Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

How to consistently go viral: Nikita Bier’s playbook for winning at consumer apps (co-founder of TBH, Gas, advisor, investor)

Aug 25, 2024

01:38:21

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Nikita Bier is a renowned consumer app expert, co-founder of TBH and Gas, known for his success in creating viral applications. He shares the secrets behind the explosive growth of his apps and how to effectively engage teenage users. Nikita discusses the intersection of luck and strategy in app development, the challenges of misinformation, and the importance of building durable social products. He emphasizes practical advice for founders, particularly in navigating the competitive landscape of consumer apps, making this a must-listen for aspiring creators.

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Quick takeaways

Identifying latent demand through understanding user motivations can lead to the creation of successful apps like TBH and Gas.

Rapid user growth presents significant challenges in managing infrastructure, underscoring the need for preparedness and scalability in app development.

Focusing on user behavior, particularly among teens, can enhance engagement strategies and inform effective product development in competitive markets.

Deep dives

Identifying Latent Demand

Looking for latent demand can lead to identifying successful app concepts. The speaker highlights their discovery of a popular app called Seraha, which was entirely in Arabic, indicating a significant interest in anonymous messaging. This insight led to the creation of an app, TBH, that focused on providing positive feedback instead of negative comments that plague similar platforms. Recognizing users' motivations to receive affirmations rather than hurtful messages played a crucial role in the app's immediate success and served as a blueprint for later applications.

Identify Latent Demand to Uncover unmet needs and launch network effects

01:07

Youth Drives Social Connectivity

01:23

Run your company with no software costs through credits and negotiation

00:46

If you want network effects, build for younger audiences

02:39

Intro

2min

Lessons from a Successful App Entrepreneur

5min

Navigating the Teen App Market

26min

Navigating Growth and Innovation Challenges

15min

Rethinking Product Management in Tech Companies

3min

Navigating Product Management and App Development

21min

Key Lessons in Consumer Product Development

2min

The Viral Spread of Misinformation: A Hoax Encounter

3min

Navigating Brand Identity and User Dynamics in App Development

1min

10.

Navigating Consumer App Success

22min

Nikita Bier is one of the most in-demand consumer, social, and growth experts in the world. He’s the co-founder of TBH (sold to Meta for more than $30 million) and Gas (sold to Discord for millions more) and has helped more consumer apps that have hit #1 in the app stores than any other person I’ve come across. He currently spends his time advising founders on growth, product, and design and is an investor and advisor to some of the best consumer tech companies, including Flo, Locket, Eight Sleep, Citizen, BeReal, Captions, and more. In our conversation, we discuss:

• The inside story of how TBH and Gas achieved explosive growth

• Strategies for building viral consumer apps

• Why teens are such a great audience

• Fighting the human trafficking hoax at Gas

• The challenge of creating durable social products

• His experience working as a PM at Facebook

• Advice for founders on building consumer apps

• Much more

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Brought to you by:

• Webflow—The web experience platform

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• Explo—Embed customer-facing analytics in your product

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Book Nikita for 1:1 consultation/mentoring: https://intro.co/NikitaBier

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Find the transcript and show notes at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-consistently-go-viral-nikita-bier

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Where to find Nikita Bier:

• X: https://x.com/nikitabier

• Threads: https://www.threads.net/@nikitabier

• Website: https://intro.co/NikitaBier

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Nikita’s background

(06:08) Nikita’s early ventures: Politify and Outline

(08:42) Transition to consumer apps

(13:45) The birth of TBH

(16:43) Building for teens vs. adults

(20:00) TBH’s viral success

(32:18) Leveraging live chat

(34:08) Lasting lessons from TBH

(37:00) Selling TBH to Facebook

(42:19) Big-tech product management

(48:46) Nikita on why “product management is not real”

(51:49) The Tim Cook painting story

(53:53) Leaving Facebook and starting a new venture

(58:02) Rebuilding TBH and overcoming challenges

(59:46) Addressing criticism

(01:04:24) The human trafficking hoax

(01:09:51) Selling to Discord and lessons learned

(01:11:36) Lasting lessons from Gas

(01:13:14) Building durable consumer apps

(01:22:35) The VC route

(01:23:27) Contact permissions in iOS 18

(01:26:53) The success of Dupe

(01:31:53) Advice for startup founders

(01:34:14) Work with Nikita

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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.

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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

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