I vibe coded a $20K/month mobile app in 14 days

Connor

• Background and Origin Story
  • Started entrepreneurship about three years before the interview after watching YouTube videos and staying optimistic about what he was building.
  • Had no computer science background before building apps.
  • Got his first app idea in the middle of the night and wrote it down in his notes.
  • Sold random items and did small tasks to get an old MacBook so he could build iOS apps.
  • Spent six to eight months building a social app called Hotspot Events, which failed.
  • Moved from social apps to utilities and tools because they were easier for one person to scale.
• Pivotal Moments and Turning Points
  • Built several mobile apps that generated more than $1 million in revenue.
  • Built his latest app, Payout, in less than two weeks using AI.
  • Entered Payout in the RevenueCat Shipaton competition.
  • Won first place for the Build and Grow award out of more than 55,000 entrants.
  • Received a $65,000 grand prize for the app with the most growth over the two-month period.

Products and Offerings

• Payout
  • Built Payout as a class action lawsuit discovery app.
  • Helped users find class action lawsuits that may apply to them.
  • Listed lawsuits with descriptions and eligibility requirements.
  • Let users fill out forms and prepare PDFs to mail in for settlement claims.
  • Included a wallet tab to track class action lawsuits users were applying for.
  • Included a forms tab where users could view completed forms.
• Onboarding and Monetization
  • Built an onboarding flow with activity notifications, social proof, and a paywall.
  • Offered weekly and yearly subscription options.
  • Prioritized yearly subscriptions because they had higher lifetime value.

Metrics and Financials

• Portfolio
  • Built around six apps.
  • Generated more than $1 million in subscription revenue across his apps.
  • Said his apps do over $1 million in sales per year.
• Payout
  • Launched Payout at the beginning of August.
  • Scaled Payout to $20,000 per month in revenue.
  • Reached more than 12,000 downloads.
  • Added more than 300 new subscriptions.

Strategy and Growth

• Revenue-First App Design
  • Designed apps to make money from day one.
  • Downloaded around 20 apps in the target niche plus visually strong apps from other categories.
  • Screenshotted every page and onboarding flow, then organized them in Figma.
  • Borrowed the strongest onboarding ideas and redesigned them into his own theme and aesthetic.
  • Spent major effort on onboarding because most users may only see onboarding before the paywall.
• Onboarding Principles
  • Invoked emotion because consumer purchases are often emotional.
  • Showed the strongest incentives and explained how the app improves the user’s life.
  • Made the app feel personalized to the user.
  • Added charts and graphs so the app felt more scientific and proven.
• Validation
  • Treated modified versions of existing apps as already validated by the market.
  • Looked on TikTok and Instagram for signs that people were discussing the problem when building something new.
  • Checked comments for questions that showed users wanted a solution.
  • Skipped waitlists because apps can now be built quickly enough to test by launching.
  • Believed even small app ideas can make thousands of dollars if they reach a tiny segment of a large market.
• Marketing
  • Used influencer campaigns to launch Payout.
  • Partnered with a creator already in Payout’s niche.
  • Used influencer videos to drive thousands of downloads.
  • Looked for relatable, viral content that felt natural and unprocessed.
  • Repeated content formats that worked with additional creators.
  • Built a library of UGC that could later become paid ads.
  • Aimed to reach paid ads because he saw them as the most consistent path to revenue growth.
  • Focused on Facebook ads that balanced entertainment with conversion.

Tech Stack and Infrastructure

• Design and Coding
  • Used Figma for UI design, app store screenshots, and app icons.
  • Used Claude Code for AI coding.
  • Built websites and backends with Next.js and TypeScript.
  • Used Vercel for hosting.
  • Used GitHub for version control and hosting workflow.
  • Used Expo for cross-platform build management.
• Analytics and Subscriptions
  • Used Mixpanel for analytics.
  • Used RevenueCat for subscription analytics and pricing testing.
• Vibe Coding Workflow
  • Designed data structures before coding.
  • Created text documents with explanations, JSON data shapes, and attribute notes for the AI.
  • Started by building core functionality before onboarding.
  • Dropped screenshots into Claude or Cursor and iterated until screens were close enough to ship.
  • Avoided being too picky so he could release a working version quickly.

Lessons and Advice

• What Makes Payout Work
  • Chose a value proposition tied to a core human desire: making more money.
  • Believed people are more willing to pay for an app when they expect it to help them make money.
  • Focused on apps that touch strong desires such as health, money, or attractiveness.
• Founder Advice
  • Recommended building something simple with a great onboarding.
  • Said simple apps can make a lot of money with only one to three strong features.
  • Believed onboarding can carry much of the conversion work.