0 to $300k/mo in 45 days with my ai app (just copy me)
Dillian bootstrapped Halo AI, an AI photo editing app, to $300,000 monthly recurring revenue in 45 days using a mass UGC strategy with 85 creators posting 300 videos daily across platforms. He identified one viral TikTok format (pranks with AI-generated images) that generated 1.2 billion views in 120 days, using a performance-based creator payment structure and Discord community to scale rapidly.
Summary
Dillian had never built a consumer app before and had spent 18 months launching failed products with almost no money left when he and his co-founder launched Halo AI in October. The app is an AI photo editor that allows users to upload photos, input prompts, and get AI-generated outputs. After building the app in 2-3 weeks using the new Gemini API, they started with UGC marketing despite having no prior experience.
The breakthrough came when one TikTok video delivered 6x ROI, giving Dillian enough conviction to take out a $100,000 personal loan and go all-in. This funded a massive UGC operation that scaled to 85 creators posting 300 videos daily across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook, generating 600 million views in 60 days and 1.2 billion views in 120 days.
The key innovation was discovering one viral format that worked consistently: videos showing absurd AI-generated images in prank scenarios, followed by text message conversations showing the prank playing out. This single format drove all their success without deviation. They recruit creators through Facebook groups and Reddit, paying a $20 base per video plus milestone bonuses at 20K, 100K, 500K, and 1M views.
Dillian built a sophisticated operation including an OpenAI agent trained on viral videos to help creators generate new scripts, automated systems to replicate viral hits across all creators, and a Discord community where creators collaborate. The app monetizes through a weekly $8.99 subscription with a unique two-paywall system - a soft paywall during onboarding that users can skip, followed by a hard paywall when they try to actually use the core functionality.
The business operates at break-even while reinvesting all profits into growth, though Dillian mentioned current margins are around 50%. They've plateaued at $300K MRR as forecasted and plan to scale to $1M monthly through paid advertising while expanding beyond entertainment use cases toward health, wealth, and relationships.
About this episode
Start building & deploying paywalls in 10 minutes flat: https://superwall.com/ Private dinners for $100k/mo app founders: https://75v4gfh4e3l.typeform.com/to/CgZbJWb6 Spy on outlier TikToks that went viral promoting apps: https://spytok.com/ Join a community of world class consumer app founders and growth hackers: https://joinconsumerclub.com/ Hosted & produced by Joseph Choi: https://twitter.com/JosephKChoi Dillion: https://twitter.com/dillionverma Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 01:06 Dillion's Bold Move 03:06 Halo AI's Launch 05:19 Scaling with Creators 09:49 UGC Strategy Breakdown 15:52 Creator Onboarding Process 22:15 Viral Video Formats 31:09 Creator Payment Structures 40:40 App Monetization Insights 48:02 Bootstrapping Challenges 53:14 Future Growth and Vision Dillian bootstrapped his first app, Halo AI, to a whopping $300,000 MRR in just 45 days. With nothing left in the bank after 18 months of failed projects, this was his last shot. What turned it all around? One TikTok video that delivered a 6x ROI. That success drove him to take a $100,000 personal loan, which he used to pay 85 creators to post content. The results? A staggering 600 million views in 60 days and 1.2 billion views in 120 days! Surprisingly, this wasn't due to a complicated strategy but a single TikTok format that worked like magic. In this episode, Dillion discusses how he managed to keep creators motivated and the unique deal structure that led to unexpected choices. Plus, learn about the free AI tool from Superwall that can help you increase app revenue by optimizing paywalls. Don't miss the insights from the Superwall Podcast, hosted by Joseph Choi, on how Dillion pulled off this incredible feat.
Key Insights
- Dillian discovered that conversion rates remained constant for specific video formats, with one TikTok format consistently delivering 0.3-0.5% conversion rates regardless of how many times it was posted
- When given contract options between CPM and milestone-based payment, 29 out of 30 creators chose the milestone structure even though Dillian explicitly told them CPM would pay them more
- Dillian's team achieved 1.2 billion views using only one format - pranks with AI-generated images followed by text message conversations - with no deviation from this single approach
- The power law distribution for viral content shows roughly 5% of videos get over 100K views and 1% get over 1 million views, but with 300 posts daily this still generates consistent viral hits
- Dillian built an OpenAI agent trained on all their million-view videos that helps creators generate new scripts and pulls trending keywords from TikTok API to remix successful formats
- A two-paywall system outperformed single paywalls - users can skip the first paywall and explore the app, but hit a hard paywall when trying to actually generate images
- Dillian took out a $100,000 personal loan after seeing 6-to-1 ROI on their first viral video, operating at break-even for 4-5 weeks before achieving 50% profit margins
- Anyone can go viral on their first video with a brand new account due to platform algorithm changes that occurred in 2022, removing the barrier of needing followers to get views
Topics
Transcript
[0:00] Dillian bootstrapped his first ever consumer app to $300,000 MR in 45 days. He had never built a consumer app before and he had just spent 18 months launching failed products and had almost nothing in the bank. So, he had one last shot at making something work. >> We had a bunch of failed products which didn't amount to anything. We had to make something work otherwise like we're screwed. This is like the the last Hail Mary and we were locked in like every single day, 14 hours a day for months straight. >> But then he found one data point. He got a creator to post one Tik Tok that paid [0:31] him back 6x ROI.…
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