When you build and bring a consumer product to market that has a monthly and annual subscription, people will think it's an app. There's almost no way around this.
But please know that CHUMP isn't an app, and here are the four reasons why:
1. CHUMP shouldn't live in a monopoly
The App Store and the Google Play Store are monopolies for apps. If you run a subscription through them, they take a cut of up to 30% right off the top. So for a $9.99 monthly product like CHUMP, that's roughly $3 of every $10 in revenue that's gone just for the privilege of being listed in their marketplaces.
Beyond the money, they can change the rules, or remove you entirely, whenever they feel like it. You could spend years building your whole business empire on their platforms, and from one day to the next they could just remove you. They're the judge, jury, and executioner.
2. App fatigue
Since the launch of the App Store, everybody has built and continues to build apps. There are so many apps now that most people have some that they don't even use, and CHUMP needs to be something more than just another icon on your third homescreen that needs updating or takes up space on your smartphone.
If we're tired of having to download just another app, we know you are too.
3. Text-based tools are the future
Text is a genuinely exciting frontier right now. Whether it's on WhatsApp, Telegram, or iMessage, the future of text-based tools like CHUMP is being built and launched today, so it's good to be early to that party.
4. CHUMP lives where you already are
Think about a normal hour in your messages. You're texting your landlord about rent. Then your work colleague about some office drama. Then your best friend. Then your sister. And, right there, in that same rhythm of life, you text CHUMP: "What'd I spend yesterday? How much do I owe on my Bank of America card?"
No context switch. No app to launch. CHUMP lives in the exact place you already live all day. The idea was not to pull you somewhere new, but rather build where you already are.