Roger Chen - How I Built the #1 App on The App Store (Twice)

Roger Chen built two consumer social apps that hit #1 on the App Store. Lobby reached 500,000 daily active users across five countries. Bro, his AI companion app, topped the US charts. The wild part? He validated both ideas before writing production code.

In this episode of The Superwall Podcast, Joseph sits down with Roger to break down his unconventional playbook. Watch the full conversation here. Roger's refreshingly transparent about what actually works versus what's just noise—from using PowerPoint mockups that hit 7.9 million views on TikTok to the exact growth feature that made Lobby explode across multiple countries.

Here's what Roger covers:

• Pre-validating products with PowerPoint mockups before building anything—his co-founder filmed fake prototypes using Protoy that looked real enough to test user interest at scale
• Why ads are for validation, not scaling—spending a few thousand dollars on TikTok ads gives you instant feedback instead of burning months building in isolation
• The group picture feature that changed everything—Lobby users could take synchronized boomerangs during video chats, share to Instagram Stories with watermarks, creating FOMO for friends not in the hangout
• Network density as the real growth lever—Lobby struggled for a year until it went viral in Israel, where 60% of users got five friends on day one (versus 20% elsewhere), leading to 25-30% 90-day retention
• How one viral TikTok mockup hit 7.9M views—the Bro concept resonated even though viewers spotted it was staged, proving the idea worked before any code was written
• Scaling with 50 TikTok creators testing formats—Roger admits he couldn't predict what would work, with some "ridiculous" concepts hitting 2.3M views while polished ideas flopped
• The one-minute call that solved temporal density—forcing everyone online at the same random moment each night, inspired by BeReal's synchronous magic
• Using AI to create context, not content—Bro floats over your texts and apps as an ambient companion that augments social interactions instead of replacing them

Whether you're validating your first app idea or trying to crack product-led viral growth, this episode shows you the exact playbook Roger used to hit #1 on the App

Start building & deploying paywalls in 10 minutes flat: https://superwall.com/

Join a community of world class consumer app founders and growth hackers: https://joinconsumerclub.com/

Superwall gives you full control over your mobile app paywalls — so you can build, test, and optimize native paywall experiences without needing to ship a new app update. Whether you're launching your first app or scaling to millions of users, Superwall helps you grow faster, smarter, and with less code.

Learn more and create a free account at superwall.com
Follow us on X: @Superwall

Enjoying the show?

If you’re finding value in the Superwall Sessions, leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts — it helps mo...

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:42 The Vision Behind Lobby & Bro
• 1:37 Validating Ideas Without Building
• 3:24 How Bro Hit #1 on the App Store
• 5:09 TikTok Strategy & Creator Scaling
• 8:51 Using Ads for Fast Product Feedback
• 12:04 What Actually Went Viral
• 15:55 Making Online Conversations Feel IRL
• 20:01 Lobby’s Breakout Growth Story
• 23:02 The Group Picture Viral Loop
• 27:47 Designing Spontaneous Social Experiences
• 29:01 The Future of Social + AI
• 37:33 Advice for Consumer App Builders
• 40:52 Final Thoughts & Next Steps