How Zero Built the World's #1 Fasting App and Hit $5M ARR in 6 Months

In the crowded subscription app economy, building a great product is no longer enough.

As AI has made software significantly faster, easier, and cheaper to build, the primary bottleneck has shifted from product development to distribution.

As the serial entrepreneur behind multiple breakout Health & Fitness apps like Fitstar and Zero, Mike Maser has experienced this challenge firsthand. Over the last 15 years, Mike sold his first startup called FitStar to Fitbit, was diagnosed with stage four cancer, made an incredible recovery that he attributes in part to intermittent fasting, and then teamed up with Kevin Rose to build Zero, the world’s #1 fasting app that he has since scaled to $5M+ in ARR and over 10 million registered users. 

Now, he's navigating Zero through its biggest disruption yet - the rise of GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy and the ripple effects they are having on the entire fasting category.

Mike breaks down:

• Why Zero’s simple one-screen MVP was critical for generating early momentum
• How a single tweet from Elon Musk drove $1M in revenue for Zero in 24 hours
• Shifting from organic virality to building a sophisticated growth and monetization engine
• How Zero adapted its strategy to the GLP-1 era by helping GLP-1 patients track their hydration and manage their protein intake to maintain muscle mass
• Zero’s ongoing strategies to reduce subscriber churn and build lifetime subscriber value

Mike Maser:

• Website: https://zerolongevity.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikemaser/
• X: https://x.com/mmaser

Phil Carter:

• Website: https://www.philgcarter.com/
• Substack: https://philgcarter.substack.com
• LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/philgcarter
• X: https://x.com/philgcarter