Join me as I chat with Ben Benkhin, Creator of WOMBO, about how he built mobile apps that achieved over 250 million downloads by identifying emerging AI technologies and making them accessible through simple, user-friendly interfaces. His first app, Wombo, allowed users to animate selfies to sing popular songs, while Dream was an early art generator that predated tools like Midjourney. Ben emphasizes the importance of studying viral content formats and creating apps that help users easily produce shareable content.
Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
02:00 - The "Copy What Works" Strategy
05:15 - Competition is GOOD
07:13 - WOMBO Demo
08:15 - Engineering for Virality
11:53 - Steps to creating viral mobile app
15:20 - WOMBO Story Continued
21:26 - Monetization strategy
23:57 - Optimization and Evolution of Wombo
29:22 - Advice for building an AI Mobile Apps
30:07 - Viral Content Creation and Studying Trends
Key Points:
• Ben created viral AI apps including Wombo and Dream by identifying open-source AI models and making them accessible through simple mobile interfaces
• His strategy involves studying what's already working in the market and putting his own spin on it ("mimesis")
• The most successful apps have a viral content creation loop where users create shareable content that drives new user acquisition
• Monetization came through subscriptions and ads, with only 2% of users paying while the other 98% drive virality
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