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

What does it really take for indie developers to win in fast-growing app markets?

Recorded live at Think Apps: The Google App Summit in APAC in Vietnam, I sat down with Killol Buch, Director India at Google, to talk about how developers in markets like India and Vietnam are building apps that scale, compete globally and stay sustainable.

This conversation is about fundamentals that still matter, even as AI accelerates everything.

We cover:

- Why user experience beats everything else, especially for indies

- How developers in India and Vietnam think differently about global and local users

- What segmentation really means when users have very different spending power

- Why ads are part of your product, not something you bolt on later

- How AI is leveling the playing field for small teams and solo developers

- The business skills indies need, not just the tech skills

- Why retention and engagement matter more than chasing downloads

- What sustainable growth actually looks like for early-stage studios

Killol also shares what continues to surprise him about the pace of innovation, where competition is heating up and how young developers can use ecosystems, communities and platforms to move faster without burning out.

If you’re an indie developer or early-stage founder building in a crowded app economy, this session offers clear, practical advice on how to stand out and build something that lasts.

0:00 Intro

1:09 Google App Summit in Vietnam

1:40 Learning Between Indian and Vietnamese Markets

2:27 Quick Commerce: Solving Unique Local Needs in India

3:45 Strength of the Developer Ecosystem in Vietnam

4:39 Top Advice for Indie Developers: Focus on User Experience

6:23 Essential Skills for Indie Success: Tech and Business

7:34 Unique Challenges: Growing Competition and Limited User Time

8:50 Google's Full Suite of Offerings for App Developers

*** Subscribe for More ***

👉🏻YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/PeggyAnneSalz?sub_confirmation=1

👉🏻Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5yFF2InbeIgkIRcxvDy3jm

👉🏻Amazon: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/28e1039b-4ead-4c48-aed7-8aceb5195fa6/mobilegroove

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

*** Let's Connect ***

👉🏻 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyannesalz

👉🏻 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/peggy.salz

👉🏻 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/peggyannesalz

👉🏻 Website - https://www.mobilegrove.com

*** What We Do ***

MobileGroove: Mobile Marketing Insights, Trends & Growth Strategies

MobileGroove is a top-ranked destination for mobile marketing, app growth, and customer engagement strategies. We deliver expert analysis, custom research, and strategic content marketing to help mobile-first businesses and tech startups thrive in a fast-moving industry.

My videos cover:

• User acquisition (UA) best practices

• App retention and lifecycle marketing strategies

• Personalization and loyalty programs that drive ROI

• The latest in mobile advertising and data-driven growth

• Success stories from top marketers and mobile-first brands

Peggy is a recognized thought leader, named a Top 100 Mobile Influencer by Mobile World Congress, and the author of Apponomics (with InMobi) and The Everything Guide to Mobile Apps.

Subscribe for weekly updates on mobile app marketing, growth hacking, retention tactics, and more.