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THIS WEEK'S TOPICS:

• 🗣️ $35K will get you your own mobile dog translator

• 📱 Roundup: useful apps for dog ownership

• 📈 Wag! revenue up 55%

🗣️ $35K WILL GET YOU YOUR OWN MOBILE DOG TRANSLATOR

You know it, you love it, it's time for another Dogonomist Business Barkdown!

The business in question this week is a mobile training app for helping dog owners translate their dogs' sounds and barks.

This business is listed for $35,000 and reportedly makes ~$1,000 per month on subscription revenue.

Let's dive in snout first!

The Numbers 📊

Let's go a little deeper:

• Margins = 100% is what they have listed. We doubt that is completely true, as the app should have some sort of hosting or maintenance cost. Though software is typically cheap to run, so 90% margins are common.

• Revenue Multiple = 3.4x revenue. For recurring revenue (ex. subscriptions), this isn't a bad price. Some software companies w/ recurring revenue command 5-10x multiples, so this seems fair

• Unit Price = Not shared but down below we'll talk about competitors

• What is this built with? = Swift programming language for iOS (no Android)

• Business Model = Free app with in-app purchases is our guess

The listing is a little bare of information, which is a flag for us, but we are still curious based on the product and the fact they have recurring revenue.

They list three competitors, so we used those to give us a proxy for more info:

• Dog Translator - 14.4k reviews, 4.5 out of 5 score

• Dog Translator (same name, so one could be a copy) - 34.5k reviews, 4.5 out of 5 score

• DogSpeak - The Dog Translator (seeing a theme here) - 4.1k reviews, 4.1 out of 5 score

So this is where we get interested.

These three simple looking apps have a LOT of reviews, and all of them offer in app purchases.

So let's do some quick assumptions and back of the napkin math:

Using the first app, let’s say that the 14.4k reviews represents all off the users (no way it does, but we are being conservative).

We did some quick research, and on average, 1-2% of your users will make an in-app purchase. So that's 144-288 customers.

The first app has an annual plan for $20 so that would be $2,880 - $5,760 in subscriptions each year.

Not a ton, but these are some pretty low assumptions.

Here are some of the in-app purchase options:

What we'd want to know 🤔

Well there is a lot we'd want to know since the post doesn't tell us much....

• Users - How many paid vs. free users are there?

• Acquisition sources - Where did those users come from? Did they do advertising, or is it other types of marketing?

• Costs / Maintenance - We aren't programmers, so we'd need to hire someone to maintain the app. What do they do currently, and how much have they spent on hosting, etc?

What we'd do if we ran this thing? 👔

Video marketing via Tik Tok or Instagram. We see this as more of a novelty product, and the best way to highlight those is short form video.

We'd look to create some user content around people using this with their dogs and having fun. Then see about advertising those clips or getting micro influencers to share or try.

Do we think this is a good idea? 🤨

Naw. Seems gimmicky, and reading reviews from the other apps, it doesn't seem like this is anything more than a glorified noise maker.

The post lacks a ton of info, so that makes us suspect as well. The $1k of monthly revenue was interesting at the price, but we are looking for good businesses, not novelty products.

We will pass ❌

 📱 ROUNDUP: USEFUL APPS FOR DOG OWNERSHIP

Chances are you've heard the term "there's an app for that" more than once in your life.

And if you haven't, you are about to, because we are going to give you a quick overview of some useful apps we've come across for you and your dog.

There are a lot of options out there, and we haven't thoroughly tested all of these, so please check out some reviews and do your own research!

Medical records - Vitus Vet

If you are like us, your vet records are a mash of printed up papers, scribbled notes, and maybe an email or two.

Vitus Vet aims to help you digitize your dog's records so they are easily accessible in one place.

With it, you can request or upload vet records, log insurance and microchip info, and depending on the vet, request appts and refill prescriptions.

There are other options for this type of app out there, so it's less about which one, and more about something that helps organize everything in one place for your pup's health.

We've had issues remembering medication types, looking at how long it's been since our last appt, etc, so we are a big proponent of more organzation!

Training - Puppr

As much as we like to style ourselves as dog whisperers, the truth is our dog listens to us maybe half the time.

Puppr is a free app that has a bunch of different training techniques you can use at home to teach things like potty training, basic commands, and more advanced tricks.

While in person training done by a professional is the most effective method, it can be expensive and requires scheduling and time.

Often all you need is to quickly work on some basic commands, so a free tool like Puppr is a great substitute.

Safety - Red Cross Pet First Aid

While going to a vet is always the best thing if you are worried about your dog's health, often there are situations you aren't sure about.

How do I clean a cut?

How can I tell if my dog is having an allergic reaction?

These are the types of questions that Red Cross' Pet First Aid app helps answer.

Some of the pupular features are:

• 🆔 Create a pet profile including tag identification number, photos, list of medications and instructions.

• ⚠️ Use the list of early warning signs to learn when to call your veterinarian.

• 🏥 Find emergency pet care facilities or alternate veterinarians with the ‘animal hospital locator.’

• 🏨 Locate pet-friendly hotels in case you have to evacuate in an emergency or when they travel.

• ⚕️Assemble a pet first aid kit and an emergency preparedness kit.

