The $12.5M Widget: How a Long-Distance Love Note Became TikTok's Favourite App

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Ever built something just to make your significant other smile, and accidentally created a multi-million dollar company?

Me neither. But Matt Moss did.

The Long-Distance Love Hack

Picture this: It's late 2021. Matt, a former Apple developer scholarship winner, is facing a long-distance relationship with his girlfriend. Instead of settling for boring texts, he builds a simple widget that lets them send photos directly to each other's home screens.

No opening apps. No notifications. Just pure, frictionless connection.

From Personal Project to Overnight Sensation

Matt's friends see the widget and want in. So he makes it public on the App Store on January 1, 2022.

What happens next is the stuff of startup fairy tales:

• 2 million signups in TWO WEEKS

• #1 app in 30+ countries

• 20 million downloads by summer

• Users sharing over 1 BILLION photos

All with zero marketing budget. So how'd he pull this off?

The TikTok Explosion

Locket's growth came down to one platform: TikTok.

They stumbled upon a bizarrely effective formula:

• 2-3 second videos

• Person smiling directly at camera

• Text overlay with a simple hook

• Screen recording showing the widget in action

That's it. That simple format consistently generated outrageous results, with some videos hitting 25 million views.

The Anti-Social Social App

Here's where Locket gets really interesting. While Instagram and TikTok were building empires on endless scrolling and algorithmic feeds, Locket zigged in the opposite direction:

• Limited to 20 friends max (no influencer culture)

• No likes

• No comments

• No explore page

• No algorithms

Just real photos from real friends, appearing magically on your home screen.

Sam Altman's $12.5M Bet

By August 2022, Locket had caught the attention of some serious players. The company secured $12.5M in funding led by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, with Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger also joining the round.

Not bad for an app originally built as a girlfriend gift.

The Gen Z Connection Crisis

Locket tapped into something profound: Gen Z is experiencing digital burnout.

After growing up with endless social feeds, many young users are retreating to more intimate digital spaces. They're tired of broadcasting to hundreds of followers and craving authentic connection with their closest friends.

The Widget Innovation

The most brilliant part of Locket wasn't just what it did, but where it lived.

By using the widget - a feature most apps ignored - Locket created prime real estate on the most valuable digital property in the world: your phone's home screen.

Every time you look at your phone (which research says is 352 times per day for the average person), you see your friends' faces. No other app has that kind of visibility.

The Bottom Line

Locket isn't just a cute widget. It's a case study in accidental product-market fit.

Matt Moss wasn't trying to build a unicorn. He was trying to feel closer to his girlfriend. And in doing so, he created something millions of people didn't know they needed.

The lesson? Sometimes the best startups aren't solving industry problems. They're solving human ones.

Until next time...