The a16z Show9 Feb 2023

The State of Apps

A few weeks ago, Apple released a stunning statistic: they’ve paid developers over $320B — yes, billion! — since the launch of the App Store in 2008, highlighting the cast opportunity in the marketplace.

And around the same time, a16z Consumer Partner, Olivia Moore, compiled a list of the top apps across the US app store throughout 2022.

In this episode, you’ll get to hear which apps made it to the top and what they have in common. Hint: the big winners were in social, but perhaps a new wave of social apps!

We also get the scoop on what it really takes to not just hit #1, but stay there. This episode highlights numerous surprising examples ranging from a new-age Beanie Baby app, a viral talking dog, an app from 2012 that finally broke the top 10, and the Chinese app that’s been at #1 for a majority of 2023, and it’s not TIkTok!

There are endless learnings about how new founders can take advantage of these opportunities.

Timestamps:

01:51 - Top apps in 2022
03:32 - A new era of social?
07:22 - Hitting #1
09:30 - Staying on top
11:20 - Building a sticky product
13:46 - Growing an app in 2023
15:35 - User-generated growth
17:48 - 2022 category winners
20:39 - Anonymous social
22:24 - Early monetization
26:30 - Monetization trends
31:07 - Leveraging platform shifts
35:26 - Surprising hits
37:50 - Looking toward 2023
39:38 - Invisible AI products
41:46 - Limiting virality
45:13 - Vertical social networks
48:37 - When digital goes physical
51:44 - TikTok growth
53:27 - Geographic trends
56:18 - A decade old app
1:00:25 - App challenge

Resources:

Follow Olivia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/omooretweets
Olivia's 2022 analysis: https://twitter.com/omooretweets/status/1605983056682045440
Olivia's 2021 analysis: https://twitter.com/omooretweets/status/1483482099562602500
Justine’s Boating app commentary: https://twitter.com/venturetwins/status/1616121691830390784
Olivia’s Tinder subscription commentary: https://twitter.com/omooretweets/status/1616480480546942976

Apps mentioned:

BeReal: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bereal-your-friends-for-real/id1459645446
TikTok: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tiktok/id835599320
Gas App: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gas/id1641791746
Talking Ben the Dog: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/talking-ben-the-dog/id416345319
Argo Boating Navigation: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/argo-boating-navigation/id1463869636
NoteIt: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/noteit-widget-get-it-now/id1570369625
Locket Widget: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/locket-widget/id1600525061
LiveIn: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/livein-share-your-moment/id1606780589
Slay: https://apps.apple.com/de/app/slay-komplimente-umfragen/id1645858841
Lensa AI: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/lensa-photo-editing/id1436732536
Starlink: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/starlink/id1537177988
NOAA Weather: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/noaa-weather/id436760574
Stardust Period Tracker: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/stardust-period-tracker/id1495829322
Temu: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/temu-team-up-price-down/id1641486558
SquadApp: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/squadapp-collection-database/id1623120952
TravelBoast: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/travelboast-my-journey-routes/id1476504378
Subway Surfers: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/subway-surfers/id512939461

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