John McEvoy was a graphic designer who taught himself to code. He built Momego and grew it to $30K MRR – all by himself. The biggest unlock? John uses hyper-local app store optimization and SEO. This video breaks down exactly how he built Momego and grew it to 5M downloads, 400K monthly users, and $30K MRR.
LLC Formation, Bookkeeping, Business Taxes, and more in one platform → https://go.starterstory.com/momego
Build your own app with AI→ https://build.starterstory.com/build/ai-build-accelerator?utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=momego
John’s app: https://travelwhiz.app/
Follow John: https://x.com/johnmarkerpen
🔔 Follow the Second Channel: @StarterStoryBuild
🏁 We’re hiring: starterstory.com/jobs
Chapters:
0:00 – Intro
0:47 – Who is John
1:07 – Numbers behind Momego
1:34 – Joh’s background
2:01 – Idea for Momego
2:52 – How John built the app
4:07 – What grew Momego to $30K/month
4:42 – How to get millions of users for free
8:22 – Growth timeline: from 0 to $30K/month
9:36 – What the app does
11:44 – Tech stack
12:34 – Costs & margins
12:55 – Solve your own problem
14:11 – Episode summary
This video is an educational case study of one founder’s experience. It is not financial advice and does not guarantee any income or results. Every business is different and your results may vary.
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27 Comments
@Wasted666 · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
One simple strategy 😂😂😂
@ur_rar · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
Why the logo Looks like cluely
@kubaprzybylski2411 · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
Hi! Thanks a lot for your video! When it comes to your support – which paywall do you use in your programs? I've heard that the commission is about 20-30% and I am wondering if my business plan will work on such high rate
@yayaanetwork2530 · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
You should’ve turned the music up even louder at the end I could still hear him
@appstuff6565 · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
he didnt mention the apis or servers he uses from said metro/buss stations to live track those public transports, or did i miss something?
@dominicberlingeri · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
How is he making 30k a month with that many users?
@anonNemo · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
i don't get why there is such an emphasis on building apps with AI. sure they are good for MVP but thats about it.
@AndresGuzman-t6x · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
Thanks for highlighting common mistakes—it’s so easy to overlook these.
@Mistermyself2.0 · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
i honestly dont like these stories but i keep watchin them, i have made an app called monsoon and i have got 0 users and im building another social app marketing is expensive man
@TheGajos · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
Bro, stop showing apps that were built in 2017
@bramburn · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
tThe music is louder than John's voice.
@j4s0n67 · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
4:08 okay everyone has to understand in order for me him to grow this business and platform he needs people to believe we can develop all these ideas with ai tools, which I BELIEVE(my belief okay?) its totally non sense. currently studying swe one of the best college in s korea been doing so since I was 10(not trying to show off or anything but just wanted to tell you I love this shit) imo you cant make anything that is even slightly complex, apps build via ai is basically wix level stuff(mobile version of wix essentially)
@MuffSquad · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
Really dropped the ball with the editing there at the end bud
@bitmaster9467 · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
who supplies him with GPS bus data? Or is it not interesting to anyone?
@WeLoveWave · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
Anyone else think that $30k MRR from 400k is super low?
@trainsayschoochoocho · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
I'm suspicious of this. He says at 1:30 app has 75K ratings but across iOS and Android it only has about 1.5K each(impressive but a fraction of the claim). His company TransitNow Limited went out of business in 2020 and had £0 on the balance sheet but is still shown as the owner of the app on the app store. Something is just not right. @StarterStory do you research these people before giving them air time? If these are mostly tall claims, you are doing a disservice to your viewers, making success look a lot easier than it is in this SAAS world
@thekingofallblogs · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
Anyone who thinks they can just vibe code apps like this is fooling themselves. AI can speed up some types of coding, and help you learn, but you need to guide it. And usually it will not help with the really tricky parts that are unique to your app.
@santhoshkrish5866 · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
This is in india for ages
@nickgandhi3477 · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
Is this bus and train data public? And he just pulled together a bunch of APIs to get all these data?
@CRUSHERGAMERZ · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
This is wild! Building a profitable app while learning to code from scratch. Inspiring stuff!
@patrickgamboa7270 · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
This is GOLD value
@alxndrtrn · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
This app is so so good
@Asparuh.Emilov · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
Looking at App Store for Apple I see just 4 ratings so I guess 74 996 ratings are in Google Play Store? Amazing! Or just a lie, not sure what to think about that. 😁
@Massimus888 · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
Great idea asking for a rating when the user is having a positive experience
@TheWistleBlower · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
I don't get the tech stack elaboration on the end cause he suddenly doesn't speak about Swift and Flutter anymore… or did I missed something?
@gunhann · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
It was a very good interview and the product seems solid. However, when I checked the app and the other apps from the same developer, the numbers didn’t seem to match. I don’t see 5M downloads (it looks closer to 500K). The Android app hasn’t been updated since last year, and I couldn’t find a total of 75K reviews across all their apps. Quite strange.
@KarroumBenmonji · October 27, 2026 at 11:36 am
Please add arabic language to listes of sounds thanks