Quick story, then the mechanics, then a question for you. Friday night I'd decided not to post a reel on our brand new account (@absorbed.app the app Maria and I are building). Timing felt wrong for me. Maria said post it anyway. It's at 3M views. 2M of those came in the last 24 hours. 735k accounts reached, 95k likes, 49k saves, 25k shares, hundreds of new followers a day. The account is a few posts old and had basically no following. Screenshots attached. The real story: I didn't make the reel. I built an internal AI tool that produces our content. The exact workflow: 1. Trend spotting (human). Maria lives in our niche and catches formats while they're still climbing. This reel rode a trend she flagged. 2.The hook (human). Maria films a few seconds of herself on camera. That's the scroll-stopper, the part AI can't do, and the part everyone underinvests in. 3.Production (machine). We brief the tool on what to make. It does the work and hands back the finished piece. About 30 minutes total. 4.Assembly (me). I drop in our b-roll, put it together, post. Being straight with you: a 3M reel on a new account is the outlier, not the expectation. But the system that produced it runs every day at near zero cost. Three takeaways I'd bet on: 1. Follower count doesn't gate reach anymore. If you've been "building an audience first," stop waiting. Post from zero. 2.Reels resurrect. This one hit 1M fast, died for days, then added 2M in a night. 3.Your scarce resource is taste, not production hours. Spend your time picking trends and filming hooks. Also important to note: 3M views doesn't mean 3M app downloads. We're building a long-term brand here. This was an outreach video that didn't talk about the app, but these new followers will see our nurturing content and mostly convent then.

I’ve been experimenting with a repeatable workflow for automating Instagram carousels. Right now, I’m using the DataTalksClub/carousel-automation GitHub project as the rendering system for my Instagram carousels, and I use Codex to run most of the workflow. I build the slides as JSON deck files, render them through the Node-based image pipeline, and use my app screenshot folders as the main visual source. For research, I use Codex with HikerAPI to pull competitor Instagram reels and turn those into content ideas before building the carousels. The automation side is actually working pretty well. The harder part is figuring out what content will actually get attention and engagement. I’ve been following @Darius Mora from absorbedbymaika and was curious if he is using AI image generation as part of the workflow. One thing I’m trying to understand is whether AI-generated visuals hurt reach on Instagram, or if the algorithm mostly cares about engagement and retention. Has anyone here @M O found a good process for turning competitor research, hooks, app screenshots, or product benefits into carousel content that performs? I’d be interested in feedback on the content strategy side, not just the rendering/automation side.

Hey guys, sad to hear that community is closing. I just recently got into iPhone apps and have recently launched a small iPhone game called Foundership. It’s basically a SaaS startup simulator with an educational element to it: you grow MRR, deal with tech debt, survive incidents, and scale from zero toward an exit. Would love to hear your feedback (ratings are appreciated) App Store link (promotional codes in the comments): https://apps.apple.com/dk/app/foundership-startup-game/id6769391981

I just met with Lyndsey from Encore. She was very nice and I am planning to move forward with her on a few apps. She said that one of her best clients had this app called StyleShare. :) Apparently, @M O is doing awesome!