u/Brief-Specific-7787

Posting this because i see a lot of "how do you decide what to make" questions here and my answer changed a lot this year.

I stopped browsing for ideas entirely. instead i watch about 15 channels in my niche, and every morning i look at one screen that tells me which of their uploads are outperforming that channel's own average not raw views, views per day since upload, measured against that channel's median. A 3k-sub channel doing 4x their normal is a far stronger signal than a big channel's regular upload, because at that size nothing but the topic and the hook could have carried it.

That gives me maybe 2-5 videos worth looking at on any given day, out of everything those channels posted.

Then i pick one and pull the transcript, and this is the part that actually matters: i'm not looking for what the video said, i'm looking for what its audience asked for in the comments and never got. That gap is the video i make. same proven demand, not a reupload of someone else's idea.

From there it's a scene-by-scene script where every scene already has its visual direction written into it, so there's no hunting for b-roll afterward and the script is the shot list. narration goes to TTS, visual prompts go to the video tool, and i'm editing within the hour.

The whole thing from "what do i make" to "i have a shootable script" is about 10 minutes now. It used to eat at least a few hours.

Happy to go into any part of this in more detail if it's useful. The outlier maths especially, that took the longest to get right.

Spent a while figuring out how to tell if a video is genuinely breaking out versus just being on a big channel. Raw view count doesn't answer that a channel with 2M subs posting something at 500k views might be underperforming for them.

What actually works: view velocity, not raw views. Views ÷ days since upload. A video sitting at 50k after 3 days is outperforming one sitting at 200k after a year, even though the second number is bigger.

Then compare that velocity against the CHANNEL'S OWN median and not other channels, not the niche average, just that channel against itself. Pull the last 6+ uploads (below that, one lucky video skews the whole median and gives you a false signal), compute each one's velocity, take the median, and flag anything running 2x or higher over it. That's the actual definition of a breakout: not "did well," but "did unusually well FOR THIS CHANNEL specifically."

What this catches that raw-view sorting misses: a 3k-subscriber channel whose video is running 4x their own norm is a stronger signal than a 500k channel's normal upload and the first one's topic or hook did real work against a cold audience, the second is just existing reach.

What it doesn't catch: anything with fewer than 6 uploads (not enough sample to trust a median), and it says nothing about WHY a video broke out — that's a separate, harder problem.

Built this into a tool (ScriptDeck) that runs the scan automatically across channels I watch instead of checking by hand — mentioning it only because that's the context this came out of, not the point of the post. Curious if anyone's using a different threshold than 2x, or weighting recency differently.

I post history and engineering shorts. Channel average is around 600 to 800 views. One from two days ago is at 23.6k.

Problem is I changed two things at once.

Titles. Older ones were vague, like "The Machine That Redrew America's Political Map". This one was "Hoover Dam Would Take 125 Years to Cool. Here's How They Fixed It." Specific number, concrete problem, unresolved promise. My other recent uploads with vaguer titles are all still around 700 to 900, so I lean towards this being most of it.

Topic picking: I stopped going by what felt interesting and started looking for videos in my niche outperforming their own channel average, then analysed the comments for what people kept asking that the video never answered. That gap and the story became my script. After this change, I see my avg view count also at least doubled.

Can't tell if it won on the title formula or because that particular gap was unusually hungry.

Anyone been through this? Did titles turn out to be the thing for you, or is that just the visible part of something else?

I post history and engineering shorts. Channel average is around 600 to 800 views. One from two days ago is at 23.6k.

Problem is I changed two things at once.

Titles. Older ones were vague, like "The Machine That Redrew America's Political Map". This one was "Hoover Dam Would Take 125 Years to Cool. Here's How They Fixed It." Specific number, concrete problem, unresolved promise. My other recent uploads with vaguer titles are all still around 700 to 900, so I lean towards this being most of it.

Topic picking: I stopped going by what felt interesting and started looking for videos in my niche outperforming their own channel average, then analysed the comments for what people kept asking that the video never answered. That gap and the story became my script. After this change, I see my avg view count also at least doubled.

Can't tell if it won on the title formula or because that particular gap was unusually hungry.

Anyone been through this? Did titles turn out to be the thing for you, or is that just the visible part of something else?

I post history and engineering shorts. Channel average is around 600 to 800 views. One from two days ago is at 23.6k.

Problem is I changed two things at once.