• 📝 Test knowledge with interactive quizzes and earn badges that you can share on their social networks along with your favorite picture of your pet.

What we really like is that the information is clear and simple. No trying to comb through 100s of google results from questionable sources.

Location - Whistle

This one is a little bit of a stretch since it's not just an app and requires some hardware.

However, knowing your dog's location is very important, even if they are microchipped as that doesn’t show your dog’s location in real-time.

Whistle has one of the more popular location collars, which also doubles as an activity and health tracker.

Not only can you see where your pooch is, you can track exercise, eating, drinking, and other useful data that gives you a picture of their overall health.

We like to nerd out on data, especially health data we get from activity trackers, test results, etc.

We can't say we've ever been able to collect any data on our dogs, so we like this new trend toward understanding more about our fur buddies.

Dog OS - DogLog

Doglog (nailed the name) mixes in some of the functionality of Whistle, Vitus Vet, and others to try to "connects all aspects of your dog's life in one easy-to-use app".

You can coordinate w/ pet sitters, set reminders for appts or medicines, track poops, and more.

We think this app is really for those owners that are already pretty diligent on tracking things, as you have to enter all the reminder, poop logs, etc.

We'll have to admit that we aren't always the best with that, so we like the tools that make this more automatic.

But hey, to each their own!

The rest

There are a ton more apps out there, from finding sitters and walkers (Wag, Rover), planning travel (BringFido), entertainment (Jolly Dog), and more.

You may have heard our prediction that soon, every human product category will have a dog version, and this is one area we expect to grow more and more.

📈 WAG! REVENUE UP 55%

Wag! Group Co., a leading platform for pet care (and one of 10 publicly traded stocks we’re considering tracking in the DoggyDex™) has released its financial results for Q2 of 2023, and the numbers aren’t too shabby.

Here's a quick breakdown:

• Record Revenue: Wag! reported a 55% surge in revenue, reaching $19.8 million, up from $12.8 million in Q2 2022. This revenue is a mix of $6.2 million from Services, $12.0 million from Wellness, and $1.6 million from Pet Food & Treats.

• Net Loss: The company reported a net loss of $3.9 million, a significant increase from the $1.1 million loss in Q2 2022. This is primarily attributed to increased interest expenses and stock-based compensations.

• Positive Adjusted EBITDA: For the first time as a public company, Wag! achieved a positive Adjusted EBITDA of $0.1 million, a notable improvement from the $0.9 million loss in the same quarter the previous year.

• Platform Growth: Wag! saw a 42% growth in platform participants, reaching 549,000 in Q2 2023, up from 387,000 in Q2 2022.

• Operational Highlights: The company celebrated its first-ever Adjusted EBITDA positive quarter, driven by a disciplined expense management strategy, AI automation, and a 10:1 LTV:CAC ratio. Additionally, despite the slow return-to-office trend, the company set an all-time revenue record for its services.

• Product Launch: Wag! introduced Paw Protect into its Wellness marketplace, receiving a commendable 94 Net Promoter Score (NPS).

• Guidance for 2023: Wag! remains optimistic about the future. For the full year of 2023, the company expects revenue to be between $80 million to $84 million. The Adjusted EBITDA is forecasted to be in the range of $0 million to $2 million, a $1 million improvement from previous estimates.

• Outlook for Q3 2023: Wag! anticipates a revenue between $19 million to $20 million, marking a 27% year-over-year increase. The Adjusted EBITDA is projected to be between $0 million to $1 million, a staggering 208% improvement year-over-year.

DOGGYDEX™

Winner 🏆: BITCOIN

Proudly introducing the DoggyDex™, an index comprised of 10 publicly traded companies whose primary focus is the dog/pet industry.

List of tickers used can be found at the very bottom of the newsletter.

The yellow line-plot in the chart represents these companies above (DoggyDex™) and their combined performance against both the S&P 500 and Bitcoin on a weekly basis.

Pawformance is measured by % gains & losses.

• 🪴 Pup plays Hide ‘N Seek perfectly: Check out this cute little girl hiding behind an oversized pot and casually popping her head up when her owners aren’t looking.

• 🎃 33rd Annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade: Peep a quick roundup of some incredible costumes from this year. This parade never disappoints.

• 🍂 Fall Frenchies frolicking: If you live somewhere without a fall season and missed out on playing in the leaves then you should get your fill by watching these Frenchies rip through some foliage.

DOGGY B-DAY

• $CHWY - Chewy: E-commerce platform for pet supplies

• $IDXX - Idexx Labs: Vet point of care instruments and vet software

• $FRPT - Fresh Pet: Pet food company

• $PETQ - PetIQ: Pet health products and medicines

• $PETS - PetMeds: Online pet pharmacy

• $ZTS - Zoetis: World's largest producer of meds and vaccines for pets and livestock

• $TRUP - Trupanion: Pet insurance company

• $WOOF - Petco Health & Wellness co.: Pet health & wellness company

• $BARK - BarkBox: Subscription service providing dog products, services, and experiences

• $PET - Wag! Group Co.: Tech platform that allows pet owners to connect with industry professionals for services such as, walking, training, etc.