Context
Trekin' Research Apps is a small app development business behind Hey Prof, a mobile app made for professional and academic associations. Associations buy the app for their members, and members use it to build profiles, find and connect with other scholars, exchange research ideas, and keep a research network alive year round rather than only at in-person conferences. The app is built for iOS and Android and is tailored to each organization that takes it on, with the arrangement varying by the size of the association and what it is looking for.
At the time of the engagement the app was still pre-launch, and the company presented itself through a single small website that covered both Trekin' Research Apps and Hey Prof. Around it, general professional networks and free research-sharing platforms were where scholars already gathered, none of them built specifically for the way associations serve their members, which is the space Hey Prof was being launched into.
Challenge
Trekin' Research Apps was close to launching Hey Prof, a mobile app built for professional and academic associations to help their members connect, exchange research ideas, and build a research network year round rather than only at in-person conferences. The app was to be sold to organizations rather than to individual scholars, so the buyer and the user were not the same person, and the platforms researchers already used were free to join. Ahead of launch, the business wanted a clear view of the competitive field, a considered pricing model, and marketing that could reach a niche audience of researchers and professors within a limited budget. An open question at the start was whether the work should cover Trekin' Research Apps as a whole or concentrate on Hey Prof.
How the team worked
The team met weekly through the semester and opened with a first client meeting to settle scope: whether the work should center on Hey Prof or on Trekin' Research Apps as a whole, who the app was for, how it would be tailored to each organization, and how much time that tailoring takes. From there the engagement ran on three tracks that were carried in parallel: background and competitive research, financial tools and pricing strategy, and marketing.
Research came first. The team studied the app, the startup ecosystem, and the platforms researchers already use, tried Hey Prof on their own devices, and returned app feedback alongside the analysis. That work became a SWOT analysis and a competitive analysis chart comparing each platform on audience, business model, features, and user reception, which the team walked the client through at a mid-semester check-in and used to name the differentiators Hey Prof could stand on.
The financial track turned that context into a break-even spreadsheet with separate fixed-cost and variable-cost sheets, so expenses could be logged by category and tested against a chosen price or a chosen number of users. The team paired the tool with a simple rule linking first-client revenue to the cost of serving that client and the cost of acquiring the next one, then compared a free trial against a freemium model and recommended freemium with a tiered split of free and premium features.
The marketing track weighed organic SEO against paid search and concluded that a tailored, in-person and email-led campaign suited a niche audience better than broad advertising. The team built the materials that plan needs, gathered the client's list of academic associations into a sortable sheet, and presented the full set of solutions with an implementation order that starts with the website and moves to pricing decisions, first-client selection, and cold outreach to academic institutions.
Workstreams
- Researched the business, the app, and the startup ecosystem around it, and completed a SWOT analysis of Hey Prof's position ahead of launch.
- Built a competitive analysis of existing research-networking and professional platforms to find a differentiator for the app.
- Created a break-even spreadsheet that tracks fixed and variable costs and tests pricing scenarios against them.
- Compared free-trial and freemium models, proposed a tiered split between free and premium features, and set out a pricing rule for covering fulfillment and acquisition costs.
- Developed organic and paid marketing recommendations covering website navigation and SEO, email campaigns, research-community groups, and in-person outreach at academic conferences.
- Produced networking materials including a pitch deck template, sample email templates, a demo video, and a sortable list of academic associations.
What the team found
- The competitive review showed that the platforms researchers already use are largely free to join and general in purpose, which raises the bar for any paid, research-specific alternative.
- None of the platforms studied combined a research-focused audience with consistent behavior across phone, tablet, and laptop, leaving room for an app that works the same way everywhere.
- User reception of existing platforms pointed to navigation and readability as recurring complaints, suggesting usability rather than feature count was the ground worth competing on.
- The pricing work showed the central difficulty is that the buyer and the user are different: associations pay while their members decide whether the app is worth using.
- Comparing a free trial against a freemium model showed the trial forces the buying decision early, while freemium lets an institution watch its members use the app before committing.
- The marketing comparison showed broad paid search costs far more than a niche audience justifies, while direct email and in-person contact reaches the same researchers for much less.
What the client received
- Written final deliverable with SWOT analysis, competitive analysis, financial solutions, marketing solutions, and implementation steps.
- Competitive analysis chart comparing research-networking and professional platforms on audience, model, features, and user reception.
- Break-even analysis spreadsheet with fixed-cost and variable-cost sheets and pricing scenarios by price or user count.
- Freemium recommendation with a proposed tiered split of free and premium features.
- Pricing rule linking first-client revenue to the cost of fulfillment and the cost of acquiring the next client.
- Marketing plan covering website navigation, SEO, email campaigns, research-community groups, and conference outreach.
- Pitch deck template, sample email templates and content ideas, and a demo video of the app.
- Sortable list of academic associations by field, membership, and member type.
- Solutions presentation delivered to the client with a sequenced implementation order.
- App feedback notes returned to the client during the semester.
Outcome
Trekin' Research Apps now has a clearer picture of where Hey Prof sits among existing platforms and what sets it apart, a freemium pricing model it can test directly with institutions, and a rule for setting a first price that keeps cash available to win the next client. It also has a set of ready to use tools for reaching its audience: a break-even calculator, email templates, a pitch deck template, a demo video, and a sortable associations list. The implementation plan sequences website fixes, pricing decisions, first-client selection, and direct outreach, so the business can decide what to take on first.
Recommendations
- Start with the website: separate the Trekin' Research Apps story from the Hey Prof story so visitors can navigate between them, explain what the app does, and add the demo video near the top.
- Add an opt-in call to action on the website, as a pop-up early and again at the end of the page, so interested visitors join an email list rather than leaving with nothing.
- Improve search visibility organically through keyword-led content, title and description metadata, and interlinked pages, treating paid search as an option to revisit later rather than a launch expense.
- Settle the pricing model on a freemium basis, with a tiered split that keeps profile creation, public projects, and basic messaging free and puts private projects, collaboration tools, analytics, and dedicated support behind the upgrade.
- Use the break-even tool with the first-client pricing rule so the price charged to an early institution covers serving that institution and acquiring the next one.
- Reach institutions directly: cold-email their representatives with the pitch deck and demo video attached, move into a newsletter over time, and present in person at research conferences and research-community groups.
Next steps
- The client was handed a break-even spreadsheet with labeled input cells for fixed costs, variable costs, price, and user count, so pricing scenarios can be tested as real costs come in.
- The client was handed a sortable list of academic associations by field, membership, and member type, with website links, so outreach can be aimed at the associations that fit best.
- The client was handed a networking kit for conferences and cold outreach: a pitch deck template, sample email templates with content ideas, and a short demo video of the app.
- The client was handed an implementation order that starts with the website, then pricing plans, then choosing a first client, then cold email and in-person networking.
- The client was handed a short list of online tools for user testing, crowdsourced feedback, and email marketing to support iteration after launch.