FOLDER
LEARN STARTUP | SOLO FOUNDER SAAS
CONTENT
CHAPTER INDEX
HOW STELLA CROSSED $300K MRR
FROM IDEA TO MASSIVE CONSUMER APP IN MONTHS
Sarah Pearl launched Stella, a personalized manifestation app.
According to the interview, Stella crossed $300,000 MRR within roughly 2 months of launch.
The bigger lesson is not manifestation.
It is how she combined distribution, audience insight, AI and speed.
THE NUMBERS
WHAT STELLA ACHIEVED
Sarah shared these numbers during the interview:
1. $300K+ MRR in about 2 months
2. Around $350K–$360K MRR at interview time
3. 12,000 paying customers
4. 200,000+ downloads
Her existing personal brand became a powerful distribution advantage.
WHAT STELLA DOES
A SIMPLE PERSONALIZED PRODUCT
Users tell Stella their dreams, desires and goals.
The app then creates personalized visualizations they can listen to, framed from the perspective of their future self.
It also generates personalized daily affirmations based on what that individual wants to achieve.
WHY THE IDEA WORKED
CHAPTER 1
START WITH YOUR OWN PROBLEM
SARAH WAS ALREADY THE CUSTOMER
Sarah already listened to meditations and visualization content.
She noticed something missing:
Most content was generic.
She wanted visualizations specifically about her exact goals.
That personal frustration became the starting point for Stella.
AI MADE PERSONALIZATION POSSIBLE
A NEW CAPABILITY UNLOCKED THE IDEA
The idea became practical because AI could dynamically generate content for each user.
Instead of recording one meditation for everyone, Stella could create something around one person's exact ambitions.
The product existed because a previously expensive capability became accessible.
SIMPLE CAN BE POWERFUL
YOU DO NOT NEED DOZENS OF FEATURES
Stella's core experience is relatively focused:
1. Tell the app what you want
2. Receive personalized visualizations
3. Receive personalized affirmations
4. Return regularly
The lesson: depth around one useful experience can be more valuable than a product overloaded with features.
BUILD BACKWARDS
CHAPTER 2
MOST FOUNDERS START WITH PRODUCT
SARAH STARTS WITH DISTRIBUTION
Sarah describes her approach as working backwards.
Most founders:
Idea → Product → Launch → Find customers
Her approach:
Content → Audience → Problems → Product
She first learns what people respond to, then builds something that naturally fits that demand.
CONTENT IS MARKET RESEARCH
YOUR AUDIENCE TELLS YOU WHAT TO BUILD
Publishing content creates a continuous research loop.
Watch:
1. What gets attention?
2. What gets saved?
3. What gets shared?
4. What questions appear repeatedly?
5. What do people wish existed?
Those signals can reveal product opportunities before you write code.
READ THE COMMENTS
DEMAND OFTEN APPEARS IN PLAIN SIGHT
Sarah specifically recommends watching what people say in comments.
Comments such as:
'I wish this existed.'
'How do I do this?'
'I'm struggling with this.'
can become product clues.
Instead of guessing demand privately, founders can observe problems publicly.
BUILD A PRODUCT THAT FITS THE CONTENT
DISTRIBUTION AND PRODUCT BECOME ONE SYSTEM
Sarah asks a powerful question after content performs:
What product could naturally be inserted into this content?
The ideal product makes the viewer think:
'I need to close this app and download that right now.'
The product becomes the natural next step after consuming the content.
VIRALITY IS A SKILL
CHAPTER 3
YOU DO NOT NEED TO START FAMOUS
LEARN DISTRIBUTION INSTEAD
Sarah argues that the important asset is not simply having followers.
It is knowing how to repeatedly create attention.
She describes virality as a learnable skill.
Once someone understands how to generate attention, they can potentially rebuild an audience around new accounts, ideas or products.
HER VIRAL CONTENT SYSTEM
STUDY WHAT ALREADY WORKS
Sarah's basic process:
1. Choose a niche
2. Find the most viral content
3. Study why people respond
4. Understand the psychology behind it
5. Create your own versions
6. Repeat successful formats
Do not reinvent the format every day.
WHEN SOMETHING WORKS, REPEAT IT
DO NOT ABANDON PROVEN FORMATS
Sarah says she has recreated the same successful content concepts for years.
Creators often believe every post needs to be completely new.
Her approach is different:
If a format repeatedly gets attention and converts, continue refining and reproducing it.
DESIGN CONTENT TO BE SAVED
CREATE A REASON TO RETURN
One tactic Sarah uses is making content people naturally want to save.
Example:
'Repeat these affirmations for 7 days.'
The viewer immediately has a reason to save the post and return later.
That behavior creates engagement while also increasing the usefulness of the content.
SHARES AND SAVES MATTER
BUILD BEHAVIOR INTO THE CONTENT
Sarah emphasizes content that naturally produces saves or shares.
Instead of asking only:
'Will someone watch this?'
ask:
1. Will someone save it?
2. Will someone send it?
3. Will someone revisit it?
4. Will someone act after watching?
Virality starts with user behavior.
CONTENT → CONVERSION
CHAPTER 4
SHOW THE PRODUCT IN CONTEXT
A DEMO CONVERTS BETTER THAN A MENTION
Sarah says content sometimes performs worse when she merely mentions Stella.
The stronger approach is to show the exact use case.
Someone sees the problem.
Then they immediately see Stella solving it.
The distance between curiosity and understanding becomes much shorter.
THE AFFIRMATION VIDEO
A SIMPLE CONVERSION STRUCTURE
One successful format:
1. Sarah delivers memorable affirmations
2. Someone asks how to remember them
3. Stella becomes the answer
4. The app provides custom daily affirmations
The promotion feels connected to the content because the product resolves the problem created by the video.
VIRALITY AND CONVERSION ARE DIFFERENT
YOU NEED BOTH
A video can generate huge views without producing many customers.
Another video can receive fewer views yet drive more downloads.
Sarah describes the need to balance:
Viral content → maximum attention
Conversion content → clear product use case
A strong content system needs both.
BUILD THE FUNNEL INTO CONTENT
MAKE THE NEXT ACTION OBVIOUS
Sarah also uses automated Instagram flows through ManyChat.
Example:
1. Viewer watches content
2. Viewer comments a keyword
3. Automation responds
4. User receives the offer
5. User downloads Stella
Content does not end with views. It should create a path toward action.
SPEED IS THE ADVANTAGE
CHAPTER 5
BUILD THE MVP FAST
TEST BEFORE PERFECTING
Sarah says speed is one of the most important ingredients in the app market.
Her early Stella MVP was created in roughly 2 days.
The complete product took around 2–3 months.
The goal of the MVP was not perfection.
It was to discover whether the idea had real potential.
AI REMOVES THE TECHNICAL BOTTLENECK
IDEAS CAN BECOME SOFTWARE FASTER
Sarah mentions tools such as Claude Code, Claude, Google AI Studio and Cursor.
Her larger point is more important than the specific tools:
AI dramatically reduces the technical barrier to creating software.
People with strong ideas and distribution can now move much faster toward working products.
SPEED CREATES MORE LEARNING
THE REAL ADVANTAGE OF MOVING QUICKLY
Fast building matters because every launch generates information.
Faster MVP → Faster users → Faster feedback → Faster iteration
Waiting months for perfection delays the most valuable information:
Whether real people actually want what you are building.
DISTRIBUTION IS THE NEW MOAT
CHAPTER 6
CREATORS HAVE A NEW ADVANTAGE
TECHNICAL BARRIERS ARE FALLING
The interview argues that software development is becoming much more accessible because of AI.
That increases the value of skills such as:
1. Understanding an audience
2. Creating attention
3. Building trust
4. Creating community
5. Knowing what people actually want
THE BEST PRODUCT MAY NOT WIN
BEING KNOWN MATTERS
Sarah summarizes her view with a distribution-first principle:
The best product does not automatically win.
The best-known product can have a major advantage.
A technically excellent app with no distribution may remain invisible, while a useful product with strong distribution can scale rapidly.
PERSONAL BRAND REDUCES FRICTION
TRUST EXISTS BEFORE THE DOWNLOAD
Sarah already had a large audience before Stella launched.
Her followers knew her manifestation content and trusted her perspective.
That meant Stella was not appearing from an unknown company.
The product was an extension of a relationship that already existed between creator and audience.
CREATORS CAN SEE DIFFERENT PROBLEMS
AUDIENCE KNOWLEDGE BECOMES PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE
Sarah believes many consumer opportunities remain invisible to traditional app builders.
People deeply involved in a community understand problems outsiders may never notice.
That creates an advantage:
Live inside the problem → understand the audience → notice the gap → build the solution.
INNOVATE, DO NOT ONLY COPY
CHAPTER
STELLA FILLED A GAP
NEW CAPABILITY + EXISTING DEMAND
Sarah believes one reason Stella grew quickly was that she was not simply cloning another app.
