Pingo AI · B2C · AI language speaking app
Treat creators like investments: drop the weakest, keep the stars, train the middle
Top 20-30% of ~100 creators drive most views; cut 30-50 who drove none
Workedcreator-ops
What they did
High-volume recruiting, then an internal clock for how long each creator gets before a keep/cut decision. Top 20-30% produce most views; the bottom produce none ('dead spend'). Recently cut 30-50 creators, leaving ~100. A Discord lets creators share what went viral and teach each other, so the middle follows the top creators' lead. Shifting from 'scale mode' to fewer, more deliberate creators.
What happened
~20-30 creators generate ideas and most views; the middle copies them.
In their words
The Superwall Podcast · Morrie Schonfeld - How I built a $500k/mo ai app (so you can just copy me)“The top 20, 30% of creators are doing most of the views, the bottom percent are doing none of them, and kind of dead spend, and so we kind of like took our VC model, we cut the bottom of the portfolio, kept the top, working on the mid-range”
“And we have a Discord, so people share, and like it's pretty engaging.”
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- Pingo AI: Show people using the app in every video, not just talk about the topicLanguage-topic videos without the app flopped; app-demo videos went viral and converted
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- Pingo AI: Film the AI tutor roasting a learner until they cry on cameraTop video hit 52M views; the format has worked in every language since September
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- Pingo AI: Show a timeline on the paywall: free today, reminder before billing, cancel anytimeBeat social-proof and yearly-vs-monthly paywall versions; no numbers given
- Pingo AI: Offer the free trial only on the yearly plan and hide the monthly one
- Pingo AI: Test a 3-day against a 7-day free trial, US and abroad separatelyNear-even in the US; 7-day converted ~2% better internationally (early data)
- Pingo AI: When someone backs out of a 3-day trial, offer 7 free days at a lower priceConverts better than showing the 7-day trial first; exact lift not given
- Pingo AI: Bill US users through web checkout to keep more of each sale
- Pingo AI: Join Y Combinator, then raise quickly on strong revenue and CAC/LTV~100 investor meetings booked; round closed in about 3 days