New episode with Luis Barrera. Luis has built eight apps. His first, Split, grew to over half a million active users on word of mouth. Sway AI, a dating profile app that started as an idea on Reddit, hit a $30K-a-month ceiling on organic, then went from zero to $2M ARR in six months once they switched to ads. Now he's building Sona, an astrology app, with his sister as creative director.
We talk about finding a technical co-founder before AI could write code, the $8K influencer post that did nothing, remote vs. in-person teams, how he'd launch an app today, and the new feature that did half of last month's installs in a single day.
Watch on YouTube. More from me at benji.app.
Follow Luis on X (@luisbnyc) and Instagram (@luisbarreraxyz).
Timestamps
(00:00) – Intro
(00:23) – Meet Luis: Split, Sway AI and Sona
(00:35) – Split: learning to code and finding a co-founder
(02:30) – Split's growth: word of mouth to 500K users
(09:19) – Sway AI: an idea found on Reddit
(16:14) – Going viral, the $30K ceiling and the influencer burn
(24:02) – $0 to $2M ARR in six months with ads
(26:11) – Sona: an astrology app with his sister
(32:25) – Choosing co-founders, remote vs in person
(36:01) – How he'd launch an app today
(40:30) – Eight apps in: why he keeps building
(44:59) – His sister as creative director
(50:53) – How Sona stays accurate and spreads by link
(58:13) – Astrocartography: half a month's installs in one day