She combined:
Existing behavior: manifestation and visualization
New capability: AI personalization
Distribution: her content audience
The result was a product that felt familiar and new at the same time.
LOOK FOR UNSOLVED PROBLEMS
DO NOT BEGIN WITH ANOTHER CLONE
Sarah's advice to app founders is to invent something that solves a problem that has not been properly solved before.
Start with:
1. What people already do
2. What frustrates them
3. What they wish existed
4. What new technology now makes possible
The intersection can reveal the opportunity.
DO NOT FEAR CRITICISM
ATTENTION CAN CREATE RESISTANCE
Sarah discusses receiving criticism online, including criticism around using AI.
Her response was to reframe it.
Controversial videos sometimes became her strongest-performing content.
Her lesson is not to manufacture outrage, but to avoid allowing criticism to stop experimentation and publishing.
THE STELLA PLAYBOOK
A REPEATABLE SYSTEM
1. Pick a niche you understand
2. Create content consistently
3. Study what becomes viral
4. Read comments for problems
5. Find an unmet need
6. Build a fast MVP with AI
7. Insert the product naturally into content
8. Track conversion
9. Repeat what works
10. Improve the product from real feedback
THE BIG SHIFT
FROM DEVELOPER-FIRST TO DISTRIBUTION-FIRST
Software used to require significant technical skill, time and capital.
AI is reducing that barrier.
As building gets easier, other advantages become more important:
Audience.
Trust.
Taste.
Insight.
Storytelling.
Distribution.
Knowing what to build may become more valuable than knowing how to code every part yourself.
DON'T ASK: WHAT APP SHOULD I BUILD?
ASK A BETTER QUESTION
A better starting question is:
'What problem keeps appearing inside the audience I understand?'
Create content.
Watch behavior.
Read comments.
Notice repeated frustrations.
Then build the product that feels like the obvious next step.
Distribution can reveal the product.
CONTENT → INSIGHT → PRODUCT → GROWTH
THE CORE LESSON
Stella's story can be reduced to one system:
CONTENT
creates attention.
ATTENTION
creates audience insight.
INSIGHT
reveals product opportunities.
AI
makes building faster.
PRODUCT
solves the observed problem.
CONTENT
then becomes distribution again.
The loop keeps compounding.
HOW HIS FIRST APP REACHED $25K/MONTH
YOUTUBE SUMMARY : STARTER STORY
CHAPTER INDEX
FROM ZERO TO $25K/MONTH
THE RESULT
Kian was 21, still in college, and had never shipped a product before.
Within about 5 months, his first project reached:
1. 100,000+ users
2. ~$25K revenue in 4 weeks
3. 1,400 new subscribers in 3 months
4. A growing web + mobile business
THE BUSINESS IS SURPRISINGLY SIMPLE
TINY PROBLEM, REAL VALUE
Tone Adapt does one narrow job:
Help guitarists sound like their favorite songs.
Users enter their guitar, amp and gear, choose a song, and the app recommends the settings needed to recreate that tone.
The value proposition can be understood in seconds.
THE CORE PLAYBOOK
CHAPTER 1
THE FORMULA
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED
The business followed a simple sequence:
1. Start with a hobby
2. Notice your own problem
3. Confirm others have it
4. Build V1 fast
5. Charge immediately
6. Post every day
7. Find winning content
8. Repeat the winner aggressively
START WITH SOMETHING YOU ALREADY KNOW
BECOME YOUR OWN CUSTOMER
Kian had been playing guitar almost every day for more than a year.
That mattered.
He already understood:
• The language
• The equipment
• The frustrations
• What guitarists wanted
He did not need to invent a customer persona. He was the customer.
LOOK FOR SMALL FRICTION
NOT GIANT IDEAS
The opportunity was not "reinvent learning guitar."
It was much smaller:
"How do I make my guitar sound like this song?"
Good niche products often begin with:
• Slow processes
• Inaccurate answers
• Repetitive work
• Missing convenience
• Something you repeatedly wish existed
THE IDEA
CHAPTER 2
HE WAS ALREADY USING CHATGPT
THE EXISTING WORKAROUND
Before Tone Adapt existed, Kian was asking ChatGPT how to reproduce guitar tones.
It worked imperfectly.
That revealed an opportunity:
People were already trying to solve the problem.
The behavior existed.
The dedicated product did not.
DON'T SEARCH FOR IDEAS
SEARCH FOR BROKEN WORKFLOWS
A useful question is not:
"What app should I build?"
Ask:
"What annoying thing do I repeatedly do inside a hobby, job or industry I already understand?"
Your current workaround may be the product opportunity.
CONFIRM OTHER PEOPLE FEEL IT
LIGHTWEIGHT VALIDATION
Kian talked with other guitarists through Reddit, Instagram and comment sections.
They had the same problem.
He did not run months of formal research.
The signal was simple:
"I have this problem, and people like me have it too."
SMALL PROBLEMS CAN SERVE BIG MARKETS
RICHES IN NICHES
A problem does not need to affect everyone.
A tiny problem shared by thousands of people can become a meaningful business.
You need:
Small problem
×
Enough people
×
Enough pain
×
Willingness to pay
BUILDING V1
CHAPTER 3
BUILD THE SIMPLEST USEFUL VERSION
ONE WEEK
Kian built his first version during Thanksgiving break.
It took about one week.
It was also the first complete product he had ever built.
The goal was not technical perfection.
The goal was to make the core outcome work.
AI COLLAPSED THE BUILDING COST
VIBE CODING
Kian said every line of the original project was generated through AI-assisted coding.
His stack included:
• Supabase
• Vercel
• Stripe
• Mailgun
• OpenAI API
• Tavily API
AI made building dramatically faster, even for a first-time founder.
WEB FIRST
VALIDATE BEFORE EXPANDING
His advice:
Ship V1 on the web first.
Why?
1. Faster to build
2. Faster to change
3. Easier to test demand
4. You can charge immediately
5. Customer feedback guides the next version
The mobile app came after the web product proved itself.
DON'T POLISH BEFORE PROOF
REVENUE BEFORE DECORATION
His launch philosophy was simple:
Do not spend days choosing logos, polishing screens or adding unnecessary features.
Build the useful core.
Publish it.
Charge money.
Real users will tell you what deserves improvement.
THE PRODUCT
CHAPTER 4
INPUT YOUR OWN GEAR
PERSONALIZED OUTPUT
Tone Adapt asks users what equipment they actually own.
Users can select:
• Guitar
• Amplifier
• Built-in effects
• Pedals
Its database includes more than 1,500 guitars and 2,000 amps, covering a large range of possible setups.
SEARCH ANY SONG
THE JOB TO BE DONE
The user chooses a song they want to sound like.
The app researches the original tone and provides information such as:
1. Guitar
2. Pickups
3. Amplifier
4. Estimated amp settings
5. Effects
6. Pedals
THE MAGIC IS ADAPTATION
NOT INFORMATION
The strongest feature is not showing what equipment the artist used.
It translates that sound into settings for the user's existing equipment.
That turns information into an actionable answer:
"Given what I own, tell me exactly what to do."
MONETIZATION
CHAPTER 5
CHARGE FOR THE RESULT
SUBSCRIPTION MODEL
Tone Adapt monetized through subscriptions.
The interview mentioned pricing around:
• $10 per week
• ~$60 per year
The customer is paying for speed and convenience:
Instead of researching equipment and experimenting manually, the app gives an answer in under 30 seconds.
THE REVENUE PROOF
WEB + MOBILE
During the interview, Kian showed approximately:
• $11.5K web revenue over 4 weeks
• $14K mobile revenue over 4 weeks
• 397 active mobile subscribers
• $45K web revenue over 3 months
• 1,400 new subscribers over 3 months
DISTRIBUTION
CHAPTER 6
BUILDING WASN'T THE BREAKTHROUGH
ATTENTION WAS
A useful app does not automatically get customers.
Kian's major advantage was distribution.
Before building Tone Adapt, he had already created UGC for brands.
That taught him how social content attracts attention.
He combined product building with content creation.
THE FIRST VIDEO WENT VIRAL
BUT THAT WAS NOT THE STRATEGY
His first Tone Adapt video went viral overnight.
The important lesson was what happened next.
He did not depend on one viral hit.
He treated the winning video as evidence that a content format worked and started repeating the process.
POST 3 TIMES A DAY
VOLUME CREATES LEARNING
His marketing system was aggressive:
1. Post about 3 times per day
2. Repost across multiple platforms
3. Use Instagram
4. Use TikTok
5. Use YouTube
6. Use Facebook
More attempts created more chances to discover formats that converted.
SHOW YOUR FACE
FOUNDER-LED TRUST
Kian put his face behind the brand immediately.
