GTM Sauce

The Superwall Podcast · 2026-05-13

Nicole Cheung - she makes $400k/mo from ai apps (while in college)

College senior Nicole Cheung explains how GlamUp (AI makeup app, 1M users in 6 months, ~$150K MRR peak) and Sprout ('Tinder for jobs', $250K MRR in 8 months) grew: templated faceless TikTok slideshows, an invite-3-friends unlock whose codes flooded TikTok comments, fake-scan hard paywalls, a 50% close-out discount, price rises that lifted conversion, and a 1,000+ creator UGC machine (Discord/Handshake recruiting, course with quizzes, scripted content bank, per-post + decreasing-CPM pay). A hard paywall right after onboarding gave +50% conversion.

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20 tactics

GlamUp · B2C · AI makeup glow-up app

First post hit 10M views; millions of views a day at peak
“we use the same caption on the video and the same caption below the video and the same hashtags. And for some reason, this combo just worked. And the same audio.”
Workedorganic-short-videougc-creators
The Superwall Podcast · 2026-05-13

GlamUp · B2C · AI makeup glow-up app

Contrast made the slideshows go viral; founder claim
“we went on Pinterest. We found a bunch of like pretty girls. We downloaded another app that can remove their makeup. So, we would go to that app, and we would remove their makeup like 10 times”
Workedorganic-short-video
The Superwall Podcast · 2026-05-13

GlamUp · B2C · AI makeup glow-up app

Founder went viral first on all four apps; scaled GlamUp to 30-40 creators
“With GlamUp, I remember I had like three accounts, my co-founder, he had like three accounts. We would warm it up and try posting. And once we found a viral strategy, that's when we just scaled immediately.”
Workedorganic-short-videougc-creators
The Superwall Podcast · 2026-05-13

GlamUp · B2C · AI makeup glow-up app

1.6M share/code requests; codes flooded TikTok comments; conversion barely dropped
“you can either do view results or invite three friends. If you click view results, then we paywall you. But if you click invite three friends, we'll bring you to this like share your invite code”
Workedreferral-programproduct-virality
The Superwall Podcast · 2026-05-13

GlamUp · B2C · AI makeup glow-up app

Searching 'GlamUp' on TikTok shows only their content; founder claim
“we don't just give them the code. We give them a template that has GlamUp inside. So, it will be, "Download GlamUp and use my referral code," um so that GlamUp, that keyword is ranking pretty high on TikTok.”
Workedproduct-viralityorganic-short-video
The Superwall Podcast · 2026-05-13

GlamUp · B2C · AI makeup glow-up app

Conversion rate went up despite the 3x price
“when you raised your price from 3 to 9, like you tripled your price, it somehow increased your conversion rate.”
Workedpricing
The Superwall Podcast · 2026-05-13

A consumer subscription app · B2C · guest's current stealth app

Conversion and revenue per download both rose; second +20% in test
“I increased both by 20%, and the conversion went up. Our revenue per download, you know, obviously, also went up. So, we are actually testing another 20% increase now.”
Workedpricing
The Superwall Podcast · 2026-05-13
“So once we show them the hard paywall, they click out, we immediately hit them with a 50% discounted paywall.”
Unknownpaywallpricing
The Superwall Podcast · 2026-05-13
“we do kind of like a limited scan per week, so that triggers them to want to do the upgrade paywall.”
Unknownupsell-expansionpaywall
The Superwall Podcast · 2026-05-13
“This scan is completely fake. It's a fake scan, so we don't actually get their results at all. We only run the API after they pay, because we don't want to waste, you know, the API cost.”
Unknownpaywallonboarding
The Superwall Podcast · 2026-05-13

GlamUp · B2C · AI makeup glow-up app

Other founders who copied it say ratings improved; softer version still works
“But in in order to move on to the next page, uh like something called I rated will pop up, and you have to click that in order to to move on.”
Workedonboardingaso
The Superwall Podcast · 2026-05-13

