Before writing any code, Mario created a fake product demo video for TikTok. The hook was: "What if you could stop your doom scrolling addiction by doing 20 push-ups?" He used an AI push-up detection clip found on YouTube, spliced it with footage of placing a phone against a wall, and ended with scrolling footage — visualizing the app's value without the app existing. The video accumulated 80K views and 500+ comments from people begging him to build it. This served as full demand validation. Once the app was built as a bare-bones MVP (just 3 screens: a half-broken push-up detector, an app-blocker selector, and the blocked screen), they launched with a second TikTok video offering the app free to anyone who downloaded within the first week. This generated 20,000–30,000 downloads immediately. Everyone after that first cohort hit a hard paywall at ~$30/year, providing the ultimate proof that users would pay.
Pushscroll
App that requires you to do push-ups before unlocking social media apps
6 moves, in order
- Pre launch / ValidationTiktok fake demo video
Mario created a fake app demo TikTok video using a found AI push-up detection clip from YouTube, combined with phone-against-wall and scrolling footage. Hook: 'What if you could stop your doom scrolling addiction by doing 20 push-ups?' No app existed yet. CTA asked viewers if they should build it.
80K views, 500+ comments begging them to build the app - Pre launch / Community BuildingDiscord community
Before the app was built, they created a Discord server to capture interested followers from the viral video, keep them updated, and convert them into launch-day users.
Warm audience primed for launch - MVP Build & LaunchTikTok — organic
Built a 3-screen MVP in ~2 weeks (push-up detector, app blocker selector, blocked screen). Launched with a TikTok video offering the app free to anyone who downloaded within the first week. All users after that hit a hard $30/year paywall.
20,000–30,000 downloads in launch weekUsers 20k users - Early GrowthTikTok — organic
Posted organic TikTok content daily, experimenting with different formats until finding ones that went viral repeatedly, then rinsing and repeating those formats.
Scaled to early MRR; one video hit 6M views converting to ~$10K MRRMRR $10k - ScalingTikTok — organic
Continued scaling organic TikTok content while optimizing the funnel from video view to paid conversion. Focused on fixing broken parts of the funnel rather than over-optimizing what already worked.
Reached $30K/month revenue, 300K downloads, ~4,000 paying customersMRR $30k Users 300k users - Scaling — Paid & InfluencerPaid ads and ugc influencers
After validating organic content formats and understanding what videos convert, they began scaling via UGC influencer collaborations and paid ads, using organic learnings to inform paid creative.
Described as 'extremely good results' — no specific numbers given
Mario had spent months prior mastering TikTok virality as a dedicated practice before meeting Alejandro, giving them a strong distribution edge. Alejandro had prior app experience, including a side project that hit 5 million downloads. They met through YC co-founder matching, combining a distribution expert with an experienced builder.
tiktok_organic
Alejandro spent months making TikToks for a prior app without knowing the audience or having distribution figured out — classic build-first, market-later approach that stalled growth. Both founders cited ignoring distribution on previous startups as the reason those failed.
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