Users could watch him:
• Build the product
• Improve features
• Add gear
• Respond to feedback
• Grow the business
The product became a journey people could follow rather than an anonymous utility.
YES, THE FIRST VIDEO FELT EMBARRASSING
PUBLISH ANYWAY
Kian said his first video felt embarrassing and some friends made fun of it.
After publishing it, that fear quickly disappeared.
The lesson:
The psychological barrier to posting is often strongest before the first post, not after it.
THE CONTENT SYSTEM
CHAPTER 7
SHOW THE PRODUCT WORKING
DEMONSTRATE, DON'T EXPLAIN
One of Kian's recommendations was to show the product solving the problem in real time.
For Tone Adapt, that is naturally visual:
Song → gear → recommended settings → desired guitar tone.
A strong product demo compresses the value proposition into seconds.
POST BEFORE YOU KNOW WHAT WORKS
CONTENT IS EXPERIMENTATION
Do not wait until you understand the perfect content strategy.
Posting creates the data.
Each post teaches you:
• Which hook stops attention
• Which demo gets clicks
• Which format converts
• Which message fails
You discover the strategy by publishing.
FIND ONE WINNER
THEN TURN IT INTO A TEMPLATE
Once one piece of content converts, it becomes a template.
Instead of constantly inventing new concepts:
Keep the structure.
Change the song.
Change the hook.
Change the example.
Change the opening.
Repeat the proven mechanism with small variations.
REMAKE THE WINNER 50 TIMES
SCALE WHAT WORKS
Kian's playbook becomes aggressive after discovering a winner:
1. Remake the format repeatedly
2. Create small variations
3. Hire UGC creators
4. Produce dozens of versions
5. Put ad spend behind winners
6. Continue until performance fades
RIDE THE FORMAT UNTIL IT DIES
DON'T ABANDON SUCCESS TOO EARLY
Founders often get bored with a message before the market does.
His approach:
Winner → repeat → amplify → distribute → advertise → repeat again.
When performance eventually declines, search for the next winner and run the system again.
WHY THIS MATTERS NOW
CHAPTER 8
AI MAKES BUILDING CHEAP
SO BUILDING BECOMES LESS RARE
AI coding tools are reducing the skill, time and cost required to create software.
That means more people can build apps.
As creation becomes easier, simply having a functioning product becomes less differentiated.
The scarce resource shifts toward attention.
THE FUTURE IS A SEA OF APPS
DISTRIBUTION BECOMES THE MOAT
If everyone can build software quickly, customers will face thousands of similar products.
The winner may not be the person who can code best.
The winner may be the founder who can repeatedly:
Build → explain → demonstrate → distribute → earn trust.
CONTENT IS A FOUNDER SKILL
NOT A MARKETING DEPARTMENT
Kian's final advice was to start posting on social media even before having a product.
Why?
Creating content teaches:
• Communication
• Hooks
• Storytelling
• Distribution
• Audience understanding
• Trust building
Those skills compound before your next product exists.
THE $25K/MONTH PLAYBOOK
CHAPTER 9
STEP 1 — PICK YOUR WORLD
START CLOSE TO YOURSELF
Pick something you already understand deeply.
Examples:
• Guitar
• Running
• Photography
• Cooking
• Accounting
• Real estate
• Design
• Gaming
Do not begin with technology.
Begin with a world where you understand the user's daily reality.
STEP 2 — FIND ONE ANNOYANCE
LOOK AT REPEATED FRICTION
Write down things that regularly make you say:
"This takes too long."
"Why isn't there a tool for this?"
"I always have to search for this."
"The existing answer is inaccurate."
"I keep doing this manually."
One repeated annoyance can be enough.
STEP 3 — FIND PEOPLE LIKE YOU
VALIDATE THE PAIN
Search communities where similar people already gather.
Read:
• Reddit threads
• Comments
• Forums
• Facebook groups
• Discord communities
• YouTube comments
You are looking for repeated evidence that the same problem appears naturally.
STEP 4 — BUILD THE CORE OUTCOME
IGNORE EVERYTHING ELSE
Build only enough functionality to produce the promised result.
For Tone Adapt:
Input gear + choose song → receive settings.
That is the core.
Authentication, branding, dashboards and extra features matter only after the central job works.
STEP 5 — PUT A PRICE ON IT
TEST WILLINGNESS TO PAY
Do not validate only with compliments.
Ask the market for money.
A payment answers a much stronger question:
Not:
"Do people think this is cool?"
But:
"Is this problem important enough that someone will pay to solve it?"
STEP 6 — POST EVERY DAY
CREATE DISTRIBUTION
Turn marketing into a daily operating system.
Publish the problem.
Publish the demo.
Publish the result.
Publish customer reactions.
Publish improvements.
Publish the founder journey.
Attention should grow alongside the product, not after the product is finished.
STEP 7 — SCALE SIGNALS
LET DATA CHOOSE
When a post clearly generates more views, clicks, signups or purchases:
Do not merely celebrate it.
Study it.
Identify:
1. Hook
2. Format
3. Demo
4. Story
5. CTA
Then build variations around the winning structure.
THE BIG LESSON
SIMPLE CAN BECOME SUBSTANTIAL
Tone Adapt did not need to become the ultimate guitar platform.
It solved one specific problem extremely clearly.
That is the bigger opportunity AI creates:
Thousands of narrow problems that were previously too small or expensive to build software for can now become viable products.
BUILD SMALL. DISTRIBUTE BIG.
FINAL TAKEAWAY
You do not need a revolutionary idea.
You need:
A problem you understand.
A customer you understand.
A simple useful solution.
A fast way to ship.
A willingness to charge.
And relentless distribution.
The product can start tiny.
The audience does not have to.
I QUIT META FOR A $30K/MONTH SAAS
YOUTUBE SUMMARY : STARTER STORY
I QUIT META FOR A $30K/MONTH SAAS
FROM SIDE PROJECT TO FULL-TIME FOUNDER
Matt built Live Tourney, a golf tournament SaaS, while working as a senior software engineer at Meta.
The business reached roughly $30K/month, forcing a difficult question:
Keep the secure job—or go all in?
THE BUSINESS AT A GLANCE
A NICHE SAAS WITH REAL TRACTION
Live Tourney helps golf courses run tournaments.
At the time of the interview:
1. ~150 golf courses had started using it
2. ~US$350K ARR
3. Early-year performance implied an ~US$800K run rate
4. Matt was still employed full-time at Meta
FINDING THE SAAS IDEA
CHAPTER 1
THE IDEA CAME FROM A REAL PROBLEM
HE EXPERIENCED THE PAIN HIMSELF
Matt played tournaments at his local golf course and noticed they were not using digital scoring.
He knew Golf Genius existed, so he asked the golf pro why they did not use it.
The answer: it was too complicated and too expensive.
THAT COMPLAINT BECAME THE OPPORTUNITY
SIMPLE + AFFORDABLE = WEDGE
Instead of inventing a market, Matt found a gap inside an existing one.
The customer already wanted tournament software.
The problem was the current option did not fit them.
His opportunity: build something simpler, easier, and better suited to the course.
HE BUILT FOR THE FIRST EVENT
START WITH ONE REAL USE CASE
Matt built the first version for an actual tournament around four years earlier.
It began as a nights-and-weekends project.
He was not building a theoretical startup.
He had a real event, real users, and a clear job the software needed to do.
OBSESSION HELPED HIM KEEP GOING
THE PROJECT PULLED HIM BACK EVERY DAY
Matt said he would wake up wanting to build, and often wanted to keep improving it before going to sleep.
That energy mattered.
A side project competes with your job, family, rest, and free time.
Caring about the problem made the long build sustainable.
HOW THE PRODUCT WORKS
CHAPTER 2
THE PRODUCT IS VERY FOCUSED
TOURNAMENT SCORING FOR GOLF COURSES
The workflow is intentionally simple:
1. Players receive a scorecard
2. They scan a QR code
3. They select their group
4. They enter scores during the round
5. The leaderboard updates in real time
THE VALUE IS EASY TO UNDERSTAND
LESS COMPLEXITY DURING TOURNAMENTS
The product does not try to become everything for golf.
It solves one operational problem: tournament scoring.
For the course, it simplifies running the event.
For players, it makes scoring and leaderboard tracking easy from a phone.
THE TECH STACK STAYED PRACTICAL
WEB APP, NOT UNNECESSARY COMPLEXITY
Matt built Live Tourney as a web app.
Tech stack mentioned in the interview:
1. Next.js for rendering
2. Google Firebase for the backend
The important part was not exotic technology. It was shipping software that solved a specific customer problem.
BUILDING WHILE EMPLOYED
CHAPTER 3
KEEP BOTH AS LONG AS POSSIBLE
SALARY FUNDED PATIENCE
Matt planned to keep his Meta job and the SaaS running together for as long as it remained sustainable.
