Bro · B2C · AI companion app
Film a clickable mock-up and put TikTok ad money behind it before building
7.9M views; proved the concept and found a video format to scale
Workedvalidationpaid-socialorganic-short-video
What they did
Before the app was finished, co-founder Leo built a tappable fake of the app in ProtoPie (PowerPoint-like, not real code) and filmed it on a phone as a TikTok demo: a real texting scenario with Bro floating over the conversation. They posted it on the brand TikTok account and bought ads on it for fast reactions instead of waiting months for organic UGC. Roger frames ads as the tool for early feedback, not for scaling (paid gets pricier as you scale); a few thousand dollars is cheap next to weeks of building blind. Two outputs: at least one format that works, and a read on whether people want the product.
What happened
The mock-up video reached 7.9M views; validated that the UX was interesting and set in a specific scenario (texting), and became the format they scaled with creators.
- Stage
- Pre-launch (pre-launch validation)
“when we made this video, like, uh we haven't actually finished building the app yet, but we want to like make a demo and uh see if people want to use it.”
“So, for this very first one, we did buy some ads. Uh because it's the fastest.”
“And then, in this process, we gained two things. Number one, we gained like at least one format [laughter] that could work, and, two, we see if people like our product.”
“So when you're actually scaling, like no ads, right? Because that's like that's like Because the more you scale, the more expensive it becomes”
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More from this episode
- Bro: Pick one everyday moment, texting, as the way into a big AI companion ideaTexting wedge became the winning format; lock-screen versions also did well
- Bro: Post lots of TikToks: a real person in a texting mishap, then the app helpingVery top-heavy: a few videos hit 2-3M views; the best one was a surprise
- Bro: Find TikTok creators through topic hashtags like #relationship and email them to post~50 creators at peak, down to 10-20; hits took 2-3 months; hit #1 in US
- Lobby: Add a group photo countdown to video calls that people share to StoriesCredited with more sharing and pulling in left-out friends; #1 in UK, Italy, Germany 3 months later
- Lobby: Track how many new users get 5 friends on day one, then build for it60% vs 20% hit 5 friends in Israel vs elsewhere; D90 25-30%, about double
- Lobby: Invite friends to a 1-minute video catch-up at a random minute each night
- Bro: Carry a tappable fake of the app and use it daily before codingFounder says it cut a lot of wasted engineering; no numbers