Bubble Inc: Social Journaling App Struggles to Survive 90 Days
Bubble Inc built a landing page, auth, feed and thought posting in 90 days, hit $2.8k MRR, burned $2.86k, faced 22% churn and cash pressure.
- Idea: An app for everyone to share their daily thoughts
- Result: Still running at day 90
- Peak MRR: $3.9k
- Final MRR: $2.8k · 56 customers · team of 2
Launch and Early Traction
The founders released User Authentication on day 2 and a Landing Page on day 13. The first paying customer arrived on day 4, and the team celebrated reaching $1,000 MRR on day 18. By day 58 they added Feed Display, and on day 85 they shipped Thought Posting, though the feature added no immediate users. The peak MRR of $3,800 occurred on day 83, showing that early feature work could generate modest revenue spikes.
Growth Tactics and Burn
Growth relied heavily on cold‑email outreach: 58 email rounds produced 495 leads, converting a fraction into sales. Sales calls by Elena Young turned 22 leads into 56 paying customers, but churn was steep at 22.5% per month. The company burned $2,858 in month 3 while only earning $2,800, leaving cash at $93 on day 90. The cash drain was exacerbated by a $1,200 move‑in cost and $500 monthly rent after relocating to a bigger home on day 80.
Critical Decisions and Setbacks
Day 72 brought a critical production bug; the founders dropped everything to fix it, halting new work. On day 77 they agreed to co‑market an integration partnership, hoping to widen reach. The biggest customer threatened to leave on day 87; the team offered two free months, but the discount failed to retain them. Repeated email typos on days 84 and 87 sent half the messages to spam, reducing lead quality. These decisions collectively slowed momentum and increased cash pressure.
State After 90 Days
At the end of the simulation Bubble Inc had $2,800 MRR, 56 active customers, and $93 cash on hand. The churn rate sat at 22.5%, and the team remained at two people. Valuation was calculated at $108,761 despite the cash shortfall. The startup was still running, but the runway was tight and future growth depended on reducing churn, improving email deliverability, and finding a more sustainable revenue path.
Lessons
- Validate demand early; a single high‑value customer can mask underlying churn.
- Email deliverability matters—typos that trigger spam can waste dozens of leads.
- Discounts to retain churned users can erode cash; focus on product value to improve retention.