Paparazzi's Viral Launch
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A story about how two brothers created a viral social app called Paparazzi after years of grinding.
"These guys had been working on this for about 3 years - small team in LA, two brothers. They almost got acquired or acquihired for single-digit millions by some big social networks. They could have taken that deal and made $1-2 million amongst themselves.
Instead, they said 'fuck it, YOLO, one more try' and released Paparazzi. The app was initially on TestFlight (beta testing platform) and went viral there, building a waitlist of half a million people. When they rushed it onto the App Store, they hit number one - above Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, everybody. They got 500,000 installs on day one, and over a million installs in less than a week.
The app is called Paparazzi because unlike other social networks where you post about yourself, this is about other people taking pictures of you. Your profile is just pictures other people took of you - you can accept or deny them. It creates more candid, raw content than Facebook, Instagram, or even Snapchat. It's content that wouldn't have made it to other platforms, which is what makes it interesting."
Shaan Puri
Host of MFM
Shaan Puri is the Chairman and Co-Founder of The Milk Road. He previously worked at Twitch as a Senior Director of Product, Mobile Gaming, and Emerging Markets. He also attended Duke University.