GlamUp · B2C · AI makeup glow-up app

Founder says it primes users to convert; no numbers
“a lot of it is about priming creators to increase conversion.”
Workedonboarding
The Superwall Podcast · 2026-05-13
“We didn't do annual because we don't think it makes sense for a job-searching app to charge an annual subscription.”
Unknownpricingpayments-checkout
The Superwall Podcast · 2026-05-13

A consumer subscription app · B2C · guest's current stealth app

+50% conversion vs letting users try features first
“But then we ran a test um of complete hard paywall after the onboarding. They don't even go into the to the app. Unfortunately, we see a 50% increase in conversion.”
Workedpaywallexperimentation
The Superwall Podcast · 2026-05-13

Sprout · B2C · swipe-to-apply job search app

Over half go viral within 2 weeks; 100M monthly views at 200+ active creators
“I would say over 50% of the creators finish this course with no previous experiences. They go viral within the first 2 weeks of starting a brand-new account with us.”
Workedcreator-opsugc-creators
The Superwall Podcast · 2026-05-13

Sprout · B2C · swipe-to-apply job search app

Many top creators had no experience; founder claim
“It can be a basically like a 15-minute interview. We want to vibe-check them.”
Workedcreator-ops
The Superwall Podcast · 2026-05-13

Sprout · B2C · swipe-to-apply job search app

Founder says the decreasing tiers work best; no numbers
“Flat rate, we usually do you can do anywhere between $10 to $30 per post.”
Workedcreator-opsugc-creators
The Superwall Podcast · 2026-05-13

Sprout · B2C · swipe-to-apply job search app

Trained creators averaged hundreds of thousands to millions of views per video
“And then I have a script, and that script is line by line, what you're supposed to say. And for each line, I give the emotions that you're supposed to portray and the shots that you're supposed to do.”
Workedcreator-opsugc-creators
The Superwall Podcast · 2026-05-13

Sprout · B2C · swipe-to-apply job search app

Hundreds of millions of views and many conversions (not attributable)
“We tested the length of that video between 5 seconds to 6 seconds to 7 seconds, and we found uh 6.7 seconds worked the best for this video.”
Workedorganic-short-videougc-creators
The Superwall Podcast · 2026-05-13

GlamUp · B2C · AI makeup glow-up app

1M users in 6 months; ~$150K MRR peak
“It was basically like jawlines and all that stuff, like, scores for your facial structures, but we wanted to do something that's like a little less toxic in that way.”
Workedpositioning-nichevalidation
The Superwall Podcast · 2026-05-13

