A common pattern in consumer AI over the last couple years:
An app that generates AI portraits of you will go viralâbut then users churn after a few days. I started advising one of these apps last year called
@vybeappp
and the goal was to turn it into a durable app.
We started with this question: In what context would people need generative portraits on a recurring basis?
The founder
@mandelapatrick_ dug into the data and found that some users were sticking around: they were trying on different clothes using the app.
So we redesigned the app to be exclusively focused on this use-case. But most importantly, we integrated it into their existing patterns of behavior: a mobile safari extension that would intercept the user every time they were shopping. Just tap a button to try on the item on any page.
They just shipped it and the results blew past all expectations: Retention nearly 4x. Once the user enabled the extension, they were essentially retained for life.
And even better, it unlocked a better revenue stream: instead of a subscription that users would inevitably cancel, VYBE simply collects a commission in the background off every purchase into perpetuity.