304. How one founder went from zero to 6 million users with no ad spend

Can you build a B2C app to 6 million users with no advertising?

Colin Hodge did it when he co-founded Bang with Friends — a dating app that went viral purely through word of mouth — because he understood the psychology of his users so precisely that they couldn't help but share it.

In this episode, Sophia Matveeva speaks with Colin Hodge — entrepreneur, growth expert, and author who has scaled businesses to over 100 million users.

He co-founded a viral dating app, served as Chief Growth Officer for 17Live, Asia's leading live-streaming app, and re-acquired his own startup after selling it, growing it into a top 5 US dating app.

But this episode is not really about dating apps.

It is about the one thing that separates products that grow from products that stagnate: understanding your users deeply enough to build something they cannot stop sharing.

You'll learn:

• The overnight pivot that took a failing startup to a million users in three months
• Three practical techniques for getting inside the mind of your user, even if you are nothing like them
• Why the best user interviews feel like anthropology rather than sales
• Why critiquing your own product before user interviews makes you a dramatically better listener

Timestamps:

• 00:00 - Introduction: How Bang with Friends went from zero to 1 million users
• 04:51 - How a bad date launched Colin's biggest business success
• 08:48 - The pivot: From friends of friends to "Who has a crush on me?"
• 11:07 - Reaching 1 million users in 3 months with zero ad spend
• 14:36 - Lessons for boring businesses from a scandalous dating app
• 18:35 - Three methods to understand users who aren't like you
• 20:59 - Method 1: The method acting technique - Live your user's life
• 22:50 - Method 2: Build detailed personas beyond demographics
• 26:55 - Method 3: User research as an anthropologist, not a salesperson
• 27:52 - How to suppress your founder instinct and actually listen

Free AI Mini-Workshop for Non-Technical Founders:

Learn how to go from idea to a tested product using AI — in under 30 minutes.

Get free access here: techfornontechies.co/aiclass

Follow and Review:

We'd love for you to follow us if you haven't yet. Click that purple '+' in the top right corner of your Apple Podcasts app. We'd love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select "Ratings and Reviews" and "Write a Review" then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a second and it helps spread the word about the podcast.

Listen to our podcast on:

• Apple

• Spotify

• YouTube

• Audible

• Pandora

Transcript: https://www.techfornontechies.co/blog/304-how-one-founder-went-from-zero-to-6-million-users-with-no-ad-spend