That gave him:
1. Salary
2. Benefits
3. Lower financial pressure
4. Time to grow gradually
5. Proof before taking a bigger risk
TWO FULL-TIME LIVES HAVE A LIMIT
GROWTH CREATED A NEW PROBLEM
Eventually, maintaining both stopped being sustainable.
Matt was balancing:
1. A senior engineering role
2. A growing SaaS
3. Two young children
4. Early mornings and late-night product work
The business had become too real to remain a side project forever.
HIS SIDE-PROJECT SCHEDULE
PROTECT DEDICATED BUILD TIME
His advice for people building while employed was simple: set aside dedicated time.
For Matt, that meant roughly 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
He did not wait for free time to appear.
He created a repeatable block where the business could move forward every day.
THE SIDE JOB WAS ALSO VALIDATION
PROVE THE HARD PARTS BEFORE QUITTING
Before leaving Meta, Matt had already proven several things:
1. Customers would pay
2. The product delivered value
3. Revenue could grow
4. He could acquire customers
5. He could stay productive while independently building the startup
THE DECISION TO QUIT META
CHAPTER 4
THE FIRST EMOTION WAS FEAR
A GREAT JOB IS HARD TO LEAVE
Matt described the decision as frightening.
A Meta job offered strong income and a comfortable life.
Going full-time on Live Tourney meant giving up a predictable path for something he controlled—but something that could also fail.
JOB SECURITY WAS NOT ABSOLUTE
EMPLOYMENT ALSO CARRIES RISK
Matt had been at Meta for six years and had seen multiple rounds of layoffs.
He had not been affected, but the experience changed how he viewed security.
A salary can feel stable, yet employment is never completely guaranteed.
HIS HEART WAS ALREADY IN THE SAAS
ENERGY BECAME A DECISION SIGNAL
Matt said that when he thought about what gave him energy in the morning and where he wanted to spend his time, the answer was Live Tourney.
He could see a path from a small SaaS into a legitimate, meaningful company.
That made the opportunity hard to ignore.
THE QUESTION WAS BIGGER THAN MONEY
WHAT KIND OF LIFE DO YOU WANT?
Financially, staying at Meta could still look rational.
But Matt had started the business to create freedom, build his own thing, and show his children that they could create their own path.
The decision became about ownership, time, identity, and ambition.
HOW TO FIND A SAAS IDEA
CHAPTER 5
START WHERE YOU ALREADY CARE
INTEREST CREATES STAYING POWER
Matt's advice for finding an idea:
1. Start with something you care about
2. Look for what feels broken
3. Find a way to make it better
4. Build and test it
His golf SaaS worked partly because he understood and enjoyed the world he was building for.
DOMAIN KNOWLEDGE IS AN ADVANTAGE
YOU NOTICE PROBLEMS OUTSIDERS MISS
Someone who plays golf notices golf workflow problems.
Someone outside the niche may only see 'software for golf courses.'
Being close to the customer helps you recognize pain, language, behavior, and buying context that outsiders may overlook.
THE FIRST INTERNET DOLLAR CHANGES YOU
REVENUE MAKES THE IDEA REAL
Matt described his first customer and first online revenue as a major mental shift.
The code was no longer only a project.
A stranger was paying for something he built.
That proved the software created enough value for someone to exchange money for it.
SEEING REAL USERS IS EVEN BETTER
SOFTWARE BECOMES IMPACT
One of the most fulfilling moments was visiting a customer location and watching people use the product.
Some users would never know who built it.
That is the power of software: something created by one person can quietly improve the experience of many strangers.
THE FINAL DECISION
CHAPTER 6
THREE WEEKS LATER: HE WENT ALL IN
THE BUSINESS WAS READY
After thinking it through, Matt decided to leave Meta and work on Live Tourney full-time.
His reasoning was straightforward:
This was what he had wanted from the beginning.
The real question was whether the business was ready.
He decided it finally was.
HE WAS NOT FORCED OUT
HE CHOSE THE RISK HIMSELF
Meta had recently gone through layoffs, but Matt was not laid off.
He was leaving a job he still had, not reacting to losing it.
His manager was supportive—and as a golfer, understood why Matt was excited about the business.
FAMILY WAS PART OF THE DECISION
FOUNDER RISK AFFECTS MORE THAN ONE PERSON
Matt had a wife and two children, so quitting was not an individual decision.
His wife supported the move.
Going full-time also created another kind of flexibility: he could choose his hours, help at home, and spend time with his children during the day.
NOW THE CONSTRAINT CHANGES
FROM FINDING TIME TO USING TIME WELL
Before quitting, the problem was lack of time.
After quitting, the challenge becomes how to use a full day effectively.
Matt wanted to focus more on growth, be more public about what he was building, and discover how to make each day move the company forward.
THE FOUNDER PLAYBOOK
CHAPTER 7
THE LIVE TOURNEY PLAYBOOK
FROM PROBLEM TO COMPANY
1. Live inside a niche
2. Notice an expensive or frustrating problem
3. Build for one real use case
4. Keep the first product focused
5. Sell before quitting
6. Use salary to reduce pressure
7. Protect daily build time
8. Go full-time when traction and capacity justify it
DO NOT QUIT JUST TO FEEL LIKE A FOUNDER
VALIDATION GIVES YOU LEVERAGE
The strongest part of Matt's story is not that he quit Meta.
It is that he built before quitting.
By the time he went full-time, he already had customers, revenue, product usage, and evidence of demand.
The leap still carried risk, but it was an informed risk.
BUILD ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO EARN THE LEAP
THE BIGGER LESSON
A side project can become a business when three things compound:
1. You understand the problem deeply
2. Customers repeatedly pay for the solution
3. The opportunity becomes large enough that limited time is now the bottleneck
Then going all in becomes a business decision—not only a dream.
HOW A SIMPLE APP REACHED $100K/MONTH
YOUTUBE SUMMARY : STARTER STORY
CHAPTER INDEX
$100K/MONTH FROM A HEIGHT APP
A SIMPLE IDEA BECAME A SERIOUS BUSINESS
Michael is a 20-year-old college student who built Go Tall, a height prediction and self-improvement app.
The result:
• ~1 million total downloads
• ~$100K average monthly revenue
• iOS + Android
• Subscription business
The surprising lesson: the idea did not need to look sophisticated to become valuable.
THE BUSINESS IN ONE PAGE
WHAT GO TALL ACTUALLY DOES
Go Tall attracts teenagers with one powerful question:
“How tall will I become?”
Users enter information about height, parents, puberty and habits. The app generates a prediction, then expands into sleep, nutrition, stretching and growth tracking.
Prediction gets the user in. Ongoing habits create the subscription.
1. FIND THE IDEA
DO NOT START BY TRYING TO INVENT SOMETHING NEW
HE LOOKED FOR PROVEN IDEAS
VALIDATION BEFORE ORIGINALITY
Michael did not begin with a breakthrough invention.
He searched marketplaces such as Acquire.com looking for apps that were already working.
He found a similar height-related app listed for around $20,000.
That mattered because somebody had already demonstrated that this category could become a real business.
THEN HE CONNECTED IT TO HIMSELF
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE STRENGTHENED THE SIGNAL
Michael remembered that when he was around 13, he had searched Google for things such as height calculators.
That gave him another signal:
1. The problem already existed.
2. He personally understood the curiosity.
3. Young people were actively searching for answers.
The idea was simple, but the desire behind it was real.
EXISTING COMPETITION WAS A GOOD SIGN
SOMEONE ELSE BUILDING IT DOES NOT KILL THE IDEA
Many founders abandon an idea when they discover competitors.
Michael saw competition differently.
If calorie trackers can still make money while huge calorie apps already exist, then a category is not automatically finished.
The opportunity can come from:
• Better positioning
• Better marketing
• Better onboarding
• A different audience
2. VALIDATE REAL DEMAND
LOOK FOR EVIDENCE THAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY CARE
THE FIRST SALE CAME IN TWO DAYS
SMALL SIGNALS CAN BE POWERFUL
Two days after launching, Go Tall already made its first sale.
Michael had not generated huge traffic yet.
That made the signal more important.
If a small number of viewers can already produce a paying customer, demand may be stronger than the traffic numbers suggest.
Before chasing scale, first prove that somebody is willing to pay.
TIKTOK COMMENTS BECAME RESEARCH
THE MARKET WAS ALREADY EXPLAINING THE PROBLEM
Michael studied TikTok videos about height.
The comments were full of messages such as:
“I’m 15 and six feet tall.”
“My mom is this tall.”
“My dad is this tall.”
“How tall will I become?”
People were voluntarily sharing personal information because they wanted an answer.
That behavior revealed real demand.
DMS WERE AN EVEN STRONGER SIGNAL
PEOPLE CARED ENOUGH TO ASK DIRECTLY
Michael began receiving roughly 10–20 DMs per day asking for height predictions.
That is stronger than passive engagement.
A like says:
“That was interesting.”
