This app made over $1M

Business summary (Rooted — Panic Attack & Anxiety Relief app)

Origin / problem selection

• Founder (Anya) built Rooted after experiencing panic attacks during her 4th year of university and struggling to find resources that felt supportive and non-clinical.
• She validated demand by spotting a review-driven gap in existing apps—users needed help:
  • identifying a panic attack, and
  • knowing what to do in the moment.

Early validation + MVP approach

• MVP-first: launched an early prototype centered on the core need: a “panic attack button” that guides users through what to do during an attack.
• Feedback loop: even with lag/bugs, “the first few hundred users” provided encouragement—driving iteration instead of restarting.
• Build-without-coding strategy:
  • created wireframes first (notebooks → designs in Photoshop/Illustrator),
  • then used a student developer to implement.
• Cost / timeline:
  • used all savings for the first build,
  • after content/wireframes were ready, development took “a few months” (once the developer was available).

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Growth & go-to-market tactics (what drove scale)

Reported growth timeline (downloads)

• Year 1: ~10,000 downloads
• Year 2: ~100,000 downloads
• Year 3: 1 million downloads

Founder claims overall:

• 4M+ downloads
• $1M+ in revenue (since launch in 2019)

“Top tactics” playbook used to grow

1. Active social media engagement
   • Spent hours engaging with posts (helpful comments + links to Rooted).
2. Press / PR via cold outreach
   • Initially avoided being labeled “the anxiety girl,” then shifted to attaching a personal story.
   • Sent cold emails/pitches to journalists (via LinkedIn/email).
   • Examples of outlets featuring Rooted:
     • Cosmopolitan
     • Women’s Health
     • Time Magazine
3. Continuous App Store Optimization (ASO)
   • Ensured the product page promise matched the real experience.
   • Used user review keywords to strengthen relevance.
   • Followed a “loop”:
     • Product page → download → use experience → reviews → improve ASO

Strategic partnerships (B2B / distribution)

• Partnered strategically with:
  • wellness organizations
  • therapy groups
  • psychologists’ offices
• Also referenced doing “a few B2B contracts”, and noted that recommendations/utilization became important in later years (specifically referenced as important “now in 2025”).

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Product strategy (what Rooted includes)

Core moment-of-need feature

• Red SOS button during panic attacks
• Asks user intent: “calm now” vs “face the panic attack head-on”
• Guided prompts intended to activate the parasympathetic nervous system.

Additional modules

• Breathing tool
• Lessons on anxiety/panic (understanding what’s happening and why)
• Journal tool
• 100+ visualizations and sleep sounds
• Games tool
  • lighter distraction requested by users over time
  • designed for use on commutes

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Leadership / operations lessons

Full-time transition

• Worked 4 days/week initially, then shifted to 3 days Rooted / 4 days other job.
• Revenue supported her for “over a year.”
• Quit full-time when the other job became less enjoyable and conditions shifted—about 2.5–3 years into Rooted.

Operating rhythm

• Releases/updates: ~once per week
• Continued to personally “read all user reviews” even after delegating review responses, to maintain product-market fit.

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Metrics & KPIs mentioned (and how she prioritized them)

• Primary KPI: user reviews & rating
  • Maintained 4.8/5 rating
  • Treats reviews as both validation and product direction (quality focus over purely revenue).
• Performance / impact metric
  • Users report relief from a panic attack within under 2 minutes.
• Business outcomes
  • 4M+ downloads
  • $1M+ revenue
• Implied KPI practice
  • Track downloads, review sentiment/rating, qualitative themes, and time-to-effect (under 2 minutes).

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Actionable recommendations / frameworks emphasized

Four-step “app success” playbook

1. Deliver what your page promises
   • More downloads + more sharing when users get expected value.
2. Listen to users
   • Use user reviews as the main source of truth.
3. Continuous app store optimization
   • Frequent releases (she cited weekly) to show active improvement.
4. Partner strategically
   • Distribution via wellness/therapy organizations + B2B recommendations.

MVP validation process (practical method)

• Build a small, core-use MVP (panic attack walkthrough button).
• Launch early to a small audience, measure feedback, and iterate quickly.
• Validate that others share the problem using user reviews and early-adopter behavior.

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Presenters / sources

• Anna (Anya) — Founder of Rooted (panic attack and anxiety relief iPhone app)
• Pat Walls — Host, Starter Story