Mobile app startup business plan with retention and runway
Investors and accelerators read an app plan for a few things: a sharp problem, an MVP you can actually build, retention you can measure and enough runway to prove it. This prompt has your todo.is agent research competing apps and their reviews, scope your MVP, choose a business model and forecast users, revenue and cash.
The prompt
- Write a business plan for my mobile app startup, [APP NAME AND ONE-LINE IDEA], for [TARGET USERS]. It is for [WHO WILL READ IT]. Current stage: [TEAM, PROGRESS AND FUNDING]. Research 6 competing apps with links: features, pricing, ratings and what users complain about in reviews. Write: summary, problem, solution, MVP scope (what is in and out of version 1), target users and early adopters, competitors, business model ([MONETIZATION IDEA]) with app store fees accounted for, go-to-market for the first 1,000 users, key metrics (activation, day-1, day-7 and day-30 retention, conversion to paid, churn, CAC, LTV), product roadmap for 18 months, team and hiring, privacy and data rules to check, risks, and financials. Build an Excel forecast with monthly installs, active users, retention, paying users, revenue after store fees, development and marketing costs, burn rate and runway for 24 months. Mark assumptions. Send a Word plan, the Excel file and a 10-slide pitch deck.
What to change
- [APP NAME AND ONE-LINE IDEA]: E.g. "Pantry Pal, an app that plans meals from what is already in your fridge".
- [TARGET USERS]: E.g. "busy parents in the US and UK".
- [WHO WILL READ IT]: E.g. "a pre-seed investor", "an accelerator application" or "my co-founders".
- [TEAM, PROGRESS AND FUNDING]: Who is on the team, what is built (idea, prototype, beta users), and any money raised or planned.
- [MONETIZATION IDEA]: E.g. "freemium with a $5.99 monthly subscription" or "one-time purchase plus in-app packs".
Example result
- Summary
- Pantry Pal helps busy parents plan a week of dinners from what is already in their fridge and cupboards, then builds a short shopping list for the gaps. Two co-founders (a mobile developer and a former food app product manager) have a working prototype with 140 beta users. We are raising a $450,000 pre-seed round.
- Problem
- • Families throw away food they forgot they had, then buy more
- • Meal planning apps start from recipes, not from what is at home
- • App store reviews of competitors complain about long setup and generic recipes
- MVP scope (version 1)
- • In: quick pantry entry by photo or voice, weekly dinner plan, shopping list, family size and allergies, use-it-first alerts
- • Out (later): grocery delivery links, nutrition tracking, smart fridge connections, social sharing
- Business model (illustrative)
- • Free: 3 plans a month
- • Premium: $5.99 a month or $44.99 a year, unlimited plans, use-it-first alerts, shared family list
- • App store fees deducted in the forecast (check current store terms)
- First 1,000 users
- • Parent communities and school newsletters
- • Short videos showing "dinner from 5 random fridge items"
- • Partnerships with 10 food bloggers using referral codes
- Key metrics (assumptions)
- • Activation: 60% add pantry items on day 1
- • Retention: day 1 45%, day 7 25%, day 30 14%
- • Free to paid: 4% within 60 days
- • Monthly paid churn: 6%
- • LTV to CAC target: above 3
- Roadmap
- • Months 0 to 3: MVP on iOS and Android, closed beta
- • Months 4 to 9: public launch, onboarding tests, annual plan
- • Months 10 to 18: grocery list export, family sharing, first partnerships
- Financial summary (illustrative assumptions)
- • Month 24: 210,000 installs, 38,000 monthly active users, 2,900 paying users
- • Monthly burn: about $28,000 (team of 4 by month 9)
- • Runway: 16 months on $450,000
- • Next milestone for a seed round: day-30 retention above 15% and $15,000 monthly recurring revenue
- Risks
- • Low retention: weekly plan reminder, faster pantry entry
- • Big recipe apps copy the idea: focus on the pantry-first habit and family features
- • Privacy: collect only what the app needs, clear privacy policy
How to do it with todo.is
- Copy the prompt and describe your app, users, stage and business model in the [brackets].
- Paste it on the todo.is Today screen, or send it to your agent on WhatsApp, Telegram or Slack.
- Your agent reads competitor reviews, scopes the MVP and sends a Word plan, an Excel model and a PowerPoint pitch deck.
- Change any metric, like "day-30 retention 10%", and ask your agent to update runway and the deck.
Tips for a better result
- Read competitors' 1-star and 2-star reviews. They tell you which problems users still have and what your MVP should fix first.
- Cut the MVP hard. Five features that work well beat fifteen that half work.
- Lead with retention in your forecast. Installs are easy to buy; users who come back on day 30 prove the product.
- Ask your agent to set a weekly to-do that summarizes new reviews of your top competitors and sends them to Slack.
mobile app startup business plan: FAQ
- What should a mobile app business plan include? The problem, solution, MVP scope, target users, competitors, business model, go-to-market, key metrics like retention and CAC, roadmap, team and a forecast of users, revenue and runway.
- How do free apps make money? Common models are subscriptions, freemium with paid features, in-app purchases, one-time purchases and ads. Subscriptions are popular because they give steady income.
- What is a good retention rate for an app? It depends on the category. Track day 1, day 7 and day 30 retention and compare with similar apps; improving it usually matters more than more installs.
- Can todo.is build or publish my app? No. Your agent can write the plan, research, specs, landing page copy and simple prototypes or scripts, but it does not publish apps to app stores.
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