Scanémon · B2C · Pokémon card value scanner
Rebuild your working app for a nearby hobby, built in a day with AI
$17K MRR and 3,400 subscribers in a year; more new customers a month than the original
Workedportfoliomarket-selection
What they did
Took the Cardstock sports-card scanner model and built 'basically the same app, but for Pokémon cards' (Scanémon) in 2025. Had Cursor's agent generate essentially everything; MVP done in one day.
What happened
~3,400 active subs, ~$17K MRR, ~16K new customers a month (vs ~13K Cardstock downloads/month) about a year after launch
- Stage
- Scale (Five years after first app)
“This is Scanémon. Basically the same app, but for Pokémon cards. We launched it only a year ago, but we've been doing pretty good with it.”
“I tried to generate it, basically have Cursor's agent generate everything, and it did insanely well. The MVP for Scanémon I made in a day.”
Related topics
Get tactics like this every Monday
New tactics from the week's founder interviews, each linked to where it was said.
More from Scanemon
All 6 Scanemon tactics- Pay creators about $1 per 1,000 views to post your slideshow template~7,600 posts in a month for $2,600, about $1 CPM; biggest recent growth driver
- Post card-collecting tips slideshows from an account with an AI-made girl avatarSeveral posts over 100K views; the format then scaled through paid creators
- Hire a friend to figure out TikTok with you before paying an agencyFriend became the de facto CMO; knew enough to spot a good UGC agency later
- Put the app's name on the scanner screen so every video shows itFounder thinks it lifts conversion; no data yet
More from this episode
- Cardstock: Build the app you wanted for your own hobby when the App Store has noneGrew into ~$75K MRR over six years
- Cardstock: Give creators TikTok slideshow templates to post and pay them by viewsFounder calls it their biggest success; no numbers given
- Cardstock: Post on Reddit when the app is finishedFirst downloads came almost immediately; no numbers
- Cardstock: Bring in friends for a three-way revenue split and teach them to codeTeam of three grew to five; revenue from a few hundred a month to ~$1.5M a year