Cal AI · B2C · AI calorie tracking app
Match download spikes to each creator post while volume is still low
Early on every video showed a clear spike; gets murky at scale
Mixedanalytics-attributioninfluencer
What they did
At launch, watch which creators and formats cause download spikes and what their comment sections look like, then use those patterns to judge content later. Early on there were no downloads on days without a creator video; later a ~100/hour baseline would jump to ~200 when a video went live. At scale, old videos keep getting views, so use data analysis and incrementality tests.
What happened
Clear attribution early; becomes hard as millions of older videos keep driving views
- Stage
- Scale (launch, then scale)
“very early on, when you're like first launching the app, you want to see like what types of creators like cause a spike, and like what their comments sections look like”
“we may have like a baseline of like 100 downloads an hour, and then when a video would go live, you'd see that spike to 200”
Related topics
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New tactics from the week's founder interviews, each linked to where it was said.
More from Cal AI
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- Show a spin wheel that lands on 80% off instead of just showing the discountDouble-digit conversion lift vs a plain discount screen in an A/B test
- Test creators beyond fitness: moms, comedy, and fitness sub-nichesMixed: some moms profitable at $10 CPM; comedy got views but low intent
- Agree with a creator's view boast, then guarantee 700-800K views when they claim 1MGuaranteed a profitable CPM on every deal; creators couldn't back down
- Pay creators $100-200 when a friend they refer signs a dealReally helped; got direct numbers and deals around talent agents
More from this episode
- Umax: Grow the app mainly through paid influencer postsScaled the app; became the playbook for Cal AI
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- Cal AI: Let creators make their normal videos; only set timing and a caption tagCreators called it their easiest brand deal; keeps views predictable
- Cal AI: Move the app mention earlier in videos until views start to dropSweet spot 20-30 seconds in; a friend's app peaks at 60 seconds
- Cal AI: Ask creators to post each video on both TikTok and InstagramMost creators agree when it's framed as no big deal
- Cal AI: Pay $350-450 for four posts plus view bonuses that stop at 1M viewsKeeps the upside of viral hits; founder gives no numbers
- Cal AI: Measure revenue per 1,000 views and pay creators a lower rate than that
- Cal AI: Pick creators by average views per video, not follower countLow-follower, high-view creators accept reasonable rates; founder gives no numbers
- Cal AI: Price a creator on the average of their 5 worst of 20 recent videosMost deal videos land nearer the mean, so the rest is profit
- Cal AI: Only sign creators averaging 25K+ views; favor 25K-1M view creatorsFounder says the 25K-1M range converts best; no numbers
- Cal AI: Read a creator's comments for real community and click commenters to spot botsCommunity-style comments convert far better than emoji spam; founder gives no numbers
- Cal AI: Build a tool that sends contracts, briefs and daily text reminders to creatorsLet the team run 300+ influencers; founder calls it his best work
- Cal AI: Open 20 brand accounts so each outreach person can DM hundreds of creators dailyHundreds of creators contacted per account per day
- Cal AI: Send creators a recorded voice memo from a named person, reused for everyoneFounder says it worked well; no numbers
- Cal AI: Try new creator groups beyond fitness, like new momsNew moms worked
- Cal AI: Try mukbang eaters and UFC fighters as creatorsNeither niche worked
- Cal AI: Hire everyday creators to run app-only accounts copying proven viral formats
- Cal AI: Find UGC creators by searching 'UGC creator' on TikTok; pay $25-30 a video
- Cal AI: Run creator videos as ads at first, then make hard-sell ads that show the app earlyFounder says dedicated ad videos always convert better than organic ones
- Cal AI: Ask creators where their viewers live before signing them