This app made over $1M
Starter Story
Aug 31, 2025
Ania Wysocka experienced a panic attack in university and decided to build a mental health app. Today, Rootd has been downloaded more than 4M times, and has made over $1M!
🛠️ Want to build your own app with AI? Check out Starter Story Build → https://build.starterstory.com/build/ai-build-accelerator?utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=ania
Check out Rootd: https://www.rootd.io/
Follow Ania's journey: https://x.com/aniamargaret
🔔 Follow the Second Channel: @StarterStoryBuild
🏁 We're hiring: starterstory.com/jobs
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:55 - Who is Ania & what she built
1:11 - Idea for Rootd
1:51 - How Ania validated the idea
2:40 - Ania's validation framework
3:16 - Building as a non-technical person
4:11 - Building the full app
5:10 - Growth timeline of Rootd
5:38 - Building alongside a 9-5
6:29 - Build your own app
7:10 - Growth: from 0 to 4M downloads
8:42 - Growth hack: being helpful on social media
9:18 - Ania's successful app playbook
10:32 - The most important metric
11:28 - What is Rootd
13:03 - Listen to users
14:26 - The final word
This video is an educational case study of one founder’s experience. It is not financial advice and does not guarantee any income or results. Every business is different and your results may vary.
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I
am
the
founder
of
Rooted
It's
been
downloaded
over
four
million
times
and
made
over
a
million
in
revenue
Meet
Anya
She
built
an
iPhone
app
with
no
coding
experience
that's
been
downloaded
over
four
million
times
I
don't
have
any
technical
background
so
I
basically
started
taking
what
I
thought
thought
would
be
helpful
and
I
started
drawing
it
out
in
a
notebook
But
what's
more
important
than
how
she
built
it
is
how
she
found
the
idea
In
my
fourth
year
of
university
I
actually
got
a
panic
attack
In
this
episode
we
dive
into
how
Anya
turned
a
very
painful
experience
into
an
app
that
has
generated
over
a
million
dollars
Specifically
Anya
breaks
down
how
to
know
if
a
problem
you
experienced
might
be
worth
turning
it
into
an
app
how
she
built
it
without
being
an
experienced
app
developer
and
the
four
step
framework
she
used
to
get
millions
of
users
Let's
dive
in
I'm
Pat
Walls
and
this
is
Starter
Story
Welcome
Anya
to
the
channel
Tell
me
about
who
you
are
what
you
built
and
what's
your
story
Hey
my
name
is
Anya
and
I'm
the
founder
of
Rooted
for
panic
attack
and
anxiety
relief
Since
launching
in
2019
it's
been
downloaded
over
four
million
times
and
made
over
a
million
in
revenue
I
mean
wow
that's
insane
Four
million
downloads
on
an
app
that
you
built
Can
you
tell
me
about
how
this
all
started
How
you
even
came
up
with
the
idea
to
build
something
like
this
Yeah
in
my
fourth
year
of
university
university
I
actually
got
a
panic
attack
seemingly
out
of
nowhere
I
had
no
idea
what
they
were
before
and
I
was
far
away
from
home
I
had
no
family
doctor
and
I
really
struggled
to
find
the
resources
that
I
needed
to
get
better
So
as
I
was
looking
through
the
app
stores
and
looking
online
for
something
to
help
I
realized
that
there's
nothing
that
really
spoke
to
me
Things
Things
were
really
either
clinical
or
there
were
hypnosis
based
apps
and
it
just
really
wasn't
what
I
was
looking
for
So
that's
why
I
figured
I
had
something
to
launch
here
I
mean
I
think
what
you
did
is
awesome
is
that
you
actually
had
this
personal
problem
this
very
painful
personal
problem
and
then
you
decided
to
build
something
I
guess
my
question
is
how'd
you
get
the
confidence
to
know
that
this