A DM says:
“Please solve this for me.”
One useful startup test is therefore simple:
Are people actively asking you for the outcome your product provides?
CARE BEFORE VIRALITY
DEMAND DOES NOT NEED MILLIONS OF VIEWS
One of the biggest lessons from Go Tall is that an idea does not need to go viral before you know it has potential.
People simply need to care deeply enough.
Watch for:
1. Questions
2. Repeated comments
3. DMs
4. Requests
5. Early purchases
Strong intent from 100 people can be more valuable than weak attention from 100,000.
3. FIND THE HUMAN NEED
THE APP WORKS BECAUSE THE DESIRE IS DEEPER THAN HEIGHT
HEIGHT IS NOT THE REAL PRODUCT
THE DEEPER DESIRE CREATES WILLINGNESS TO PAY
The functional product is a height prediction.
The emotional product can be much bigger.
Users may connect height with:
• Confidence
• Appearance
• Social status
• Attraction
• Belonging
• Self-improvement
The stronger the emotional meaning behind an outcome, the more attention people may give to solving it.
USE HUMAN NEEDS AS AN IDEA FILTER
MICHAEL REFERENCED MASLOW'S HIERARCHY
Michael evaluates ideas by asking whether they connect to fundamental human needs.
For Go Tall, he saw connections to:
1. Esteem — wanting confidence or respect.
2. Love & belonging — believing appearance may affect attraction or relationships.
The principle: products become more compelling when they connect to desires people already carry.
LOOK WHERE PAIN IS PERSISTENT
HEALTH, WEALTH AND RELATIONSHIPS
The interview repeatedly points toward categories where people already experience strong problems.
Examples:
A. Health — body, sleep, nutrition, fitness.
B. Wealth — income, career, money.
C. Relationships — dating, family, belonging.
D. Self-improvement — confidence, appearance, performance.
You are looking for recurring desire, not temporary curiosity.
4. CRACK DISTRIBUTION FIRST
THE REAL ADVANTAGE WAS MARKETING
HE MADE 10 TIKTOKS EVERY DAY
VOLUME CREATED LEARNING
Michael spent roughly one month experimenting heavily with content.
His approach was simple:
Create around 10 TikToks every day.
The goal was not perfection.
The goal was pattern discovery.
Every post created another test:
• Hook
• Format
• Topic
• Comment angle
• Conversion
High output compressed the learning cycle.
THE WINNING FORMAT WAS SIMPLE
REPLY TO PEOPLE ASKING ABOUT HEIGHT
One of Michael's first viral formats came directly from the comments.
Someone shared their age, height and parents' heights.
Michael replied with a video predicting their future height.
This worked because the content already contained:
1. A real person
2. A question
3. Suspense
4. A personalized answer
5. A natural connection to the app
ONE CHANNEL MADE ATTRIBUTION EASY
LEARN THE CONVERSION MATH
At the beginning, Michael had one main format and one main distribution channel.
That simplicity made attribution easier.
He could estimate:
100K views → X downloads → X trials → X customers → X revenue.
Once you understand this chain, marketing becomes less mysterious.
You can start calculating how much attention is worth buying.
PROVE THE FORMAT CAN BE REPEATED
A VIRAL POST IS NOT YET A SYSTEM
Michael tested the format on multiple accounts.
His own additional accounts worked.
His girlfriend tried it and her account worked too.
This was important.
If only the founder can make the content succeed, scaling is difficult.
If other people can reproduce the result, you may have discovered a repeatable distribution system.
TURN THE FORMAT INTO UGC
MOVE FROM FOUNDER-LED TO CREATOR-LED GROWTH
Once the format was proven, Michael began contacting creators.
He says he DM'd around 50 people per day.
The pitch was simple:
“Would you make this type of video? It is easy.”
Because the format was straightforward, creators could produce it cheaply.
Now content production was no longer limited by Michael's personal time.
THE GROWTH LADDER
ORGANIC FIRST, PAID LATER
The revenue progression followed a clear sequence:
1. Founder + small UGC team → ~$3K/month
2. Better paywall + more scale → ~$10K/month
3. More content formats → ~$30K/month around month five
4. Proven creatives + paid advertising → $100K+/month
He scaled what was already working instead of using ads to rescue weak demand.
ORGANIC CONTENT BECAME AD CREATIVE
USE THE MARKET TO SELECT THE WINNERS
The powerful part of this playbook is the sequence.
Organic content becomes a testing laboratory.
Post many ideas.
Observe what performs.
Repeat the winners.
Teach creators the format.
Then put advertising budget behind proven creatives.
Instead of guessing which ads might work, organic performance helps identify them first.
5. BUILD THE MONETIZATION LOOP
ATTENTION ALONE DOES NOT CREATE THE BUSINESS
THE PREDICTION CREATES CURIOSITY
A STRONG REASON TO COMPLETE ONBOARDING
The app makes users work toward an answer they strongly want:
“How tall will I become?”
During onboarding, users keep providing information because every additional answer feels like it could improve prediction accuracy.
The interview mentions a paywall show rate of around 91%, even though the onboarding is relatively long.
Curiosity pulls users forward.
LONG ONBOARDING CAN STILL WORK
EVERY QUESTION MUST FEEL USEFUL
Long onboarding is not automatically bad.
Go Tall asks questions about areas such as:
• Current height
• Parents' heights
• Puberty
• Growth information
• Other personal factors
The key is perceived relevance.
Users tolerate additional steps when they believe each answer increases the quality of the result they are about to receive.
THE ANSWER SITS BEHIND THE PAYWALL
MONETIZE THE MOMENT OF HIGHEST INTENT
Users complete the prediction process, but the final predicted height requires a subscription.
The interview describes pricing around:
• $35/year
• $5/week
Free functionality remains available, but the main curiosity—the prediction—is monetized.
The paywall appears exactly when the user's desire to know the answer is strongest.
PREDICTION GETS THEM IN
HABITS GIVE THEM A REASON TO STAY
A one-time prediction would create weak retention.
Go Tall extends the product into ongoing behavior:
• Sleep logging
• Meal scanning
• Stretching
• Growth tracking
• Habit optimization
As users log more information over time, their estimated height can change.
That turns a one-time curiosity product into a recurring subscription experience.
ADD SUBSTANCE BEHIND THE HOOK
THE APP EVOLVED BEYOND A NOVELTY
Michael explains that the first version was simpler.
Later, the app incorporated data and research references, including CDC growth information and research linked to some questions.
This is an important product sequence:
1. Start with the compelling hook.
2. Validate demand.
3. Improve usefulness.
4. Deepen the product after people care.
6. KEEP THE TECH SIMPLE
THE BUSINESS DID NOT REQUIRE EXOTIC TECHNOLOGY
THE TECH STACK
SIMPLE INFRASTRUCTURE BEHIND THE BUSINESS
Michael describes a relatively lean stack:
1. Expo — build for iOS and Android.
2. Superwall — paywall management.
3. Adapty — subscription-related infrastructure and advanced payouts.
4. Singular — mobile measurement and attribution.
The advantage was not unusual technology.
The advantage was demand + distribution + monetization.
DO NOT CONFUSE COMPLEXITY WITH VALUE
A SIMPLE APP CAN BECOME A LARGE BUSINESS
The height prediction concept initially sounded almost too simple to be a serious company.
Yet Go Tall reached roughly one million total downloads and around $100K/month according to Michael.
The lesson is useful for builders:
Customers do not reward technical complexity by itself.
They reward products that solve something they care about.
7. CLIMB CRINGE MOUNTAIN
THE FOUNDER LESSON BEHIND THE NUMBERS
MICHAEL STARTED AFTER REJECTION
FAILURE REDIRECTED HIS ATTENTION
Michael studied finance at NYU and was recruiting for prestigious jobs.
He says he was rejected from many of the jobs he wanted.
Instead of stopping, he returned to something he already knew: building apps.
His weakness was marketing.
So his goal became bigger than one app:
Even if the project failed, he wanted to leave with marketing skills.
THE APP WAS NOT PRESTIGIOUS
THAT BECAME AN ADVANTAGE
Michael came from an environment where success often meant prestigious corporate jobs or ambitious VC-backed startups.
A height prediction app did not create the same social status.
People could easily dismiss it.
He built it anyway.
Sometimes ignored markets exist precisely because smart people think the opportunity looks too small, strange or embarrassing.
REMOVE EGO FROM THE EXPERIMENT
DO THE WORK OTHER PEOPLE AVOID
Michael's advice is to let go of the need to look impressive.
Make the strange app.
Post the awkward TikTok.
Reply to comments.
Send the DMs.
Test the idea people laugh at.
The goal is not to look like a successful founder before success exists.
The goal is to discover what customers actually respond to.
