NGL · B2C · anonymous messaging app
When Instagram opens Story links to everyone, rebuild an old viral idea on it
150M monthly users; more downloads than YOLO, Yik Yak and ask.fm
Workedproduct-viralitypositioning-niche
What they did
Instagram removed the 10,000-follower requirement for Story links at the end of Oct 2021. Hunter and friends met on Halloween, asked 'what's the most viral thing we can think of?', and built anonymous messaging on top of Instagram (an old behavior: Formspring, ask.fm, Yik Yak, YOLO) in about a month, expecting many clones. The framework: take something that worked on other networks, switch the distribution mechanism to the biggest graph, and improve the product somewhat. Any big graph can work (Snapchat, X, Facebook for older moms).
What happened
After 6 slow months, NGL went global and now has 150M MAU, more downloads than earlier anonymous apps; nobody cloned it until after it went viral.
- Stage
- Pre-launch (idea / launch)
“Like, the second that we saw this, myself and a few friends of mine, we got on a Zoom call on Halloween and we're like, "We need to build a product for this. What's the most viral thing we can think of?"”
“Like, find existing things that have happened on other networks or other distribution mechanisms, and just switch the distribution mechanism, and improve the product to a certain degree.”
“I do think that the reason NGL went as big as it did and has more downloads than all of those apps is because we use the biggest distribution graph of all, which is the Instagram graph.”
Related topics
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More from this episode
- NGL: Pay influencers about $100 each to post your link to their StoryOne small blip after ~4 months: a school cluster in one country
- NGL: Redesign, rename to a short slang word, and buy a matching .link domainCame before the breakout; no separate result reported
- NGL: Build Android fast when your first users come from a poorer countryNext marketing round after Android went viral worldwide within a week
- NGL: Post TikToks of someone reacting to a shocking anonymous message they got~1M views fast; first 1,000 users in a day, then global in a week
- NGL: Have every user post their link, so friends who quit see it and returnChurn offset by a very high redownload rate; still popular 3 years on
- NGL: Charge power users $1-$7 a week, priced by country wealth; keep the rest freeMulti-eight-figure yearly revenue from a small share of users
- NGL: Say 'Get your own messages' instead of 'Download this app' after someone sends oneVery high share of new visitors go straight to the App Store
- NGL: Get users to a 'copy link, share' screen in 20 seconds with GIF instructionsCore loop behind 150M monthly users; no step-level numbers
- NGL: Track users who post a link and get 2+ replies; don't add feedsProduct barely changed since going viral; outlasted rivals that overcomplicated
- Zoom University: Name the app after a trending meme; post jokes in every college Facebook group40,000-person waitlist, 7 women per man; top 10 in Social
- Zoom University: Let women bring their best friend to video dates; both pairs must agree7 women per man on the waitlist, unheard of in dating
- Zoom University: Run the first version by hand over Zoom, sending meeting codes, before buildingThen built the real app very quickly; no separate result
- Wink: Let people swipe to add strangers on Snapchat, which lacked good friend suggestions70M downloads
- PopStream: Have celebrities post a Story link to a web queue for short video callsEarly tests went well, but ~$20K per influencer post killed the economics
- Faves: Put your app in the share menu, then show a step-by-step setup guideWent close to #1 in the App Store
- Bags: Give most of the 1% trading fee to whoever invited or tipped off buyers
- Bags: Pay token creators 1% of every trade, not just the launch
- Bags: Let users deposit with Apple Pay through MoonPay
- NGL: Add invite screens to every app so paid users bring friendsFounder says it works; no numbers
- Spend 2.5 years and a paid agency perfecting a complex social appNever left TestFlight; shut down in 2020