In this episode, I speak with Andrew Burrington, Senior Growth Leader at onX, and Andy Carvell, Co-Founder and CEO of Phiture, about what sustainable growth really looks like when an app grows from 3 people to 500 and from one product to a portfolio.

This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation built around five practical lessons for subscription apps. It starts with a deceptively simple idea: not every user who installs the app matters.

As Andrew explains, the shift came when onX stopped blasting users with purchase prompts and started focusing on what actually qualified them. In their case, that meant helping users understand the core actions that made the product valuable in the first place.

The result is a conversation about what strong teams do early, what they carry forward, and why commitment beats volume.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Why sustainable growth starts with identifying the users who actually get value
• How onX used key actions to qualify users instead of just pushing conversion
• Why onboarding should teach value, not just sell features
• What changes when one app becomes a growing portfolio
• Why repeating what worked is not the same as understanding why it worked

If you work on a subscription app, this episode is packed with practical thinking you can apply immediately.

Part 2 continues the conversation, focusing on when to break your own playbook, how to recognize real learning, and why growth priorities change as products mature.

This is one of the conversations shaping the 2026 Full Funnel Growth Playbook, powered by RZR (formerly Aarki), available soon.

Chapters

00:00 Intro: Growth Beyond Theory

01:32 Meet the Guests: Andy Carvell and Andrew Burrington

03:00 A Decade of Growth: Building a Data-Driven Partnership

08:33 Lesson 1: Commitment Over Volume in User Retention

10:14 Qualifying Users: Finding Real Value in Your Product

15:53 Lesson 2: Don’t Reinvent the Wheel for New Products

18:02 Team Structure: Vertical Expertise vs. Service Centers

25:00 Lesson 3: Knowing When to Break Your Own Playbook

26:23 Maturity Curves: Adapting Strategies Across the S-Curve

33:45 Lesson 4: Making Growth Visible with AI and Automation

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⚡On Point Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7020756661006925824

⚡Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5yFF2InbeIgkIRcxvDy3jm

⚡Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-groove/id1585861460

Let's Connect

⚡ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyannesalz

⚡ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/peggyannesalz

⚡Website - https://www.mobilegrove.com

Brands still talk about Latino audiences as if they are a segment to target, rather than communities to understand.

I recorded this conversation with Kirk Gimenez, Founder of Sizzle TV, at POSSIBLE last year, and I’m bringing it back now because it feels just as relevant as we head into POSSIBLE again.

Kirk is on a mission to elevate Latino voices and tell stories that reflect real people, not assumptions. That perspective shapes everything he does, from media to marketing to financial education.

He brings serious charisma, but he also brings a clear point of view on storytelling, representation and what brands still get wrong when they try to connect with Latino communities in ways that feel real and respectful.

In this conversation, we get into:

• What brands misunderstand about Latino audiences
• Why language matters less than cultural understanding
• How storytelling becomes more powerful when it leads to action
• Why collaboration is a more powerful mindset than competition

As a media partner of POSSIBLE, I wanted to bring this conversation back because it captures something the event does especially well. The value is not only in the stages or the sessions. It’s also in the unexpected conversations that challenge your thinking and stay with you long after the event is over.

If you’re heading to POSSIBLE, or simply thinking more deeply about how brands connect with culture and community, this episode is for you.

Subscribe to MobileGroove for conversations with the people shaping what comes next in marketing, media and technology.

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction to Sizzle TV and Kirk's Mission

02:44 - Networking and Key Connections at the Possible Event

04:30 - Impactful Sessions: NFL and Big Brothers Big Sisters

05:31 - Bridging the Wealth Gap and Financial Advice

08:51 - Authenticity in Marketing to the Latino Community

*** Subscribe for More ***

⚡On Point Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7020756661006925824

⚡Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5yFF2InbeIgkIRcxvDy3jm

⚡Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-groove/id1585861460

*** Let's Connect ***

⚡ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyannesalz

⚡ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/peggyannesalz

⚡Website - https://www.mobilegrove.com

In this episode of MobileGroove, I’m speaking with Christian Muche, Global President and Co-Founder of POSSIBLE, about what it really takes to build something people want to be part of, not just attend.

POSSIBLE is not trying to win on size. It’s winning on intention and impact.💥

Christian’s philosophy is simple, but not easy to execute: bring the right people together, design the right environment and focus on outcomes, not optics. Growth follows when the experience delivers.