was
something
worth
building
How
did
you
like
validate
validate
that
this
could
be
something
that
could
be
big
Yeah
so
my
idea
at
the
time
was
to
download
and
try
existing
apps
And
I
noticed
a
common
theme
in
the
user
reviews
that
there's
gap
when
it
came
to
identifying
what
a
panic
attack
is
and
also
solutions
for
how
to
basically
get
through
a
panic
attack
in
the
moment
And
I
put
together
a
really
early
version
of
Rooted
a
prototype
an
MVP
type
solution
And
the
first
few
hundred
users
said
that
even
though
there
was
still
some
lagging
some
bugs
some
incomplete
parts
they
really
wanted
me
to
keep
going
with
it
And
that
was
super
encouraging
What
would
be
your
advice
to
someone
who
let's
say
they
do
have
a
personal
problem
like
a
painful
problem
like
mental
health
thing
or
something
like
that
What
would
be
your
advice
on
how
to
like
validate
that
this
is
something
worth
building
Yeah
I'd
say
if
you
are
passionate
about
solving
a
problem
then
really
launching
with
just
an
MVP
to
get
that
feedback
out
there
For
me
I
think
I
was
just
like
obsessed
with
getting
the
idea
out
there
And
I
really
didn't
then
listen
to
the
naysayers
as
much
because
I
was
like
I
need
to
prove
this
out
myself
So
if
you're
confident
that
other
people
are
experiencing
your
problem
it's
worth
just
launching
an
MVP
to
see
if
what
you've
created
will
help
them
Okay
well
perfect
segue
on
that
Let's
talk
about
how
you
built
that
MVP
how
you
built
the
first
version
of
that
app
I
understand
that
you
don't
have
a
technical
background
You're
not
a
programmer
or
coder
How
did
you
do
it
How
did
you
build
something
worth
using
I
basically
started
taking
what
I
thought
would
be
helpful
and
I
started
drawing
it
out
in
a
notebook
And
I
was
thinking
about
the
way
I
wanted
the
information
to
be
presented
what
would
be
most
helpful
for
me
in
that
moment
of
a
panic
attack
How
do
I
keep
things
super
simple
in
the
app
when
somebody's
really
overwhelmed
as
they're
using
it
And
so
I
took
these
ideas
and
sketches
from
my
notebooks
And
then
I
taught
myself
how
to
basically
create
them
as
wireframes
in
Photoshop
and
Illustrator
And
then
I
went
to
an
agency
and
I
could
not
afford
to
work
with
the
agency
So
that
certainly
sent
me
back
time
wise
But
then
at
one
point
a
student
developer
said
that
he
would
love
to
work
with
me
And
so
that's
how
I
was
able
to
finally
launch
that
first
MVP
Yeah
if
you
could
just
give
me
a
breakdown
of
how
long
this
took
how
much
did
you
actually
spend
to
get
this
prototype
put
together
What
did
that
look
like
With
the
student
developer
what
I
did
was
I
just
put
in
all
my
savings
As
a
non
technical
founder
it
just
took
a
few
months
once
I
actually
had
the
developer
And
that's
because
all
of
the
content
all
of
the
wireframes
before
then
were
already
created
I
did
want
to
learn
enough
to
at
least
least
be
able
to
communicate
what
I
wanted
better
I
just
sort
of
focused
a
lot
on
the
design
making
sure
all
that
was
really
simple
The
first
prototype
of
Rooted
was
essentially
the
panic
attack
button
that
would
walk
you
through
a
panic
attack
And
that
actually
hasn't
changed
a
ton
over
the
years
because
it's
really
the
core
of
Rooted
It's
the
aha
moment
that
really
resonates
with
users
What's
changed
is
the
design
and
the
way
it
looks
right
now
But
that
core
idea
of
how
to
stop
a
panic
attack
is
still
there
in
Rooted
after
all
these
years
So
I
launched
with
that
a
simple
breathing
tool
and
then
the
lessons
on
how
to
understand
panic
attacks
and
anxiety
and
where
they're
coming
from
All
right
so
you
launched
this
you
built
this
you're
getting
early
traction
Now
this
is