THE $100K APP PLAYBOOK
THE COMPLETE SYSTEM
1. Find an existing category with proven spending.
2. Identify a problem people deeply care about.
3. Validate using comments, DMs and early sales.
4. Create content manually at high volume.
5. Find one repeatable format.
6. Give it to creators.
7. Optimize conversion.
8. Scale proven content with paid ads.
THE REAL FOUNDER ADVANTAGE
NOTICE WHAT EVERYONE ELSE IGNORES
The opportunity was visible to everyone.
Height videos already existed.
People were already commenting.
Competitors already existed.
Teenagers were already searching for answers.
Michael connected those signals and acted.
Great ideas are not always hidden.
Sometimes the advantage is simply noticing obvious demand, moving quickly and taking it seriously.
PEOPLE JUST NEED TO CARE
THE CENTRAL LESSON
A startup does not need millions of views, complicated technology or an idea nobody has seen before.
It needs a group of people who care enough to act.
Look for the evidence:
They ask.
They comment.
They DM.
They search.
They pay.
They return.
When those signals appear, do not dismiss the opportunity because the idea looks too simple.
THE $50K/MONTH APP THAT RUNS ON 20 HOURS OF WORK
YOUTUBE SUMMARY : STARTER STORY
CHAPTER INDEX
THE BUSINESS IN ONE PAGE
$50K+ PER MONTH WITH A LEAN OPERATION
Teemo and his brother built Chart Detector AI, an app that analyzes stock or crypto chart images with AI.
After about 13 months:
• 90K+ total downloads
• $260K+ total revenue
• $56K/month revenue
• 13–14K downloads/month
• ~20 hours/month of work
THE BUSINESS
WHAT THEY BUILT AND WHY IT WORKS
A VERY SIMPLE PRODUCT
ONE CLEAR JOB FOR THE USER
The app solves one focused problem.
1. Take a picture of a stock or crypto chart.
2. Upload it to the app.
3. AI analyzes the chart.
4. The app gives directional analysis.
The product is easy to understand because the input and output are obvious.
THE IDEA STARTED SMALLER
TELEGRAM BOT BEFORE MOBILE APP
The first idea was not a full mobile business.
When image uploads became available in ChatGPT, Teemo saw a new capability: AI could inspect chart screenshots.
He first imagined a Telegram bot, then turned that concept into a mobile app.
THEY CAUGHT A TECHNOLOGY WAVE
NEW CAPABILITY CREATED A NEW PRODUCT OPPORTUNITY
The opportunity came from a platform shift.
A new AI capability made something newly possible: visual chart analysis from an uploaded image.
Instead of inventing complicated technology, they packaged an emerging capability into a focused consumer product.
THE MONETIZATION MODEL
SUBSCRIPTION + HARD PAYWALL
The app uses paid subscriptions with no free trial.
Main plans:
1. $12.99 per week
2. $59.99 every 6 months
Teemo says the hard paywall works well with paid ads because revenue can arrive immediately after acquisition.
THE GROWTH ENGINE
PAID ACQUISITION AS A SYSTEM
THE CORE EQUATION
PAY LESS TO ACQUIRE THAN A USER EARNS
The paid-growth model is simple:
Acquire a user for less than the revenue that user produces.
Example from Teemo:
• Cost per download = $1.50
• Average revenue per user = $3.00
• ROAS = 2×
Once this stays profitable, more ad spend can produce more revenue.
DISTRIBUTION BECOMES LEVERAGE
CAPITAL REPLACES FOUNDER HOURS
Paid ads reduce dependence on constant organic posting.
Instead of the founder manually creating distribution every day, the ad system keeps buying attention.
This lowers margins, but it can free the founder's time and make growth more predictable.
WHAT THE ECONOMICS LOOK LIKE
REVENUE IS NOT THE SAME AS PROFIT
Teemo shared one month with about $43,700 in revenue.
Major costs included:
• ~$20,000 ad spend
• Apple fees of about 15%
He reported roughly $11,500 profit, or around a 25% total profit margin after costs.
SIMPLE ADS CAN WIN
SHOW THE PRODUCT BEING USED
One of their best TikTok ads was not a complex production.
It mainly showed the app itself and how a user uses it.
According to Teemo, that single video generated more than $15,000 in revenue and reached close to 5 million views.
PREPARE THE APP FOR ADS
DO THIS BEFORE SPENDING MONEY
STEP 1 — FIX ONBOARDING
SELL THE OUTCOME
Before buying traffic, make the app ready to convert.
Teemo's rule:
Do not lead with features.
Do not stop at benefits.
Sell the actual outcome the user wants.
The onboarding should quickly answer: What result will this app help me get?
STEP 2 — ADD SOCIAL PROOF
TRUST MUST APPEAR EARLY
Paid traffic arrives with low trust.
Teemo recommends putting strong social proof inside onboarding so users feel safer paying.
He also suggests studying onboarding flows from successful apps using tools such as Screens Design.
STEP 3 — TEST THE PAYWALL
IMMEDIATE MONETIZATION MATTERS
For his paid-ad model, Teemo recommends a hard paywall with no free trial.
Why?
The business can recover acquisition spend faster when a converted user pays immediately.
The goal is strong cash recovery from paid traffic.
LAUNCH TIKTOK ADS
TRACKING, CREATIVES, TARGETING, OPTIMIZATION
STEP 4 — SET UP TRACKING
THE ALGORITHM NEEDS PURCHASE DATA
Tracking is foundational.
TikTok needs to know which users actually purchase after installing the app.
Teemo uses an MMP, AppsFlyer, to send conversion data back to TikTok.
Better purchase data gives the ad system better signals for optimization.
DO NOT MISCONFIGURE ATTRIBUTION
BAD TRACKING CAN WASTE AD SPEND
Teemo describes MMP integration as technically complex and easy to misconfigure.
His recommendation: if needed, hire a specialist freelancer to set it up correctly.
Poor attribution can send the wrong signals to the ad platform and cost real money.
STEP 5 — START WITH 6 VIDEOS
GIVE THE ALGORITHM OPTIONS
Teemo recommends starting the first TikTok campaign with at least six video creatives.
The platform needs multiple options to test different videos against different audiences.
Do not try to predict one winner. Give the algorithm enough variation to discover one.
STEP 6 — USE SMART+
LET TIKTOK AUTOMATE ALLOCATION
Their campaigns use TikTok Smart+.
The system helps:
• Find suitable audiences
• Test delivery
• Allocate campaign budget
This reduces manual campaign management and is an important part of the low-hours operating model.
STEP 7 — OPTIMIZE FOR PURCHASES
DO NOT OPTIMIZE ONLY FOR INSTALLS
A cheap install is not the real goal.
Teemo recommends optimizing for subscription events rather than app installs.
That tells TikTok:
Find people who install AND pay.
The optimization target should match the business outcome that creates revenue.
STEP 8 — START AT $50/DAY
ENOUGH BUDGET FOR LEARNING
Teemo recommends a campaign budget of at least $50 per day based on what worked for them.
The purpose is to give the campaign enough activity to collect data and learn.
This is their operating benchmark from the interview, not a universal guarantee for every app.
STEP 9 — KEEP TARGETING BROAD
CHOOSE THE COUNTRY, THEN LET THE SYSTEM LEARN
Their targeting is intentionally broad.
The main manual targeting choice is the country.
Instead of stacking narrow interests, they let TikTok's algorithm find likely buyers from conversion data.
The model depends heavily on strong tracking and purchase signals.
DO NOT ASSUME THE US IS BEST
TEST ECONOMICS COUNTRY BY COUNTRY
Many founders want to advertise in the US first.
Teemo says their tests found better return on investment in some other countries.
The lesson: choose markets by acquisition economics, not prestige.
A cheaper market can produce better ROAS.
LET THE CAMPAIGN LEARN
DO NOT KEEP TOUCHING IT
New campaigns enter a learning phase of roughly seven days in Teemo's setup.
During this period, TikTok tests creatives and audiences.
His advice: avoid changing campaign settings during learning.
Constant intervention can interrupt the system before it finds stable patterns.
SCALE WITHOUT BREAKING IT
ROAS, BUDGETS, AND CREATIVE FATIGUE
STEP 10 — REVIEW ROAS WEEKLY
ONE METRIC DRIVES THE NEXT ACTION
Their weekly decision loop is simple.
If ROAS is stable and profitable:
Increase budget.
If ROAS is unprofitable:
Create new videos and add them to the campaign.
The operating question is simple: Is the acquisition engine still profitable?
SCALE GRADUALLY
AVOID SHOCKING THE CAMPAIGN
Teemo follows a scaling rule:
Do not increase the campaign budget by more than about 20% every three days.
Increasing too quickly can push ads back into learning and may hurt profitability.
Scale only while the underlying ROAS remains healthy.
CREATIVE FATIGUE IS INEVITABLE
A WINNING AD WILL NOT WIN FOREVER
As spend increases, the same creative reaches more people.