And it is delivering. POSSIBLE has grown from 2,500 to more than 5,000 participants in just a few years, not by chasing scale, but by building something the industry wants to co-create.

We also talk about why time, not budget, is now the most valuable currency for attendees, why most networking falls short and how curated connections, from small-group formats to thousands of pre-arranged meetings, are changing what people expect from events.

In this conversation, we explore:

• Why building for relevance and long-term value matters more than chasing audience numbers or rapid growth
• How POSSIBLE is designed to create intentional connections through curated meetings, smaller formats and purpose-built environments
• Why the intersection of marketing, technology and culture is where the most important conversations are happening now

As a media partner of POSSIBLE and someone who has experienced it firsthand, I’m especially excited about what’s coming next.

This is not just another stop on the event circuit. It brings together business, culture and community. And that matters, because the most valuable ideas happen when the right people are in the right place, having the right conversations.

If you’re heading to POSSIBLE in Miami, or considering it, this episode is your inside look at what makes it different and why it continues to gain momentum.

Subscribe to MobileGroove for conversations with the people building what's next in marketing, media, and technology.

Chapters

00:00 Challenging the Need for New Industry Events

04:41 Prioritizing Human Connections Amidst Industry Noise

06:05 Reimagining the Event Format as a Platform

07:41 Focusing on Relevance and Quality Over Scale

10:05 Curating Intentional Business Outcomes and Networking

13:42 Navigating the Intersection of Marketing, Tech, and Culture

18:18 Shifting from a Seasonal Event to a Year-Round Platform

19:53 Growth Milestones and New Formats for 2024

26:58 The Power of Co-Creation with the Industry

*** Subscribe for More ***

⚡On Point Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7020756661006925824

⚡Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5yFF2InbeIgkIRcxvDy3jm

⚡Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-groove/id1585861460

*** Let's Connect ***

⚡ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyannesalz

⚡ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/peggyannesalz

⚡Website - https://www.mobilegrove.com

One bad ad wiped out 20,000 daily active users in hours. Not because the product failed. Because the ad experience did.

In this episode, I sit down with Ezgi Dogan, a well-known monetization consultant and former engineer who works with gaming and non-gaming publishers. She sees patterns most studios never see — from deceptive-by-design creatives to algorithm changes that quietly double ad duration overnight.

And the reality is uncomfortable: publishers often think they understand their ad quality problem. The data usually says it’s worse.

This conversation is part of PlayerFirst Perspectives, a show series on MobileGroove powered by AppHarbr. It’s a series about fixing ad quality and building smarter ad policies so users stay in your app or game — and you can enforce what you believe is right for your players.

👉 Join the conversation

Be part of the Player First Collective on Slack, where marketers, monetization leads and product teams share real examples, data and solutions around ad quality:

https://join.slack.com/t/playerfirstcollective/shared_invite/zt-3kcihn2oh-jXuCNSOYnqIFjynxegYUug

In this episode, Ezgi explains:

• How one network change created infinite ad loops and cost a studio 20,000 DAUs in a day
• Why some publishers see up to 50% CPM swings when tightening ad quality controls
• Why 90% CTRs are often a red flag, not a performance win
• How deceptive ads use fake close buttons, redirect traps and multi-click exits
• Why churn and retention often reveal ad quality problems before revenue does
• Where real control over ad quality actually lives today — and why publishers must own it
• How to combine tools, internal KPIs and external benchmarks like the Ad Quality Index
• Why clean supply is not a “nice to have” but a competitive differentiator
• What successful publishers do differently when they prioritize experience over short-term revenue

Ezgi also breaks down the mindset shift studios need to make: ad experience is product experience. And if you don’t measure it, you’re flying blind.

Stay tuned for more episodes of PlayerFirst Perspectives on MobileGroove, where we continue unpacking how publishers, platforms and partners can turn ad quality into a real growth advantage — not just revenue protection.

Chapters

01:10 Defining Ad Quality Problems

02:07 Evolution of a Consultancy

02:47 Ezgi's Professional Backstory

04:39 Essential Monetization Skill Sets

06:56 Impact of Bad Ads on Revenue

09:59 Ad Quality as a Systemic Issue

11:58 Signs of Ad Quality Problems

23:31 Using Data to Show Reality

29:11 The Case for Publisher Control

32:11 Launching the First Ad Quality Index

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⚡On Point Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7020756661006925824

⚡Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5yFF2InbeIgkIRcxvDy3jm

⚡Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-groove/id1585861460

Let's Connect

⚡ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyannesalz

⚡ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/peggyannesalz

⚡Website - https://www.mobilegrove.com

What if the front door to your brand wasn’t an app, a landing page or a form, but a conversation?