Titles. Older ones were vague, like "The Machine That Redrew America's Political Map". This one was "Hoover Dam Would Take 125 Years to Cool. Here's How They Fixed It." Specific number, concrete problem, unresolved promise. My other recent uploads with vaguer titles are all still around 700 to 900, so I lean towards this being most of it.

Topic picking: I stopped going by what felt interesting and started looking for videos in my niche outperforming their own channel average, then analysed the comments for what people kept asking that the video never answered. That gap and the story became my script. After this change, I see my avg view count also at least doubled.

Can't tell if it won on the title formula or because that particular gap was unusually hungry.

Anyone been through this? Did titles turn out to be the thing for you, or is that just the visible part of something else?

Six weeks in, posting consistently, and I've already changed how I pick topics twice. Curious how people further along actually decide.

Right now I'm doing something that felt obvious once I tried it but took me way too long to land on. I stopped looking at trending anything. Instead I pick a few channels in my niche and compare their recent uploads against their own average, roughly views per day since upload versus that channel's median. A video pulling 3x its own norm actually tells me something. 40k views on a channel that averages 200k tells me nothing.

Then I go read the comments on whichever one popped off. There's usually a question people keep asking that the video never got around to answering. That becomes my next video. Not a remake of theirs, just the thing their audience obviously wanted next.

It's turned picking a topic into a ten minute decision instead of an afternoon of second guessing myself. What I still can't tell is whether topic selection was ever my actual problem, or if it's packaging, or if six weeks is just too early to be drawing conclusions about any of it.

So for anyone past this stage, what actually moved the needle for you? Did your process for picking topics change over time, or did you find something early and just stick with it?

Six weeks into a faceless channel, ~130 subs, posting consistently. Somewhere between "fine" and "too slow" and I can't tell which so I'm questioning my process rather than my patience.

What I do now: instead of chasing trends, I watch a few channels in my niche and look for videos outperforming that channel's own average, views per day since upload against their median. A fresh video doing 3× its own channel's norm is signal; 40k on a channel that averages 200k isn't.

Then I analyze the comments on whatever popped. The questions people keep asking that the video never answered become my next video, not a remake, the thing their audience wanted next.

It's made "what do I make today" a ten-minute problem instead of an afternoon one. What I genuinely can't tell is whether topic selection was ever my bottleneck, or whether it's packaging, or just time on the platform.

For anyone who got past this stage, what actually moved the needle between 100 and 1,000? And is six weeks just too early to be drawing conclusions?

A couple of channels had real traction — one with decent subs and per-video views, a newer one pulling solid views per short. Added a third fully-automated channel on the same Google account and API setup. Within 1–2 days, views on all three dropped to single digits — no strike, no email, nothing flagged in Studio, just dead traffic.

Already killed the automation, deleted the new channel, unlisted anything scheduled. Rebuilding the strongest one manually from here.

For anyone who's run multiple channels on one account/API: does a shared setup get treated as one entity, and does it actually recover once the behavior stops?

I run a few channels under one Google account. One had real momentum (decent subs, consistent views), another newer one was doing solid views per video. A few days ago, views across all of them dropped to single digits within about a day or two — no strike, no email, nothing flagged in Studio.

Feels like more than coincidence given they're all on one account, but that's as far as I've gotten. Anyone had multiple channels drop at the same time like this? Trying to figure out if it resolves on its own or if there's something specific worth doing.

A couple of channels had real traction — one with decent subs and per-video views, a newer one pulling solid views per short. Added a third fully-automated channel on the same Google account and API setup. Within 1–2 days, views on all three dropped to single digits — no strike, no email, nothing flagged in Studio, just dead traffic.

Already killed the automation, deleted the new channel, unlisted anything scheduled. Rebuilding the strongest one manually from here.

For anyone who's run multiple channels on one account/API: does a shared setup get treated as one entity, and does it actually recover once the behavior stops?

Hi everyone,

Looking for honest reviews on FocusChamps. It's an app where kids set their own goals, earn points and redeem for rewards they choose. Screen time also costs points which naturally reduces it.

Built by me and my wife after some parenting challenges with our own kids.

What I'm offering:

Free Pro access ($39.99/year value) in exchange for an honest App Store or Play Store review

Looking for parents with kids ages 6 to 16 who can give real feedback. Good or bad reviews welcome, just want honest ones.

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6767085497

Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.focuschamps.app

Happy to answer questions. Thanks.

A few months ago my wife and I found a note our 12 year old wrote to herself listing everything she wanted to improve about herself. Reading it honestly broke us. Not because she was failing but because we realized how deeply she wanted to grow.

