He made $2.2M from building simple apps. Here's how (no-code)

SUMMARY

Joseph Choi interviews Dan Kwon, who built apps like Kunch AI generating $2.2M via viral videos tapping cultural frustrations, sharing tactics for quick launches, authentic content, and monetizing trends without coding expertise.

STATEMENTS

Dan Kwon launched Kunch AI, his first startup, after being approached by college friends to market their ChatGPT-inspired tool for Google Docs.
Inspired by an AI detection tool, Dan and his co-founders quickly prototyped a bypass tool using Figma, leading to rapid growth.
A single viral video merging clips of a student getting caught cheating amassed over 150 million views, driving Kunch to $1M ARR in 30 days and $500K in one month.
The team faced near expulsion and a cease-and-desist from their school due to using school logos and high school students using the tool.
Kunch generated 220 million lifetime views organically, ending at $2.2M revenue before being sold early this year.
Dan transitioned to e-commerce, working on a TikTok Shop accelerator backed by Science Inc., focusing on organic strategies, affiliates, and AI automation.
For TikTok Shop, scrappy, founder-led content mimicking small businesses outperforms high-production videos, emphasizing clearance sales and authentic narratives.
Final Boss Sour candy succeeded via gamified packaging, limited drops, and videos highlighting real ingredients and flash sales, becoming the top food brand on TikTok Shop.
Dan built Arise, a Solo Leveling-inspired fitness app, leveraging anime fans' desire for real-life leveling systems, achieving 50K monthly revenue through influencer partnerships at $1-2 CPM.
Shepherd, a Duolingo-style Bible study app, hit 75K MRR in 14 days with 20 million views from seven scrappy videos, gamifying faith via Tamagotchi mechanics.
Viral content for apps relies on "us versus them" positioning, tapping emotions like outrage against bureaucracy or AI in education.
Dan's approach involves "Frankensteining" viral clips related to the app's theme, stitching hooks from existing content for authenticity.
Modern AI tools enable shipping products in weeks, allowing solo or small teams to prototype and launch quickly without massive resources.
Building a movement or joining an existing cult, like student frustration or Christian revival, drives long-term engagement over one-off virality.
For marketing, start with founder-led content to test formats, avoiding paid ads until five winning videos are found.
Retention cracks appear after initial virality, emphasizing the need for strong social loops and user feedback integration.

IDEAS

Viral success stems from spotting pre-peak cultural waves, like student anti-busy work sentiment, before competitors saturate them.
Merging unrelated viral clips creates "Frankensteined" content that feels hyper-authentic, boosting views by evoking raw emotions like school frustration.
Snapchat trends bubble up to TikTok and Instagram, providing marketers with alpha by adopting low-fi, native-style captions and filming for realism.
Us-versus-them positioning exploits human gossip instincts, where outrage against one side (e.g., academia) rallies users to your movement.
Scrappy, founder-led videos outperform polished ads by conveying genuine excitement, especially for Gen Z audiences who prioritize vibes over production.
Gamification extends beyond apps to physical products like candy, using character branding and drops to build hype akin to streetwear.
Influencer deals at low CPMs can scale to high RPMs by targeting niche cults, like anime fans, for efficient cold starts.
Pausing hacky UGC for purpose-driven apps shifts focus to organic social loops, like prayer buddies, for sustainable K-factor growth.
AI detection bypass tools remain viable amid ongoing professor resistance to ChatGPT, indicating persistent demand in education hacks.
Christian revival offers untapped momentum for faith apps, combining cultural shifts with personal struggles for purpose-driven virality.
Taste in design and content requires bold opinions; diversity in creator outputs leads to superior amalgamations of styles.
Listening to community feedback, like ditching AI features amid backlash, preserves authenticity in movement-based products.
Incubation thrills lie in zero-to-one cold starts, but long-term dives into inefficiencies (e.g., schools) demand deeper commitments.
Content market fit emerges from posting raw product shares and stitching community phrases, gathering data without overthinking formats.
E-commerce and apps share marketing DNA: organic virality first, then affiliates, avoiding paid until conversion formats solidify.

