Runify · B2C · ranked running app
Tweet openly and confidently about your app's goals, even from a tiny account
Cold acquisition DM 1-2 weeks after launch, from a ~200-follower account
What they did
What happened
- Stage
- launch
In their words
Caleb Dean - I speedran an ai app from 0 to $100k exit in 26 days
Joseph ChoiI see. I see. And then did the acquirer reach out because of this post?
Caleb DeanUm so I actually spoke with him a couple days ago, and I think it was like I don't know it was if it was necessarily this post, but I was definitely like tweeting about like Runify, um saying like we're going to hit 100k a month, like I was super bullish about it, and they like came across me really early, but they're like like it's too early. Like it was like a week or two after launch. So like, "We're going to sit on it for a couple weeks and then we'll reach out and see what happens." But, yeah, he just they came across me on Twitter
Caleb Deanthrough me just yapping about Runify.
Joseph ChoiI mean, that's a that's a pretty insane playbook. Like you you became visible on Twitter. I mean, 50k views is kind of a lot of views, but like it's not impossible to get. Like your your account has 3,000 followers. Seems like the Twitter algorithm is actually pretty good at just showing and then like reaching potential acquirers.
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
- Copy a proven app's viral Reels format for your niche before buildingMillions of views; one copy hit 2M; ~50 videos drove the whole waitlist
- Charge $5 for early access on a one-page site before writing any code2,000 waitlist emails and 90+ paid $5 in about 2 weeks
- Post 9 Reels a day on Instagram instead of flooding TikTokInstagram held 5-10K avg views, 1 in 10 over 500K; TikTok views fell to ~5
- Build a tool that turns one video template into thousands of versions10,000 variations in a minute; fed ~5M views in month one
- Put your app up for pre-order so thousands download it on launch day3,000 pre-orders in ~2 weeks; leaderboard hit its 1,000 cap in an hour
- Rewrite onboarding to promise a result (becoming a better runner), not just ranksChanged because first onboarding converted poorly; no after numbers given
- Email your waitlist two updates, then a launch video with a half-price codeDiscount codes brought most launch-day revenue; 32% of emails hit spam, 20% opened
- Message every paying early adopter yourself and make them your beta testers~20 testers on WhatsApp; founder says their feedback was invaluable
- Ask your Instagram followers in Story polls which features to buildTracking answers split evenly across Garmin, Apple Watch and Strava, so they built all three
- On launch day, tease on Instagram Stories, post on Reddit, and tweet a demo videoFounder's X demo got ~50K views; mostly exposure, not core users
- Sell a month-old app at ~5x yearly revenue but keep 30% of itSix-figure sale ~26 days after launch, plus 6-month earn-out and cash bonus
- Design every screen and button in Figma before developers startCore design done in 3 days; CTO built it in about 6 weeks
- Rank in App Store search for a rare condition's name (shy bladder)Most users and revenue came from search; 30%+ conversion; $5-10K lifetime
- Pick a space where 1-3 apps already make $100K+ a month, then twist the ideaLiftoff at $200-300K/month led to Runify; sold within a month of launch
Tags: x, build-in-public, inbound-acquisition