In a recent podcast with Brett Malinowski, Blake Anderson, a 23-year-old tech entrepreneur, shared his journey of building and scaling consumer mobile apps.
Despite being non-technical, Blake used AI to create all his apps. Here's the deep dive into his story.
Starting Out: The Birth of RizzGPT
Fascinated by the AI, Blake started experimenting and soon saw an opportunity to solve a common problem - helping guys reply to girls on dating apps.
Blake developed RizzGPT (later renamed FlowGPT), an app that used ChatGPT to generate personalized responses for dating app messages.
And, the best part? He did it on his own using AI, without being able to code. Madness!
Users could upload screenshots of their conversations, and the app would use AI to analyze the text and suggest replies. Initially, the responses were robotic, but through prompt engineering, Blake refined the outputs to make them sound more human and engaging.
The app's simplicity and clear use case resonated with users. Blake's marketing strategy was equally innovative. He identified influencers creating "Rizz" content - videos showcasing successful flirtatious conversations - and paid them $50 each for promotions. The influencers he chose had a high view to follower ratio, and since the app was so aligned to the audience, the strategy paid off spectacularly.
The two sponships for $50 each generated 200,000 downloads in a week and propelling the app to $80,000 in the first month. Those two videos made almost $200,000!.
Scaling Up: The Rise of umax
Building on the success of RizzGPT, Blake launched umax, an app focused on "looks maxing," a trend aimed at improving one's appearance. Umax provided personalized recommendations based on users' photos, analyzed by GPT Vision, a cutting-edge image recognition API.
The idea for umax was sparked by observing the rising popularity of looks maxing content on social media. Blake partnered with influential figures in the community, including Sam Zia, to gain traction. This strategic partnership helped umax generate significant revenue - $100,000 in the first month, $200,000 in the second, and over $500,000 monthly subsequently.
The Vision for Apex
With two successful apps under his belt, Blake turned his attention to a grander vision: Apex. Apex aims to be an all-in-one self-actualization ecosystem, offering tools and content to help people improve their lives holistically. Unlike typical consumer apps that prioritize profit, Apex will provide its tools and content for free, focusing on genuine value and community building.
Blake's inspiration for Apex stems from a deep belief in practical self-improvement, influenced by ancient philosophy. He plans to create content around health, fitness, nutrition, and mental well-being, emphasizing the importance of nature and balance.