Your installs are dropping (but that's not the real problem)

Hey,

Most founders who reach out to me can’t tell me what’s actually wrong.

They see the symptoms: install drops, ranking fell from #3 to #8, CAC just went up 30%.

But they don’t know the root cause.

“I see a drop in installs for my app listing. I think that my copy doesn’t convert.”

Usually, it’s stale ad campaigns that they haven’t updated for three months, or suboptimal listings that they generated when they first got started and haven’t optimized since.

When I dig deeper, it’s almost always positioning. They’re not clear on what they’re selling or who it’s for.

And they have no idea what their competitors are doing.

Here’s what I’ve learned after dozens of these conversations:

People can only describe the symptoms, but they don’t normally know what the problem is.

They are not sure what to ask, usually they are hesitant about their problem.

And that’s exactly where the opportunity is.

This is a great opportunity for me to inspire trust.

The discovery call isn’t just diagnostic work. It’s where I show them what they couldn’t see themselves.

Someone books a call thinking they need better copy.

I show them their entire competitive landscape shifted while their listing stayed frozen in time.

That’s when it clicks. They don’t need better copy. They need to rethink what they’re saying.

Here’s why I built my sprint model around this insight:

People don’t like long-term engagements, and I believe that retainer requires a lot more trust upfront than a sprint.

Sprint has very tangible results and KPIs, and it’s very clear what we will do and how long it will take to do it.

30 days. Clear deliverables. Specific outcomes.

You know exactly what you’re getting and when.

No open-ended commitments. No wondering if this is working.

The symptoms clients report:

• Install volumes dropping week over week • Rankings sliding from page 1 to page 2 • Ad spend climbing with no improvement in conversion • Reviews slowing down or turning negative

The actual root causes I find:

• Positioning that made sense 18 months ago but doesn’t match who they are now • Competitor movements they didn’t notice (new features, pricing changes, better messaging) • Listings that were “good enough” at launch but never evolved • Complete disconnect between what they built and how they’re describing it

Anyone can rewrite copy.

That’s not the hard part.

The hard part is figuring out what the copy should actually say.

If you’re seeing symptoms but struggling to identify the root cause, that’s normal. Most founders are too close to their product to see what’s really happening.

That’s what the discovery process is for.

What symptom are you seeing right now that you can’t quite explain?

Reply to this email and let’s figure out what’s actually going on.

Ohad

PS: I’m opening two sprint spots for December. If you want me to diagnose what’s really holding your app back, reply with “Sprint” and I’ll send you the details.