App Masters · 2026-08-08
$140K MRR Niche Dating App in Just 6 Months
Gabriel Zeitoun, co-founder of BPM (dating app for sporty singles, France only), explains how a singles run club in Paris validated the idea and seeded launch (500 installs, 3K waitlist), why BPM stayed in one country for density, how it reached 140K MRR in six months mainly on Meta (install-optimized campaigns for ~4 months, founder-made video creatives, stable ad-set stacking), and his views on paid UA for social apps and 50/50 co-founder splits. Ends with live audits of two viewer apps (Zona, Footsteps with Jesus).
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Numbers mentioned
| Subject | Metric | Value | Quote |
|---|---|---|---|
| BPM | mrr Six months after launch; currency per title/description | USD 140K approximate | “we grew from zero to 140k mrr in six months” |
| BPM | time to milestone Launch to 140K MRR | 6 months approximate | “And six months in, it's 140K.” |
| BPM | mrr First weekend after turning on monetization (Friday -> Monday) | USD 1,000 approximate | “On a Monday, we had already made 1K in MRR.” |
| BPM | mrr 30 days after monetization; from Meta install-optimized campaigns | USD 10K approximate | “we made 10K MRR from installs campaign, then 20K the second month” |
| BPM | mrr Second month of monetization; install-optimized Meta campaigns | USD 20K approximate | “we made 10K MRR from installs campaign, then 20K the second month” |
| BPM | downloads Launch weekend, driven by the run club audience and waitlist | 500 installs/one-time approximate | “first weekend we had like 500 installs thanks to the run club” |
| BPM | count Pre-launch waitlist size | 3,000 people approximate | “we had made a wait list that was like 3k people” |
| BPM | followers Run club: Run club Instagram account at the end of the run club (transcript: 'a thousand, uh, 500') | 500 followers approximate | “at the end of the run club, I had like, you know, a thousand, uh, 500 followers” |
| BPM | followers Run club: After reels plus boosting posts twice (early run club) | 200–300 followers approximate | “afterwards it was like you know 200 300 followers and just people signed up from this” |
| BPM | count Run club: Sign-ups for the first run; only 10 accepted to keep the group small. Later runs ~100 sign-ups. | 40 signupsper run approximate | “there were 40 people who signed up on the on the run club but i i only took 10” |
| BPM | ad spend First paid campaign: one Meta campaign starting after week one | EUR 20/day | “It was like 20 euros per day. I remember I had like one campaign on Meta running on 20 euros per day” |
| BPM | time to milestone Duration BPM optimized Meta campaigns for installs before switching to deeper events | 3.5–4 months estimate | “So I think I was optimizing for installs for like four months. I would say three months and a half, something like this.” |
| BPM | count Fake profiles in the first two days on the store before public launch | 10–20 fake profiles estimate | “we had like maybe 10 to 20 fake profiles that were already going on the app” |
| BPM | growth rate Guest's projected revenue multiple if the France playbook is replicated worldwide | 20–30 x projection | “I know we can like 20, 30 X that in all of the countries” |
| marketOnline dating market | market size | USD 10,000M approximate | “we knew that online dating was like a $10 billion market” |
| French sports dating app competitor | mrr French sports dating competitor, pre-BPM (stated as 50K and later 40-50K) | USD 40K–50K estimate | “one was doing like 40, 50 KMR” |
| benchmarkStarting daily budget for paid UA on a new consumer app | ad spend $50/day recommended if affordable, otherwise $25 or less; each additional ad set also ~$50/day | USD 25–50/day approximate | “I would advise you to start at like $50 a day if you can afford that” |
| benchmarkMinimum ROAS target for bootstrapped consumer app paid UA | roas Break-even target: spend $1, make $1.01 | 100% approximate | “It's already so much difficult to be at 100% ROAS on those products. This is the target.” |
| benchmarkMRR a non-social app can reach on organic alone without paid UA | mrr Non-social app aiming at ~5K MRR does not need paid UA | USD 5,000 approximate | “if you want to do a 5K MRR app and it's a non-social app, you don't need paid UA” |
| benchmarkMRR level at which paid UA becomes necessary | mrr Aiming at 100K MRR requires paid UA; organic alone won't get there | USD 100K approximate | “If you want to make a 100K MRR app, at some point you're going to need paid UA” |
| fitness app (host's client) | revenue Sales increase after moving the paywall before registration (onboarding -> paywall -> sign up) | +52% | “we saw 52% increase in sales when we switched paywall and then register” |
| Footsteps with Jesus | price Lifetime access | USD 3/one-time | “And then the lifetime access for $3.” |
| Footsteps with Jesus | price Recommended subscription price range (in line with other Bible/quote apps) | USD 20–40 goal | “you can charge 20 40 bucks because obviously it's a fitness app too” |