BlueThrone · B2C · app acquirer
Build an in-house team making cheap UGC TikTok videos for the apps
First viral video took 6 months and several people; gets faster with practice
Mixedugc-creatorsorganic-short-video
What they did
Multiple people across disciplines research and produce UGC videos showing the app with a CTA at the end. Individual UGC videos can cost as little as ~$5, but the team time is significant.
What happened
Took six months to get the first viral video; guest says the process speeds up and needs fewer resources as you optimize.
- Effort
- six months, multiple people across disciplines
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · Buying vs. Building: Scaling Beyond a Single App — Josh Peleg, BlueThrone“We recently built this UGC machine at Blue Throne. It took us six months to get our first viral video. And that's not one person's time. That's multiple people across multiple disciplines doing the research, doing the execution.”
Related topics
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All 8 BlueThrone tacticsMore from this episode
- BlueThrone: Buy about 100 small utility apps valued mostly on profitMany had been pumped before sale and died; shallow products didn't last
- BlueThrone: Buy only a few apps with strong organic traffic and invest in their teamsPortfolio cut to 5 apps, each a category leader or on its way; guest says it works
- BlueThrone: After buying a music app, hire a GM from Spotify and triple the teamMAU grew from 200K to almost 6M; still near the top of its category
- Plarium: Sell mugs, t-shirts and hoodies to a game's biggest spenders
- Soundmap: Sell power-ups on top of the subscription, like 2x more songs nearbyGuest says it captures what each user is willing to spend; no numbers
- Build solo without VC money, then sell the app within 18 monthsSold for over $4M; deal closed in 3 months with no investors involved
- Opal: Charge $120 a year and pitch it as paying for itself in work timeGuest says it unlocked very high LTV; no figures beyond price
- Cal AI: Launch a rough app, prove people pay, then build the real techHost says it's now a genuinely great app; no numbers
- Push the lifetime plan on the paywall right before selling the appKnocks down negotiations; the buyer can't monetize those users again
- Cut ad spend from $50K to $10K a month to look profitable before sellingDownloads eventually follow the drop; guest calls it riskier than pushing revenue
- Add in-app coins that people earn from ads or buy in packsApps that crack consumables reach deeper LTVs, per talks with hundreds of founders
- BlueThrone: Before buying an app, compare its return per dollar with more ad spend
- BlueThrone: Stack category downloads over time to see if new apps grow the marketScreen time market grew with each new entrant; buying a non-leader looked OK
- Strava: Keep a bought app separate and sell one subscription for both apps