I gained 50k users for my app with NO marketing

Hacker News

Hi Hackernews, Last year around February, I found myself having to pay contractors for various services that they provided me as I completed my new home. An occurring question that kept coming up with each conversation was - how do you want me to pay you or do you have “X” payment app on your phone that I can send the cash to? I realized that some preferred Venmo, others preferred cash app - some had neither only relied on PayPal. Being the software engineer that I am, I figured why not build an app where a person can just list all their payment apps and then I can pick which ever worked for me. Similar to linktree but ONLY for payment apps So I did just that, built the app - [ https://paylinkz.app/](https://paylinkz.app/) and released it to the store without any fan fare - I didn’t even tell my close relatives because I could care less whether they used it or not. I also didn’t want any high expectations from anyone so did it in silence 10 months later we have 50k users with $0 spent on ads. It is worth noting that the initial audience that I had in mind were not even the people who used it the most. Today some of the use cases I have seen on the app are people using it for fund raising, mariachi bands, barber shops, landlords and Uber drivers for collecting tips, fantasy leagues... FWIW - this is not my first rodeo at building an app and I think luck must have favored me this time around. It also helps that it is something that the market needed but never had. Although I was lucky in 2022, my goal is to put some effort into marketing to see where this goes. Would love some overall feedback!

Visit product View on Hacker NewsJan 10, 2023

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Indie HackersFits the IH revenue-focused audience · Missing: supports, reddit linkedin, podcasting

91%91% predicted probability of success on Indie Hackers, based on ML models trained on real launch data.

best fitHighest predicted score across all platforms for this description.

Product HuntOn track for Day 1 leaderboard · Strong signals: apps, user, new · Missing: mac, agents, macos

74%74% predicted probability of success on Product Hunt, based on ML models trained on real launch data.

Hacker NewsStrong engagement from HN community · Strong signals: ide, io · Missing: https docs, excited, just released

54%54% predicted probability of success on Hacker News, based on ML models trained on real launch data.

nativeThis product was originally launched on this platform.

TrustMRRLess likely to generate early MRR · Strong signals: apps, month, users · Missing: mobile apps, ios, personal

28%28% predicted probability of success on TrustMRR, based on ML models trained on real launch data.

AppSumoMay struggle as an AppSumo deal · Strong signals: users · Missing: plus, platform, intuitive

26%26% predicted probability of success on AppSumo, based on ML models trained on real launch data.

Acquire.comPre-revenue stage for this audience · Missing: arr, mrr, revenue

19%19% predicted probability of success on Acquire.com, based on ML models trained on real launch data.

BetaListMay not resonate with beta-testers · Missing: web3, chat, crypto

0%0% predicted probability of success on BetaList, based on ML models trained on real launch data.

Correct prediction on native model

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