Nikita Beer on Building Viral Consumer Apps

Introduction

• Guest: Nikita Beer, serial entrepreneur.
• Notable achievements: Sold TBH to Facebook for $30 million; sold Gas to Discord.
• Focus: Building apps that reach the top of the App Store and understanding what drives viral growth.

The Success of TBH

• Concept: Observed that the number one app, Sarahah, was in Arabic, indicating a demand for anonymous feedback.
• Launch: TBH launched, went viral, and faced immediate adoption challenges (servers crashed due to high traffic).
• Insight: Look for latent demand where users go through complicated processes to get value.
• Team Dynamics: Worked with a small, relentless team, putting in long hours and dedication.

Product Management at Facebook

• Experience as a product manager taught him about the separation of roles in large tech companies.
• Found little involvement in hands-on design, mainly focused on documentation and approvals.
• Realized the importance of being directly involved in product design and execution.

Early Career: Potify

• Built Potify, a political voting simulation tool, during college aimed at helping voters understand financial impacts.
• Transitioned from the political space to consumer apps after recognizing his core competency was creating viral apps.

Insights on Targeting Teens

• Building apps for teenagers can be more successful due to their malleable habits and willingness to try new products.
• Noted a drop in user invitations as users age—20% decline per year after age 13.
• Emphasized the need to create products that foster sharing and virality among teens.

Building Gas

• Concept: Aimed to recreate the success of TBH through Gas, an anonymous polling app.
• Experienced challenges due to new regulations affecting how user invitations and contact permissions worked.
• Launch Strategy: Tested the app in schools to gauge interest and developed a system to ensure positive engagement.

Lessons Learned

• Importance of precise testing: Validate one feature at a time (e.g., core flow, virality) to avoid confusion and scope creep.
• Recommended focusing on the user experience from first contact to activation and retention.
• Suggested maintaining transparency and ethical practices in user engagement and feedback.

Dealing with Hoaxes

• Faced a hoax claiming Gas was linked to human trafficking, which required rapid response and strategy to counteract misinformation.
• Actively engaged with media outlets and social channels to clarify the app's purpose and combat negative perceptions.

Future Direction and Advice for Founders

• Continuous exploration of growth tactics, including utilizing social dynamics to enhance user engagement.
• Suggested that founders focus on the time to value for users—achieving quick engagement leads to higher retention.
• Encouraged collaboration between product and marketing teams to ensure cohesive user experiences.

Conclusion

• Nikita emphasizes a balance between creativity and testing in product development.
• Current focus is on advising startups on growth strategies and product optimization.