I cloned 3 apps and now make $35K/month

Samuel Rondo: The Art of Cloning for $35K/Month 🚀

Samuel Rondo, a self-taught app entrepreneur, masterfully generates $35,000 per month by implementing a counter-intuitive yet highly effective strategy: he never builds something new. Instead, he identifies existing successful applications, validates their demand and market fit, and then creates his own improved versions, focusing on simplicity and maintainability. His approach underscores that innovation isn't always about novelty, but about strategic replication and enhancement.

• 🚀 Samuel's Journey & Learning to Code: Initially an optician with no coding experience, Samuel embarked on his entrepreneurial journey by teaching himself to code. He utilized a 15-hour YouTube course, immediately applying each new concept to a personal project – rebuilding an Instagram tool. His current advice for aspiring coders diverges significantly from traditional learning: he advocates for leveraging AI coding tools like ChatGPT. His recommended framework involves:

  • Picking a tangible project.
  • Asking ChatGPT what specific technologies are needed to build it.
  • Building the project step-by-step, seeking AI assistance for roadblocks, and prioritizing modern technologies like Next.js and Node.js. He believes AI can handle approximately 90% of most app development today.

• 💡 Strategy for Finding & Validating App Ideas: Samuel's core philosophy is to "never build something that doesn't already exist and isn't already successful." This mitigates risk and amplifies success rates. His primary source for ideas is Twitter, particularly communities centered around solopreneurs and "building public." He applies four crucial filters:

  • He would use it himself.
  • It demonstrably works and has traction.
  • The existing app isn't reliant on massive marketing spend, indicating genuine organic demand.
  • The product is simple enough for him to build and maintain easily.

  For validation, he meticulously examines several metrics:

  • Traction Proof: The ultimate signal is founders sharing MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) or Stripe screenshots.
  • Traffic Sources: Using tools like Ahrefs, he analyzes how competitors acquire customers. A mix of ads and SEO signifies robust demand and easier replication. Ads-only growth is fast to replicate, while SEO-reliant products require patience.
  • Technical Feasibility: He ensures the product can be built and maintained without excessive complexity, prioritizing simplicity to avoid operational headaches.
  • Personal Interest: He must genuinely like and enjoy using the product to sustain long-term motivation.

• 📱 His Successful Applications: Samuel's portfolio currently includes three apps, demonstrating his strategy in action:

  • us.com: A LinkedIn scraping tool generating about $15,000/month with 10,000 customers. This was his first major app, built before he fully refined his strategic approach, leading to tougher competition and higher maintenance costs.
  • storyshort.ai: An AI video generator for platforms like TikTok and YouTube, earning approximately $20,000/month with 4,000 customers. This app is a direct result of his refined strategy: he identified a working tool with significant traction (crazy numbers posted by the founder), discovered its traffic came solely from Facebook ads (making replication straightforward), and launched his version, achieving rapid growth.
  • Capacity.so: A newer AI coding tool, currently making $900/month with 50 users.

• 📈 Growth & Marketing Playbook: Samuel employs a systematic four-step growth playbook for his applications:

  1. Start with Ads: He always begins with paid advertising (Google and Meta) as it's the fastest way to validate demand and test the market efficiently.
  2. Build SEO: Once ads generate initial traction, he invests in SEO. While slower, it provides compounding, "free" traffic over time and adds significant value to the business. He uses tools like Ahrefs for analysis and Outrank.so for automated article generation.
  3. Faceless YouTube Channels: He leverages automated, faceless YouTube channels (and TikTok/Instagram) to daily publish UGC-style videos about his products, a strategy he even integrated as a feature into Story Short. This can yield "crazy results" in specific niches.
  4. Affiliate Marketing: Running an affiliate program brings customers at a fixed cost and significantly boosts virality, as affiliates create content (videos, articles) to promote the product for commission.

• 🧠 Key Learnings & Final Advice: Samuel's most surprising discovery was the realization that innovation is not a prerequisite for success. Instead, identifying existing successful products in online communities, quickly building an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) in about two weeks, and immediately launching ads is a more reliable path. He emphasizes that "simple, boring tools are what make the most money."

  His actionable advice for aspiring app entrepreneurs mirrors his journey and current insights:

  • Embrace AI coding tools extensively.
  • Prioritize learning Google Ads and Meta Ads (and X ads).
  • Launch as soon as possible, skipping non-essential features like password reset pages initially. Test demand directly with ads.
  • Once traction is established, focus on SEO for compounding, free, and valuable organic traffic.
  • Automate everything feasible using tools like Outrank.so and Story Short for content creation and posting.
  • Only after achieving consistent growth and customer acquisition should one refine the product and add new features.