8AM Podcast with Arlin Moore
Welcome to the 8AM Podcast with Arlin Moore. In this podcast, Arlin explores the stories of people who used their mindset to carry them from a place of hardship into a place where they are happy and fulfilled. Guests include celebrities, multi-millionaires, social media stars, artists, and everyday people who have found their internal happiness and created a life they perhaps at one point never thought possible. The hope is to provide the listener with actionable advice and inspiration to inspect their own mindset to make the changes they need to achieve success and fulfillment in their own life. If you'd like to support the show and learn more about 8AM, go to 8AMhouse.com or simply share an episode with a friend!
8AM Podcast with Arlin Moore
21 Year Old Made $100,000 with 1 TikTok, Now Building Apps
Ever wondered how someone turns a single TikTok video into a $100,000 month? Or how entrepreneurs with zero coding experience build profitable apps? This candid one-on-one conversation pulls back the curtain on these exact questions.
Meet Xanth, a 21-year-old entrepreneur who recently joined the 8am community after generating six figures in profit from one viral video. Now, he's setting his sights on app development—specifically a recipe app concept that could leverage viral sharing mechanics. What unfolds is a masterclass in modern entrepreneurship as Arlin shares his own journey building Maxi, a personal development app that grew to $25,000 monthly revenue without a single line of custom code at the start.
The conversation weaves through practical advice about developer relationships (beware of "timeline leak"!), the spiritual side of idea generation, and the transformative power of simply taking action despite uncertainty. You'll hear how successful apps often start as cobbled-together solutions using tools like Webflow and Google Sheets before evolving into proper applications, and why the most valuable ideas often come as "downloads" during moments of meditation or clarity.
Whether you're looking to build an app, scale an ecommerce business, or simply understand how today's digital entrepreneurs think, this raw dialogue delivers actionable insights without the fluff. The most powerful takeaway? "If you don't know how to do something, just do it." Sometimes the simplest advice is exactly what we need to hear.
Connect with me on IG: https://www.instagram.com/arlin and Apply to 8AM World
www.8AMapp.com
Guys, welcome back to the 8am podcast. So this is a special episode because it's a one on one call with a guy named Xanth that's X-A-N-T-H. Very cool name who joined 8am world a couple weeks ago and he's coming off a $100,000 profit month in February, february. And he also, uh, previously before that was running successful econ businesses and what was really interesting about that that month he had in February was from it was literally from one TikTok video. So this guy's, like you know, he's kind of a more low key, mysterious um, you know, savant, like entrepreneur, marketer, um, but all you know, also a visionary and and what we and what we're talking about on this episode, which is a one-on-one call I do one-on-one calls with everybody who joins. We just go into some questions he had for me. I want to make it very clear, though 8am and the whole 8am members club and community it's not a coaching program, like, obviously, you know people can ask me questions and we do a weekly call, uh, but it's much closer to like a network and mastermind where you can learn just as much, if not more, from other members in the community than you can me. So, um, I mean even like I'm learning from the members as well. Like I, want to learn how he's, you know, doing this stuff. He's doing on on short form, but yeah, so we go into everything from you know next travel plans with members meeting up in Bali to you know an app idea. He wants to pivot into making apps and some experience that I've had from making profitable apps, you know, to other more like spiritual kind of acting and building, from alignment type conversation.
Speaker 1:So I hope you enjoy this. Xanth was, you know, obviously kind enough to allow us to share this with you guys, just because I thought it would be really informative and helpful to a lot of people. So I hope you enjoy it. If you do, and if you're interested in hearing more than you know, go listen to some more episodes and maybe I'll I'll do some more of these, these style where it's just like intimate one-on-one setting. So I hope you enjoy and, without further ado, let the episode begin. I'm just turning on a recorder so we can record this in case we want to put it in the GPT or whatever.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm good. I just got off a call with Andrew Clark, who's in the group. Who's an interesting guy. He's got an interesting story. It's like an automotive e-com store that's doing like two to four mil a year and he's he's going to be in Bali next month as well, along with a bunch of the other guys. How about you, bro? Where are you? Do you have any travel plans?
Speaker 2:Dude. So I was just talking to Bennett last night. Actually, we're chopping it up for a while dude bennett's a g bro.
Speaker 1:I love that kid dude.
Speaker 2:He's so cool. He really is. He's, he's really genuine. Yeah, building dope stuff. Um, he was talking about bali. He's going to bali. When? When's everyone going? I just got back from traveling. I'm like finally back. It's been two days, yeah, and now I'm like about to travel again well, I mean yeah, great, but that's what we do here. Yeah, um dude, so I am waiting on my passport right now, which sucks what?
Speaker 1:what's that?
Speaker 2:I'm waiting on my passport right now, which really sucks uh yeah yeah, but I've been traveling just in the uS.
Speaker 1:Gotcha Not fun, but passport, passports, take like what? Six weeks.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's supposed to take. It's supposed to be here in about four, but we'll see the US government slow as fuck. So yeah. Yeah, I got it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, ok, cool. Well, I mean, if you end up getting it before like mid-June, I should be out in Bali till end of June.
Speaker 2:End of June. Okay, yeah, that'll be dope bro. Yeah, I didn't know you guys were going that soon. I definitely have to go though in the future.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'll be there. Bennett's going to be there. I think like three or four other guys are all going to be there.
Speaker 2:Damn dude. I feel like I'm missing out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, dude, it's going to be fun. It's going to be a fun time. I've actually never been this time of year either, but it's.
Speaker 2:you know it's peak season, so it'll be hectic for sure, Dude, I was going to ask you how was Austin?
Speaker 1:Dude Austin was really really cool. Ask you, how was uh, how was austin dude? Austin was really really cool. It was like um, I understand why a lot of people from la moved down there. Um, it's not, it, it's not entirely what I expected. It's kind of uh, I don't know if you've been to la, but but it's kind of like a big Venice Beach sort of vibe, mixed with like a more clean city. People are just like very open into health, doing some like entrepreneurship stuff, into nature, very clean, like nice city, and then if you go on the outskirts there's definitely like a bit of the Southern kind of texas.
Speaker 1:You know hillbilly yeah but but it was cool man it was. It was a lot of fun. The event was great too dude, I'm so pissed.
Speaker 2:I missed that. I was in the middle of traveling, though, and I I wanted to go, so bad I was like, I want to go to austin too. I'm thinking about moving out there. I was talking to bennett. Apparently he's moving out there too, dude it would make sense.
Speaker 1:It would make sense for a guy like you and a guy like Bennett, I think.
Speaker 2:I mean, I honestly think I would.
Speaker 1:I would probably choose Austin over Miami. Actually, I don't know that I just have like Miami just makes me cringe.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Miami just makes me cringe. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's. I've only been to Miami once. I actually just got invited to a yacht party in mid-June. But I'm thinking about going with a group of guys to Austin because they want to look at, you know, just check out the city and move out there, yeah. So I'm like, what are the priorities? But Miami's sick, but it's kind of become the fake city in a lot of ways.
Speaker 1:A lot of real money too. People definitely make money, it's just cringey.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I feel that. Where are you at right now? I'm on Cape.
Speaker 1:Cod. I'm visiting my parents for another couple days, and then I'll be heading to New York soon.
Speaker 2:Dope my parents for another couple days and then I'll be heading to new york soon. Dope, do you have?
Speaker 1:a, you're primarily in la and new york right um, I'm not wrong. I am, uh, not really primarily anywhere right now. I've just been.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, I I've been in since, like our neighborhood burned down in LA. I've been in New York a lot and then, just you know, I was obviously in Austin. Where else have I been, I don't know. Obviously I'll be in Bali for like five or six weeks and then after that, I don't know, I'll be. Obviously I'll be in Bali for like five or six weeks and then after that, I don't know, I'll probably do a little Europe sprint. Yeah, it's just kind of the travel lifestyle, man, I mean bro, you have the life I want.
Speaker 2:I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie, bro. It's like there's nowhere. I want to live forever. You know, it's like I just want to be everywhere. Yeah it's amazing you get new environment. Just your brain thinks differently. It's great yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean it's definitely nice to have a base, like I had a base all last year. It just took me a long time to like find the place that I really wanted to be based, which I felt I found, but then you know the Palisades in LA, but unfortunately, of course, it all just burned down and now it's like there's not really anywhere else in LA that I'd like super excited to just live and have an apartment at. So, yeah, so I'm trying to figure that out. Anyway, dude, what, what do you want to like? What do you want to jam on with your stuff?
Speaker 2:So I have some, a few questions for you with. With right now, as you know, I'm doing like the, the whole TikTok shop thing, which, which is a blessing, but I'm just I want to get into apps, bro. I see the potential. I'm like, why am I going to go start a physical product If I can just do the in some ways harder barrier to entry with apps? But it's also, it's getting a lot easier now and just, instead of pushing a brand and pushing my own physical product brand, just start shipping apps and you know the cost I feel like has drastically went down from. You know, before AI.
Speaker 2:Ai has kind of helped in a lot of ways. I could be wrong, but I'm new to this. So I just want to work on apps right now and I'm actually working on, like, this recipe. I don't know if you ever heard of ResiMe app, which they just started blowing up. Essentially, creators will just post their normal post about you know, cooking and then mid kind of like Cal AI, midway through the video, through the real tiktok, whatever they will just like say, oh, and my recipes on this resi me app. It's called resi me r-e-r-e-c-i-m-e and their app sucks, to be honest, like it's. It's really not good. It's like orange, it looks like timu colors, but it's working. And what I want to do is essentially kind of use the same viral framework that NGL has, where it has like the shareable link, and that really helps. Just get you know, you post it on your story, then the other person's like oh, what's this? They want to reply, and then eventually they start using it, and it's just that chain reaction.
Speaker 2:So I sat there actually I was in the mountains for a while thinking like how can I do this same thing with the current recipe app that we have, which when we started it, like maybe a month ago, the idea was to be a fully utility app, kind of like Kali I, just zero social aspect, just full utility. And just like take pictures of recipes, use OCR, just generate the recipes from, let's say, pinterest. It extracts the image and, like, makes you a recipe for it. But then I was like this is lame, like like we're not that much different than a lot of other competitors. Yeah, we have ai, but it's not enough to really move the needle. So I sat there for a while thinking about how we could implement the social, you know, viral loop with recipes similar to how ngl kind of did it and this is where I came up with the idea of there's no hub for like recipes.
Speaker 2:Right, there's like Pinterest. There's short form content, but there's not like an essential you know hub where people go. There's really only Pinterest where like girls will look for recipes and like, oh, did you see this and that? And then they'll see short form videos. A lot of creators that do recipes will just have like uh, I guess more high end creators you can pay for their recipe on like their website or whatever it is, but the amount of people that convert, I just know, is so small because it's like some random website, you never used it, so I want to just make a hub for it.
Speaker 1:So are you technical Like, are you an engineer?
Speaker 2:I'm not an engineer, but my co-founder. We're going 50, 50. He is a complete engineer brain. He works for the government and he's I'm the designer marketer guy, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And he, he's just the full technical and helps with ideas too.
Speaker 1:And has he built any iOS apps?
Speaker 2:He has never built any iOS apps until until now. He did a like hacking stuff, so he was more like the dangerous hacker for the government and so completely different. But he's, he's all in for learning. He'll spend 20 hours at the computer, which is perfect, because I like to do things as fast as possible. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Got it Okay, yeah, which is perfect, because I like to do things as fast as possible. Yeah, got it okay, um, okay, yeah. So, yeah, cool. And how old are you again? 19, uh, I just turned 21. Oh, just 21, okay, nice, um, cool, yeah. I mean, look, I I'm never going to like discourage the building an app thing. I think there's a huge opportunity for like these kind of viral micro SaaS things. Yeah, I don't hate it at all. I think you should do it. I think, regardless of whether it succeeds or not, you learn a shit ton and you're kind of just following what's what, what's kind of exciting to you and inspiring to you right now, and you obviously are a great marketer. So, as long as the thing actually works, you'll probably be able to get some users. Yeah, I would just say, like the. The main thing is, of course, like, like. Is it actually like? Is it actually useful and addictive to use and do people actually want to share it? You know, that's kind of the main, the main challenge.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1:Like, how do you get people to keep coming back to it and using it? I actually feel like I I downloaded a similar app. It I don't think it was recipes, I think it was restaurants. Um, let me see, I think let me check shopping and food. What do I have? Oh, belly. Yeah, it's called belly. I saw it on tiktok. Yeah, b-e-l-i. Um, yeah, it's like a restaurant app, but it just sucked. Like there just weren't enough restaurants and ultimately I think I realized that, like Yelp was just all I needed and like maybe ChatGPT, but for some reason I wish I had the original, if anything, the best thing that was. Like the original reel and like the branding was good. But like I'm looking at the app now, I don't even remember like why the fuck I downloaded this. It just kind of sucks. Let me look at the app store description. Yeah, I me look at the App Store description.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm looking at it now with you.
Speaker 1:Billy, uh, track all your favorite restaurants and organize lists. Oh yeah, that's probably why I wanted to do it, because I go to all these nice restaurants and I wanted to like remember what was good at those restaurants. That's 9 000 ratings, holy shit is that a good see?
Speaker 2:like this is the stuff with apps. Like I understand physical products I was in the drop shipping, I did all that but when it comes to apps, I look at like 9 000 ratings, 4.9 stars and like that's, that's pretty good, yeah it is good, then I'll go look at like sensor tower and see how much they're doing and like the resi me app last month.
Speaker 2:I don't know how accurate sensor tower is, but they did 400k and I'm like damn. From the month before they did like 200k. I don't know how accurate sensor tower is like for tracking the actual uh revenue yeah but yeah, would you say I.
Speaker 1:I think this belly app it's just there's too much shit. One thing I learned from hunter about building apps is like you just want to simplify the fuck out of them Because, like people, are people just so dumb Like I'm, like I mean that in the nicest way possible, but like most people are, like you have to assume, like retardation, like when they're using your app.
Speaker 1:You have to assume, like if you look at NGL, if you hear hunter describe, he's like the way I designed. It is like big buttons, clear big buttons, and you can't do much. There's like a few, there's like two or three things you can actually do you yeah you have to design it in a way like the user can't get confused dude, exactly like what you just said.
Speaker 2:That's so. We built the app and it's changed over time. Now we kind of still we're still in, you know, trying to figure it out. Let me just clarify too this app is not like my long term. It was actually my mom's idea and it was like some event and my mom's like they need to make an app for this and I was like, ah, say more you know, I mean we want to eventually.
Speaker 1:I wasn't gonna critique your idea, but it one thing that did pop up to, to kind of say, was like um, like it obviously doesn't sound like something you're like super, like, like the dude the best ideas just having.
Speaker 1:You know, had a lot of ideas and things myself that I've followed and that have actually been profitable.
Speaker 1:And then like having the stories of my friends that have had ideas and have actually been profitable profitable like it typically comes from, like either like a deep meditative, like insightful inspiration, or like you're on mushrooms in the woods and like you get the download from god, or like you struggled with something as a kid for your whole life and then, like you had this eureka moment of like oh my god, this needs to exist, like holy shit, and you kind of feel like you're seeing the future before anyone else, whereas with this you're like, oh, my mom gave it to me, you know, I realized it's kind of good idea, like yeah, and and I'm on my end I'm like, well, that's like, that's fine, um, but also like it kind of already exists and like I don't know. I feel like the, the path that you're on, like you. You like, if you're going to dedicate this much time to it, you probably want to do something a bit more, um, closer to your soul, if that makes sense, like my so my first like this.
Speaker 1:This should be pretty helpful. Like my first app idea, I was eight. I was eight, I was, you know, I was still 18. Yeah, and I had just spent my whole freshman year at Boston University and I was like I was doing a bit of partying and I was also like meeting a ton of people and I was on the club hockey team and my, my role on the club hockey team was basically to um, my, my role in the club hockey team was, um, to essentially recruit like hot girls to go to the parties, like I was like a freshman and the upperclassmen was they were like you know, I was just like the social talk to everyone guy and I was like into like game and pickup and stuff. And so I was just like recruit all these girls like freshmen, sophomores, even junior girls, and I would get them all to be Facebook friends and then I would make a group on Facebook for a party and like make an event and I would invite them all and then I would print out the list and it would be at the door, like we had a door guy and he would like approve names on the list and if girls wanted to add their friends, they had to like you know Facebook, add me.
Speaker 1:And it was just this whole thing and I was like this is super inefficient. Like Facebook is not designed to throw parties and you should be able to like add plus ones. And like I had, you know, this whole mock up and I had a guy on my hockey team who was getting a job at Google, you know code it all up and I did the design and we actually got to the point where it was like it was pretty much live and ready to go and then I made a promo video for it and then at that point I just started YouTube and I just kind of forgot about it. What's funny is like like I think, ultimately what happens? I stopped doing it because it just felt like, do I really want to be a guy that like gets rich off an app that just facilitates, like drinking parties? That's kind of how I felt.
Speaker 1:Ultimately, what I realized was like, about three or four years later, partyful was founded and so it was like I was tapped into the ether, where, like the idea, I was tapped like when you're meditating and you're like, like some people do mushrooms and shit, like I don't do, I don't fuck with mushrooms. But when you're like you're actually meditating daily, you get these downloads and they just kind of hit you. You can't force them, but eventually they just kind of slap you in the face and they're available. Like they're kind of like the ideas that need to be brought into reality are sort of in the unmanifested plane, and when you're tapped in like they're just like you can kind of go and grab them. But if you don't grab them, someone else is going to grab them.
Speaker 1:So that's kind of what happened and I've noticed it happen a lot of different times. That's how I know this is like a real thing, like I've had an idea to do something and then I'm like I'm not going to do that and then, like two or three months later, I'll see like iman gaji doing it, you know like it, like someone else will get the same signal and they'll just like bring it into the reality. So my whole point in telling you this is like it's great that you know you're having these, like this idea, and I'm not going to shut it down, but I would just kind of encourage you to be open to like a pivot in where there's something and honestly, you might already kind of be even aware of it.
Speaker 2:But maybe it's a little falsier, maybe it just, but it should be something that like fuck, like this, this doesn't exist, like I want this to exist yeah, dude, I will say like so the kind of the reason, too, we started with this was we didn't want to like destroy our, our hopes and ego, like just to go with the thing. That's like the number one thing on our mind, right, right. We were kind of like let's start, cause we don't even know, can we even make an app? Like, how do we get this on the app store? You know, it's just like foreign. So I mean, I go back and forth having ideas and I'm like, dude, let's do this. You know, like the shower thoughts or the walking ideas or in the woods, and you're like, oh, this idea is great and I'm trying to stay focused, because I'm like really bad when it comes to just like I'll do a million things and finish nothing. So I've been trying to kind of force myself just to fail forward as fast as I can with something I'm not attached to. But everything you're saying is so true.
Speaker 2:Like, ultimately, my dev and I, we would like to be in like FinTech and just be. I mean, there's so many ideas out there. But you know, finances, bitcoin, like that kind of stuff. I think we're a lot more, and I say we just because we got a pretty good relationship going on when it comes to like business. But even just me, like I'm more passionate about, you know, finances right Way more than than recipes. So I'm completely with you on that and, honestly, what you just said kind of opened my mind right that there's like, if someone doesn't, if you don't, capture that idea and act on it, someone else will. So true, and I guess my question for you would be I have a lot of questions, but I want to ask the best ones. I mean, dude, like you have plenty of, have a lot of questions, but I want to ask the best ones I mean, dude, like you have plenty of time to ask me questions, but um, you know, whatever comes to mind yeah, I mean it would be like technical stuff too, just like starting.
Speaker 2:I mean, have you, what are you doing right now? I know you're just like traveling. You got this thing going on. Have you done anything in apps besides that like idea that you kind of let go? Or just software in general?
Speaker 1:yeah, yeah, I did um maxi. It was like the most successful thing okay, yeah.
Speaker 2:So I mean, with something like that, how, like, what kind of was the process? Just so I have like a framework because, arlen, I have zero clue about like apps or anything, I'm just getting into it. That's why I joined this. I'm like I don't even know anyone one else. That's like I I would listen to hunter, hunter, isaacson, you, you guys doing that podcast, and I'm like I don't know, I just need to like talk to these people.
Speaker 2:You know, I just need to like figure it out yeah, bro and I mean, what would you say is the way if you were to start over with, just even in the now, what would be like your words of advice to me, like opportunities? You don't have to give me like a clear, like this is an idea, but just a framework on how you would kind of think about where we are right now, Because I know that some opportunities like Cal AI right Was kind of an opportunity that a lot of people have had. I've even kind of thought of it, but I didn't know anything about apps and then once the technology came out, it was like who was the first person to execute and to capture the market and market it well? So I'm kind of like now. I'm like I don't know what that next thing will be and I don't also want to just be waiting for that because it may never happen.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:But like what would you say, is your framework that you would recommend? I kind of it's just like a thinking process for opportunity and to keep my eyes open when it comes to to apps and AI really.
Speaker 1:Yeah, one I would say. I would say you know, just like, literally like just take rampant action because no matter what happens with this app, even if it fails, you're going to learn some shit, Right? But simultaneously be open to like an idea that's kind of spawning into your mind from the ether, and then you hit up your developer and be like, hey man, like I know we were building this, but like I just know that this is actually what we need to do and yeah, just be like, be on the same page with him about that, because obviously he's never built an app, so a lot of the groundwork of like building an ios app he's probably gonna fuck up some shit. Like he's gonna learn and relearn and realize it's harder than he actually is. And you know, it's like dude, like develop.
Speaker 1:One thing I would definitely tell you and this is like another major lesson I've learned is when you're working with developers, you should like be very mindful of developer like timeline leak, because they'll tell you you know, oh, this is going to take, this is going to take me six weeks. And then, like it gets to six weeks and you're like where are we at? And they're like, oh well, it took a lot longer and like, actually it's going to take another two weeks. And then two weeks passed, I was like we at now it's like, ah, well, you know, I granted this thing and that thing and like, ah, it's gonna take another, like probably four weeks now actually. And then it's just, it just keeps happening. And then you get to it and you're like wow, this like isn't even exactly what I've imagined at all you know, and so um you, you wanna, um, you want to just be aware of that.
Speaker 1:Ultimately, I guess I can only really share my path, which was like I had that first app idea for the Partyful thing and I spent a year. I wasn't technical at all, I helped with the design here and there and that was a good experience. Just learning how to use Figma and working was a good experience, just learning how to use like Figma and working with a developer and like working through my ideas to translate them to him. But after about a year of doing, of doing that, you know, I started YouTube and then, I would say about a year into doing YouTube, I had the first inkling of the idea for Maxi and I was like there should be an app that makes like Napoleon Hill and like all of these you know, goal setting, um, you know personal development books like more, uh, accessible for people to like implement into their life. Like instead of reading Napoleon Hill and like doing all this shit, like you should just be able to have an app that makes it super simple, like instead of reading the Dean Zealand and and you know seven habits of highly effective people, like there should just be an app that just makes it easy for you to get your life in, like a get your life in order, and it teaches you the 80-20 principle and just has everything in order. I was like this needs to exist. It doesn't exist and I just didn't see anyone doing it. And the first thing I tried to do was a course, and I tried to sell a $50 course and keep in mind, at this time I probably had 80,000 YouTube subscribers and I was getting a ton of views, um, but I didn't know how to sell high ticket. So I tried to sell this little mini course that was basically like a shortcut version of everything I'd learned, but I didn't know how to code and I didn't want to go through the app thing again. So I just kind of kept kept going through it and you know, I had the idea was there, but I just didn't know how to action it at all.
Speaker 1:And then I graduated and then, ultimately, I joined this program similar to this. It was called Wake Up Wealthy and it was a $5,000 mastermind. I had never spent money like that before and the coach on the call was like Arlen, like your assignment today is to just spend two hours and just ask yourself, like, what's the thing I've been avoiding building? And I just brainstormed on that and it turned out like it was. It was this idea for Maxi and like a key part of it, he was like, don't worry about how you're going to do it. And like a key part of it, he was like, don't worry about how you're gonna do it, just write out what it is, and and so, like, I spent that time and I did that and, um, ultimately I yeah, I came up with this sort of outline for exactly what maxi was going to be.
Speaker 1:And then I called the smartest person I knew technologically, this guy, nick uh, who was, who is a CTO at First Republic Bank, and he'd also built a couple apps that had like a million downloads on the app store. And I was like, hey, like what do I do? And he was like, dude, honestly, it's not that complicated what you're trying to build, like you should just try to build it yourself with, like you know, just literally, just by like Googling it. And I was like, what he's like's? Like, yeah, like you can just, you can like make a database with google sheets and you can. You know, keep in mind, this is pre-chat chat, gpt.
Speaker 1:So like I was just googling shit, like I figured out that I could make a members portal in this thing called member stack and I could use chat gpt to store all the responses and I could use type form for like collecting people's idea for their vision and also how to like create it for a daily log. And then I could use Webflow to host the site and design it how I wanted and it was kind of like an app, but it was a. It was like a web app and I realized you could add websites to your home screen. So it wasn't actually an iOS app, it was just like a website. But you can like you can. You can just make a web app and then you can click add to home screen. You can just make a web app and then you can click add to home screen.
Speaker 1:So it's a really janky thing and and I made it myself and I told people in my audience to buy it and pretty soon I had like a $10,000 a month software that costs like 700 bucks a month to run and um, and then I was just making money and then I I finally figured out how to do like higher ticket stuff and so that was kind of my lead magnet and recurring revenue and I started like selling kind of a you know $2,500 sort of mastermind thing. And then I, you know, I started making more and more money and I actually had money to pay like a legitimate developer and so I eventually, like this took a while, but, dude I actually I ran up that original site, like the original Maxi site that was built on Webflow with MemberStack and Google Sheets and Typeform. I ran that up to like 25 grand a month, bro, like it was just a website Like, and I told people like, download it as an iOS app but as a website. And I told people like, download it as an iOS app but as a website.
Speaker 1:So it wasn't even on the App Store and it was just like zero employees, zero developer, zero equity, given up Like just 24 grand a month in cash profit every month and like it was not complicated. And so, um, and people kept using it. Like my monthly average users was like you know, I had like 200 probably active users a month and, um, yeah, just it just really like. Like obviously people forgot about it, but like people were using it, you know. So then I finally paid a developer to like build it into kind of an actual app and that like went decently okay. Actually, at one point the way I met Hunter was through a mutual friend and I actually ended up paying Hunter like 20 grand to design, like redesign the app for me into like more of a viral version, and he did it. And then I found this other developer to build that version.
Speaker 1:But he, he was like a false prophet. Like he kind of presented himself to me as like this genius coder and his brother was the technical co-founder of this startup that was doing like 25 million a year in revenue and he kind of told me about him and then, like long story short, I was just totally kind of bamboozled by this brother duo. Then, you know, obviously like hunter and I just became friends after that, um and yeah. So I just like I learned a lot there, because that's why I'm telling you about like developer timeline leak, like they. If you find out like developers are telling you it's taking longer than it actually is, it's just like like you just have to demand total transparency, like you would rather have them tell you that shit's really hard than lie to you about timelines and they just keep pushing it back. And you also want to be aware of like buy-in.
Speaker 1:You know, like you, you really want a developer who's like fucking in it with you like yeah they, they want to stay up and fucking code the shit and they believe in your vision and they're not like bogged down by some other shit and this is kind of like a side thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean the guy that I'm doing it with. It's a. We're going to be doing everything 50-50. Like we were just in the mountains for two weeks, just like brainstorming and working on the app.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And so it's like it's not like I'm just paying someone from Fiverr. But that was kind of. My question is I mean, it's a, it's a good duo because you have the, the engineer, and then you have me, which I guess you could consider me more like the division. You know, I have the vision and I understand like the marketing more the front end right, he's kind of both. But yeah, that's, that's cool dude. So I didn't, I didn't even know that about Maxi Crazy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So I mean, it's just an idea that I've always had and like I'm still developing a new version right now, Like I'm on to like basically the fourth iteration of it right now and I have a new developer that I'm working with that I'm seeing you know how he's doing and I saw an MVP that he put together.
Speaker 1:It was pretty good, it was solid, like decent start, and by Friday it should be to the point where it's like people can actually like you'll be able to actually get in it. It's not going to be anything super impressive, but I think it's impressive for like a four-week timeline, yeah, which you know previously. Like to build something like this in four weeks is pretty impressive. Like you'll basically be able to like chat with everybody in the group and then use kind of a custom llm and then, uh, you know some other like small features, like a 80 20 style to-do list, um, where can use the LLM to like put, like write down what you need to do and then you know, over time it's obviously going to get a lot more advanced, but yeah, it's going to be like a brain.
Speaker 2:Right, it's going to be like your AI brain. It sounds like I mean kind of.
Speaker 1:Kind of, but it's more so. The main function is less the llm because, like, obviously I know people are just going to use gpt, but it's the function of it is like to store your goals and like, just have a very crystal clear vision of like who you want to be and what you want to build, and then, um, on the on, like the side panel. It's like, instead of us being an I message for this chat, as I grow this members club, you're going to be able to connect with people based on your vision. So as new members join, they're gonna type like oh, I want to. You know, whatever, I'm a developer and I want to. I want to work with people who have really good ideas and I want to travel and live in this city, in this city, and it'll be like hey, we think you should meet xant and then, yeah, I'll be.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean that's going to be dope dude, I'm actually hyped for that. I'm not just saying that to say it and make you feel good, but that actually sounds sick.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it's going to be sick dude. I'm pretty excited.
Speaker 2:So I have another question with I mean developing, I'm learning, learning Figma that's what I kind of did like the past two weeks before I started traveling again when I was up in the mountains is I had no clue how to use figma and I was kind of avoiding it because I was like this is, there's youtube tutorials, but I still don't even know what I'm doing and they change the interface, it's updated and I'm like I don't know what's going on.
Speaker 2:But now I start have like a good, I understand how to make and design every page, but I don't know how to do like using dev mode. Right, like we're at the point where my dev has already made the backend for app, like he's already figured out we reiterated and remade the app like four times, but he's using cursor to help with like a lot of the just time consuming task. Of course, cursor doesn't do the backend, but it helps with like front end stuff. But we're like dude, we can't just show it an image of what I made on Figma and then say like cursor, make this, you know, cause it just sucks. So I mean, are you familiar with like dev mode? I'm sure with with Figma.
