How Locked grows

Search Instagram/TikTok for niche terms (gym, self-improvement, day in the life), open each creator profile, paste the template DM, send, repeat. Each account hits a rate limit around 100 DMs/day, so run multiple sender accounts; buy 1,000+ followers for each and get it verified so it looks legitimate. Team sent 500+ DMs/day at peak; 5,000-10,000+ creators contacted in total.

Compute RPM (revenue per 1,000 views) from past videos: ~$3-4 for Locked (~10% download-to-sub, $30/yr or $7/wk). Offer CPM deals of $1-2 per 1,000 views, always with a payout cap (e.g. $500) set upfront, so paid CPM stays under RPM.

Tested creator niches within health/fitness: self-improvement, gym and day-in-the-life. Day-in-the-life worked best: the creator walks through the day's tasks and, after each one, opens Locked, taps 'add task', types it and checks it off, showing the XP/gamified UI to a Gen Z audience. Example: Jeremiah Jones, hook 'This schedule will keep you locked in for 2026', with the app name big in the top-left of the task screen.

The founder's TikTok account started for his unblocked-games site Evanclever, then was switched to ProblemPal (homework helper), then to Locked. For ProblemPal he posted a direct pitch video: 'How to finish your homework very quickly' in 10 seconds using ProblemPal. Earlier he had grown the Totally Science account from ~30K to ~100K followers with simple videos.

Idea came from a friend who struggled to focus. Designed onboarding and main screens in Figma with co-founder Alex Malaj, then built with Claude. Applied video-game mechanics (XP, competing with others) to daily tasks.

Message opens with 'Paid promo?' so it stands out among hundreds of DMs, then: 'Hey, I'm the founder of Locked. We're looking to partner with a select group of day in the life or self-improvement creators. Would you be down to hop on a call and discuss a deal?' When creators suggest DMs, push for a call; almost never negotiate over DMs.

Pay e.g. $1,000 per post with a 500,000-view minimum; size the clause at a $1-2 CPM (an $800 deal -> 400K-800K views). If the first video falls short, the creator keeps posting until videos collectively reach the benchmark. Alternative offered: stop early and be paid pro rata (e.g. $400 for a 400K clause, 50K views -> $50). Anchoring on the full amount motivates creators.

Because Instagram can't carry a trackable link, the founder (or a personal account) comments something like 'I need this. What's the app called?'; the creator replies with the app name and pins the comment so curious viewers see it at the top of the comments.

Brief: integrate the app within the first 15 seconds (earlier feels like an ad, later loses retention); otherwise give creators fair creative freedom; they send the post for approval before publishing; send a contract. Judge performance by revenue/download spikes (Instagram links can't be attributed). If a creator is profitable, renew the same deal repeatedly, then renegotiate a bigger one.

Ignore follower count. Require creators pulling at least ~5,000 views per video (up to millions). Read the comment sections: people should comment about the video, ask questions, reply to each other and like comments; lots of emoji-only comments is a red flag.

At launch, tested Reddit marketing, X marketing, influencer marketing and paid ads; quickly judged influencers most effective and concentrated effort there.

Bonus deal: ~$250 base; if the video reaches 250,000 views, pay another $250. Bonus can be combined with the flat, CPM or minimum-view deals.

Standard deal: ~$500 for one video or $1,200 for four. Used only with creators who consistently pull very high views.