After 4 iOS Apps: What I'm Actually Thinking
From big-tech PM to indie developer — honest reflections after a year of shipping alone
Why I Started Building Independently
I spent 5 years as a PM at a large tech company. One thing became very clear: the product decisions made at work and what I actually wanted to build were often two separate things.
Going indie gave me a rare chance — from idea to launch, fully in my hands. Even with just a few hundred users, that feels real.
What I’m Working On
Four iOS apps, currently live:
- Puppie: A virtual dog you can adopt and chat with
- Chill Kitty: The cat version of Puppie
- Treatie: Converts your salary into the rewards you’re working toward
- SlipNotes: A widget-based note for the most important person in your life
Plus a WeChat mini-program “What to Eat Today?” for the daily decision you can’t be bothered to make.
Real Numbers
As of May 2026: ~10,000 cumulative downloads, ~$430 total revenue. Not a lot, but every dollar came from a stranger who voluntarily paid.
Treatie leads in downloads (4,800+). Puppie leads in revenue (155 paying users, $319).
The Most Important Thing I’ve Learned
For products in the emotional / companionship space, how the user feels in the first 30 seconds matters more than how complete the feature set is.
Many Puppie users didn’t download because of features. They downloaded because they saw a specific dog and fell in love with it. That reaction beat months of feature work.
What’s Next
Keep going deeper into the “cute + emotional value” direction while learning systematically about AI in products. This site is where I document that journey.