How We Grew Our App to $30K/Month

Starter Story • • 12min • #122
How We Grew Our App to $30K/Month
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Summary

  • Alejandro & Mario

    • Former software engineer (Alejandro) and co‑founder (Mario) met through Y‑Combinator co‑founder matching.
    • Both previously built side projects; Alejandro had a $5 M‑download app but struggled with distribution.
    • Decided to master virality before building a product.

  • Product: Push School (Pushscroll)

    • Fitness app that forces users to do a short workout (push‑ups, squats, planks) before unlocking social‑media apps.
    • Blocks selected apps until the user earns screen time by exercising.
    • Simple MVP: three screens (push‑up detector, app‑selection, blocking screen).
    • Pricing: $30 per year hard‑wall paywall; free for early users, then paid for others.
    • Downloads: ~300 k total; ~4 k paying customers.

  • Metrics & Financials

    • Generates > $30 K / month in revenue, all from organic viral content.
    • Initial launch video drove 20‑30 k downloads in the first week.
    • One TikTok video reached 6 M views, converting to ~10 k monthly recurring revenue.
    • Total video views for validation video: ~80 k (initial) and later millions for follow‑up content.

  • Strategy & Growth

    • Content‑first approach
      • Created a fake demo video on TikTok before any code was written.
      • Hook: “Stop doom‑scrolling by doing 20 push‑ups” – clear, novel, curiosity‑gap.
      • Visualized app value using AI‑generated push‑up detection footage and simple mock‑ups.
      • Added strong call‑to‑action asking if they should build it.
    • Distribution Playbook
      1. Warm up a new TikTok account: watch, comment, save, share, follow niche creators to avoid shadow‑bans.
      2. Generate daily video ideas; each must be visually striking, explainable in ≤ 3 words, and solve a core human desire.
      3. Post daily; iterate until a video goes viral.
      4. Build a community (e.g., Discord) to keep early interest and convert viewers into users.
      5. Build an embarrassingly simple MVP; launch quickly, collect feedback, and validate willingness to pay.
      6. Continue organic posting to reach 5‑10 k MR; scale with influencers, paid ads, and funnel optimization.
    • Emphasized that distribution should be baked into product design from day 1.

  • Tech Stack & Infrastructure

    • Front‑end: Compose Multiplatform for cross‑platform mobile app.
    • Backend: Supabase (database, authentication).
    • Testing/preview: Supabase Studio.
    • Analytics: Amplitude.
    • Error tracking: Sentry.
    • Development tooling: CodeMagic for CI/CD.

  • Lessons & Advice

    • Invest in distribution before building; it makes the entire process ten times easier.
    • Don’t fear spending money on advice—$200 on guidance can yield huge ROI.
    • An MVP can be “embarrassingly” simple; focus on validation, not polish.
    • The content‑first, viral‑validation model is repeatable if you follow the systematic playbook.
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