Fact check: This post was posted by Jake Coppen on Instagram.

Verdict: mixed — Trust Score 59/100

The Instagram post by Jake Coppen outlines a playbook for building and scaling consumer apps, using his golf app, Scratch AI, as an example. While the general marketing advice provided in the post aligns with established industry practices, the specific financial claims regarding Scratch AI's $100K ARR in 7 days are not independently corroborated by the 12 sources reviewed. The post also promotes Volume, an AI marketing tool, whose capabilities are primarily detailed on its own website.

Platform
instagram
Source author
jake.coppen — see all fact-checks of this account
Original post
https://www.instagram.com/p/DeKWt1DEcPG#purged-20d9c8aa-f57a-493d-a6d8-66968980fa7a
Verified on
October 7, 2026
Verification ID
B3oNrKQVX27THFeELCHKlA

Original content reviewed

Platform: INSTAGRAM Author: @jake.coppen --- Caption/Description --- 🧵The ultimate guide to build and scale consumer apps 🧵 #consumerapp #app #appmarketing --- Carousel/Slides (9 items) --- Slide 1 (image): Text: Jake Coppen @jakecoppen Last October we launched a golf app. It hit $100K ARR in its first 7 days. Here's the playbook we now use on every app we build. Steal it for your next launch 🧵 Revenue all time Scratch AI Launch week - $100K ARR in 7 days We launched here SOURCE PLATFORM: X/Twitter Slide 2 (image): Text: Jake Coppen @jakecoppen 1. Work backwards from distribution. Before you ask "what should I build?" ask "who can I reach?" We had a big golf audience, so we built a golf app. bogeybois @bogeybois 4,492 Following 460.2K Followers 32.5M Likes Spill the tea Bogey Bois + Search our app, "Scratch Al," on the App Store Brand inquiries: bogeyboisco@gmail.com + Add college TikTok Studio Your orders Showcase The Boge SOURCE PLATFORM: unclear Slide 3 (image): Text: Jake Coppen @jakecoppen 2. Build one great feature. One screen that makes people instantly get it. If your mom wouldn't get it right away, then strangers on social media won't either. AI CADDY ANALYSIS Based on current conditions, you should use your 9 iron to land it 122 yards — aim right-center to steer clear of the front bunker. Aim right-center GOLF BALL Iron 9 DRIVE Add context SOURCE PLATFORM: unclear Slide 4 (image): Text: Jake Coppen @jakecoppen 3. Your onboarding is your sales pitch. Longer onboarding got us MORE trial starts, as long as every question made the plan feel more personal. By the last screen, the paywall should feel like the natural next step. What is your goal? Your caddy will shape its advice based on your goal. Lower my handicap Beat my friends SOURCE PLATFORM: unclear Slide 5 (image): Text: Jake Coppen @jakecoppen 4. Price higher than you think. Hard paywall. 14-day trial. No free tier. We tested $50/year, all the way

Claims analyzed (10)

  1. unverifiable: This post was posted by Jake Coppen on Instagram.
    The post is from the Instagram account @jake.coppen, as indicated by the username and display name visible in the carousel slides. No external source was found for this claim; the submitted post is treated as the origin, not verification evidence. No independent source could be found for this claim, so it is not rated.
  2. unverifiable: Last October we launched a golf app. It hit $100K ARR in its first 7 days.
    While Scratch AI, a golf app, exists and was updated in July 2026, independent verification of its launch date and the specific claim of achieving $100K ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) in its first 7 days could not be found in the provided search results. The claim is made by the app's apparent founder.
  3. unverifiable: We had a big golf audience, so we built a golf app.
    The post claims a large golf audience for 'bogeybois' (460.2K followers on TikTok). While the existence of the 'bogeybois' account with a significant follower count is plausible, independent verification of Jake Coppen's direct affiliation with this specific account or the size and nature of his personal golf audience could not be definitively confirmed through external sources.
  4. unverifiable: Build one great feature. One screen that makes people instantly get it.
    This is a piece of advice or an opinion on app development strategy. While it's a common principle in product design, it's not a factual claim that can be verified as true or false. The image shows an example of a simple AI caddy analysis screen from Scratch AI.
  5. unverifiable: Your onboarding is your sales pitch. Longer onboarding got us MORE trial starts, as long as every question made the plan feel more personal.
    This claim describes a specific outcome from the creator's experience with their app's onboarding process. While the concept of personalized onboarding is a recognized strategy in app marketing, the specific result of 'MORE trial starts' due to 'longer onboarding' for Scratch AI is an internal metric and cannot be independently verified without access to their proprietary data.
  6. unverifiable: Price higher than you think. We tested $50/year, all the way up to $300/year.
    This claim refers to the pricing strategy and testing conducted for the Scratch AI app. While pricing strategies vary widely, the specific range of $50/year to $300/year tested by the creators is an internal business decision and cannot be independently verified without access to their internal data.
  7. unverifiable: Start posting before the app exists. That's how we built a 5,000+ person waitlist before launch.
    The strategy of building an audience and waitlist before launch is a recognized marketing tactic. However, the specific claim of building a '5,000+ person waitlist' for Scratch AI before its launch is an internal metric and cannot be independently verified.
  8. unverifiable: Quantity beats perfection. We ran 8 accounts posting 5 to 10 times a day.
    This claim describes a specific social media posting strategy employed by the creators. While high-volume posting can be a strategy, the exact number of accounts and posting frequency used by the creators for their app marketing is an internal operational detail that cannot be independently verified.
  9. verified: Don't run paid ads until you can afford to learn. Meta's learning phase needs ~50 conversions in 7 days before your ads stabilize. $100/day is the bare minimum.
    Meta's learning phase for ad sets indeed requires approximately 50 optimization events (conversions) within a 7-day period to stabilize and exit the learning phase. This is a well-documented guideline by Meta and is consistently reported by digital marketing experts. The $100/day minimum budget is a common recommendation to achieve this volume of conversions, though the exact amount can vary based on the cost per acquisition.
  10. mostly true: We built Volume to do all of this for us. Paste a viral slideshow into your AI agent and it recreates it for your app in minutes.
    Volume is an AI marketing tool that claims to automate the creation of social media content, specifically slideshows, by using AI agents. The Volume website states that it was built after growing Scratch AI with slideshows and allows users to connect AI models like Claude and ChatGPT to create content. While the tool exists and makes these claims, independent reviews or benchmarks verifying the exact functionality and efficiency of recreating viral slideshows 'in minutes' are limited, with most

Sources consulted (12)

Related verifications

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