A Different Approach To Launch Videos
In a Nutshell
Farza Majid's launch strategy is to publish unpolished demos weekly instead of creating one polished launch video. The approach treats every video as a mini-launch that shows the work-in-progress, not the finished product. Success is measured by downloads and actual usage, not views, with the goal of building an audience that cares about the work rather than going viral.
These notes were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
Many founders believe launching requires spending significant time and money creating a polished video and hoping for success. Farza Majid takes a completely different approach to launching and going viral. He publishes whatever he is working on weekly.
Farza is the founder of Clicky, where regular posts receive millions of views. His formula remains consistent: who he is, what is happening, what he is doing. He started selling things on eBay at age 13, launched his first startup, then entered software development and created an online school for children in 2020 with YC. He later founded Buildspace, which became one of the largest schools for people interested in working with ideas. He now works on an AI interface called "Hey" for Clicky.
Creating videos to reach people has always been a key strategy for Farza, whether through Buildspace or Clicky, to attract attention to his product and business. He has been creating videos and publishing them online for over a decade.
In 2020, when working with YC, the approach involved posting on Hacker News, Product Hunt, and finding subreddits on Reddit. The situation has changed significantly. New channels exist where users discover all types of products. The biggest change is that posting as before no longer works. Instead, continuous new launches occur on algorithmic platforms like X, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.
YC batch founders often believe they need to create a magnificent launch video and organize a big integrated launch, investing power and money hoping it will be their big moment. Farza does not think this way. There was a time when the main point was having to do something magnificent and show the matter bigger because you only get one chance. TechCrunch articles or New York Times coverage required something beautiful to accompany them.
Old media news has lost significance. A video where Farza says "hi" and talks about his product will likely perform much better in engagement and traffic than a $20,000 video posted in the New York Times. The world is now strange - there is no need for older media. With a phone and laptop, anyone can be very strong. Farza now launches these videos continuously.
These are forever mini launches, but Farza does not consider them launches in the traditional sense. He considers them demos and continuously expresses his love for demo expression. The more a company expresses demos, the better. The key question is always: what are we launching this week? Work always starts from the launch side.
The process involves talking about features being worked on, how using them feels, then asking about Instagram captions and first attraction. Making a video with this approach is not about the video going viral, but about communicating with others. The process happens at every step. It never works that something is made and then magically a hit video is thrown out.
Before working on something, it is understood somehow that it will be a hit because it sounds good on paper. Many expressive videos go viral and attract lots of attention, with people assuming it happened by accident because the creator seems relaxed, normal, and spontaneous. The matter is not done like that at all. Before doing the video, its origin attraction is found out.
Farza's philosophy regarding launches is showing the process of what he is doing, not showing the end. It seems very important to say "Hey, I am one founder and I just got money, this is my product, and my hobby DSLR made this nice edit video where I am in front of a beautiful office." These types of videos are seen every day and have a purpose, but they have turned into a very annoying topic where human hand increases on the side.
Farza always tries to do the opposite of polished videos. He does what he wants and what seems right to him. The reason for launching is to get users. Fame on the internet or explaining to people is not the purpose. The actual purpose is wanting people to use the thing, and for that, a channel is needed to show repeatedly and find users from there.
A perfect example is the Clicky launch. Clicky is a little blue thing that follows the user's cursor on the computer. It is basically an AI teacher that can teach anything. The demo was not very good. During office hours, it was shown and the response was to post it because it was really great. Five minutes before dinner, the video was recorded and posted. Since dinner, views increased.
This video became the company. It was a normal side project that was given open source because it was thought someone would not sweat their head. Six months later, it became a real company being worked on. The video has about 3 million views.
Traffic was absolutely important. Views are nice and people will congratulate, but the real number matters. After this video, 7,000 people downloaded it. Four days later, it was seen who was holding it. Among 7,000 people, about 100 people used it every day for 5 days in a row. This inspired terribly. Those 100 people were contacted and everyone was talked to.
The inspiration came from realizing people were using it for purposes never imagined. Small matters can be talked about. The title generally means this thing was made. It is an AI teacher. What it does and why it is important is how the brain thinks.
Farza has been writing for over a decade. A nearby tweet poetry is stupid to say, but care is taken about how high the writing is. Various parts of the story being told are also thought about. Buildspace days are remembered when regular marketing emails were sent to the community.
One thing often done depends on the platform. On Twitter, a stranger person's tweet might be taken, the text literally changed, and a new tweet written. The number one rule for Twitter, Instagram, YouTube or anything is: should stopping happen here? Will the first sentence be read? If the first sentence is not read, there is no way to go into it. Also, look at the first frame of the video.
It is very purposeful to do with Xcode. Initially, curious developers might be interested in this. Original video editors are not like that. The portion is intentionally zoomed in to show because the portion is too small. It is a triangle that helps. When most people scroll, they look at the first 3 seconds. This is a zoom click. Movement is done so viewers see that something is moving.
Hundreds of videos have been made where someone's head did not sweat. The biggest matter is not wanting the audience to watch the video and think they have to make more hooks and do these tasks. The first video had no preparation. It was almost all unplanned.
Another video was planned more in advance. Surprisingly, scripts are written for all videos. Anyone who saw the video would be surprised because it seems like talking without any preparation. The question is how this is done. The difference is being very well prepared, but it does not seem formal, serious, or like just reading.