We started letting her choose what she wanted to focus on instead of us assigning tasks. She picked volleyball four times a week and stuck with it without reminders. Our 7 year old saw this and wanted in. Then one night the kids got excited about saving points for a beach vacation.

My wife and I are both software engineers. We spent the next few weeks staying up late building an app around this idea (some inputs came from our kids). Kids set their own goals, earn points and save for rewards they care about. It's called FocusChamps. It's been a game changer for us and decided to launch it. Launched last week.

Now I am learning building was the easy part.

What I am figuring out:

CAC matters less than conversion. My ads are getting clicks but installs are low because the App Store page has zero reviews. No social proof equals no trust.

Reddit is brutal. Posted honest stories and got banned from parenting subs for self promotion. Got accused of fake story manipulation. Learned to disengage from cynics.

New social accounts get crickets. Posted launch content on fresh Instagram and TikTok. Zero engagement. Audience takes time.

Validation matters more than launching fast. I built before validating which I now realize was backwards.

What I am doing this week:

Adding in app review prompts

Pausing underperforming ad keywords

Reaching out to app testing communities for honest feedback

Getting first 5 reviews before scaling anything

If you have been through this stage and figured out what actually worked for you, would love to hear it.

I am a software engineer but very bad at Marketting

Built an app after finding a note our 12 year old wrote about wanting to be better at things. We started letting her choose her own goals instead of us assigning tasks. It worked. Our 7 year old joined in. Built a simple app around the idea where kids set goals, earn points and save for rewards they choose.

Building was the easy part. Marketing is where I am stuck.

Tried Reddit and got banned from parenting subs. Posted on Instagram and TikTok but those take time. Running Apple Search Ads but not sure if I am doing it right.

If you have launched a consumer app and figured out what actually works for organic or paid growth, would really appreciate any advice.

Solo-dev family app. Kids propose their own goals to get better (like Practise Soccer 4 times, Go for a run, do math for 30 min a day etc), parents approve/counter, kids earn Focus Points through daily tasks, redeem for real-life rewards. No ads, no data sales.

Google requires 14 days × 12+ testers before public launch. Day 1 today. Need more testers so the clock doesn't break. Please test this app and I will test yours

Ask: opt in, keep the app installed through May 24. Bonus if you have a kid ages 5+.

Join group: https://groups.google.com/g/focus-champs-testers

Tap opt-in: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.focuschamps.app

Solo dev and dad here. Built FocusChamps after my daughter wrote a note saying "I will work hard to earn the iPad."

Two kid-driven layers:

• Goals — what kids want to get good at (read daily, practice piano)
• Rewards — what kids redeem points for (Lego set, screen time, sleepover)

Parents approve everything. Daily tasks earn Focus Points. No ads, no data sales.

Need Android testers — Google requires 14 days with 12+ continuous testers before public launch. Day 1 today.

Opt in and keep installed through May 24. Bonus if you have a kid age 5+.

Opt-in: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.focuschamps.app
Tester group: https://groups.google.com/g/focus-champs-testers

Public launch end of May. Honest feedback over polite.

Thanks.

Family app for kids 5-15. Kids propose their own goals and rewards ("practice soccer for 30 min", "Go for a run 4 times a week", "$20 toward Legos") and earn Focus Points by daily/weekly commitments. Parents approve, counter-offer, or decline. Kids redeem their rewards

Site: https://focuschamps.com
To test (90 sec on your Android phone):

1. Join group: https://groups.google.com/g/focus-champs-testers
2. Tap opt-in: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.focuschamps.app
3. Open once a week × 2 weeks

Steps 1 and 2 must use the SAME Google account on the SAME Android phone. Wait ~30 sec between them.
Mutual testing — drop your closed-test link in a comment, I'll test yours back same day.
Thanks 🙏

Hi Everyone,

Family app for kids 5-17. Kids set their own goals ("practice soccer for 30 min", "Go for a run 4 times a week"), propose their rewards ("$20 toward Legos", "Movie night this weekend") and earn Focus Points by daily/weekly commitments. Parents approve, counter-offer, or decline. Kids work thugh their goals and redeem their rewards

Site: https://focuschamps.com
To test (90 sec on your Android phone):

1. Join group: https://groups.google.com/g/focus-champs-testers
2. Tap opt-in: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.focuschamps.app
3. Open once a week × 2 weeks

Steps 1 and 2 must use the SAME Google account on the SAME Android phone. Wait ~30 sec between them.
Mutual testing: drop your closed test link in a comment, I'll test yours back same day.

Thanks