Arise · B2C · anime-inspired fitness app
Build the app fans already ask for when rivals just run ads
Reached ~$50K/month alongside influencer deals
Workedmarket-selectiononboardingpaywall
What they did
Fans already wanted the app and a few existed, but none were optimized: no long onboarding flow, no social features, not built to convert, mostly monetized with ads. The guest built a converting version with a long onboarding flow and calls ads 'the worst way to monetize your app'. His framework: find or build a 'cult' riding a momentum wave; building the cult is better for LTV.
What happened
Arise grew to about $50K/month.
This shipped together with other changes, so the result can't be credited to this alone.
In their words
The Superwall Podcast · Daniel Kwon - He made $2.2M from building simple apps. Here's how (no-code)“So everyone already wanted an app, and there were already a couple out, but none of them were optimized. They had no long onboarding flow, no social features. They weren't optimized to convert, actually.”
“You're either building the cult or finding the cult, and it's definitely better to build the cult in terms of long-term or in terms of LTV”
Related topics
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
- Conch: Stitch an already-viral classroom clip with better audio, then demo the app15-16M TikTok views in a day, 100M+ across platforms; drove a $500K month
- Conch: Make videos siding with students against pointless school busyworkOne such video got ~4M views (host's reading); guest says the style still works
- Conch: Have a co-founder make all the videos himself, faceless and low-budget~220M lifetime views and ~$2.2M revenue, mostly organic
- Conch: Test paid ads next to organic videosMargins were worse than organic; dropped
- Conch: Build a tool to get around AI detectors the night one launches$1M ARR within about 30 days
- Conch: Have UGC creators film inside Snapchat so videos look like real stories
- Conch: Put schools' logos on your website without askingGot cease-and-desist letters from several schools and a legal fight
- Conch: Talk to three or four buyers when selling the appSold, but some competitors posed as buyers just to pull information
- FinalBoss Sour: Post a scrappy 'we made way too much, so it's on sale' videoHit every time creators remade it; brand had views but no sales before
- FinalBoss Sour: Put a flash sale on a TikTok Shop item to reach more For You pagesGuest says it automatically boosts the product and brand; no numbers
- FinalBoss Sour: Film shop videos in the founder's kitchen or bedroom, even as a funded brandBrand became #1 in food and beverage on TikTok Shop; not isolated
- FinalBoss Sour: Pack visible value into product photos and release limited flavor dropsGuest says it made organic storytelling much easier; no numbers
- Arise: Post carousels about Solo Leveling fans wanting 'the system' in real lifeGuest's fastest cold start besides Shepherd; ~$7K/month early
- Arise: Pay influencers and meme pages $1-2 per 1,000 views$6-7 revenue per 1,000 views; grew to ~$50K/month at 70-80% margins
- Shepherd: Stitch popular faith podcast clips and farmed hooks onto a quick app demo~7 videos: 20M views, 100K+ downloads and $75K MRR in 2 weeks
- Shepherd: Pitch a God-first lamb against Duolingo's AI-first owl during its backlash~10K Discord members from the launch push; later fans rejected an AI feature
- Shepherd: Replace the AI chat with a custom devotional and drop 'AI' from the copy
- Shepherd: Pause creator videos and build invites for prayer and accountability buddies
- Shepherd: Build the app in two weeks while running a two-week content pushReached #10 on the charts and $75K MRR despite a buggy app
- Post about your app yourself; skip paid ads until five formats winGuest's rule from five or six cold starts; no numbers