PopStream · B2C · video meet-and-greets with celebrities
Have celebrities post a Story link to a web queue for short video calls
Early tests went well, but ~$20K per influencer post killed the economics
What they did
What happened
- Stage
- launch
- Effort
- Early tests only
In their words
Hunter Isaacson - Meet The Guy Who Solved Growing Apps
Hunter Isaacson… a hybrid web app plus Instagram Story. So, we kind of built this very lightweight video product where you would post like a preview, and then you post a link. People would tap the link, and then it would open this, and you get a ticket. This is an animation that looked really sick. And then, it would just say, "Welcome to PopStream." This was a waiting room, and you would basically see where you are in the line, and how many people are waiting.
Hunter IsaacsonThis was kind of the the other version, right? If you were the creator, you would see like, how do you get someone to join, and we'd kind of explain it, show you your link. When somebody did join your call, it would do a countdown. You would be FaceTiming with the celebrity, and it would show you the time here. And there was like a little add time indicator when it got low. And then, at the end, you would enter your email address and we would just email you a video of your meet and greet with that influencer/celebrity. It did very well in the early tests
Hunter Isaacsonthat we kind of did for it, but I think the reason it didn't work is because, at the time, influencer pricing was crazy high. Getting a top-tier influencer to just post a link was like 20 grand. So, the economics just didn't make sense, and so we ended up sunsetting this one as well.
HostCan we look at Bags?
Get tactics like this every Monday
New tactics from the week's founder interviews, each linked to where it was said.
More from this episode
- When Instagram opens Story links to everyone, rebuild an old viral idea on it150M monthly users; more downloads than YOLO, Yik Yak and ask.fm
- Pay influencers about $100 each to post your link to their StoryOne small blip after ~4 months: a school cluster in one country
- Redesign, rename to a short slang word, and buy a matching .link domainCame before the breakout; no separate result reported
- Build Android fast when your first users come from a poorer countryNext marketing round after Android went viral worldwide within a week
- Post TikToks of someone reacting to a shocking anonymous message they got~1M views fast; first 1,000 users in a day, then global in a week
- Have every user post their link, so friends who quit see it and returnChurn offset by a very high redownload rate; still popular 3 years on
- Charge power users $1-$7 a week, priced by country wealth; keep the rest freeMulti-eight-figure yearly revenue from a small share of users
- Say 'Get your own messages' instead of 'Download this app' after someone sends oneVery high share of new visitors go straight to the App Store
- Get users to a 'copy link, share' screen in 20 seconds with GIF instructionsCore loop behind 150M monthly users; no step-level numbers
- Track users who post a link and get 2+ replies; don't add feedsProduct barely changed since going viral; outlasted rivals that overcomplicated
- Name the app after a trending meme; post jokes in every college Facebook group40,000-person waitlist, 7 women per man; top 10 in Social
- Let women bring their best friend to video dates; both pairs must agree7 women per man on the waitlist, unheard of in dating
- Run the first version by hand over Zoom, sending meeting codes, before buildingThen built the real app very quickly; no separate result
- Let people swipe to add strangers on Snapchat, which lacked good friend suggestions70M downloads
- Put your app in the share menu, then show a step-by-step setup guideWent close to #1 in the App Store
- Give most of the 1% trading fee to whoever invited or tipped off buyers
- Pay token creators 1% of every trade, not just the launch
- Let users deposit with Apple Pay through MoonPay
- Add invite screens to every app so paid users bring friendsFounder says it works; no numbers
- Spend 2.5 years and a paid agency perfecting a complex social appNever left TestFlight; shut down in 2020
Tags: instagram, story-link, web-app, creator-economics