Li Jin: We studied 50+ startups on TikTok and here’s what we found

TikTok is a weird opportunity for a lot of indie hackers because its main demographic seems to me Gen Z — a young-ish audience without a lot of cash to spend on our products.

But TikTok is massive, so it's foolish to ignore completely:

As of June 2020, TikTok had around 50 million daily active users and 92 million monthly active users in the US, up nearly 800% from January 2018. The average US user opens the app 8 times a day and spends 46 minutes per day on the app.

And on top of the sheer size of the platform,

1. its algorithm makes it way easier to get started and grow from the ground up, and
2. business success stories are already emerging:

For startups, TikTok can be a goldmine for growth. … TikTok’s For You Page and personalization algorithm purposefully surfaces videos from even little-known accounts.

Businesses of all sizes have seen success on TikTok. On one hand, there’s Netflix, which amassed 12 million followers in a little over a year by leaning into trends and creating entertaining highlights. Then there are small businesses like Pounce Cat Cafe which has made viral videos and cultivated a community on the platform, leading to over 1,700 cat adoptions.