Bitcoin, or gift cards in their free time and with minimal effort. This network helps businesses and individuals access the internet without censorship and geo-restrictions.
Our ethical approach, global availability, and strict focus on privacy for everyone involved allowed us to expand rapidly, with 654.7% user growth in 2022. At the moment we have 300k monthly users, we recently reached one million downloads on Android, and one million views on YouTube.
What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?
I was very young when I got my first computer. It didn't take long for me to realize what I could do with it and how much opportunity the internet provides. Instead of playing outside, I spent days on my computer, trying to figure out how things work.
After some time, I started learning about creating websites on my own. This period between 2009 and 2015 gave me priceless programming knowledge and the ability to develop successful projects on my own. I was able to fully understand what was possible or not in terms of programming, so I started creating projects on my own. Even though I don't actively code anymore, I try my best to stay up-to-date with the latest developments and make sure our ongoing projects use the best practices.
The idea for IPRoyal came from leasing IP subnets. This was a starting point and an investment. However, from conversations with our clients, it quickly became clear to me that there's a massive demand for proxy servers. All kinds of companies need a fast, safe, and reliable way to scrape the web, access the internet without restrictions, and improve their overall online security.
With the help of a few developers and colleagues from past projects, we put together a system that enabled us to start working on IPRoyal in 2020. Back in those days, I mostly did everything on my own, including SEO, marketing, and support. This experience provided me with valuable insights into the proxy market's needs which helped tailor IPRoyal's offerings. Our client base quickly grew and we started expanding our team.
Take us through the process of building the first version of your product.
Pawns.app started its journey as a side project. Many of IPRoyal's clients needed a constant supply of fresh, authentic residential IP addresses, and we decided to develop a network of our own.
When you access the internet through a proxy, it replaces your IP address with its own. Residential proxies come from genuine internet users who agree to share their internet connection on their PCs or smartphones. By "borrowing" traffic from them, businesses and individuals can bypass geo-restrictions, access content unavailable to them, and improve their online privacy.
Giving every person in the world with Internet access a way to make some money sounded very exciting to me, so we took it from there. The users would share their bandwidth and be compensated for it, and our clients would get genuine residential proxies. IPRoyal Pawns was born.
The early versions of the app were really simple. All the users had to do was log in, and the app would start sharing bandwidth. IPRoyal Pawns was quickly recognized as legitimate thanks to our advertising efforts, social media activities, and first user payouts. Paying more for the users’ traffic than similar apps also enabled us to stand out and attract attention.
Our users can earn anywhere from $5 to $140 per month by just running Pawns.app on their device. The longer they stay online and complete available surveys - the more they can earn!
A successful entrepreneur is adaptable, prepared for unexpected circumstances, and understands that their ideas may need to change sometimes.
Describe the process of launching the business.
The idea of "renting" your internet connection is fairly new, so we initially encountered quite a bit of skepticism. This was no surprise, as there are countless scams online that promise compensation for using your devices in some way. Still, we believed in this idea and figured full transparency was the only way to go.
We looked for our first users on social media, organized contests, and started slowly developing the community. We introduced our referral program, ironed out the issues we came across, and so on. As soon as the first users started sharing their payout confirmations, things became a lot easier.
Soon after the launch, our user base started expanding faster than we expected. To maintain this momentum, we introduced support for multiple mobile and desktop platforms, offered new payout options, increased our SEO efforts, and more.
With the introduction of Surveys, our users got another way to earn money. They can complete surveys and get compensated for their time and opinions, just like with internet sharing. These surveys are worth around $1 on average, usually take a couple of minutes, and cover all kinds of topics.
At that time, we realized it was time to rebrand and separate Pawns from IPRoyal. Our core values remained unchanged, though. We still want to develop one of the best passive income apps for people worldwide, and we thought Pawns would work better independently.
Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?
Since day one, the Pawns.app has been available globally. Every person in the world with an internet connection and a smartphone can join and earn a side income. This was one of our key advantages since most other similar platforms are only available in select locations.
Ever since Pawns.app opened its doors, we've been doing everything to spread the word and get new users - social media, SEO, emails, videos, blogs, and more. There's no magic formula here - we do a bit of everything.
On top of that, we often organize special games, contests, and other events for our users across our social media platforms - Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Reddit, and Discord. All they need to do is be an active member of the community and seize the opportunity to amplify their earnings. These contests include polls, creativity, knowledge, and some out-of-the-box ideas our social media team comes up with.
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
Although Pawns.app is still quite new, 2023 has been a big year for us. Our community is steadily growing, and we expect it to grow multiple times by the end of the year. At the moment, we're focused on improving everything, growing our team, and providing our users with new ways to earn a side income.
While we’re proud of the work we’ve done, we still have a long way to go. However, we strongly believe Pawns.app will become one of the top 3 global survey applications. We’re currently more focused on surveys, but internet sharing will always remain available to our users, along with all other ways to make money we come up with moving forward.
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
There are a few things I've learned over the last 14 years I spent in the IT sector:
Creating big projects alone is impossible. There's no way you'll have enough time and energy to do everything on your own and do it successfully.
Having enough experience in all areas is impossible. While it helps, it's not a must. What's important is choosing wisely and surrounding yourself with skilled and capable individuals. They will help you fill those gaps in experience and find ways to do things the right way.
Keeping your team motivated is essential. We try our best to maintain a good work-life balance, make every person on the team feel heard, and maintain a positive work environment. On top of that, we offer remote work, organize regular workations, and more.
I strongly believe you should never hesitate to share both your successes and failures. You want to work with people who are excited and looking forward to reaching goals instead of just looking to finish their work as fast as possible.
What platform/tools do you use for your business?
Sales - Salesforce
Email marketing - Iterable
Project management - Asana and Jira
Design - Figma
Communication - Slack
Content management - Strapi and WordPress
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?
Although I don't have as much time for reading and podcasts as I used to, my all-time favorite has to be Entrepreneurs on Fire with John Lee Dumas. It covers interviews with entrepreneurs from different industries who "made it", so there's always something new you can learn.
The content is simple, engaging, and interesting, focused on strategies and inspiration to help you reach your goals. It's a true gold mine of education, and inspiration. and wisdom every entrepreneur can benefit from on their road to success.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?
Never stop learning. The best way to improve your skills and make your endeavors more profitable is by learning from others who do it right.
Don't underestimate the value of experience and trying out new things. Always strive to grow your skill set, as it will help you reach your objectives.
Be flexible and open to input. Learning from others is an important skill, as long as you don't let them make decisions for you. A successful entrepreneur is adaptable, prepared for unexpected circumstances, and understands that their ideas may need to change sometimes.
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
Pawns.app is currently not hiring. However, that doesn’t mean we’re not interested in hearing from talented individuals. If you’re as excited about helping people earn money as we are, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us!
Where can we go to learn more?
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
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