Praktika · B2C · AI English tutor app
Let creators post the video they believe in, even if you don't like it
30M views across three platforms; ARR from ~$1M to $10-12M, about a month per host
Workedinfluencerorganic-short-video
What they did
Gustavo, a Brazilian who knew the pain point, made a video where an AI coach simply corrects a learner's mistakes in a short conversation, without pitching or showcasing the app. Adam disliked it and asked him to talk about the app; Gustavo said 'trust me' and Adam let him post. Standing rule since: do not tell influencers how to do their job; you hire them for their reach, so let them do it.
What happened
About 10M views each on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube; ARR went from ~$1M to $10-12M (host: in a single month). The correction format became the standard video structure for language apps.
- Stage
- Growth (early growth)
This shipped together with other changes, so the result can't be credited to this alone.
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · How Praktika Built a Profitable $50M ARR AI Business — Adam Turaev, Praktika“So that's why he built a video where a coach is just correcting mistakes. You just have little conversation.”
“Yeah. And for me it was, "Hey, why don't you speak about the app? Probably you want to showcase the app itself or anything like that, but he went, "Believe me, trust me."”
“And he posted it and this video just blew away 10 million views in Instagram, another 10 million in TikTok, another 10 million in YouTube. That was the moment when we just scaled really quickly from one million ARR to 10, 12 million ARR.”
“Do not tell influencers how to do their job.”
Related topics
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More from this episode
- Praktika: Launch everywhere, but focus marketing on one country with high needBrazil became the launch market behind early growth; founder gives no market-level numbers
- Praktika: Sell a better job, not English lessons, and compare your price to a tutorSold a $100/year plan in a low-spending market; the claim became the category standard
- Praktika: Search for creators under 5,000 followers whose videos still get huge viewsFound the creator whose video took ARR from ~$1M to $10-12M
- Praktika: Spend a month full-time messaging creators yourself, DMing those with no emailA few creators out of a long list worked out, including the breakout one
- Praktika: Copy a viral video format with creators in other countries right awayPart of the jump from ~$1M to $10-12M ARR; no split by country
- Praktika: Put a small ad budget behind a creator video that's already going viralNear-zero CPMs, CPIs and cost per trial in the first days
- Praktika: Hire the creator behind your breakout video as an employeeHe became the face of the brand and still runs its social media
- Praktika: Hire former creators to run your creator program, one coach per country100+ creators in the program and still growing
- Praktika: Pay creators a fixed fee plus a bonus based on views
- Praktika: Keep creators and paid ads separate; have the ad team remake viral creator videosCreators keep finding new angles; no numbers given
- Praktika: Put the cursing characters from your viral ads inside the appFailed: users were unhappy and confused; called the year's biggest fail
- Praktika: Write product rules on one page, but let creators make almost anything
- Praktika: Use animated avatars so learners can rehearse the stress of talking to a personFounder says users then find real conversations easier; no numbers
- Praktika: Hand-write conversation scripts to fake the AI before the technology can do it
- Praktika: Have your AI tutor offer to set the daily reminder instead of a settings screen
- Praktika: Rebuild your cross-platform app as a native iOS appConversion and engagement improved across the board; biggest win of the year