Most indie founders obsess over code and features, then wonder why no one downloads their app. Louis, a solo founder from Canada, flipped that script. He treated content as the product first, and code as the follow up, and ended up with a makeup app that pulled in $800,000 in its first year.
In this breakdown, you will see how he did it, step by step. You will see how he used TikTok to find the idea, how he created simple videos that drove 60,000 downloads in a day, and how he turned a tiny side project into a real startup with 90 percent profit margins.
If you have a startup idea or want to build one, this story will show you a simple plan you can copy.
Who Is Louis, And What Is Glowup?
Louis is a developer from Canada who spent years building apps that nobody used. He built around 10 apps that failed before he finally found one that hit. That app is Glowup, an AI makeup app that he launched as a side project.
Today, Glowup:
- Makes around $15,000 per month
- Grew from 0 to 100,000 users in 3 days
- Has over 2 million users
- Has around 70,000 paying customers
- Reached #1 in Lifestyle and #4 in free apps on the App Store
Glowup lets users try makeup looks with AI, directly on their phone. Instead of guessing which products to buy or testing makeup in person, users see a personalized look on their own face, then get a list of products and a routine to follow. The app is available on iOS and Google Play.
Pricing is simple:
- $9.99 per week or
- $39.99 per year for unlimited AI makeup looks
You can see the product for yourself on the official Glowup app site.
Glowup looks like a typical consumer app from the outside. Under the surface, it is one of the clearest examples of how a solo founder can turn content into a serious startup.
Louis’s Journey: From 10 Failed Apps To A Top App Store Hit
Louis did not walk into this as a first time win. His path looks like a lot of indie founders who are still stuck on the “build, launch, hope” treadmill.
Dropping Out And Learning By Building
He studied software engineering for about 2 years, then dropped out because he felt they were not teaching things that mattered in practice. After that, he went all in on his own.
He started building mobile apps, one after another:
- He built apps based on his own ideas.
- He focused on shipping a polished product first.
- Only after the app was done, he tried to market it.
Those apps did no revenue. There were no users, no traction, and no clear feedback, only the feeling of starting over again.
Building A Portfolio And Working For Startups
The only upside of those failures was experience.
He built a portfolio of apps, which helped him land roles at startups. He improved his skills, saw how real products run, and got better at shipping.
Around two years later, he went back to building his own products. One year ago, he started Glowup as a side project. Now he is working on more apps and even writing philosophy books on the side.
What Changed With Glowup?
The big shift was simple but powerful.
Before Glowup:
- He built first, then tried to market.
- Ideas came from his own head.
- Apps were not based on visible demand.
With Glowup:
- He studied TikTok first.
- He looked for real problems in comments.
- He validated through content before he wrote a single line of code.
Glowup is not just a lucky idea. It is what happens when you treat attention and distribution as seriously as code.
If you enjoy this kind of story, you will probably like the breakdown of another indie founder who built Wrestle AI, an AI wrestling coach app. That founder turned a niche idea into a $17,000 per month startup. You can read that story in detail in How an 18‑Year‑Old Built a $17K/Month Wrestling App.
Finding The Idea: TikTok Comments As Free Market Research
Most people open TikTok to scroll. Louis opened it to do research.
He and his co‑founder wanted to build a new app together. They were not sure which niche to pick, so they looked at TikTok and studied what was already getting attention.
They noticed that the makeup niche was huge. There were endless videos, creators, and trends. Instead of guessing what to build, they did something very simple:
- They watched makeup videos.
- They read the comments under those videos.
- They wrote down problems people talked about again and again.
In those comments, people kept asking things like:
- “What products did you use for this look?”
- “Can someone help me find a makeup look that suits my face?”
- “I tried this look and it did not work for my skin or eye shape.”
That is where the idea for Glowup came from. It was not a wild brainstorm. It was a direct answer to problems users shared in public.
Content First, Code Second
Before they built anything, Louis and his co‑founder started making content around this idea.
They created TikTok videos about:
- Getting a personalized makeup look
- Matching products to that look
- Making it easy to try those looks on your own face
Those videos started to get views. Some went viral. That alone told them something important: people cared about the concept.
Only then did Louis build the first version of the app, as a simple MVP.
From there, things snowballed:
- The app launched.
- Growth hit fast, around 100,000 users in 3 days.
- Revenue climbed to $800,000 in the first year.
All of that started with reading comments.
A Simple 4‑Step Idea Process You Can Copy
Here is the basic pattern Louis followed, which you can use for your own startup idea:
- Pick a big niche
Look at TikTok hashtags in areas like makeup, fitness, dating, finance, or any space you understand a bit. - Scroll videos and read comments
Look for repeated frustrations, questions, and wishes. Comments show what people actually need, not what you assume they want. - Create content that solves those pains
Make short videos that explain or promise a fix. You do not need a product yet. Use these videos to test interest. - Only build when content works
If people react, comment, and share, then you start building an MVP that delivers the thing you already teased.
If you want more structured guidance on marketing apps with short‑form content, check out this free resource that profiles several founders using similar methods, the TikTok Playbook for apps.
