Umax · B2C · looks rating app
Grow the app mainly through paid influencer posts
Scaled the app; became the playbook for Cal AI
Workedinfluencer
What they did
Co-founder Blake Anderson scaled Umax with influencer marketing at a smaller scale than Cal AI; the same principles were reused at Cal AI.
What happened
Scaled Umax (smaller than Cal AI) and created the playbook Cal AI copied
“he had scaled one of his apps, uh Umax, with influencer marketing to like a not the same scale as Cal AI, but like the same principles, and that kind of created the whole playbook.”
Related topics
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More from this episode
- Cal AI: Pay fitness creators with no brand deals to scan their food on cameraTook off beyond expectations; grew to 300+ influencers
- Cal AI: Let creators make their normal videos; only set timing and a caption tagCreators called it their easiest brand deal; keeps views predictable
- Cal AI: Move the app mention earlier in videos until views start to dropSweet spot 20-30 seconds in; a friend's app peaks at 60 seconds
- Cal AI: Ask creators to post each video on both TikTok and InstagramMost creators agree when it's framed as no big deal
- Cal AI: Pay $350-450 for four posts plus view bonuses that stop at 1M viewsKeeps the upside of viral hits; founder gives no numbers
- Cal AI: Measure revenue per 1,000 views and pay creators a lower rate than that
- Cal AI: Match download spikes to each creator post while volume is still lowEarly on every video showed a clear spike; gets murky at scale
- Cal AI: Pick creators by average views per video, not follower countLow-follower, high-view creators accept reasonable rates; founder gives no numbers
- Cal AI: Price a creator on the average of their 5 worst of 20 recent videosMost deal videos land nearer the mean, so the rest is profit
- Cal AI: Only sign creators averaging 25K+ views; favor 25K-1M view creatorsFounder says the 25K-1M range converts best; no numbers
- Cal AI: Read a creator's comments for real community and click commenters to spot botsCommunity-style comments convert far better than emoji spam; founder gives no numbers
- Cal AI: Build a tool that sends contracts, briefs and daily text reminders to creatorsLet the team run 300+ influencers; founder calls it his best work
- Cal AI: Open 20 brand accounts so each outreach person can DM hundreds of creators dailyHundreds of creators contacted per account per day
- Cal AI: Send creators a recorded voice memo from a named person, reused for everyoneFounder says it worked well; no numbers
- Cal AI: Try new creator groups beyond fitness, like new momsNew moms worked
- Cal AI: Try mukbang eaters and UFC fighters as creatorsNeither niche worked
- Cal AI: Hire everyday creators to run app-only accounts copying proven viral formats
- Cal AI: Find UGC creators by searching 'UGC creator' on TikTok; pay $25-30 a video
- Cal AI: Run creator videos as ads at first, then make hard-sell ads that show the app earlyFounder says dedicated ad videos always convert better than organic ones
- Cal AI: Ask creators where their viewers live before signing them