@starterstory: He quit his $200K design job to build apps. His first one a Pomodoro timer with a cartoon cat - now does $18K/month. Ryan is a product designer turned indie dev. With help from AI coding tools (mostly ChatGPT Pro) and his girlfriend’s illustrations, he built Cat on Chair: a Pomodoro timer where a cat jumps on the chair with you while you focus, then leaves you a gift when the session ends (or a piece of trash if you fail). The timeline: > May 2025: started building with AI > August 27: launched after beta testing with thousands on Red Note > 3,000 downloads week 1, then bugs, then slow burn > Dec/Jan: Instagram app-collection post hit 2M views > A Taiwan user reshared on Threads → downloads + revenue doubled overnight The numbers: > 127K+ downloads > ~$80K in 8–9 months > $18K in the last 30 days > Peaked at #3 free productivity app in Taiwan > Lifetime plan: $29.99. Annual: $19.99. Most sales come from lifetime. Why it works: it doesn’t look vibe-coded. His girlfriend’s illustrations, the Animal Crossing–style furniture unlocks, the meow animation when you tap the cat, the gift drop inspired by cats bringing dead mice to their owners. One user told them she found a cat in the app that looked like her cat who had passed away. His advice: pick an app you already use, study every review, then remix mechanics from games. And lean into whatever skill you already have - for him, that was design.

12165

252

2026-09-16 13:33:08

To see more videos from user @starterstory, please go to the Tikwm homepage.