Hey, how are you?

I’m in France again, but not for too long. I’m leaving at the end of September, and I can’t wait!

In today’s email we’re going to talk about:

• I’m heading to India for Shop Quest

• I want to buy Shopify Apps

• Partnerships are not one-time deals

Let’s go! 🔥

I’m heading to India for Shop Quest

At the end of September, I’ll be in Bangalore for the ShopQuest event organized by Foxsell. It will be my first time in India, and I’ll be speaking on September 27.

I’m excited because India has a huge Shopify community. Many of them don’t always get the chance to travel to Europe or Canada, so this will be a great opportunity to connect directly. If you are at the event, come talk to me. I’m always open to discussions, questions, or even just a quick chat.

For this talk, I decided to focus on something very personal: how I went from being a developer who knew nothing about marketing… to becoming someone who learned how to grow an app, get users, and actually make money.

Like many of you, I started with:

• no idea how to find good app ideas,

• no users,

• no revenue,

• and no clue about marketing.

Over time, I changed my mindset, tested different tools, and made a lot of mistakes (that I do not make anymore). Step by step, I shifted from a pure developer into someone who understood how to market and grow.

That is what I’ll share on stage in Bangalore: the lessons, the mistakes, and the mindset changes that made the difference for me.

I’ve already spoken in Canada, England, France, Bulgaria… and now India will be added to the list. Each time, what stays with me is not just the talk itself, but the conversations that happen after. That’s where real connections are built.

I can’t wait to meet the Indian Shopify community and hear your stories too.

I want to buy Shopify Apps

Since 2017, I’ve built several Shopify apps. Some failed, some succeeded, and today I still run a few of them.

But my ambition has always been bigger inside the Shopify ecosystem. And now that I have capital available, I believe one of the smartest moves is to buy apps that are already working.

Why? Because the hardest part of building an app is not the code. It is:

• Finding the right problem merchants actually care about.

• Talking to them and validating the pain point.

• Going from $0 to $1,000 MRR.

Once an app has passed that stage, it usually proves it can grow further. If it reaches $10,000 MRR, that is a huge signal of potential.

At that point, it makes more sense to acquire than to start from scratch. You avoid:

• Building yet another app that does the same as others.

• Losing months trying to validate from zero.

• Watching good apps die slowly because the founder has moved on.

With my experience, network, and cash on hand, I can find founders who want to sell. Twitter, this newsletter, and my connections make it easier for me to source deals.

My approach is simple:

• Either I put a small team on the app (a senior developer, a product manager, and support). I handle strategy and marketing.

• Or, if the existing team is solid and motivated, I keep them in place.

But in both cases, my goal is to buy 100% of the app. If I invest, I want full control so I can make decisions quickly and grow the product faster.

From there, I have two possible paths:

1. Scale and resell. Fix problems, grow the app, increase valuation, and eventually exit at a higher price.

2. Cash flow machine. Keep the app lean, focus on profits, and use it as a long-term income stream.

My vision is to do two or three acquisitions per year. Reuse the processes I’ve built with WideBundle and my other apps. Grow a portfolio. Build capital this way.

It feels like the right step after years of building. Especially as my other projects take time and focus.

So if you have a Shopify app today that you are thinking of selling, reach out to me. Who knows, it might be the next one I buy.

Partnerships are not one-time deals

A lot of founders think partnerships are like switches. You flip it on, do a launch together, and suddenly the installs start rolling in.

It doesn’t work like that.

A partnership is more like a plant. If you don’t water it, it dies.

Here’s what usually happens: