FollowBuddy: 16 Questions Answered From the Starter Story Interview, With Timestamps
FollowBuddy shows people who unfollowed them on Instagram without breaking the platform's rules, and its founder grows it with one repeatable method: short, honest videos aimed at what people type into YouTube search. In the Starter Story interview, founder Ben reports $20,000 a month, 82,000 users and 3,128 paying users, with nothing spent on ads. The host's intro puts it at $17,000 a month.
We transcribed the interview with transcribe.so and asked it the same questions we ask every episode. Each answer below is written in our own words and points to who said it and the exact second, so you can check it in the video. All figures are self-reported by the founder and we have not audited them. We are not affiliated with Starter Story, and we sell a transcription service.
| Who is speaking | Role |
|---|---|
| Ben, founder of FollowBuddy | Answers the questions |
| Starter Story hosts | One asks the questions; a second joins him for the closing reflections |
What does FollowBuddy do and how does it make money?
It tells you who unfollowed you on Instagram, safely (Founder, 00:47), by reading the follower export that Instagram itself lets you download, so no rules are broken (Founder, 13:05). It runs on subscriptions: weekly, monthly or yearly plans after a free trial (Founder, 01:10).
What numbers does the founder share?
$20,000 a month, 82,000 users, 3,128 paying users and nothing spent on ads (Founder, 00:47). As read off his revenue dashboard on screen: 484 people on a trial, 17,422 in revenue over the last 28 days, 14,000 new customers and 27,522 active subscriptions, a count that does not match the paying users he gives elsewhere (Founder, 01:10). The product's own channel had 40,000 views in 28 days, mostly from search (Founder, 01:38). The host's intro says $17,000 a month (Host, 00:02).
Who is the founder?
He has run a marketing agency for seven years, started while he was in college (Founder, 01:59). Software companies were the clients most open to working with him, and he learned how well YouTube sells software; he has repeated that strategy ever since (Founder, 02:05). He is not the developer (Founder, 13:53).
Where did the idea come from?
His growth content made him the go-to Instagram helper for many people (Founder, 02:40). Then came a flood of questions about banned accounts, which he traced to unfollower apps that broke Instagram's terms. He found a safe method, and his video about it passed a million views (Founder, 02:59). That million-view video was the first proof of demand.
How long did it take to build, and with what?
He sat on the idea for four years, checking each year what a developer would charge, until about two years ago the price made sense (Founder, 03:33). It runs on a standard stack: a front-end framework, an email service, a database, a cloud host and a subscription payments service (Founder, 13:53). The interview does not say how long the first version took.
Who is the customer?
Instagram users who worry about who stopped following them (Founder, 02:40), and in particular people burned by unsafe apps that got accounts banned (Founder, 02:59).
How did it get from zero to $20,000 a month?
Through one channel type: organic search on video platforms, mainly YouTube (Founder, 00:47). Search viewers have already decided they want a solution:
"I don't have to convince people of something; they've already convinced themselves." (Founder, 04:12)
What is the strategy of making the same video over and over, and how do those search videos turn into paying users?
Pick a target search phrase and keep publishing variations of the video for it until one ranks (Founder, 11:25). Unlike web search, YouTube lets one creator hold several top listings, especially across channels, so you become the face people see for every phrasing of the problem (Founder, 11:57). The videos convert because the viewer already has the problem; being honest and mentioning a downside has, in his experience, raised conversion (Founder, 09:34).
What single thing moved the numbers most?
A comparison video of the best unfollower tracker apps (Founder, 04:50). It took 20 minutes to make, has 25,000 views over seven months, and let him explain why his app differs from the ones that scammed people, which lifted conversion (Founder, 04:56). It ranks first for several unfollower searches (Founder, 05:24).
What is the start-over playbook?
- Map the awareness ladder of your specific customer, from aware of the need to ready to buy (Founder, 06:45), and check how people actually phrase each question with a keyword tool (Founder, 07:13). Start with 10 to 20 keywords and look at what already ranks (Founder, 07:40).
- Record the video. The title and thumbnail only need to confirm the searcher is in the right place, keyword first but written for a person (Founder, 08:35). Confirm the click in the first seconds (Founder, 09:08).
- Package it: a keyword-led title and a description whose first two sentences sell the click (Founder, 10:02), then tags that cover every way people say the same thing (Founder, 10:30).
- Monitor and remake variations until you rank (Founder, 11:25).
Done this way, he says you will land in the top three to five listings almost every time, even on a new channel (Founder, 08:35).
Why does it win?
Search traffic needs no persuasion (Founder, 04:12), and there is far less competition on YouTube search than people assume. To those who say it only works because he already has an audience:
"I grew my entire YouTube channel doing the exact same things I'm telling you now." (Founder, 12:37)
How is it priced, and why?
Weekly, monthly and yearly plans behind a free trial; the yearly plan, pushed hardest, is $50 a year (Founder, 01:10). The interview does not give the other prices, explain the choice or mention a price change.
What does it cost to run?
No ad spend (Founder, 00:47). He pays for a keyword tool, and the payments service takes about one percent of transactions (Founder, 13:53). He employs a developer full time (Founder, 14:22). The interview gives no salary or margin figures.
What went wrong?
Not working with the best people from the start:
"I paid for not thinking like that with about a year of my time and a lot of money." (Founder, 14:47)
He also says the common SaaS mistake is chasing customers before understanding who they are and what problems they have (Founder, 06:45).
What is the founder's advice?
Do not overcomplicate it: if you have even a slight idea, move and validate it as soon as possible; this method needs almost no creativity, just showing up where people already search (Founder, 15:15). If you are not technical, partner with the best people you can and give them skin in the game (Founder, 14:22).
What did the hosts take away?
The host's view is that YouTube search is still underrated and lightly contested (Host, 16:18); it will not stay this way forever, but for a few years a simple video with buyer intent can rank and earn for years (Host, 16:37). The second host liked that the founder has a system for content that markets the product, not random posts (Host, 16:03).
What to copy
- Write one video per question your buyer asks. Map the steps from "I have a problem" to "I am ready to buy" and make a search video for each, each pointing to the next.
- Repeat, do not reinvent. Remaking the video for the same phrase until it ranks is cheaper than hunting for new ideas, and several top listings beat one.
- Name the downside. In a comparison video, an honest con builds the trust that turns a searcher into a buyer.
More from this series: YouTube search as a SaaS growth channel, every Starter Story episode answered, and our free YouTube transcript tool if you want to run the same questions on any interview.