a
huge
app
with
millions
of
downloads
What
did
that
growth
timeline
look
like
for
you
How
long
did
it
take
So
it
started
off
quite
slow
I'd
say
in
the
first
year
we
reached
around
10
000
downloads
It
wasn't
until
year
two
or
so
that
we
reached
100
000
downloads
And
I
remember
after
that
I
guess
we
just
knew
that
there
was
a
real
demand
for
it
and
kept
going
And
I
hit
a
million
downloads
I
think
in
year
three
You
mentioned
just
a
second
ago
that
you
did
this
with
a
full
time
job
How
did
you
do
that
Yeah
so
when
I
first
started
Rooted
I
was
working
four
days
a
week
and
I
had
told
my
employers
at
the
time
that
I
was
starting
Rooted
I'm
doing
this
like
Rooted
three
days
a
week
and
this
other
job
four
days
week
So
I
basically
had
no
weekends
or
social
life
for
quite
a
few
years
I
don't
think
there's
any
shortcuts
though
I
think
that's
just
something
I
had
to
go
through
Tell
me
about
that
decision
to
go
full
time
on
Rooted
What
did
that
look
like
So
I
had
already
been
wanting
to
do
it
for
probably
a
year
before
I
did
it
Revenue
was
there
It
could
sustain
me
comfortably
for
over
a
year
Yeah
it
really
happened
when
there's
a
lot
of
shifts
at
the
other
job
and
it
just
became
a
lot
less
enjoyable
And
I
just
decided
that
now
is
time
That
was
about
three
years
ago
now
So
maybe
two
and
a
half
to
three
years
into
Rooted
All
right
before
we
get
back
to
Anya's
story
story
let's
talk
about
where
it
all
started
Anya
didn't
have
a
business
background
or
app
development
experience
She
just
had
a
painful
personal
problem
and
decided
to
build
a
solution
for
herself
And
that
simple
decision
became
a
million
dollar
app
This
is
exactly
why
we
launched
Starter
Story
Build
It's
our
flagship
program
where
you'll
learn
to
build
and
launch
your
project
using
AI
coding
tools
even
if
you
have
zero
coding
experience
In
just
a
few
weeks
you'll
go
from
idea
to
a
working
production
app
just
like
Anya
did
So
if
you're
ready
to
turn
your
problem
into
your
next
project
head
to
the
link
in
the
description
to
check
out
Starter
Story
Build
All
right
let's
get
back
to
the
episode
All
right
let's
jump
into
the
growth
side
things
I
know
that
you
grew
this
app
from
zero
to
four
million
plus
downloads
What
are
some
of
the
tactics
or
maybe
the
top
three
things
when
it
comes
to
growing
a
mobile
or
an
iPhone
app
First
it
was
active
social
media
engagement
But
I
remember
that
I
used
to
spend
literal
hours
going
through
posts
writing
helpful
comments
leaving
links
back
to
Rooted
and
really
trying
to
be
helpful
in
what
I
wrote
Secondly
I
would
say
press
releases
In
the
early
days
I
didn't
want
to
be
even
known
as
the
anxiety
girl
I
didn't
want
that
to
define
me
Then
I
realized
once
you
actually
put
your
name
to
a
story
it
does
resonate
better
with
the
audiences
I
would
find
people
online
journalists
that
wrote
about
mental
health
and
then
I
would
reach
out
to
them
either
on
LinkedIn
or
try
to
get
their
email
and
send
pitches
that
way
It
was
a
ton
of
work
because
not
many
people
ever
respond
to
me
But
what
ended
up
happening
is
every
now
and
then
we'd
get
featured
in
a
pretty
major
way
for
small
apps
We
were
in
Cosmopolitan
We've
been
in
Woman's
Health
We
were
even
in
Time
Magazine
which
was
a
big
one
All
of
that
really
happened
from
these
organic
cold
emails
Then
the
third
thing
would
be
a
huge
focus
on
app
store
optimization
I
focused
a
lot
on
making
sure
that
the
product
matches
what
the
users
users
are
looking
for
They
see
on
your
product
page
they
download
the
app
they
use
it
and
they
use
the
same
keywords
to
describe
their
experience
via
the
user
reviews
That
was
the
holy
