RevenueCat: Powering Subscriptions for the App Economy

RevenueCat is the subscription infrastructure powering the app economy — handling in-app purchases, entitlements, and analytics for millions of apps. By solving one of the hardest problems in mobile development, it's become the default platform for developers who want to monetize with subscriptions. In this sit-down with YC Partner Gustaf Alstromer, co-founders Jacob Eiting and Miguel Carranza share how frustration with Apple’s in-app purchase system led them to start RevenueCat, the pivotal decisions that helped them scale from YC to a global platform, and the lessons they’ve learned building the backbone of mobile monetization. Learn more about RevenueCat: https://www.revenuecat.com Chapters: 00:00 – What RevenueCat Does 00:40 – The Pain of Building In-App Purchases 02:10 – From Developer Frustration to Startup Idea 03:30 – YC and Early Product Decisions 05:00 – Building for Developers First 07:00 – Scaling to Millions of Apps 09:20 – Lessons on Pricing and Business Model 12:00 – Growing the Team 14:00 – Competing with Incumbents and Big Platforms 17:00 – Staying Close to Customers as You Scale 20:00 – The Future of Subscription Infrastructure 23:00 – Advice for Founders

Gustaf AlstromerhostJacob EitingguestMiguel Carranzaguest

Oct 1, 202526mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: October 1, 2025
Duration: 26m
Channel: YC Root Access
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

RevenueCat is the subscription infrastructure powering the app economy — handling in-app purchases, entitlements, and analytics for millions of apps. By solving one of the hardest problems in mobile development, it's become the default platform for developers who want to monetize with subscriptions. In this sit-down with YC Partner Gustaf Alstromer, co-founders Jacob Eiting and Miguel Carranza share how frustration with Apple’s in-app purchase system led them to start RevenueCat, the pivotal decisions that helped them scale from YC to a global platform, and the lessons they’ve learned building the backbone of mobile monetization. Learn more about RevenueCat: https://www.revenuecat.com Chapters: 00:00 – What RevenueCat Does 00:40 – The Pain of Building In-App Purchases 02:10 – From Developer Frustration to Startup Idea 03:30 – YC and Early Product Decisions 05:00 – Building for Developers First 07:00 – Scaling to Millions of Apps 09:20 – Lessons on Pricing and Business Model 12:00 – Growing the Team 14:00 – Competing with Incumbents and Big Platforms 17:00 – Staying Close to Customers as You Scale 20:00 – The Future of Subscription Infrastructure 23:00 – Advice for Founders

SPEAKERS

Gustaf Alstromer
host
Y Combinator partner and host on YC Root Access.
Jacob Eiting
guest
Co-founder of RevenueCat, a subscriptions and in-app purchase infrastructure platform for apps.
Miguel Carranza
guest
Co-founder of RevenueCat, focused on subscriptions/in-app purchase tooling and growth analytics for app developers.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of YC Root Access, featuring Gustaf Alstromer and Jacob Eiting, RevenueCat: Powering Subscriptions for the App Economy explores revenueCat simplifies in-app subscriptions, scaling via developer-led adoption and trust RevenueCat was founded to remove the heavy engineering burden of implementing and maintaining cross-platform in-app purchases and subscriptions for small mobile teams.

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