Shopify Apps (Portfolio) - Primary: Wide Bundle

Matt DeSousa had already spent years building Shopify apps without finding major success. He'd built three apps that failed, reaching only $1,000/month with his first before Shopify's platform changes forced a shutdown. By 2020, he decided to try again—but this time with a proper process. He wasn't looking for a "big idea"; he was looking for a real problem.

Matt hung out in French e-commerce Facebook groups where Shopify merchants gathered. He'd strike up casual conversations: "How was your day? What problems did you run into?" After noticing several merchants mention the same friction point—they wanted to create product bundles with combined discounts but couldn't do it seamlessly in their checkout—he knew he'd found something.

He asked three separate merchants: "If I build this, would you buy it?" They all said yes. That validation was enough.

Instead of disappearing for months to build in isolation, Matt created a Photoshop mockup of what he had in mind and posted it to the Facebook group. The response was immediate: merchants flooded in asking "What's the name of the app? Can I have that too?" He connected with these early enthusiasts and asked detailed questions about the design.

With their feedback fresh in his mind, Matt spent roughly one week building a minimal viable version. He didn't go through Shopify's approval process (which didn't exist yet for new apps). He let about 10 early users test it, gathered feedback, and iterated before pushing it to the Shopify App Store.

Matt's primary growth channel was organic word-of-mouth, especially from the Facebook groups where he'd first validated the idea. As Wide Bundle accumulated reviews and ratings in the Shopify App Store, the algorithm began promoting it to similar merchants. He also ran affiliate campaigns, paying creators to record videos on YouTube and TikTok showcasing the app. Within six months, he'd hit $10k/month. Within a year, he was at $25k/month.

At $25k/month, growth stalled. Matt's instinct was to do more of what was already working—more partnerships, more app store optimization. But he realized his real weakness was churn. He hired a marketer whose sole job was to call users who were leaving and ask why.

Using Mixpanel, Matt's team created cohorts comparing customers who stayed versus those who churned. They discovered a critical pattern: customers who paid at the end of the free trial had all clicked a button to preview how the bundle would appear on their store. Customers who didn't convert skipped this step.

Matt added this preview step to the mandatory onboarding flow. Conversion rates climbed from 7% to 40%. When he reduced churn from 30% to 25%, the improved retention compound­ed with acquisition efforts—and suddenly he was growing again.

He also learned that tracking data obsessively was non-negotiable. With his first failed apps, he hadn't measured anything, so he couldn't diagnose why growth stalled. This time, every click was tracked.

At age 25, Matt is generating $37,000 MRR (~$450k ARR) from Wide Bundle alone, with 2,750 paying customers at $15/month. His team has grown to five people: two developers, one marketer, one support specialist, and himself. He's shifted focus entirely to Wide Bundle rather than chasing his original vision of a five-app portfolio, because the effort required to scale one app well is substantial.

Matt shares everything he's learned—revenue numbers, strategies, metrics—publicly on Twitter and via a free newsletter. He's not worried about creating competitors because the Shopify App Store's review system and his early lead give him built-in advantages. Besides, by helping others, he says, he helps himself: potential partners discover him through his content, making partnerships easier to close.