circle
If
you
can
get
that
loop
going
I
think
it's
a
really
strong
presence
for
app
store
optimization
That's
great
Would
you
have
any
advice
for
how
to
be
helpful
in
2025
You
probably
talked
to
a
lot
of
people
that
are
just
starting
to
build
apps
What's
your
advice
on
being
helpful
and
doing
something
similar
to
what
you
did
I'd
say
not
leading
with
hey
this
is
my
app
go
download
it
but
actually
maybe
even
answering
something
like
a
question
online
that
your
app
answers
I
would
almost
take
something
from
a
rooted
lesson
Let's
say
there's
somebody
makes
a
post
saying
that
they
had
this
horrible
experience
with
anxiety
on
a
run
today
Then
I
could
share
why
that
might
have
happened
and
why
it's
normal
and
it's
okay
and
whatnot
Beyond
the
tactics
which
we
talked
a
little
bit
about
I
want
to
know
now
what's
the
strategy
What
does
it
take
to
build
a
successful
app
in
2025
What
would
be
your
playbook
that
you'd
give
to
someone
who
is
just
starting
out
today
Step
one
build
a
product
that
actually
delivers
what
your
page
promises
That'll
lead
not
only
to
more
positive
downloads
aka
people
leaving
positive
experiences
but
people
will
also
then
share
it
The
word
of
mouth
engagement
is
quite
important
Step
two
listen
to
your
users
User
reviews
are
super
important
Oftentimes
everything
you
need
to
know
is
written
in
the
user
reviews
Sometimes
your
own
assumption
of
what
a
user
needs
might
not
actually
be
what
they
do
need
Step
three
optimize
app
store
presence
continuously
Doing
a
release
frequently
shows
that
you
continue
to
work
on
the
app
I
do
one
once
every
week
That
shows
that
you're
constantly
working
on
fixing
bugs
improving
the
user
experience
Step
four
partner
strategically
Be
that
a
wellness
organization
We've
done
a
few
contracts
as
well
A
ton
of
different
therapy
groups
and
psychologist
offices
are
recommending
and
using
Rooted
This
has
been
something
that's
been
helpful
now
in
2025
One
thing
that
I'm
curious
curious
about
as
someone
who's
built
a
really
successful
app
also
helped
a
lot
of
people
build
successful
apps
what
is
the
most
important
metrics
to
be
tracking
Is
it
revenue
downloads
What
is
it
Well
for
me
and
I
think
especially
being
in
the
mental
health
space
it's
been
about
our
rating
we've
been
able
to
maintain
a
4
8
out
of
5
rating
and
this
is
really
really
important
to
me
Users
leave
comments
about
how
Rooted
has
helped
them
go
back
to
work
go
back
to
school
and
just
reclaim
confidence
in
their
lives
We've
also
realized
that
based
on
usage
that
we're
able
to
now
take
a
panic
attack
and
users
are
feeling
better
from
the
panic
attack
within
under
two
minutes
It's
just
been
really
exciting
to
work
on
that
and
kind
of
see
really
how
effective
Rooted
is
and
what
users
say
about
it
I
think
actually
our
focus
on
tracking
user
reviews
and
the
quality
of
Rooted
over
revenue
has
been
a
big
factor
as
to
why
we've
grown
All
right
so
we
talked
all
about
how
you
built
this
app
how
you
came
up
with
the
idea
how
you
grew
it
to
millions
of
users
Can
we
see
the
app
How
does
it
actually
work
Yeah
so
when
you
first
open
the
app
you're
greeted
with
this
app
mascot
named
Ron
The
main
feature
here
is
if
you're
in
the
middle
of
a
panic
attack
you'll
see
this
red
button
This
is
an
SOS
button
and
it'll
basically
ask
you
how
you're
feeling
based
on
either
wanting
to
feel
okay
in
the
moment
or
wanting
to
face
the
panic
attack
head
on
It
walks
you
through
these
prompts
which
help
to
essentially
activate
the
parasympathetic
nervous
system
and
the
parasympathetic
nervous
system
is
the
one
that
calms
us
down
There's
also
this
tool
for
deep
breathing
