I'm Building an App to Make $10,000/Month - Episode 4

Product Pivot

The founder pivoted from an AI portrait app to LockFeed, which blocks selected apps until users answer quiz questions. He felt little personal connection to the portrait product, and its early demand was too weak to justify building and servicing it.

LockFeed grew from his own frustration with learning guitar notes and spending too much time on social media. Friends suggested other quiz topics, including chess, art history, and U.S. citizenship-test preparation. The founder also used AI to generate multiple-choice quizzes based on commonly failed tests such as the SAT, LSAT, and MCAT.

Monetization and Platform Challenge

The initial monetization design let users try a few quizzes before showing a paywall. Users who declined would be blocked from accessing the app. The App Store rejected the implementation because it used the Screen Time API, forcing a product or technical rethink.

The founder prefers letting users experience some value before presenting a paywall, rather than immediately gating the app and relying on urgency, insecurity, and discounted pricing. This is a strategic preference, not yet a validated result.

Marketing and Launch

Marketing is the main execution challenge. The founder plans to promote LockFeed through:

1. Paid advertising.
2. Organic UGC videos filmed with creator Roxanne/Roxana and adapted from existing formats.
3. His own YouTube channel and audience.

Ad-Creation Process

The founder used Higgsfield’s “Supercomputer” to research Meta ads from similar apps and successful organic TikTok content, then adapt those formats for LockFeed. He provided app screenshots and a product description, three real-life app demos, a photo, and about 30 seconds of voice audio.

His takeaway was that creative output depends heavily on input quality: “garbage in, garbage out.”

He created several ad variations, uploaded them to Meta Ads, and used ChatGPT to help configure the campaign. The ads had been published, but the episode ends before performance data is available.

Metrics and Targets

• Business goal: $10,000 per month.
• Previous app test: Five videos generated about 10,000 views but no sales. A subsequent appeal to the audience produced five troll requests and three leads.
• Current campaign: Ads were published, but no results or conversion metrics were reported.

Actionable Playbook

• Build around a problem the founder personally experiences to support motivation and sustained use.
• Gather early input from potential users to identify adjacent use cases.
• Research competitor ads and organic content for proven creative formats, then adapt them rather than starting from scratch.
• Test multiple marketing channels, including paid ads, UGC, and owned audiences.
• Validate platform-policy compliance early, especially when relying on restricted APIs.

Presenters, Tools, and Examples

• Presenter: Joma
• People and tools: Roxanne/Roxana (UGC creator), Higgsfield Supercomputer, ChatGPT, Meta Ads, and AI tools used to generate quizzes and ad creative
• Apps and examples: LockFeed, the founder’s AI portrait app, Opal, BrainRot, Quizlet, and guitar-learning quizzes