Don’t build an app from scratch… but one that already works & scale it

16 May 2026 · 1 min

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0:45

In this video, Dan Novaes argues that entrepreneurs should avoid building apps from zero unless they have a compelling reason. Building from scratch requires guessing product‑market fit, pricing, funnel, and retention, and most of those guesses are wrong. Instead, Novaes explains Mode’s strategy of acquiring existing apps that already have real users, community reviews, revenue, and a functional funnel—essentially buying distribution. He notes that thousands of apps generate $100K‑$200K in annual profit but hit a ceiling because founders lack distribution knowledge, unit‑economics insight, or lose focus. The key to success, he says, is disciplined optimization rather than chasing genius ideas. He ends with a call‑to‑action to follow for more free hacks.

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I'm going to say something that most app videos won't. I don't think that you should build this app from scratch unless you have a very specific reason to do so. When you build from zero to one, you're guessing product market fit, the pricing, the funnel, the retention, and most guesses are wrong. What we do at Mode is the opposite. We acquire apps with the foundation, real users, real community reviews, revenue, and some kind of version of product market fit in a funnel that already works. At the end of the day, we are buying distribution and there are thousands of apps doing $100K to $200K a year in profit with founders that build something real but hit a ceiling for whatever reason. Usually because they don't understand distribution or unit economics, or they stopped working on the project. And that's where you can win. You don't need genius ideas. You need disciplined optimization. If you want to get more of this, follow us and get all of our hacks for free.