and
probably
my
favorite
features
are
these
lessons
There
are
actually
lessons
on
understanding
anxiety
what
the
physical
and
mental
effects
are
the
causes
and
theories
and
so
forth
We
also
have
a
journal
tool
where
you
can
kind
of
share
what
your
feelings
are
share
what
you've
accomplished
what's
weighing
you
down
what
you're
grateful
for
We
also
have
over
100
visualizations
and
sleep
sounds
And
then
most
recently
we
have
a
games
tool
and
these
are
supposed
to
be
really
simple
relaxing
games
Users
have
asked
for
this
for
many
years
so
the
idea
is
for
the
games
to
be
really
simple
things
that
you
can
play
when
you
are
on
a
plane
or
in
a
busy
subway
just
things
to
kind
of
distract
you
when
you're
feeling
a
little
anxious
in
the
moment
Now
that
we
have
as
many
downloads
as
we
have
whenever
I
launch
something
I
almost
instantly
like
within
a
week
I
get
to
see
thousands
of
people
use
it
right
So
that's
just
been
incredible
All
right
well
thank
you
showing
me
that
I
think
what
you
built
is
awesome
and
it's
an
amazing
tool
for
millions
of
people
to
use
You've
done
it
You've
built
an
app
It's
really
successful
You
quit
your
full
time
job
and
you
do
this
for
a
living
now
What
would
be
your
advice
to
someone
who's
maybe
just
starting
out
Maybe
they've
just
started
building
an
app
or
they
have
an
idea
for
an
app
What
would
be
your
advice
to
someone
who's
starting
out
I
would
suggest
that
you
listen
to
users
very
closely
They
will
have
the
answers
you
need
They'll
help
you
know
what
to
focus
on
and
I
believe
especially
in
the
mental
health
space
at
the
end
of
the
day
that's
who
we're
most
responsible
Launching
Rooted
with
the
MVP
and
getting
that
original
feedback
I
mean
to
this
day
I
still
read
all
the
user
reviews
Even
though
I
have
somebody
else
do
the
responses
now
I
still
go
in
and
I
make
sure
I
know
what's
going
on
and
just
to
have
a
pulse
on
what
users
are
saying
I'd
also
recommend
taking
care
of
yourself
along
the
way
I
think
there
were
definitely
quite
a
few
points
where
I
almost
reached
burnout
I
was
building
something
really
intense
and
that
level
of
intensity
was
with
me
at
all
times
and
I
think
I
looking
back
I
wish
I
celebrated
a
few
of
the
smaller
moments
more
because
now
I
realize
that
those
were
like
the
most
awesome
moments
whereas
really
I
was
just
focused
on
the
next
thing
and
ready
to
get
to
the
next
thing
so
I
would
recommend
taking
care
of
yourself
and
also
celebrating
the
small
ones
Well
thank
you
Anya
for
coming
onto
the
channel
I
think
What
You
Built
is
awesome
I'm
so
excited
to
share
it
with
all
of
our
subscribers
on
YouTube
I
think
What
You
Built
is
really
in
the
world
so
thanks
for
coming
on
Thank
you
so
much
for
having
me
Thanks
again
to
Anya
for
coming
onto
the
channel
Personally
I
loved
hearing
about
how
she
grew
rooted
from
just
a
painful
personal
problem
like
a
panic
attack
into
an
app
that's
been
downloaded
over
4
million
times
and
made
over
a
million
dollars
but
reminder
it
all
started
from
finding
that
simple
problem
and
building
something
You
can't
skip
that
step
if
you
want
to
build
something
that
could
potentially
change
your
life
and
this
is
exactly
why
we
launched
launched
Starter
Story
Build
We'll
help
you
take
a
problem
from
your
own
life
and
turn
it
into
a
working
app
using
only
AI
tools
so
if
you're
ready
to
build
and
launch
your
app
just
head
to
the
first
link
in
the
description
to
check
out
Starter
Story
Build
That's
it
for
this
episode
Let
me
know
what
you
think
in
the
comments
Thank
you
again
for
watching
We'll
see
you
in
the
next
one
Peace
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