94: Shot Pattern — Eric Duffett

On the podcast: Eric Duffett shares how he built Shot Pattern — a golf GPS app that brings "moneyball" thinking to the course — as a side project while teaching high school full-time. He talks about his first failed app, why automating an existing community workflow created instant product-market fit, turning down a 75K acquisition offer, cracking Meta ads with a scrappy zero-budget screen recording, and growing to one million dollars in total sales without ever leaving the classroom.

Top Takeaways:

⛳ Find people already doing it the hard way
If a community is solving a problem with spreadsheets, Google Maps, or shared workarounds, you don't need to convince them they have a problem — you just need to make the solution easier.

🚫 Don't rebuild your entire app for one person's feedback
Overweighting the first piece of feedback you get, especially when it requires a massive pivot like adding a new platform, is one of the most common traps for first-time developers.

📉 Intellectually knowing and emotionally knowing are different things
You can predict a seasonal downturn or a slow period, but the anxiety of watching revenue drop to zero still hits differently when you're living through it.

🎬 Market before you build
The difference between a hobby that nobody finds and a business that grows from day one can be as simple as sharing screenshots and talking about what you're making while you're still making it.

💸 Your LTV has to work before you spend a dollar on ads
Paid acquisition only becomes a money printer when your conversion and retention numbers are already strong from organic users — otherwise you're just paying to lose money faster.

🎥 The scrappy creative wins
A raw, unpolished screen recording made by the founder can outperform expensive influencer content because it speaks directly to the audience in their own language.

🏋️ Grit without product-market fit is just suffering
Resilience is a necessary skill, but grinding on something nobody wants for years doesn't make you a better entrepreneur — it just delays the moment you find the thing that actually works.

About Eric Duffet:

🚀 Indie Developer and creator of Shot Pattern, a specialized golf GPS and course management app designed to help golfers lower their scores by visualizing their personal "shot cone" directly over satellite maps of the golf course

👋 LinkedIn

🌐 Learn more about Shot Pattern

Episode Highlights:
[00:00] Introduction to Shot Pattern: “Moneyball for golf”
[02:14] Eric’s background: teaching, finance, and early app development
[03:40] Golf experience and coaching background
[05:58] First app: meditation for athletes and lessons learned
[10:47] Rookie mistakes: Android pivot and early marketing missteps
[13:08] Design insights from working with UI/UX students
[17:00] Understanding product-market fit through a simple school app
[20:07] Starting Shot Pattern as a personal side project
[21:46] Early app features: measuring arcs and dispersion on Apple Maps
[25:17] Early marketing and organic growth via Twitter
[29:35] Investing in golf course data to enhance the app
[33:04] Prototype simulations and early community feedback
[35:10] Declining $75K acquisition offer to continue independently
[38:14] Facing seasonal slowdowns and sustaining motivation
[42:04] Running Meta ads and achieving high LTV
[46:50] Effective ad creative targeting the right golfers
[49:58] Balancing development, business, and family
[56:32] Hiring a contractor for marketing and operational support
[01:00:23] Future plans: delivering more value through analytics and AI reports
[01:02:31] Competition and validation in the golf app space