Pre launch / Idea
Competitor research
Used Sensor Tower to find apps in the Christian/reference niche doing over $50K/month. Studied competitor app Praycreen's design, features, and distribution strategy, then decided to build a better version.
→ Identified a validated niche before writing a single line of code
Launch (June 2025)
Organic tiktok and instagram ugc
Created 12 accounts across TikTok and Instagram and posted ~40 times a day across all of them testing different video formats to find what resonated. Identified the winning format: UGC 'reaction girl' video with an in-app demo overlay.
→ Found a repeatable winning hook after ~40 posts
Month 1–2 (June–July 2025)
Organic tiktok ugc girlfriend creator
Had his girlfriend record UGC reaction videos for free using the proven hook format. Posted twice a day consistently on one focused account. Achieved ~10K views/day yielding ~200–300 downloads/day.
→ ~$1K MRR; ~200–300 downloads/day
MRR $1.0k
Month 2–3 (July–August 2025)
Organic tiktok ugc second creator
Hired a second female UGC creator and launched a second account running the same reaction video format. After 14 days of low performance, cracked one video that hit ~20K organic views.
→ $1.5K MRR in July → $2.4K MRR in August
MRR $2.4k
Month 3–4 (September 2025)
Onboarding optimization
Rebuilt the onboarding flow from a 5-minute experience to a 15-minute value-driven story. Focused on adding context and emotional narrative to increase download-to-trial conversion rate. Target: 10%+ download-to-trial rate.
→ Organic conversion rate 3x'd without any change to ad spend
Month 4 (October 2025)
Tiktok ads
Launched TikTok ads with a super-broad campaign (no audience targeting, US location only) using existing UGC reaction videos. Started at $20/day. Saw $4 cost per trial started vs. $50 annual subscription price. Went all-in, investing ~$4,000 of personal savings into TikTok ads.
→ Closed October at $10K MRR; $4 per trial started
MRR $10k
Month 5 (November 2025)
Tiktok spark ads new ugc creator
Discovered a 15-year-old UGC creator named Matthew organically on TikTok, reached out, and began running his videos as Spark Ads. His videos consistently hit 10K+ organic views. Invested another ~$6K into ads on his content.
→ Closed November at $15K MRR; $3 per trial started
MRR $15k
Month 6 (December 2025)
Tiktok spark ads scaled spend
Continued scaling the same Spark Ads playbook — weekly ad spend increases, same UGC reaction format with top-performing creator. Reached $360/day in ad spend. Spent ~$9K on ads for the month against $21K in revenue.
→ Closed December at $21K MRR; $1.88 cost per trial started
MRR $21k Users 58k users