Speaker 1:Um, honestly, no, no, you're not like a dev, but like okay, yeah, I mean, I think that the question you're asking is like should you take the time to like?
Speaker 2:learn the ins and outs of Figma. Yeah, cause, essentially, like you have to make flows, like each button dev mode, you just implement and it embeds, gives, like you know, the developer, the code and even like cursor ai, it'll ask for, you know, do you have the the figma build out so it can make it exactly like what you want, from the font color to the gradient, to like where the button is and what I need to do right now? My next step is like pay someone or figure out how to do like the flows and do everything before I build out. You know iterations. I mean, when you are doing a build process, where do you start?
Speaker 2:Because we started backwards in a lot of ways, like we had this idea, then we started building like the back end, and then we were like, well, we need a front end. And then we kept saying we'll do the front end later. And now we're like, cool, we need a front end. And then we kept saying we'll do the front end later. And now we're like we should have did the front end first and then did the back end. We were kind of stupid, but I mean that's that comes to like where we just wanted to fail fast as possible.
Speaker 1:But when you start a project where, like what would you say is the best way to start, from your experience, Um, I mean, look, the most important thing is just like, obviously, the overall concept and like you having an inner conviction that it's going to work. That's that's like the most common thing. It's like from all from my successes, from Hunter, from you know other of my friends that have successful startups, that's like the most common thing. It's like from all from my successes, from Hunter, from you know other of my friends that have successful startups, it's like they had a problem in their life or they had either a problem or just like a download, and they're like, oh no, like this is gonna work. Like like, as long as I just keep at it, it's gonna work.
Speaker 1:I think, okay, this is the thing I'll leave you with is should you learn that you know the dev mode and the figma and all that like a hundred percent? And then that sort of feeling where it's like, ah, like fuck, should I learn how to do this? Like? This is kind of intimidating. It's like the. The answer is yes, like go into that, because the biggest piece of advice I learned from building, uh, from from learning how to build like apps that actually make money, is if you don't know how to do something. This is going to sound retarded, but I promise you this is like the most useful thing that was drownded in my brain. If you don't know how to do something, just do it, yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, so like if you don't know how to use figma, just learn how to use figma. Like it like, just go through the fucking painstaking process of, step by step, like okay, watch this youtube tutorial. Okay, well, how do I do this? Okay, well, how, like how should I make icons look like? What size should the buttons be? Like, what font should I use and what color? Like just figure like, fucking, go figure it out, dude, dude. Like that's literally it. That was what Nick Parolo told me.
Speaker 1:Um, the guy who was the CTO of first Republic and had a few apps doing millions of downloads on on app store. Um, he was like most of coding is just Googling shit, but now most of coding is just chat, gbt and shit. It's even easier, so that that's literally like the pinnacle of the advice. It's like literally, just just like he said it to me so many times, like I would be like nick, like I don't know what to do, I don't know how to do this thing, can you help me? And he would be like, um, I think you should just do it.
Speaker 2:Like that, I think I have a blog post about this, actually send to you yeah, if you find that later, no, no worries, but no, I mean that's, and that's essentially like what I'm doing right now. I'm like I have this idea and I'm like what, what you? Just, you know, the advice you just gave me is like just start doing it and then like everything you, you, you know, the advice you just gave me is like just start doing it and then like everything. You, you think you know, you're going to realize you don't know anything and then just like keep doing it and eventually you're going to kind of know what you're doing.
Speaker 1:You kind of just like learn these little things like along the way, and then eventually you just like sort of know shit.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And then that's where it kind of like, I guess of course money doesn't just come. I mean, it can come easy once you get to a certain point, but it's like you just have skills Right and then, like money just shows up. It's like, yeah, I mean I'm not at your level yet, but from like what I'm doing right now, it's like there's no, there's no answers for things. You just have to do it. And then you have to find out while you're doing it is is this something I actually want to pursue Right?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, um, let me see it. Oh, I actually have okay, I think I actually have the blog posts.
Speaker 2:Um. Is it on like Spotify?
Speaker 1:No, it's on a, it's, it's a blog actually. Oh yeah, so it's, it's part two, but read part one first. All right, I got to jump. I got to call another guy who just joined today.
Speaker 2:No stress, bro. It was nice talking to you, though All right, talk soon, man.
Speaker 1:Well, I'll, I can sing you this recording too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that'd be dope. All right, all right, peace.