The TikTok Playbook That Powered $800K In Revenue
Glowup did not grow from ads or App Store search. It grew almost completely from organic TikTok content.
Louis shared a clear playbook for how he would start again from scratch.
Step 1: Warm Up A TikTok Account The Right Way
TikTok is sensitive to spam. Louis treats new accounts gently in the beginning.
His warm up process:
- Use a new iPhone.
- If you are outside the US, get a US SIM card and keep a US VPN on at all times.
- Create a fresh TikTok account.
- Spend 15 to 30 minutes a day for about 3 days:
- Watch videos in your chosen niche.
- Like and comment on posts like a normal user.
This trains the algorithm to see you as a real person interested in that niche, not a bot.
Step 2: Pick Your Niche And Start Posting
Next, you need to be sure your niche has real reach on TikTok.
Louis suggests:
- Check hashtags related to your idea.
- Look at how many views they have and how often people post.
- If there are lots of videos and strong view counts, that niche is usually an open door.
For Glowup, “makeup” was one of the biggest hashtags on the platform. That made it a strong starting point.
Then you start to post:
- Use trends that already work, then add your own twist tied to your idea or app.
- In the beginning, post once a day and watch how people react.
- Once you see traction, increase to 4 to 6 posts per day.
A useful tip from Louis: pick trends that are easy to reproduce and can be faceless if you are not comfortable on camera. That way, you can create a lot of content and even post on multiple accounts.
If you want to go deeper into how brands use TikTok, the long‑form guide from Sprout Social on TikTok marketing strategies for 2025 is a solid companion to Louis’s more scrappy, indie approach.
Step 3: Use Anchor Links At The Right Time
When one of your videos starts to get traction, TikTok lets you add an anchor link to that specific video.
This shows up as a “Download now” style button on the video itself. It means the viewer does not have to go to your bio, click a link, then open the App Store. They can go straight from video to app page.
Most of Glowup’s downloads came from these anchor links.
Louis’s rule of thumb:
- Add the anchor link only when a video is already getting real views, for example a few thousand or over 100,000.
- Do not add the link when the video is under around 1,000 views, because it can hurt the reach of that post.
Step 4: Scale With Multiple Accounts
Once you have a working style of video, the main growth knob is volume.
Louis did this by:
- Creating 2 to 3 accounts per phone.
- Buying more phones when he needed more accounts.
- Posting on every account, every day.
At their peak, they had:
- 7 TikTok accounts
- Posting 8 to 12 times per day each
That is dozens of shots per day for a video to hit. When one did, it pulled in serious traffic and revenue.
Paid content can work as well, especially UGC (user‑generated content) and influencers. The problem is cost. If you are on a tight budget, Louis’s suggestion is simple: start by doing organic content yourself.
Later, if you have budget and want to layer in paid campaigns on top of your organic system, TikTok’s own app promotion page explains how to get more app downloads with TikTok Ads and what kind of results others see.
Viral TikTok Breakdown: 48M Views And $12.5K In One Day
One of Glowup’s biggest wins came from a single video that hit 48 million views and 2 million likes.
From that one video:
- Around 60,000 people downloaded the app.
- The app did about $12,500 in sales in a single day.
So what made this video so effective?
The Engagement Loop Inside The Product
In Glowup, they added a small viral loop: if a user invited 3 friends, they would get a free makeup look.
Here is what happened on that big video:
- Someone watched the TikTok and downloaded Glowup.
- Inside the app, they saw the invite‑3‑friends offer and got a shareable code.
- They went back to the original video and posted their code in the comments.
- Other users replied, asked for codes, and shared their own.
- The comment section exploded with activity.
That constant engagement told TikTok’s algorithm that the video was interesting. The video got pushed to more people, which led to more downloads, which led to more comments, and so on.
They also added the anchor link to this video when it hit around 500,000 views, which made it very simple for new viewers to jump straight into the app.
The flow looked like this:
- Watch video
- Tap anchor link
- Download app
- Try the product, possibly subscribe
- Share invite code in comments
- Rewatch or re‑engage with the post
It is a tight loop that ties content and product together.
If you want to see how another founder used content and community to grow a very different app, the Gravl fitness app story is a strong example. You can read that in Julian’s $400K/Month AI Fitness App Blueprint.
Inside Glowup: How The App Works
Glowup is not just a pretty filter. The UX is designed to feel personalized and to support the App Store rankings at the same time.
Onboarding And Personalization
When a new user opens the app, they go through a longer onboarding that feels like a quiz or consultation.
The app asks about:
- Sensitive skin
- Wrinkles or skin concerns
- Makeup styles you like
- Skin tone and other traits
These details feed into the AI that generates your makeup look. It also makes users feel like the result is tailored to them, not random.
After onboarding, Glowup asks the user to leave a rating and review. Many people give 5‑star reviews at this early happy moment, which helps keep their App Store rating high.
Then the app shows the result: a photo of you with a full makeup look, plus:
- A product list that matches that look
- A step‑by‑step makeup routine
The app makes money through subscriptions only:
- $9.99 per week, or
- $39.99 per year for unlimited AI makeup looks
Tech Stack And Unit Economics Behind The App
Glowup is a software product, but it is also a lean startup with serious margins.