INSIGHTS

Cultural momentum waves, when ridden early, amplify organic reach exponentially, turning niche frustrations into broad movements without ad spend.
Authenticity in content arises from leaning into extremes—cringe or hyper-real—mirroring social media's evolving native styles for subconscious trust.
Human psychology favors sided narratives; positioning your product against a common enemy fosters loyalty and gossip-driven sharing.
Founder passion as the primary marketing tool democratizes virality, as genuine ICP empathy resonates more than scripted perfection.
Gamification's power transcends digital realms, humanizing products through stories and drops that tap into collectors' and fans' psyches.
Quick prototyping with AI and Figma lowers barriers, enabling solo creators to test ideas in weeks and pivot on real user data.
Joining existing cults yields faster traction than building new ones, but blending both maximizes LTV through emotional investment.
Virality tests product viability; initial influx reveals retention flaws, underscoring social features for sustained engagement.
Opinionated taste drives innovation—diverse creator experiments yield hybrid successes, enriching the ecosystem for all.
User communities dictate evolution; heeding collective feedback aligns features with values, preventing backlash and building trust.
Marketing frameworks unify e-com and apps: scrappy organics precede scaled systems, ensuring conversions before expansion.
Purpose-driven apps demand ethical pivots, like organic social loops over hacks, to honor deeper missions like faith or education reform.

QUOTES

"In about 30 days, we hit a million ARR, did 500K in a month, and we almost all got kicked out of school and sued."
"That video is going to hit at least 10 million views."
"Humans love to gossip, humans love taking sides. Um so anything that's going viral online is often outraging one group."
"If you're a founder and you're scared to do any sort of founder marketing, then you shouldn't be building your app."
"You're either building the cult or finding the cult. And it's definitely better to build the cult in terms of long-term or in terms of LTV."
"The founder's biggest influencer in a sense like you should be willing to make the most content for your app."
"Don't touch paid until you've cracked at least five winning formats."
"All taste is is just having an opinion."

HABITS

Prototype ideas rapidly overnight using tools like Figma to capitalize on emerging trends before they peak.
Create daily UGC content as a faceless founder, testing emotional hooks from personal experiences like student frustrations.
Monitor Snapchat for nascent cultural trends, adapting low-fi caption styles and native filming to TikTok and Instagram.
Stitch viral clips related to your niche weekly, "Frankensteining" them into authentic demos that evoke outrage or excitement.
Engage directly with ICP by embodying their profile, posting raw product shares to gather format data organically.
Pause inorganic pushes for purpose-driven projects, shifting to product refinements based on community feedback loops.
Partner with niche influencers at low CPMs, converting top performers into dedicated brand accounts for sustained growth.

FACTS

Kunch AI achieved 220 million lifetime views and $2.2 million in revenue primarily through organic viral videos.
A single Kunch video garnered 150 million views by overlaying teacher audio on a cheating clip, spiking revenue to $500K in one month.
Final Boss Sour became the number one food and beverage brand on TikTok Shop via clearance sale videos and affiliate strategies.
Arise fitness app reached 50K monthly revenue with 70-80% margins, driven by anime influencer deals at $1-2 CPM.
Shepherd Bible app hit 75K MRR and 100,000 downloads in two weeks from seven videos generating 20 million views.
Duolingo faced backlash for AI-generated videos, inspiring Shepherd's lamb mascot as a "God first" alternative.
Recent AI detection bypass startups have gone viral with billions of views, amid ongoing professor resistance to ChatGPT.

REFERENCES

ChatGPT: Initial inspiration for cheating on tests and essays.
Pandora: Chrome extension for ChatGPT in Google Docs.
GPTZero: AI detection tool by Edward Tian that prompted Kunch bypass creation.
Figma: Used for prototyping Kunch overnight.
Solo Leveling: Anime series inspiring Arise fitness app's leveling system.
Duolingo: Language app model for Shepherd's gamified Bible study, with owl backlash fueling positioning.
Tamagotchi: Virtual pet concept adapted for Shepherd's soul-care mechanics.
TikTok Shop: Platform for e-commerce accelerator, including Final Boss Sour candy.
Science Inc.: Venture studio backing the TikTok Shop accelerator.
Bryce Crawford: Christian influencer whose podcast clips were stitched for Shepherd videos.
NGL, Gas App, TBH: Social apps with natural loops inspiring Shepherd's prayer buddies.
Superwall: Paywall management tool sponsoring the podcast.
Consumer Club: Community for app founders mentioned in outro.

HOW TO APPLY

Identify cultural momentum waves by scanning social media for rising frustrations or obsessions, like anti-school busy work or anime fan desires, then ideate apps that solve them directly.
Prototype minimally viable products in Figma or AI tools within days, focusing on core hooks like bypass features or gamified routines to test feasibility quickly.
Create initial content by "Frankensteining" viral clips: search phrases related to your ICP, stitch with emotional audio overlays, and post scrappily on TikTok/Instagram for authenticity.
Launch founder-led videos emphasizing us-versus-them narratives, leaning into outrage or vibes to evoke gossip, while gathering data on views and conversions without paid ads.
Partner with niche influencers at $1-2 CPM, targeting meme pages or cult communities, and convert high-performers to dedicated UGC accounts for scaled organic reach.
Analyze post-virality retention: integrate user feedback from Discord or comments to add social loops like accountability buddies, pausing hacks for purpose alignment.
Refine based on five winning formats before paid scaling, ensuring high RPMs through clearance-like urgency or movement-building to sustain MRR growth.

ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

Dan Kwon proves viral apps thrive by riding cultural waves with scrappy, authentic content and quick AI-assisted launches.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Prioritize organic virality over ads, testing five content formats first to ensure high conversions before scaling.
Build or join niche cults by embodying your ICP's emotions, using us-versus-them stories to foster loyalty.
Embrace founder marketing: share raw excitement about your product to resonate with Gen Z vibes, no polish needed.
Leverage AI for rapid prototyping and automation, shipping in weeks to outpace saturated markets.
Listen to community feedback rigorously, pivoting features like ditching controversial AI to align with user values.
Gamify products with drops, characters, or loops to extend engagement, drawing from apps to e-com tactics.
Stitch existing viral hooks for content, adapting Snapchat trends to create hyper-real demos that drive downloads.
Target underserved movements like faith revivals or education reform for purpose-driven, high-LTV opportunities.
Convert influencers to full-time creators for dedicated brand growth, focusing on low-CPM niches for efficient ROI.

MEMO

In the high-stakes world of mobile apps, where fortunes can pivot on a single viral clip, Dan Kwon has mastered the art of turning cultural undercurrents into million-dollar ventures. As a college student thrust into tech by ChatGPT's allure, Kwon co-founded Kunch AI in early 2023—a sly tool to bypass AI detection in academic writing. What began as a side hustle exploded when a cleverly edited video of a teacher berating a cheating student racked up 150 million views, propelling the app to $1 million in annual recurring revenue within 30 days and nearly $500,000 in its peak month. Yet success came with peril: the team faced expulsion threats and a cease-and-desist from their university, highlighting the razor-thin line between innovation and institutional backlash.

Kwon’s genius lies not in code—he admits knowing little at the start—but in decoding social media’s emotional pulse. He "Frankensteins" viral snippets, overlaying raw audio like a professor’s anti-AI rant onto classroom drama to craft content that feels like a friend’s Snapchat story. This low-fi authenticity, drawn from Snapchat’s unpolished ethos, bubbles up to TikTok and Instagram, where it outperforms glossy ads. For Kunch, tapping widespread student rage against "busy work" useless for real jobs built a movement, amassing 220 million lifetime views and $2.2 million in revenue before an acquisition. Kwon sold amid legal skirmishes, learning early lessons about naive branding that exposed them on LinkedIn.

Venturing into e-commerce, Kwon accelerated TikTok Shops, backing brands like Final Boss Sour, which dominated the platform’s food category through gamified candy drops and founder-shot videos in makeshift kitchens. Here, scrappy narratives of "real fruit, not junk" paired with flash sales mimicked streetwear hype, converting views to sales far better than high-production efforts. Kwon sees no divide between apps and goods: both thrive on small-business vibes and urgency, like clearance hooks that boost algorithmic visibility. His playbook? Post relentlessly as the founder, the ultimate influencer, channeling genuine ICP empathy—whether anime obsessives craving real-life leveling or small merchants battling big retail.

Kwon’s portfolio brims with such opportunistic strikes. Arise, a fitness app inspired by the anime Solo Leveling, rode season-two buzz to $50,000 monthly revenue via influencer tie-ups at bargain CPMs, targeting superfans yearning for in-app progression. Then came Shepherd, a Tamagotchi-esque Bible study tool launched amid Christian revival waves. In two weeks, seven stitched videos—pulled from influencer clips and Bible-reading hooks—garnered 20 million views, 100,000 downloads, and $75,000 in monthly recurring revenue. Positioning the app’s lamb avatar against Duolingo’s "canceled" AI owl cleverly exploited backlash, though Kwon later axed an AI chat amid Discord uproar, prioritizing user purity.

These rapid builds, often two-week sprints with AI aids, underscore Kwon’s zero-to-one ethos. Yet he warns of post-virality pitfalls: initial rushes expose retention gaps, demanding social loops like Shepherd’s prayer buddies for viral coefficients. Pausing hacky UGC for deeper purpose, Kwon now eyes long-haul projects—perhaps reforming education’s flaws—over fleeting hacks. For aspiring builders, his advice cuts clear: embody your audience, post raw to find content fit, and shun paid ads until formats convert. In an AI-fueled bubble echoing the dot-com era, Kwon’s scrappy alchemy shows anyone can launch lean empires, if they surf the right waves with unfiltered heart.