In the modern digital economy, the traditional path of building a product and then finding an audience is dead. The most successful modern entrepreneurs are flipping the script by building the audience first and treating content as their primary laboratory for product validation. This "content-first" approach is precisely how Jack and Nick Sweeney, the founders of Coherence, scaled their mobile app to $85,000 in revenue and 15,000 downloads in just eight months. By treating social media platforms as an integrated ecosystem—a cross-platform viral loop—they've created a reliable short form video marketing machine that feeds itself. This playbook breaks down their specific "vortex" strategy for turning raw ideas into high-converting assets across X, Instagram, and TikTok.
The Content-First Philosophy: Validating Before You Build
Most developers spend months locked in a room coding, only to launch to a silent void. The Sweeney brothers avoided this by using a viral content framework to test market demand before writing a single line of code. They focused on spiritual and esoteric topics, specifically breathwork, which resonated with a niche but passionate audience. By starting with content, they weren't just guessing what people wanted; they were letting the algorithms and engagement metrics tell them where the pain points lived. This strategy ensures that when you finally do launch an app, you already have a built-in user base ready to hit the download button.
Success in this model requires shifting your mindset from "creator" to "scientist." Every post is an experiment. If a topic fails on X, you don't waste time filming a video for it. If a video performs mediocrely on TikTok, you don't invest in it for a content repurposing strategy on YouTube. This rigorous validation process allowed the brothers to achieve an average of $11,000 in monthly revenue with peak months hitting $22,000, all while maintaining a 50% profit margin. Stormy AI is an AI-powered platform for creator discovery that can further assist this process by helping brands identify which specific niches are currently underserved by existing creators through natural-language search.
X (Twitter) as the 'Idea Battleground'
The first stage of the cross-platform viral loop begins on X (Twitter). Because X is a text-dominant platform, the friction to create is incredibly low. You don't need a ring light, a microphone, or a high-end camera; you just need a compelling thought. The founders used X as an "idea battleground" to fire off rapid-fire concepts and see which ones caught fire. One such concept was the "Vortex Breath," which started as a simple text thread and eventually exploded into the cornerstone of their entire business.
When an X thread or post starts getting unusual traction—measured by a high ratio of shares and bookmarks relative to views—it's a signal of social media scaling potential. To identify winning visual trends alongside your text experiments, you can use Stormy AI to search for top-performing creators across TikTok and YouTube using natural language prompts. For the Sweeneys, the Vortex Breath post was the signal they needed. It validated that people were seeking specific, actionable breathwork techniques that felt "secret" or "underground." Once you have a validated text-based winner, you have the raw materials for your next phase: the short-form script.
Scripting Secrets: Converting Text Threads into Reels
Turning a text thread into a high-performing Instagram Reel or TikTok is an art form. You cannot simply read your tweets to the camera. You must translate the data-rich information of a thread into the hook-driven format of video. The core insight must be compressed into the first three seconds to stop the scroll. The social media scaling playbook dictates that your hook should promise a transformation or reveal a hidden truth that the viewer feels they've been missing.
To master how to go viral on Instagram, the Coherence team looks at the most engaged-with parts of their X threads. If people are highlighting a specific benefit or asking questions about a particular step, that becomes the focal point of the video script. This ensures the script is already pre-validated by a real audience. By the time they hit record, they already know the subject matter has a high probability of success because it has already survived the "battleground" of X.
The 'Polarizing Hook' Technique: Driving 8 Million Views
One of the most effective strategies used by the Sweeney brothers is the "Polarizing Hook." Their most successful video, which garnered 8 million views across platforms, started with a provocative question: "Do you want to know something that they don't want you to know?" This technique relies on ambiguity and an "Us vs. Them" narrative. By referencing a mysterious "they," the content taps into the viewer's natural curiosity and skepticism, creating an immediate psychological itch that can only be scratched by watching the rest of the video.
