Welcome

Whats up! Welcome to Wouters blog. It’s Friday! That means i’m going to be covering:

• Big Breakdown of Viral Growth Hacks

This is going to be a newsletter not like you are used to.

At the start of this week i covered the biggest media deals happening right now. On Wednesday I covered how A16z is actually a media company that monetizes through venture capital.

But today. Today i'm doing something different. Every friday i do a person/topic deep-dive. Today that deep dive is on AI Girflriends.

After a post went viral last week i did a bit of digging and thought about the company that Nikita Beer should start.

P.s, I’m building this newsletter in public! If you want to see the behind the scenes, follow me on twitter..

Follow me booty here lad.

INTRO
Who the f*ck is Nikita Bier?

A Sillicon Valley sh*t posting legend who founded several companies. Most known for starting the same company twice and selling both for $40M+ combined.
The original company was called 'tbh'. It was a social media app that enables people to exchange compliments through polls. After a ton of struggle, in 9 weeks it had over 2,500,000 daily active users and 5M downloads.

It got bought by FaceBook after 48 days for $30 Million! It got shut down in 2018, Bier left FaceBook in 2021 to work on his next project...

In 2022 Nikita launches Gas. The same idea as TBH, only Gas has a paywall that allows users to pay to see who complimented them. By Oct ‘22 Gas had overtaken TikTok and BeReal, placing #1 in the App Store. 2 months after its launch, it had 1M active users and 30K new users per hour.

In January 2023 it got bought by Discord for $11M+

Ok now that you know the man the myth the legend. Here is the opportunity at hand.

The Trend
The A.i. Girlfriend trend

As kinda depressing as it is -- the fake AI's are going to take over the online dating world in a way. You're already seeing it with Onlyfans creators hiring remote workers to talk to fans as if it was them.

This will be amplified by A.i. that are infinitely more scaleable / customizable. We saw this with a tweet that went viral a few weeks ago of a talking cartoon (yeah a cartoon....).

As popular host of My First Million Shaan Puri said; the next zuckerberg is up all night, coding up an AI girlfriend/boyfriend.

• Steve Jobs fixed boredom (phone)

• Zuck fixed people watching (FB/IG)

• Speigel fixed flirting (Snap)

• The next one will fix loneliness. (or make it worse...)

Now i care less about the application of Ai to dating, what fascinates me is Nikita Beers ability to make things go viral. And i think these two are a really great pair.

Here are the two paths i can see Nikita taking if he did this, and what we can learn from it as we try to grow our own products userbases.

#1 The Path to Virality

Nikita Bier has the unique insight into what it takes to make an appl go viral.

His philosophy is simple yet kinda profound:

His critique of temporary boosts, which he dubs "Spotify Wrapped syndrome," (lol great name) underlines the transient nature of short-term success.

The approach he uses is to focus on making the main content inherently shareable. An ethos that has guided platforms like TikTok and Instagram to astronomical growth.

He argues that chasing anything else leads to "phantom validation,". Basically a fleeting sense that something is working when, in reality, it's not sustainable. Bad combination!

Bier created inherent growth with his previous apps. That's why he sold it within 60 days for $30M to facebook. Gas for example used network effects:

That's viral growth. Now this strategy isn't just about about growth. It's about a self-sustaining cycle of engagement. The path to creating a viral sensation, as Bier sees it, is not for the faint-hearted. It demands a relentless, all-consuming commitment.

He lays out stark terms for those daring to join his ventures:

"You will work for 10 hours a day for 7 days a week and put all other life plans on hold for 4 months."

This uncompromising approach is mirrored in his attention to detail. For Bier, the difference between a failing app and a viral phenomenon can be as minute as "an extra invite button or ranking contacts correctly." That's exactly why he would be perfect for such a huge trend (AI) and help make it work.

Bier emphasizes the often-overlooked aspect of accessibility. In a revelation from testing Gas, he noted that a significant portion of users utilized Zoom-mode. This led his team to prioritize this feature and subsequently witnessing a notable uptick in their K-factor. Basically their growth factor.

So the creation of an AI girlfriend that goes viral isn't just a fanciful notion but probably a reality if Beer is at the helm.

He has the methods, understanding of network effects and an immense tailwind to make it work.

#2 He said he might do it lol

That's it. That's the entire second point.

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BEFORE YOU GO!

Don’t forget

Don’t forget to come back next week for Mondays newsletter where I will cover:

• An insane newsletter sales secret.

• The deals of this week, and

• Everything trending right now!

Talk soon have a great weekend 🙂