Scaling this video would have destroyed my app

May 02, 2026

Hey there,

You can go viral and still lose money.

Most founders see a viral video and immediately want to scale it. They pour $5k into ads and the churn eats it before they break even.

Here's one situation I had with PuffCount:

I posted a video interviewing people in public about vaping and how it shrinks your balls.

People thought it was hilarious. The video went viral with tons of engagement and thousands of downloads.

But the problem was, almost nobody converted to a paying user.

It took me longer than it should have to figure out why.

My video was entertaining, not educational. People watched for the shock value and humour and then downloaded my app because they had a laugh.

Then I posted something educational instead:

I took apart a vape, showed what was inside, and exposed the chemicals people were inhaling.

That video went viral too.

But the people watching it were already thinking about quitting. My video spoke directly to their pain and the downloads converted at a completely different rate.

Same app, same channel, completely different buyer.

That's why every founder who scales past $10k MRR tracks beyond views.

The right question isn't which video got the most views. It's which video brought you the buyers.

Peace,
Steven