In this MobileGroove episode, I spoke with Moritz Beck, founder and CEO of Memacon, about why chatvertising is emerging as one of the most critical shifts in marketing and why it’s already forcing brands to rethink apps, funnels and trust.

Moritz doesn’t just talk theory. He shares real examples from brands like IKEA, Volvo, and Aldi, along with hard numbers that explain why messaging is outperforming traditional journeys.

We get into:

• What chatvertising actually is and why it’s different from chatbots
• Why messaging apps are used ~24 minutes a day, while phone apps average ~2.5 minutes
• How brands are replacing landing pages with WhatsApp conversations
• Why app downloads require more trust than most users are willing to give
• How chat-first funnels can drop CPIs from €5–6 to €1–2
• Why WhatsApp newsletters regularly see 90%+ open rates
• How conversational engagement changes brand building, not just performance
• Why some use cases no longer need an app at all

We also explore how chat is reshaping recruitment, training, subscriptions, surveys and internal workflows, and why flow-based thinking is replacing funnels faster than most marketers realise.

Moritz explains why this shift took so long, why it’s accelerating now, and zeroes in on the one simple experiment marketers should run in the next 30 days to see the impact for themselves.

If you’re an app marketer, CMO or product leader trying to cut through saturation, rebuild trust and meet users where they already are, this conversation will change how you think about engagement.

0:00 Introduction to Chatvertising

2:14 Defining Chatvertising

4:05 Drivers of Conversational Engagement

7:48 Messaging Channels and newsletters

10:00 WhatsApp for Lead Generation

11:47 User-Centric Case Studies

16:48 Improving Conversion Rates

22:27 Hyper-Personalization Strategies

30:15 Key Metrics for Messaging Success

43:32 Getting Started with WhatsApp Newsletters

*** Subscribe for More ***

⚡On Point Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7020756661006925824

⚡Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5yFF2InbeIgkIRcxvDy3jm

⚡Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-groove/id1585861460

*** Let's Connect ***

⚡ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyannesalz

⚡ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/peggyannesalz

⚡Website - https://www.mobilegrove.com

What happens when a messaging platform stops thinking only about communication and starts thinking about currency?

Recorded live at Think Apps: The Google App Summit in APAC in Vietnam, this MobileGroove episode features my conversation with Hiroaki Fujino, Content & Membership at LY Corp (formerly LINE), one of Japan’s most powerful digital ecosystems.

LINE began as a messaging app. Today, LY Corp spans games, payments, music, stamps and a growing portfolio of services that reach the majority of Japan’s internet population. The company’s ambition is not simply to add features, but to integrate behavior, community and rewards into a single environment.

In this conversation, I explore how the company is using gamification and point systems to deepen engagement across its ecosystem. Hiroaki shares his vision for a future where everyday actions, not just transactions, generate value. Walking, spending time in-app, engaging with content, even interacting across services can become part of a broader point culture that blends entertainment, commerce and community.

We talk about:

• Why LINE Walk converts real-world activity like steps into rewards, and what that signals about the future of gamification
• How converting distance, time and daily behavior into points creates a new kind of engagement loop
• What “play-to-earn” looks like in the Japanese market and whether that model can travel across APAC
• What it means to build a casual gaming powerhouse inside a messaging platform

We also discuss what it means to take this model beyond Japan and whether LY Corp’s approach can serve as a blueprint for other markets in APAC and beyond.

If you are building community-driven platforms, loyalty systems or games that connect digital behavior to real-world value, this episode offers insight into how one of Japan’s largest ecosystems is leading the change.

Chapters

00:00 The Rise of Play-to-Earn Apps

01:15 Line's Continuous Evolution

02:27 The Line Messenger Ecosystem

03:50 Exporting the Line Model

05:30 Converting Daily Life into Points

09:51 The Challenge of Global Gamification

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⚡On Point Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7020756661006925824

⚡Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5yFF2InbeIgkIRcxvDy3jm

⚡Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-groove/id1585861460

Let's Connect

⚡ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyannesalz

⚡ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/peggyannesalz

⚡Website - https://www.mobilegrove.com

Building a great app is one thing. Turning it into a real business is another.

