In early 2024, Naz Dumanskyy and his co-founder Qazi quit everything, moved to San Francisco, and went all-in on building a SaaS company they genuinely wanted to use. It wasn’t their first attempt—by the time Poppy AI took off, they had already launched and scrapped multiple ideas. But this one stuck.
Today, Poppy AI generates over $400,000 in monthly recurring revenue and serves around 5,000 creators. It’s a collaborative whiteboard powered by AI that allows users to model and generate content using real inputs from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook Ads. The product combines elements of ChatGPT and visual brainstorming tools like Miro or Whimsical—designed for one purpose: to help creators make content that performs.
From YouTube Burnout to Product-Market Fit
Naz and Qazi didn’t come from SaaS. They built a YouTube channel together that reached over 1 million subscribers, but by the end, they were exhausted. “We absolutely hated running it,” Naz said.
They pivoted hard—quitting their content careers, ending relationships, moving to San Francisco and diving full-time into product building. But it wasn’t instant success. Over six months they tried multiple tools that all flopped. Then Qazi had an idea: what if ChatGPT felt more like a creative space?
The inspiration came from frustration. They found traditional AI tools too linear, and whiteboarding tools too static. Poppy AI was born out of that gap.
In September 2024, with two months of runway left, they hit a turning point: a viral TikTok video demoing Poppy led to $100K in just ten days. That validation changed everything.
Initial traction didn’t come from planned strategy. They tried YouTube videos, webinars, even street-level pitching, but nothing stuck until user-generated content took off. One creator’s TikTok about Poppy made over $200,000 in just two months.
From that point on, the strategy became clear: lean into influencers and creators. They launched an affiliate program with generous commissions and it quickly snowballed. One creator earned $40,000 in a single month. Another brought in $10,000/month consistently.
Crucially, 30% of Poppy’s revenue now comes from referrals. Their customers don’t just use the product—they promote it, teach others how to use it, and build content around it.
Community Focused
Poppy AI’s community is not an afterthought. Every customer is added to a Telegram group, onboarded 1-on-1, and invited to weekly community calls. The founders are present, involved, and responsive.
Weekly product updates are driven directly by user feedback. This tight loop between product and community keeps churn low and engagement high. “We’re not just building a SaaS—we’re building a community,” Naz said.
Growth Through Alignment, Not Hype
One of the key lessons the founders learned was to build something they themselves would use. That focus helped clarify product decisions and messaging without overthinking every move. Instead of guessing customer pain points, they just solved their own.
Another insight came from their early onboarding blitz. For two weeks straight, Naz and Qazi did 30 customer calls a day. Those calls gave them a level of user insight that no analytics tool could match—and helped shape the product direction with precision.
Rather than racing to the bottom with pricing, they chose a premium model. “Everyone’s trying to do free trials and $10/month plans—that’s why most SaaS fails,” Naz argues. Instead, they modeled their pricing like Tesla: start premium, then expand down-market later.
We are a fully bootstrapped company, our goal is to take this to a billion dollar valuation
Naz Dumanskky
What’s Next?
Poppy AI is fully bootstrapped and growing fast. Despite investor interest, the team is focused on scaling sustainably. Acquisition is not on the table unless, as Naz says, “someone offers us a billion dollars.”
They continue to double down on creator-first tools, community-based growth, and building something they can’t imagine working without.
For other founders, the story of Poppy AI is a lesson in product alignment, focus, and listening obsessively to your customers—even when things aren’t working. Especially then.
