The conversation is in Malayalam. This page is an English summary of it. Watch on YouTube
About this episode
In this episode of The eCom Show, host Shan A Salam sits down with Jaseel S, co-founder of FareFirst and founder of Lascade. Jaseel recounts his unconventional transition from studying mechanical engineering to mastering mobile app marketing and development. Starting in college by experimenting with online domain flipping and flight-booking APIs, he scaled his travel app FareFirst to more than two million organic downloads on Android. He explains why building an app is only the first step and argues that marketing and user acquisition are far more critical than coding alone. Jaseel shares practical strategies for App Store Optimisation (ASO), competitor analysis using specialised mobile intelligence tools, and running paid ad campaigns on platforms like Google, Meta, TikTok, and Reddit. He also discusses founding Lascade in Kochi, an in-house app studio focused on subscription-based consumer software and games, while highlighting the importance of peer networks, mentorship, and financial literacy for early-stage startup founders.
Key takeaways
- Building an app without a defined marketing plan rarely succeeds because organic app store discovery drops dramatically after release.
- Understanding the basics of software development helps marketers evaluate what features and user experience improvements are technically viable.
- Prioritise fixing onboarding flows and application crashes with a small initial user group before allocating large paid ad budgets.
- Organic app growth requires App Store Optimisation by targeting keywords competitor apps already rank and convert on.
- Platforms like Google, Meta, and Apple Search Ads cover roughly 70 to 80 percent of the target audience for most mobile applications.
- High-performing ad creatives and clear conversion tracking are essential to reduce the cost per install when scaling paid campaigns.
- Connecting with local startup communities and experienced founders helps uncover blind spots in business operations and compliance.
Chapters
- App Marketing
- App Store Optimisation
- Startup Growth
- Paid Advertising
- Bootstrapping
