How We Built a $4M/Year AI Content App
Who are you and what business did you start?
My name is Naz, I run Poppy AI with my cofounder Qazi, where we help creators make viral content & ads with AI, while saving 100s of hours/mo.
Together, 5 years ago we started a YT channel and grew it to 1M subscribers
And we absolutely hated running it 😢
So 2024, we quit everything, broke up with our girlfriends, moved to SF, with a dream of building a SaaS that we both USE every single DAY!
In the span of 6 months, we tried building multiple tools, and all failed 😔
One day...
Qazi my cofounder proposed an idea.
We hated using ChatGPT because it felt linear and restricted
But we loved whiteboard tools like Miro and Whimsical
What if we built an AI tool that combines both Miro and ChatGPT together.
And that's what we did!
Sept 2024 we were 2 months away from bankruptcy, when a tiktok went viral, and in 10 days we made $100K.
Today we have about 5,000 creators and make about $400K/mo!
And we are the only AI Collaborative whiteboard tool that allows you bring in Instagram, TikTok, Facebook Ads, Youtube, LinkedIn, and any video content to model and create new viral content!
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How do you come up with the idea for GetPoppy AI?
My name is Naz, I run Poppy AI with my cofounder Qazi, where we help creators make viral content & ads with AI, while saving 100s of hours/mo.
Together, 5 years ago we started a YT channel and grew it to 1M subscribers
And we absolutely hated running it 😢
So 2024, we quit everything, broke up with our girlfriends, moved to SF, with a dream of building a SaaS that we both USE every single DAY!
In the span of 6 months, we tried building multiple tools, and all failed 😔
One day...
Qazi my cofounder proposed an idea.
We hated using ChatGPT because it felt linear and restricted
But we loved whiteboard tools like Miro and Whimsical
What if we built an AI tool that combines both Miro and ChatGPT together.
And that's what we did!
Sept 2024 we were 2 months away from bankruptcy, when a tiktok went viral, and in 10 days we made $100K.
Today we have about 5,000 creators and make about $400K/mo!
And we are the only AI Collaborative whiteboard tool that allows you bring in Instagram, TikTok, Facebook Ads, Youtube, LinkedIn, and any video content to model and create new viral content!
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How did you build the initial version of GetPoppy AI?
Naz and his cofounder Qazi built the initial version of GetPoppy AI by combining elements from tools like ChatGPT, Miro, and Whimsical. They used a tech stack that allowed them to create an AI collaborative whiteboard tool that integrates with various social media platforms. The first prototype likely involved testing different AI algorithms to optimize content creation. It took them around 6 months to iterate and develop the final product. The experience of building it was challenging, with multiple failed attempts before finding the right combination of features to make it successful.
How did you launch GetPoppy AI and get initial traction?
We tried making videos on YT!
We tried running webinars for content creators and copywriters
We tried selling on the street even, but it was barely selling 😆
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DC0ntdwRJjn/?igsh=aWhhMTJqZGl3MWJh
After 3 months of trying to sell, we finally hit something.
What worked was a creator made a video and that made $200K+ in 2 months
https://www.tiktok.com/@teach2ai/video/7413139900393868550
We doubled down on that strategy and now we are doing around $400k/mo with 100s of creators and affiliates making content 🔥
What we learned is that the whole time we were selling to the wrong audience.
We learned that on short form people learn about the product, and on youtube people buy the product.
What we also learned is when building a product, focus on founder fit vs product market fit! Happy to dive deeper into it 🔥
What was the growth strategy for GetPoppy AI and how did you scale?
Now how we are growing the business is just doubling down on what works, affiliates and influencers.
We put together an affiliate program in a way that allows creators to make hundreds and thousands
We had one creator make $40K in one month in commissions
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Another creator made $10K/mo in commissions
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and so many more making hunders and thousands
In fact, our own customers are our biggest speakers
They love our product so much that 30% of our revenue comes from referrals
And the reason for that is because we are doing something that nobody else is doing
We are building a SaaS with a community
We have all of our customers in a Telegram community
We do 1 on 1. onboardings with every customer
We run community calls every week
And we make updates to the app every week based on customer feedback 🔥
And I think is is another huge reason so many people are buying our product daily
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What were the biggest lessons learned from building GetPoppy AI?
I think the biggest lesson we learned from starting Poppy is to just build something that you yourself would use
You don't have to guess what features to build
You don't have to guess the customer's paint point
Because your building the product for the founders
Second lesson we learned is you need to be as close as possible with the customer
When we had a big wave of customers, my cofounder and I were doing 30 onboarding calls per day for 2 weeks
In those 2 weeks, we learned so much about our customer and what they want
and because we got so close to our customer they became our biggest fans 🔥
Third lesson I learned, is scaling through others is easier then through yourself haha
Influencer marketing is best way to scale a saas if your building for B2C!
4th lesson we learned that goes against what EVERYBODY says is price your product as expensive as possible
Everybody trying to do free trials, price at $10/mo, and this is the reason their saas will fail
Instead you want to go the Tesla route, sell a very expensive product first so that you can sell a cheaper product later.
These are some of the lessons we learned and I'm happy to share more
GetPoppy AI Acquisition: How much did GetPoppy AI sell for and what was the acquisition price?
We are a fully bootstrapped company!
Our goal is to take this to a billion dollar evaluation
If someone offers us a billion dollars then yes my cofounder and I will probably sell
Besides that we are just focused on growing the product and the customer base 🔥
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More about GetPoppy AI:
Who is the owner of GetPoppy AI?
Naz Dumanskyy is the founder of GetPoppy AI.
When did Naz Dumanskyy start GetPoppy AI?
2024
How much money has Naz Dumanskyy made from GetPoppy AI?
Naz Dumanskyy started the business in 2024, and currently makes an average of $4.8M/year.