Eventually performance can decline because too many users have already seen it.
Teemo calls this creative fatigue.
The solution: maintain a constant pipeline of fresh videos.
THE PAID-GROWTH FLYWHEEL
TRACK → LEARN → PROFIT → SCALE → REFRESH
The system can be reduced to five loops:
1. Track purchases correctly.
2. Feed multiple creatives into TikTok.
3. Optimize for subscriptions.
4. Scale when ROAS is profitable.
5. Replace fatigued creatives.
Repeat this instead of rebuilding the strategy every week.
THE TECH STACK
A LEAN STACK BEHIND THE BUSINESS
PRODUCT & BACKEND
TOOLS USED TO BUILD THE APP
Teemo shared this core stack:
• React Native + Expo — mobile app
• Supabase — backend
• Cursa AI — coding, as transcribed
• Bot Me AI — AI behind the app
The approach is lean: use existing platforms instead of building every layer from scratch.
REVENUE & GROWTH STACK
TOOLS THAT RUN MONETIZATION AND ACQUISITION
For monetization and growth they use:
• RevenueCat — paywalls and subscriptions
• AppsFlyer — attribution and TikTok tracking
• CapCut — video editing
• TikTok Ads — paid distribution
At the time discussed, they were spending roughly $18K per month on TikTok Ads.
WHY 20 HOURS/MONTH IS POSSIBLE
THE SYSTEM ABSORBS REPETITIVE WORK
The low-hours model comes from system design.
The product is focused.
Subscriptions automate monetization.
Tracking feeds purchase data to TikTok.
Smart+ automates much of distribution.
Weekly ROAS checks guide scaling.
Fresh creative becomes the main recurring input.
FOUNDER LESSON
EXECUTION BEATS ENDLESS PREPARATION
START BEFORE YOU FEEL READY
TEEMO'S ADVICE TO HIS YOUNGER SELF
Teemo says he spent too much time watching YouTube videos and mistook learning for productivity.
His advice:
Start executing now.
Build momentum through real work.
Let results create the next lesson.
The business came from shipping, testing, measuring, and repeating.
THE PLAYBOOK IN 10 STEPS
FROM APP TO SCALABLE PAID ACQUISITION
1. Build a simple outcome-focused app.
2. Improve onboarding.
3. Add social proof.
4. Build a strong paywall.
5. Install purchase tracking.
6. Prepare 6+ creatives.
7. Run Smart+.
8. Optimize for subscriptions.
9. Let campaigns learn.
10. Scale ROAS and refresh creatives.
THE MAIN PRINCIPLE
DO NOT BUY DOWNLOADS. BUY PROFITABLE USERS.
The key insight is unit economics.
Paid ads become a growth machine when customer value is higher than acquisition cost.
Everything else—onboarding, paywall, tracking, creative, optimization, targeting and scaling—exists to improve that equation and keep it profitable as spend increases.
HOW A SIMPLE APP MAKES $18K/MONTH
YOUTUBE SUMMARY : STARTER STORY
CHAPTER INDEX
$18K/MONTH FROM A POMODORO TIMER
THE SURPRISING BUSINESS
Cat on Chair sounds almost too simple:
A Pomodoro timer where a cat sits beside you while you work.
Yet the app reached 127K+ downloads, nearly $80K in sales over 8–9 months, and more than $18K in sales during one 30-day period.
THE BIG LESSON
SIMPLE SOFTWARE CAN STILL WIN
The opportunity was not creating another productivity feature.
It was turning a familiar utility into something people emotionally wanted to use, collect, customize, and share.
The timer was ordinary.
The experience around it was not.
1. THE PRODUCT
WHAT CAT ON CHAIR ACTUALLY DOES
A POMODORO TIMER FOR CAT LOVERS
UTILITY + PERSONALITY
The core function is familiar:
1. Start a focus session
2. Work for a set period
3. Take a break
4. Repeat
But when the session starts, a cat jumps onto a chair and stays with you while you focus.
THE CAT BECOMES YOUR COMPANION
MAKING FOCUS FEEL EMOTIONAL
Ryan and his girlfriend asked:
“How can we replicate the physical feeling of having a cat beside you?”
That question shaped the product.
Instead of feeling like a cold timer, Cat on Chair tries to create the calm, comforting experience cat owners recognize.
FINISH A SESSION. GET A GIFT.
A REWARD LOOP
When users successfully finish a focus session, the cat leaves them a gift.
If the session fails, the cat can leave trash instead.
It turns productivity into a small reward loop:
Focus → Complete → Receive → Collect → Return.
COLLECT CATS, FURNITURE & WORLDS
INSPIRED BY GAMES
The experience expanded with customization:
• Different cats
• Furniture
• Backgrounds
• Animated scenes
• Collectible gifts
Ryan's girlfriend was an Animal Crossing fan, helping inspire the idea of making the environment personal and collectible.
THE APP GREW BEYOND A TIMER
MORE REASONS TO RETURN
The product eventually included:
1. Focus timer
2. Gift collection
3. Cat interactions
4. Custom environments
5. Focus history timeline
6. Stickers
7. To-do lists
The timer remained the utility, while the surrounding system increased engagement.
2. THE BUSINESS MODEL
HOW A FREE APP MAKES MONEY
FREE TO ENTER
LOW-FRICTION ACQUISITION
Cat on Chair is free to download and use.
That gives users an easy way to experience the core product before paying.
Monetization comes from Pro features and paid plans rather than charging everyone before they experience the app.
THE PAID PLANS
SIMPLE PRICING
The app offered:
• Lifetime: $29.99
• Annual: $19.99
• Family sharing: up to 6 people
Ryan said most sales came from the lifetime plan.
The model combines a large free audience with optional paid upgrades.
THE NUMBERS
PROOF OF DEMAND
Reported results included:
• 127K+ total downloads
• Nearly $80K sales in 8–9 months
• $18K+ sales in one 30-day period
• Around 24K first-time downloads in that period
The app turned a narrow idea into a meaningful indie software business.
APP STORE MOMENTUM
TAIWAN BREAKOUT
At its peak in Taiwan, Cat on Chair reportedly reached:
#3 — Free Productivity Apps
#11 — All Free Apps
The product initially found stronger traction in Chinese-speaking and Taiwanese markets before the team began targeting a wider global audience.
3. FROM DESIGNER TO BUILDER
WHY THIS STORY MATTERS
HE WASN'T AN APP DEVELOPER
RYAN'S STARTING POINT
Ryan worked as a product designer at technology startups.
He said he left a roughly $200K job because he felt he was using only part of his potential.
His ambition was to stop designing pieces of other people's products and start shipping products of his own.
AI CHANGED WHAT HE COULD BUILD
THE CAPABILITY SHIFT
Ryan had wanted to ship an iOS app, but coding had been the barrier.
Around 2025, he felt AI coding had become viable enough to make that possible.
His existing advantage was product design.
AI helped him extend that advantage into software development.
YOUR OLD SKILL BECOMES YOUR EDGE
A KEY FOUNDER PRINCIPLE
Ryan did not compete by becoming the world's best programmer.
He used AI for implementation while leaning heavily on what he already understood:
Product design, interaction, visual quality, taste and user experience.
His existing skill became the product's differentiation.
4. THE BUILD TIMELINE
IT WAS NOT AN OVERNIGHT SUCCESS
MAY 2025: START BUILDING
FIRST PROTOTYPE
Ryan started around May 2025.
The first goal was small: make a working Pomodoro timer.
After several weeks, they had the basic timer working.
Only then did they begin developing the cat concept, animations and interaction mechanics around it.
AUGUST: FIRST REAL VERSION
PRODUCT TAKES SHAPE
By August, the first version was ready enough for testing.
Ryan recruited dozens of beta testers through RedNotes.
They spent roughly a month:
• Gathering feedback
• Fixing bugs
• Improving mechanics
• Iterating the experience
AUGUST 27: LAUNCH
3,000 DOWNLOADS IN WEEK ONE
Cat on Chair launched on August 27.
It received around 3,000 downloads in its first week.
But launch did not mean the product was finished.
Serious bugs still existed, including problems with data synchronization between devices.
THE REALITY AFTER LAUNCH
SHIPPING IS ONLY THE BEGINNING
Even after a month of beta testing, users still discovered major problems.
Ryan said the app did not become relatively stable until around December or January.
The lesson:
Beta testing reduces risk.
Real users reveal problems testing cannot.
5. HOW IT GREW
THE ORGANIC DISTRIBUTION CHAIN
START WHERE YOU ALREADY HAVE ACCESS
REDNOTES BECAME THE FIRST CHANNEL
Ryan's girlfriend already shared her illustrations on RedNotes and had followers there.
So they did not begin by searching for the perfect growth channel.
They started with an audience and platform already available to them.
That became the app's first distribution advantage.
