Description:
Subscriptions sound simple… until you try to build them.
In this episode, we sit down with a builder who turned one of the most frustrating parts of app development into a platform now powering monetization for tens of thousands of apps. From early days growing up in Spain to taking a leap into Silicon Valley, this is a story about following curiosity, taking risks, and recognizing when a problem is bigger than it first appears.
What started as an internal challenge… billing, analytics, experimentation… quickly revealed itself as a widespread pain point across the entire app ecosystem. Instead of working around it, Miguel and his co-founder leaned in, building a solution they wished existed. That decision became RevenueCat.
We go beyond the origin story and into what it actually takes to build and scale something like this… from infrastructure and team building to culture, communication, and constantly evolving as a founder. This is a grounded look at building something real… by solving a problem developers didn’t want to touch.
Key Takeaways:
- Subscriptions are deceptively complex and become a major challenge at scale
- The best opportunities often come from problems you’ve experienced firsthand
- If developers avoid building something, it might be worth paying attention to
- What gets you started won’t be what helps you scale
- Strong communication is essential in remote, distributed teams
- Founders must evolve constantly and focus on solving the biggest problem at hand
Miguel Carranza
I'm the Founder of Conmitto (and our leading SaaS platform) Dock Optimizer—a solution built to streamline operations and drive efficiency for modern warehousing businesses.
I'm passionate about building the technology, processes, and teams to support innovation.
At Conmitto, I help build teams and refine our products so we can implement maintenance management and supply chain management solutions. Our customers use our technology to find hidden maintenance and logistics savings in their operations.
In my free time, I advise companies as a board member or advisor.
THE MEAT OF IT!
- From Spain to Silicon Valley Early fascination with computers and building
- Taking the risk to move to the U.S.
- Choosing experience over higher-paying paths
- Building, Failing, and Pivoting Early startup experience in mobile apps
- Creating a Duolingo-like product before the market matured
- Pivoting to Elevate and winning App of the Year
- The Subscription Problem Emerges Why one-time purchases broke down
- The hidden complexity of subscriptions
- Realizing this wasn’t just their problem
- Solving Subscriptions for Developers Engineers avoiding billing and infrastructure work
- Attempting to outsource and finding no solution
- Building the first version of what became RevenueCat
- From Internal Tool to Platform Validating with other developers
- Entering Y Combinator
- Turning a niche solution into a real business
- Scaling RevenueCat Supporting apps from indie developers to global platforms
- Handling millions of API requests per minute
- Becoming critical infrastructure for app monetization
- Building a Remote-First Company Early decision to hire globally
- Navigating time zones and communication challenges
- Creating a near 24/7 operational model
- Culture as a System Customer obsession
- Always shipping
- Ownership and accountability
- Long-term balance and sustainability
- The Evolving Role of a Founder From writing code to leading teams
- Letting go of what you enjoy to solve bigger problems
- Stepping into whatever the company needs most
- Thinking Like a Builder Avoiding copy-paste frameworks
- Using first principles to make decisions
- Iterating instead of chasing perfection
Check out these related Episodes:
- Episode 271: Jill Heinze – Why AI Governance Matters Before You Ship Anything to Real Users
- Episode 270: Michael Haynes – From Corporate Strategy to Practical B2B Go-To-Market Growth
- Episode 269: Tetiana Kobzar – Creating Products People Love to Use with Behavioral Design & Gamification
