I scaled to $44k/month once I realized this

November 20, 2025

Hey there,

November 2019: I made $2 with Puff Count.

Next month: $3.

For 3 years, I was stuck at $2k-$3k per month.

Then I changed one thing and scaled to $44k/month before I sold the business.

If I'd known this 3 years earlier, I would've hit $44k in 6 months instead of wasting years.

Here's what I was doing wrong:

I was getting millions of views on TikTok.
One video hit 3.6 million views. 20,000 app installs in a single day.

But I was still only making $2k-$3k per month.

I started doubting myself. Was the app idea bad?

I was getting 20,000 installs in a day and barely making rent. I almost gave up.

But I kept going because I knew the problem was real. The views proved people cared.

I just didn't know what I was missing.

Then I figured out that my onboarding was crap.

I was charging $3.99/month with no welcome flow and without a paywall.

Users would download, look around, and leave.

I was hoping they'd just decide to subscribe. That's not how it works.

So I built a killer onboarding.

I asked deep questions:

I made sure the problem and consequences were in their mind right now.

I showed them their yearly spend on vapes and how Puff Count would help them quit.

Then: hard paywall.

Try 3 days free, but you must opt in to use the app.

I made them commit before they could even see the app.

Sales jumped from $3k to $14k in one month.

Then $20k. Then $28k. Then $35k. Then $44k before I sold the business.

If I'd known this on day one, I would've hit $44k in 6 months, not 3 years.

Traffic doesn't matter if you can't convert it.

Peace,
Steven