This framing is particularly powerful in the health and wellness space, where people often feel let down by traditional institutions. By positioning breathwork as a tool the "nefarious forces" want to keep hidden, the founders didn't just share a technique—they built a movement. When implementing this in your short form video marketing, you don't need to be conspiratorial, but you do need to be bold. Take a stand, challenge a common myth, or offer a counter-intuitive solution to a common problem. This polarization drives comments, and comments drive the algorithm.
Bulk Production Systems: Filming 30-60 Videos in a Session
Consistency is the only way to sustain a viral content framework. To maintain a daily posting schedule without burning out, the Coherence founders utilize a bulk production system. Instead of filming one video at a time, they batch their ideas weekly and film 30 to 60 videos in a single session. This allows them to stay in the creative flow and ensures they have at least two months of content ready at any given time. This high-volume approach is essential for modern app marketing, where you need to constantly test new angles and hooks.
The process for bulk filming is mechanical:
- Review the validated winners from X and other platforms.
- Write short, punchy scripts focusing on the hook.
- Film the hook first, then the body, then the call to action.
- Reset and repeat immediately for the next script.
Step 4: Amplifying Your Winners with Paid Media
Organic virality is the starting point, but paid media is the fuel. Once a piece of content demonstrates high organic engagement, the Sweeneys use Spark Ads on TikTok and Meta Ads Manager to amplify the reach. This is the ultimate test of validation: if people are willing to watch an organic video, will they also be willing to pay for the solution it offers? By putting "spark money" behind organic winners, they ensure that every dollar spent on advertising is going toward a creative that has already proven its worth.
For mobile app developers, this is a critical stage of the content repurposing strategy. A viral video about breathwork isn't just entertainment; it's a top-of-funnel lead generator for the app. By using automation tools to manage DMs, the founders can instantly direct viewers from a viral Reel to a sign-up page or a direct app store link, closing the loop between attention and revenue.
Scaling Vertically: Moving from Clips to Long-Form
The final stage of the loop is "moving upstream" to longer, more impactful formats. When a specific technique like the Vortex Breath goes viral as a 60-second clip, it signals that the audience wants a deeper dive. This is the moment to transition to YouTube. Long-form content allows for deeper education, building stronger brand loyalty and higher lifetime value (LTV) for users. While short-form is for discovery, long-form is for retention and mastery.
This vertical scaling ensures that you aren't just chasing transient viral hits. You are building an educational moat around your product. For the Sweeneys, YouTube subscribers represent a more committed user base than TikTok followers. These users are more likely to transition from the free trial to the $40 annual subscription, managed through platforms like RevenueCat, which handles their in-app purchases and subscription logic seamlessly.
The Tech Stack Powering the Viral Loop
Building the app didn't require a traditional engineering team. Leveraging AI tools allowed the founders to stay lean. They used Cursor, an AI-powered code editor, to build the MVP in just a few weeks without Jack writing a single line of manual code. Their stack is built for speed and scalability, utilizing React Native and Expo for the front end, and Supabase for their backend and database needs.
To track the success of their short form video marketing efforts, they rely on Mixpanel for analytics and Vercel for hosting their marketing sites. Their operational costs remain low—around $5,000 to $6,000 per month—covering video editors, a ghostwriter, and a virtual assistant. This lean structure, combined with their viral content framework, allows them to focus on what matters most: out-marketing the competition and continuously shipping new value to their 2,000 active users.
Conclusion: Your Path to Viral Scaling
The story of Coherence proves that you don't need a massive budget or a team of developers to launch a successful mobile app. What you need is a content repurposing strategy that prioritizes validation over assumptions. By using X as an idea battleground, mastering the polarizing hook, and building a bulk production system, you can create a cross-platform viral loop that scales your reach and your revenue simultaneously. Stop coding in a vacuum and start creating in public. Find your "Vortex Breath," validate it through engagement, and build the solution your audience is already asking for. If you need help finding the right creators to scale your vision, explore how Stormy AI can set up an autonomous AI agent to handle your creator discovery and outreach to accelerate your growth today.