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Meet Steven Cravotta

How He Built and Sold Apps Without Writing a Single Line of Code

This week, I sat down with Steven Cravotta, a self-taught entrepreneur who built multiple mobile apps, scaled Puff Count to 40K+ MRR, exited it, and is now leading the charge at Posted, a platform changing how brands source viral content.

Stephen’s story is a playbook for non-technical founders. He built his apps without writing code, scaled with viral content, and monetized with smart paywalls and paid ads. If you’re a founder sitting on an idea, his strategy will show you how to bring it to life—even if you’ve never touched a line of code.

How Steven Got Started

Steven started, like many of us, by building passion projects in high school, flipping sneakers, and learning to code from YouTube. He stumbled into mobile apps when one of his early games, Wordle, accidentally went viral years later due to name confusion with the browser hit.

That one lucky moment validated his belief: keep building, and things will break your way if you stay consistent.

The Puff Count Playbook

Puff Count was born from a personal need. Steven was addicted to vaping. So were his friends. None of them knew how often they hit their vapes each day.

He built an MVP, outsourced the entire app, and launched with one core feature: tracking your usage. The app didn’t explode at first, but his third TikTok did. That one video got 80K+ views and 3,000 installs overnight. The growth snowballed from there.

But downloads don’t equal dollars. His major breakthroughs came from:

✅ Switching to a hard paywall
✅ Raising prices and believing users would pay
✅ Analyzing competitors’ pricing structures and ad strategies
✅ Doubling down on content that converted—not just content that got views

His Simple Formula for Launching Apps Without Coding

1. Sketch the Idea on Paper

2. Use 99designs for UI – Get dozens of designs for ~$700

3. Hire Devs on Upwork – Outsource everything with clear instructions

4. Build for Yourself – Solve a problem you personally have

5. Go All-In on Marketing – TikToks, organic push, and eventually paid ads

What Founders Get Wrong

• They undercharge or wait too long to monetize

• They try to do everything themselves

• They build before they know how they’ll get users

• They treat marketing like an afterthought

Steven flips the script: he starts with marketing. If he doesn’t know how to drive attention to it, he doesn’t build it.

Posted: His Next Big Thing

Posted helps brands create viral TikTok-style videos at scale without hiring influencers the old-fashioned way.

• Run a “Deal”: Creators submit content + a bid

• Post Organic Campaigns: Creators compete for the most views

• Buy Only What You Like: No upfront payments, no bloated retainers

This is the content engine Steven wishes he had while scaling Puff Count and now he’s building it for every founder who wants to grow without guessing.

Final Advice to Founders

Want to try Posted?
→ Click Here
→ Connect with Stevenon X: @StephenCravata

– Andres Sanchez
Beyond The Wealth 

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