Tech Stack For Fast MVPs
Louis’s favorite stack for fast mobile MVPs:
- Flutterflow for the app UI
A Flutter‑based low‑code builder, similar to Webflow for the web. You drag and drop components, which speeds up development. - Firebase and Google Cloud Functions for the backend
These handle authentication, storage, and server logic. - External APIs and databases for AI and other features.
- Superwall for payments
This handles subscriptions and paywalls inside the app. - Mixpanel for analytics and event tracking.
If you are working on your own product and care about reliability as your app grows, you might enjoy this deeper piece on how companies are starting to use AI to keep software stable at scale, AI Site Reliability Engineers: Automating Incident Response.
Costs, Profits, And Marketing Spend
Glowup’s cost structure is simple and very friendly to a solo founder.
Roughly:
- Backend: around $1,000 per month
- AI costs: around $500 per month
- Marketing:
- $0 if Louis posts his own TikToks
- Higher if he uses a virtual assistant, UGC creators, or influencers
Profit margins sit around 90 percent. Because Glowup’s main costs scale with actual usage, a user who uses the app usually means a user who is paying.
As revenue grew, Glowup went from side project to real business. That shift brings bookkeeping, taxes, and cash flow management. In the interview, Pat mentions using accounting tools to handle this without losing your mind. One example is Xero, which offers cloud accounting for small businesses and has a deal for founders that gives 90% off for 6 months.
My Personal Takeaways From Louis’s Startup Story
Hearing Louis’s story shifted how I think about building and growing products. A few things stood out the most.
Content is the real MVP.
He did not lock himself in a room and ship a perfect app. He shipped ideas as short videos first. If people did not care about the content, he would not have built the product. That is a simple filter I try to keep in mind now whenever I get excited about a new idea.
Comments are better than surveys.
Louis did not send forms or run interviews. He watched people talk in public, in real time. I have started reading comment sections more carefully on platforms like TikTok and Reddit to see what people complain about or wish existed. It is a raw, noisy, but very honest kind of research.
Volume matters more than perfection.
Seven accounts, 8 to 12 posts per day each, is not glamorous. It is work. But that posting volume is part of why one video could hit 48 million views. For any startup that relies on attention, I see this as permission to post more, even when individual pieces feel basic.
If you like this mindset of rapid testing and bold execution, the story of Yaphone, a solo‑built Skype alternative, is very similar in spirit. The founder turned a crisis into a $14,000 per month business in months. You can read that playbook in Yaphone: $14K/Month Browser‑Based Skype Alternative.
Practical Tips If You Want To Replicate This For Your Own App
Here is how you can apply Louis’s playbook to your own startup idea.
1. Treat TikTok As Your Idea Lab
Do not guess your idea. Use TikTok as your testing ground.
- Pick a niche that already has big hashtags and active creators.
- Spend time reading comments, not just watching videos.
- Keep a simple doc of repeated problems and phrases people use.
If you plan to mix in paid campaigns later, this guide on how to launch a paid TikTok campaign for mobile apps can help you bridge from organic to paid.
2. Create A Visual “Gotcha” Moment
Glowup works on TikTok because the value is visual. You see a plain face, then a glam look, then the products that made it.
Ask yourself:
- Can someone understand my app’s value in 5 seconds?
- Is there a clear before and after I can show?
- Can I put that into a vertical video without much editing?
If you can not, it might be worth tweaking the product or the way you present it.
3. Build The Simplest Possible MVP
Louis built the first version of Glowup fast, using tools like Flutterflow and Firebase. He did not try to nail every feature from day one.
Do the same:
- Ship one flow that delivers the main promise you teased in your content.
- Delay complex ideas until people are paying for the simple version.
If you are curious how other indie founders think about fast MVPs, the Wrestle AI and Gravl stories together paint a very clear picture of what “simple but valuable” looks like across different categories.
4. Post First, Optimize Later
Louis’s mantra at the end of the interview sums it up well: move first and adjust later.
In practice, that means:
- Do not wait for the perfect time to launch your app or your first video.
- Post even when your setup is not ideal.
- Learn from what works, double down, and quietly drop what does not.
Final Advice From Louis: You Do Not Need To Be An Expert
Louis left the conversation with two big lessons.
First, there is no perfect time. You act, then you adjust. You will learn from your mistakes, but also from your wins. If you keep building, testing, and staying focused, you can wake up one day living the life you used to daydream about.
Second, your money‑making project does not have to be your passion.
Makeup is not Louis’s passion. He is not a beauty expert. Glowup is his “capitalistic endeavor”, as he puts it, and it funds the rest of his life and interests. You can apply the same thinking. Your startup can sit in any niche where you see demand, even if it is not your favorite topic, as long as you respect the users and the problem.
“You can have your capitalistic endeavor in whatever niche, you do not have to be an expert. You do not have to love the idea and you still can come back to your passion.”
If you take one thing from this story, let it be this: start with attention, not features. Use content to prove people care, then build the simplest product that delivers on that promise. The code matters, but the audience comes first.
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