// mix weights are our estimate from detected signal volume
An iOS looksmaxxing app in the UMAX-style wave (face scan → scores → paid improvement plan), built solo. TrustMRR tracking starts March 2026 at ~$18 and scales to $13.1k MRR / 1,072 subs by August on paid TikTok + Meta ads — the founder's X audience is 65 followers, so this is the anti-founder-audience model: ads plus a 4.8-star store listing do all the work. Listed for sale at $600k in Aug 2026, and the listing itself got distribution when Marc Lou tweeted it to his indie-hacker audience.
The founder names exactly two growth channels — TikTok Ads and Meta Ads, "currently running ads at 2-3x ROAS" (founder-stated, unverified). With a 65-follower X account and DR 5, paid social is the engine, not audience or SEO.
iOS-only distribution converting the ad traffic: 4.8/5 from ~1.2K ratings, free with $6.99–$79.99 in-app purchases — the store listing is the entire owned funnel (no Play listing, 3-page website).
The for-sale listing became its own channel: Marc Lou tweeted "Looksmaxxing startup for sale" with the verified numbers to his indie-hacker audience — ~1,647 buyer views and 2 offers on a $600k ask at capture.
One email a week on how SaaS actually gets users — the new teardowns, what changed, and the founder claims our crawl just caught out. No fluff, unsubscribe anytime.