Recorded live at Think Apps: The Google App Summit in APAC in Vietnam, this session brought together three industry insiders who have seen the app economy from very different angles and are not shy about saying what actually works.

I sat down with

• Božo Janković, Head of Ad Monetization at GameBiz Consulting
• Ömer Yakabagi, founder of Gamigion
• Lemon Choi, founder of HyperJoy

to talk candidly about growth, monetization, AI and the mindset shift developers need to make if they want to survive and scale.

This was not a slide-driven panel. It was a practical, no-BS conversation about what developers still get wrong, what they underestimate and where real opportunity exists right now.

We get into:

• Why “build a fun game first, monetize later” is still breaking businesses
• How hybrid monetization actually works in practice, not theory
• What you should do with your first $100 marketing budget
• Why retention tells you more than downloads ever will
• How small teams and even solo developers are using AI to do the work of entire studios
• Why ad quality and user experience now matter more than volume
• What it really means to think like a business owner, not just a developer

We also dig into Tier 3 and Tier 4 market testing, one-person studios, “fake it till you make it (and make it properly),” and why focus beats chasing every shiny opportunity.

If you are an indie developer, founder or early-stage studio trying to make sense of monetization, growth and AI without losing the joy of building, this session delivers practical advice, clear takeaways and a few laughs along the way.

Chapters:

00:00 Misconceptions About Monetization

00:48 Meet the Panel of Growth Experts

01:18 Careers in the App Economy

06:32 Focus on Hybrid Monetization

08:06 Common Developer Misconceptions

09:37 Testing Low-Tier Markets

11:25 Retention is Key

13:58 AI's Leverage for Small Teams

15:56 Monetization Model Advice

27:38 The Business Owner Mindset

*** Subscribe for More ***

⚡On Point Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7020756661006925824

⚡Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5yFF2InbeIgkIRcxvDy3jm

⚡Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-groove/id1585861460

*** Let's Connect ***

⚡ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyannesalz

⚡ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/peggyannesalz

⚡Website - https://www.mobilegrove.com

Loyalty programs are usually built around transactions. PAYBACK believes they can also be built around behavior.

In this episode of MobileGroove, recorded live at PGC London, I speak with Nico Winkelhaus, VP Digital Marketing at PAYBACK, about why Germany’s largest loyalty program expanded into gaming and what that move signals about the future of loyalty, rewarded engagement and super app strategy.

PAYBACK has spent 25 years building scale in retail. Today it spans travel, banking, insurance and digital services inside one of Germany’s leading shopping apps. The move to expand into gaming in 2022 was rooted in user data and a clear understanding of how people already interact with the app.

With more than 20 million smartphone gamers in Germany, the logic was simple: reward users not only for what they buy, but for how they spend their digital time.

In this episode, Nico explains:

• Why gaming was a natural extension of PAYBACK’s ecosystem rather than a leap into the unknown

• How PAYBACK delivers incremental reach to gaming advertisers instead of recycling the same high-affinity rewarded users

• Why adding gaming increases overall activity in the app rather than cannibalizing retail engagement

• What personalization at scale actually means when you are working toward millions of differentiated offers

• Why loyalty remains a low-involvement product and why simplicity, not feature density, determines success

• How PAYBACK separates physical retail interactions from digital engagement within the same platform

• What regulatory shifts and the rise of web shops could mean for loyalty platforms and studios

• Why rewarded mechanics, first proven in gaming, may expand into other industries

If you work in gaming, retail, commerce or growth, this episode offers a practical look at how loyalty, rewarded mechanics and super app ambitions intersect in the real world.

Chapters:

0:00 - Payback's Evolution and the Convergence with Gaming

2:19 - Gaming as a Mass Market for Loyalty Programs

4:11 - Leveraging Data for Targeted Rewards and Broad Reach

7:43 - Relevancy, Hyperpersonalization, and Core DNA

11:16 - Evolving to a Loyalty Super App and Maintaining Simplicity

14:26 - Gaming as an Engagement Success Feature and the Future of Rewarded UA

*** Subscribe for More ***

⚡On Point Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7020756661006925824

⚡Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5yFF2InbeIgkIRcxvDy3jm

⚡Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-groove/id1585861460

*** Let's Connect ***

⚡ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyannesalz

⚡ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/peggyannesalz

⚡ Website - https://www.mobilegrove.com