THE FIRST SMALL VIRAL MOMENTS
ORGANIC DISCOVERY
Cat on Chair experienced several smaller viral moments on RedNotes.
Its visual design made the product easy to notice in feeds.
People did not need a long explanation to understand it:
A cute cat + a beautiful environment + a productivity timer.
THEN INSTAGRAM EXPLODED
A MAJOR DISTRIBUTION EVENT
The major breakout happened when Instagram creators featured Cat on Chair in app-collection posts.
One post reportedly generated more than 2 million views.
That exposed the app to a much larger audience without the founders needing to build a conventional paid marketing campaign.
INSTAGRAM → THREADS → TAIWAN
VIRALITY CROSSED PLATFORMS
Someone in Taiwan discovered the app and shared it on Threads.
It went viral again.
The sequence became:
RedNotes → Instagram → Taiwan → Threads → New users
Ryan said this chain of events essentially doubled downloads and revenue overnight.
THE PRODUCT WAS THE AD
WHY ORGANIC SHARING WORKED
Cat on Chair had a built-in distribution advantage:
It looked interesting enough to share.
A screenshot could communicate the personality immediately.
Influencers could place it inside an “apps you should try” post without needing to explain complicated functionality.
6. WHY THIS TIMER WON
DIFFERENTIATION IN A CROWDED CATEGORY
THE FEATURE WAS NOT UNIQUE
POMODORO ALREADY EXISTED
There are thousands of Pomodoro timers.
Ryan knew meaningful innovation in the basic timer itself would be difficult.
So the team did not ask:
“How can we build a better timer?”
They asked how the entire experience surrounding the timer could feel different.
UTILITY × EMOTION
THE DIFFERENTIATION FORMULA
The core formula became:
Pomodoro utility
+
Cat companionship
+
Beautiful illustration
+
Customization
+
Collection mechanics
=
A productivity product with personality.
The competitive advantage emerged from the combination.
RECREATE A REAL-WORLD FEELING
A POWERFUL PRODUCT QUESTION
Many of the best features came from one question:
“How do we reproduce the physical experience of having a cat with you?”
That led naturally to cats sitting beside users, gifts, personalities, sounds, animations and interactions.
The concept became a feature generator.
GIVE EVERY CAT A PERSONALITY
BUILD CHARACTERS, NOT ASSETS
The cats were not treated as interchangeable graphics.
They received personalities and backstories.
This makes collecting different cats more meaningful because each one can feel like a character.
Small narrative details make a digital object easier for users to become attached to.
USERS EXPANDED THE IDEA
FEEDBACK BECAME PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Users wanted deeper interaction with the cats.
So the team added behaviors such as a meow animation when users tap the cat or say its name aloud.
The product evolved through a loop:
Ship → Observe → Listen → Add → Repeat.
DESIGN BECAME THE MOAT
HARDER TO COPY THAN FEATURES
Ryan credited his girlfriend Stephanie's illustration style as a major part of the product.
The visual identity made Cat on Chair feel handcrafted.
Competitors can copy a timer.
They can copy a checklist.
A coherent world, characters, taste and personality are much harder to reproduce convincingly.
WHEN SOFTWARE CREATES EMOTION
MORE THAN PRODUCTIVITY
One user told Ryan that after her real cat passed away, she found a similar-looking cat inside the app.
Using it made her feel like she could see her cat again.
That story shows how the product had moved beyond functionality and created a genuine emotional connection.
7. GAME MECHANICS
BORROW RETENTION FROM ANOTHER INDUSTRY
REMIX, DON'T JUST INVENT
RYAN'S PRODUCT ADVICE
Ryan recommends studying products you already use, then looking outside their category for mechanics worth borrowing.
For Cat on Chair, games became an important source of inspiration because games are designed around motivation, rewards, progression and retention.
THE RETENTION LOOP
WHY USERS HAVE REASONS TO RETURN
Cat on Chair combines several recurring loops:
1. Focus to earn gifts
2. Collect rewards
3. Customize the environment
4. Unlock or switch cats
5. Review progress
6. Return for another session
Productivity creates progress inside the virtual world.
PRODUCTIVITY BECOMES PLAY
A CATEGORY REMIX
Traditional productivity software often focuses on efficiency.
Cat on Chair mixes productivity with mechanics normally associated with games and virtual pets.
That remix changes the emotional reason for opening the app:
You are not only completing work.
You are returning to your little world.
8. THE AI BUILD STACK
HOW A DESIGNER SHIPPED SOFTWARE
CHATGPT FOR CODING
AI AS IMPLEMENTATION LEVERAGE
Ryan said he primarily used ChatGPT Pro for the coding side of development.
AI helped bridge the gap between his product-design experience and the technical work required to ship an iOS application.
It expanded what one small team could execute.
A SMALL SOFTWARE STACK
TOOLS AROUND THE PRODUCT
Ryan also mentioned tools for operating the app:
• RevenueCat — paywalls and subscriptions
• ASO optimization software — App Store growth
• Droids — user feedback board
The business was built by a tiny team using specialized tools rather than a large organization.
AI DID NOT CREATE THE DIFFERENTIATION
THE IMPORTANT DISTINCTION
AI helped Ryan build the software.
The memorable parts came from human choices:
• The cat concept
• Stephanie's illustrations
• Character personalities
• Reward mechanics
• Product taste
• Emotional details
AI increased execution capacity. Taste determined what was worth executing.
9. THE REPEATABLE PLAYBOOK
HOW TO FIND YOUR OWN VERSION
STEP 1 — START WITH SOMETHING YOU USE
FIND A FAMILIAR CATEGORY
Ryan recommends starting with an app category you already use or genuinely care about.
You understand the problem better because you experience it yourself.
You also have stronger instincts about what feels annoying, boring, missing or unnecessarily complicated.
STEP 2 — STUDY THE COMPETITION
FIND WHAT USERS STILL WANT
Go deeper than downloading competing apps.
Study:
1. App Store reviews
2. Negative reviews
3. Social media comments
4. Feature requests
5. User communities
Look for repeated frustrations and desires the existing products are ignoring.
STEP 3 — BORROW FROM ANOTHER CATEGORY
CREATE THE REMIX
Ask what another industry does exceptionally well.
Examples:
Productivity × Games
Finance × Social
Fitness × Collectibles
Education × Storytelling
Planning × Virtual pets
Innovation can come from moving an effective mechanic into a category where users do not expect it.
STEP 4 — ADD YOUR UNFAIR SKILL
MAKE IT HARD TO IMITATE
Ask:
“What can I bring that most competitors cannot?”
For Ryan, it was product design.
For someone else it might be:
• Data analysis
• Industry expertise
• Community access
• Storytelling
• Sales knowledge
• Domain-specific workflows
STEP 5 — CREATE A DISTINCTIVE WORLD
DON'T SHIP GENERIC SOFTWARE
Ryan recommends developing a recognizable visual style, either through collaboration with an illustrator or other creative methods.
The goal is not decoration.
The interface, characters, language and interaction should feel like one coherent product identity.
STEP 6 — SHIP AND LET USERS SHAPE IT
REAL USAGE CREATES THE ROADMAP
Cat on Chair was imperfect when it launched.
There were bugs. Features were still evolving. Users asked for new interactions.
The product improved through real-world feedback.
Do not wait until every possible feature exists.
Ship the core experience, then learn.
10. THE BIGGER SHIFT
WHAT AI CHANGES ABOUT SOFTWARE
BUILDING IS BECOMING CHEAPER
DIFFERENTIATION MOVES ELSEWHERE
When AI makes basic software easier to build, simply having working features becomes less special.
More people can create timers, trackers and utilities.
That increases the importance of concept, taste, audience understanding, emotional design, distribution and product identity.
NICHE CAN BE AN ADVANTAGE
CAT LOVERS × PRODUCTIVITY
Cat on Chair did not target everyone who wants to be productive.
It combined two specific interests:
People who want to focus
+
People who love cats and playful design.
A narrow identity can make a product more relevant, memorable and shareable to the right audience.
BUILD SOFTWARE PEOPLE WANT TO EXIST
THE FOUNDER MINDSET
The hosts observed that Ryan seemed motivated by wanting the product itself to exist, not simply by chasing a lucrative market.
That care showed up in the details.
Ironically, those details helped create the uniqueness that eventually made people want to share the app.
THE FORMULA
CAT ON CHAIR IN ONE FRAMEWORK
Familiar utility
+
Specific niche
+
Personal skill advantage
+
Cross-industry mechanics
+
Distinctive visual identity
+
Emotional experience
+
Organic shareability
+
AI-powered execution
=
A small app capable of becoming a serious business.
FINAL LESSON
KEEP BUILDING
Ryan's final advice was simple:
Keep trying. Stay consistent.
It took him years to discover what he enjoyed and what he was good at. Building the app with AI was not smooth or effortless either.
The breakthrough came from continuing until skill, technology, product and personal interest finally connected.