What Level Are You Really Playing At?

THIS WEEK’S STORY

I went down a rabbit hole this week.

Reading threads on X. Watching marketing breakdowns on YouTube. Trying to understand one thing:

Why do some apps plateau at $10k/month... while others scale to $5M+?

There’s a pattern.

It shows up over and over again — in indie apps, in ecommerce, even in SaaS.

Level 1: Copy/Paste Marketing ($10k/mo)
This is where most people start.
You copy what’s already working — ads, TikToks, landing pages, whatever.
You run a bunch of variations with minor tweaks.
It’s good for one thing: validation.
But you’re not really building anything long-term.
You’re borrowing momentum.

Level 2: Controlled Experiments ($1M/year)
This is when you start to really get it.
You stop guessing.
You isolate variables — one hook, one thumbnail, one CTA at a time.
You learn what drives performance.
You’re no longer copying. You’re tuning.
You’re building a distribution engine.

Level 3: Format Creation ($5M+/year)
This is where it gets wild.
You take inspiration from other verticals.
You remix it. Repackage it. Invent formats your niche has never seen.
And suddenly — people are copying you.
You’re not just in the game. You’re leading it.

Most never move past Level 1.
But if you want real scale, Level 2 and 3 are the game.

And once I saw this, I couldn't unsee it.

So now that this is clear, it will be my marketing focus for the next months

What level are you playing at?

HEADLINES

This AI App Made $2M on a $150 Budget

This is one of the wildest AI stories I’ve seen in a while.

A solo indie dev built a ChatGPT-style AI app, dropped $150 on some TikTok ads… and 5 months later hit $2 million in revenue.

He didn’t overbuild.
He didn’t hire a team.
He didn’t try to be “early” on some new tech.

He made something simple, put it out fast, and iterated on what worked.

This is Level 2 and 3 energy:
→ Tested everything
→ Dialed in the distribution
→ Created a scroll-stopping ad format others started copying

Watch the full story here: https://x.com/starter_story/status/1902754636185919817

THIS WEEK’S TIP

Build fast, Launch faster – Studio Ghibli Wave

The “Ghibli-style AI art” wave took the internet by surprise this week.

People realized you could ask ChatGPT (with image generation enabled) to create stunning Studio Ghibli–style illustrations — and the results? Straight out of My Neighbor Totoro.

It wasn’t some new feature.
It was just people experimenting with the right prompts.
And once the style went viral… the internet did what it always does.

An indie dev jumped in, wrapped it in a simple app, and started charging for it.
No new model. No complex tech.
Just a great name, clean UI, and a checkout.

The takeaway?
You don’t need every feature. You don’t need to be perfect.
You just need to ship.

Speed > polish. Simplicity > complexity.
Let the internet tell you what works — but only after you’ve put something out.

QUICK HITS

• OpenAI Launches GPT-4.5 Enterprise: Optimized for large-scale apps and low-code tools like Salesforce and Appian. (TechCrunch)

• Replit Adds “Vibe Coding” Mode: Code with natural language prompts for a smoother, non-coder-friendly experience. (The Verge)

• Bubble Integrates GPT-4.5: Build no-code apps with AI-generated logic, workflows, and databases. (Forbes)

• Google Debuts Gemini Studio: New drag-and-drop platform for creating AI apps with pre-trained models. (ZDNet)

• Meta Updates Llama 3.1: Adds real-time AI-assisted coding for collaborative development. (CNBC)

And That is all for this week!

See you next Saturday!

Filippo

Filippo Pietrantonio

Find me on X, or Book a 1:1 Call