I’m trying a new thing: Spin — a tennis app.
Spin solves the problem of finding well-matched tennis partners close you. You sign up to a local league, and your “Spin Rating” determines what division you get put into. The Spin Rating is the app’s version of Chess’ Elo Rating; if you win more matches, your Spin Rating goes up and you compete with better players.
Over the course of the three month league you self-organise and play with 15-20 people in your division. The division results don’t really matter though, it’s the Spin Rating that matters in the long run.
One of the big issues with apps like this is the non-committal and flakey parts of human nature. Things feel more optional when free.
The simple way Spin solves this is by charging £20 to participate in each 3-month-long league. Because the people who have signed up have paid money, and because aversion to loss drives action, the players are proactive, organised, and punctual. Of course, this benefits Spin in the form of recurring revenues.
I like how they chose a punchy £20 for their fee. The marginal cost of delivering software to the next user is not £20, but the value created for the user and the commitment they get from users because of the £20 fee is the real secret sauce.