Numbers mentioned

SubjectMetricValueQuote
personNicole Cheung's apps combined (GlamUp + Sprout)revenue
Title/description claim; body shows two peak MRRs reached at different times (GlamUp ~$150K, Sprout $250K)
USD 400K/month
approximate
“That's Nicole. She built four apps before turning 25, and the last two apps did over 400 grand a month between them.”
GlamUpusers
first 6 months after launch
1M users
approximate
“We got a million users in the first six months of launching.”
GlamUpmrr
peak MRR
USD 150K
approximate
“I think at peak, we were at around 150k MRR. It's a glow-up app for for women and makeup and skincare”
GlamUprank
App Store overall chart, ahead of Tinder and Hinge for a couple of days
3“that was the time when GlamUp reached number three on the App Store.”
GlamUpdownloads
lifetime, including leftover distribution after active work stopped
2M users
approximate
“I think we have around like 2 million downloads”
GlamUpcount
Branch link requests from people sharing the app / getting referral codes
1.6M
approximate
“we have, you know, around 1.6 million total requests of people sharing the app, getting their codes”
GlamUpviews
very first faceless before/after slideshow post
10M viewsper video
approximate
“This one like our very first post got like 10 million views, which is insane.”
GlamUpcount
UGC creators at GlamUp's peak (content shown was across ~20 creators)
30–40 creators
approximate
“I believe at one point, we had like 30, 40 creators.”
GlamUprevenue
revenue from traffic spilling over from a viral copycat app with a similar name
USD 100K/week
approximate
“And then they just made us, you know, 100k in a week.”
GlamUprevenue
'more than $600,000 total', host citing Nicole's playbook
USD 600K
approximate
“You got like more than $600,000 total on this app.”
GlamUpprice
early weekly price, later raised to $9/week
USD 3/week“In the playbook, you said like $3 a week, and then you I think you increased it like $9 a week?”
GlamUpprice
weekly price after tripling; conversion rate went up
USD 9/week“when you raised your price from 3 to 9, like you tripled your price, it somehow increased your conversion rate.”
GlamUpprice
weekly tiers on the main hard paywall: $8.99, $10.99, $12.99
USD 8.99–12.99/week“You know, it starts from $8.99, $10.99, $12.99.”
GlamUpprice
50%-off close-out paywall tiers: $4.49, $5.49, $6.49
USD 4.49–6.49/week“So once they click out, we hit them with the 50% discount. This one is, you know, $4.49, $5.49, $6.49.”
Nicole Cheung's newest app (stealth)price
monthly and annual prices both raised 20%; conversion and revenue per download rose; another +20% in test
+20%“I increased both by 20%, and the conversion went up. Our revenue per download, you know, obviously, also went up.”
Nicole Cheung's newest app (stealth)conversion rate
hard paywall right after onboarding vs letting users into the app first
+50%
approximate
“But then we ran a test um of complete hard paywall after the onboarding. They don't even go into the to the app. Unfortunately, we see a 50% increase in conversion.”
Sproutmrr
after the first 8 months, by October 2
USD 250K
approximate
“I was growing it for the first eight months, and we did 250k MRR. So, by October 2nd, we were doing 250k MRR.”
Sproutmrr
current, after Nicole moved to advisor
USD 200K
approximate
“I think now, they have steadily been growing at around 200k MRR.”
Sproutviews
UGC views while Nicole ran the creator program
100M views/month
approximate
“when I was handling, you know, all the UGCs, we were doing 100 million monthly views.”
Sproutviews
last 7 days, per the current Sprout team
400M views/week
approximate
“Last 7 days, they did Wow. 400 million views.”
Sproutviews
current monthly average across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Shorts (guest's rough figure)
400M–500M views/month
estimate
“so monthly, I think they're doing around 400 to 500 average monthly, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Shorts.”
Sproutcount
active creators at the same time at peak scaling (1,000+ cycled through)
200 creators
approximate
“I remember we have maybe over 200 active creators at the same time.”
Sproutcount
creators onboarded onto the course
1,000 creators
approximate
“we have onboarded, I would say, over 1,000 creators onto this course without any training whatsoever.”
Sproutshare
share of course-finishing creators (no prior experience) who go viral within their first 2 weeks on a new account
50%
approximate
“I would say over 50% of the creators finish this course with no previous experiences. They go viral within the first 2 weeks of starting a brand-new account with us.”
Sproutcreator pay
flat rate, plus view-threshold bonuses
USD 10–30per post“Flat rate, we usually do you can do anywhere between $10 to $30 per post.”
Sproutcreator pay
decreasing-CPM bonus tiers: 10K views ~$40, 50K $50, 100K $80, 1M $800
USD 40–800per video
approximate
“Or you can do a decreasing CPM, which is what we do. So, 10k views, maybe $40; 50k views, $50; 100k views, $80; a million views, $800, something like that.”
persona Sprout-dedicated UGC creator trained via the coursefollowers100K followers
approximate
“She has over 100k followers right now, and this is a Sprout-dedicated one.”
Sproutprice
top of the price range
USD 80/month
approximate
“Pricing is way higher. We have, I think, up to $80 a month.”
Sproutteam size
full-time including co-founders
10 people“But Sprout right now, we have a team of 10 full-time people, including the co-founders.”
Nicole Cheung's newest app (stealth)mrr
'almost' $200K, ~3 months after January launch
USD 200K
approximate
“We're, you know, 3 months in, we're almost at 200k MRR.”
Nicole Cheung's newest app (stealth)mrr
target by end of the month
USD 500K
goal
“My goal for for this one is 500k by the end of this month.”
GlamUptime to milestone
time to build and launch the first MVP
3–4 weeks
approximate
“I think we built the first MVP out in maybe 3 weeks to a month.”