Join me as I chat with Blake Anderson, Co-Founder of Apex, as we discuss his frameworks and strategies for building and scaling viral AI Apps. Learn his step-by-step formula creating viral apps. Episode Timestamps: 00:00 Intro02:59 Why build AI Apps04:58 Startup Idea 1: Career AI08:19 Blake's framework for building Viral AI Apps10:38 Finding influencers13:23 Product Development17:25 Startup Idea 2: Journal AI24:01 Paywalls and Payment Strategy29:03 Startup Idea 3: Language AI24:01 How to find more AI app ideas1) Career AI: The all-in-one career advancement tool• Combines resume analysis, career quizzes, & job application tips• Use AI to create a 6-factor rating system for resumes (like Madden ratings)• Design viral hooks: "I'm a senior and it says I should study CS!"Distribution strategy:• Target students on IG, TikTok, LinkedIn• Partner with ed-tech influencers• Split test different hooks across niches2) Journal AI: Your AI-powered second brain• Branded as a journal, functions like an emotional support assistant• Provides productivity insights, relationship analysis, and emotional support• Uses ChatGPT with enhanced memory storageKey insight: People already use ChatGPT as a journal. This makes it official.Naming tip: Consider friendly names like "Juni" or "Journey" instead of "AI"3) Language AI: The Duolingo disruptor• Create a dynamic, AI-powered language learning app• Leverage newest AI voice-to-voice models as they become cheaper• Update content dynamically, unlike Duolingo's static modulesWhy it could work:• Even 1% of Duolingo's market = $100M company• High-intent users willing to pay• Established players move slower than scrappy startups4) Blake's framework for building viral AI apps:1. Iterate on virality from day one2. Split test hooks, influencers, and product features3. Build personal relationships with influencers (don't use marketplaces)4. Design around both functionality AND virality5. Use tools like Superwall for easy paywall testing5) Pricing strategy: Optimize for (users^n * profit per user), where n is greater than 1• This prioritizes growth and market dominance over short-term profits.• Blake's hot take: The "evil" onboarding flow that works1. Get users to input personal info for "customization"2. Hit them with a paywall at the end• It's effective, but Blake admits it feels morally questionable. Use at your own risk.6) Bonus tip: Create burner social media accounts to immerse yourself in your target niche.• Curate your feed around your app's topic to truly understand your audience.Want more free ideas? I collect the best ideas from the pod and give them to you for free in a database. Most of them cost $0 to start (my fav)Get access: https://www.gregisenberg.com/30startupideasWork with me and my team: LCA — world’s best product design firm to build apps, websites and brands people love. https://latecheckout.agency/BoringAds — ads agency that will build you profitable ad campaigns http://boringads.com/BoringMarketing — SEO agency and tools to get your organic customers http://boringmarketing.com/Startup Empire - a membership for builders who want to build cash-flowing businesses https://www.startupempire.co/Stop Building Websites That Look Good But Don’t Sell: https://www.designscientist.com/design-store?b=https://www.designscientist.com/FIND ME ON SOCIALX/Twitter: https://twitter.com/gregisenbergInstagram: https://instagram.com/gregisenberg/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gisenberg/FIND BLAKE ON SOCIALBlake’s startup: http://apex.inc/X/Twitter: https://x.com/blakeandersonwLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blakeandersonw/
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So what's up, Blake?
What's going on, Greg? Thank you very much for having me on today.
I decided to reach out to you. I've been following you for a while, but I saw a tweet about a month ago that said, I recently discovered a part of the internet where a bunch of cracked 18 to 22 year old indie hacker kids from no-name unis run bootstrap mobile apps, growth hacked on TikTok. Each app has 100,000 monthly users and makes $1 to $5 million a year.
never underestimate the kids and did some research. And they were talking about you and your friends and how you have kind of like a AI mobile app studio doing, I think, you know, 15 million in ARR. So I was hoping that you can come on today and share with everyone some AI app ideas.
Yeah, happy to do so. Quick context on myself. I kind of stumbled into this space a little bit over a year ago with an app called RIS GPT. It is now named Plug AI. We ended up scaling that to a little bit over 3 million downloads, 200,000 monthly revenue. Then built UMAX. That has done over 10 million downloads, 500,000 monthly revenue.
Now I think it's closer to 400,000, but at our peak, we were around 700,000 in monthly revenue. And then most recently, CalAI. which we launched just like a little bit over six months ago and is at about 2 million downloads and over a million dollars in monthly revenue.
Yeah, I think I'm, like I mentioned, I kind of just happened to stumble into this space, but it's a pretty fascinating place of the internet and specifically entrepreneurship to be right now because it kind of takes the intersection of new functionality in terms of applications that can be built as a result of AI crossed with novel distribution tactics, largely pioneered by e-commerce people.
And so when you take the two of those together, it creates for this this space where you have like a small proportion of kids, essentially like age 18 to 22. I myself, I'm 23 that are kind of running the entire the entire space and at the forefront of it.
Absolutely, man. And I think a lot of people like me who are in my 30s and I'm sure people listening in their 40s, 50s, 60s are kind of like, what's going on? uh, with the TikTok kids. And, um, it's interesting to see that a lot of the products have AI with it. I mean, I'm not surprised, but, um, yeah. What's your take on that?
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