Someone might ask how this is taught. If reading is necessary, saying it loud might still sound nice, but not always. A script example made yesterday for a video is very simple, like wanting to read it and see if it feels good. If someone sends texts, would reading happen? What is going on in the head? What is being imagined? Is the viewer listening to this or something really good and interesting? Evaluation happens by thinking like the viewer.
This script was not actually that strong, but the video was still recorded because starting is necessary. At first, what is being done can be explained. Why it is important can be understood in only 10 seconds. What is being done, why it is important, let's get started. Any kind of first 10 seconds of the video should be on this subject because these videos are mostly 1 minute.
This is not like a movie that is one and a half or two hours where the first 20 minutes is a role or introductory stage. This is a 2-hour matter. So a 1-minute video needs an introduction episode, but that should be only 10-20 percent. Writing happens, and in this case it was said: "Hi, I am ours. New agent interface a new demo I want to show you. Our users to talk to time, blah blah blah...and then in the demo let's go."
Before coming forward to the camera, thinking happens about the matter. The worst side is being ahead of the camera and then it seems "Ah, what am I saying?" There is nothing like handling oneself. Control is good to keep. Scripts start and then something visual goes toward. What the first shot should be is how thinking happens. This is very important because when scrolling, people first see that.
A small example of one of the videos is shown. This video did quite well on YouTube. This is a very new YouTube channel. The channel was just made and the video was posted after 3 days. Despite 19,000 views, this is one of the max converting videos. The video seems to have about 3 million on Twitter, 20,000 on YouTube, and lots of views on Instagram. The same video worked everywhere.
Videos are liked when made well. The thing is just showing oneself. Face should be shown very clearly. That is it. Personality as it is should be proud of. With confidence, tell the camera what work is being done. If thinking that is great, then at least one more great thing will be seen. Always very clearly start with "Hi, I am with it working."
Only 10 plus press control is needed to talk over and start. What is said is the cursor in the text box, there as text will come back. An example given was: today three things need to ship. First, skills, secondly, memory, and thirdly, about dictation a user given this bug. That is pretty good, but so far as many products seen, among all of them nothing special. So it is pretty great.
Honestly, nowadays many products do exactly this. The thing is when writing, often it is not known exactly what is wanted to say. Check this out. We are shipping. Then the problem is solved for oneself. Not saying this is for everyone. There is a problem they do not know what to write. Just talking about oneself. Since these are problems, things are always made for oneself.
Screen await dictation is pretty cool. Something like this has not been seen before, and it is wanted to be shown. Suppose again wanting to write, this is in the own way to say, which means "Here I am. Yours I want to show you." Here you go. It seems very normal. At the beginning, what was easy was the whole video itself scripting. Each one talking about lines was written about 3 days in advance.
Said and repeatedly kept in the head, like bath time, to go to work time. Always thinking "That line how should I say it? How can I say it?" Before coming forward to camera, about ten times imagined. It is very funny, this video after doing that, said to Vikrant with whom making videos: "This made by us the worst video. This to edit too does it make any sense?" He said no, brother shut up, shut your mouth, will make it and then post it.
It is good that the team says too that "Hey this we made, we do it. I will publish. To us no matter how bad it is no matter what, we the audience decision I'll let you take it." This video got 30 million views on Twitter. Man this crazy about it was done. The thing is very funny, disgusting it took. Just thought "This is this...this is so bad. So it's like this." One situation where wrong was.
Founders especially do, thinking that what made or what made is bad, and then expressing that does not want because of word or feelings not preferred. Continuous forcing to express. Post click to do is not normal. But never it is normal, sometimes it happens again. No. Such an example where so surprised happened that is this really human head with sweaty, because thought it was quite an easy one thing.
Demo-powered development can be heard to talk about where whatever working with doing, at the end of it the demo wanted, from there work in reverse start. That is the proof. That thing that does for publication ready. This gives a chance to test. Then finally say come on demo release let's do it.
In each company continued, that feeling when working with someone, often someone from the team any co-founder, and say "Look at this." The matter about will be very aware because that is the thing which can probably talk online. "This look" - this unrefined idea is on the internet myself to present the right way. Sometimes if want a little more in between magnificently do, but sometimes sitting in YC office and general being in the video a commoner people too.
Maybe every once every three months, a refined launch where it seems "This is such a things that I really proud. I to confirm I want it to be with correctly there is discussion." But usually almost every day demo launch. It is quite funny now that everyone every day video release to do and launch can do this. In the world how to yourself separately will pick it up. Those spend a lot of money does and greatly video created to make trying, that is more attention to attract, from others to be separated, and myself more sophisticated and because it is ahead one to show effort. But the opposite approach adopt.
In a world where every day so much content and video published it is happening, how to separate from others. Never think that. Always think that about something like that want to talk about what looks interesting. Definitely 1% people also do it. Looks interesting will do. When posting click for, in the brain always like this. If there is zero attention or zero views too get it, but post it. Happy because something to express did it.
In 2026 in 2018, company launch those who want to working, they this for everyone having a mindset should. Take it. Cannot think. When the post, forgotten in the meantime gone. Maybe one week later see. What kind of response this has been dropped. To see. How to do it. Most when people do something by posting, they continuous refresh keep doing it. Trying to see the person who does loving it. What or who liked. But so just launch move away.
Four new classes were added to ZipSchool, including "Mars Perseverance Rover Landing" designed for children ages 7 to 12. The speaker watched the video and questioned what could be done differently, recognizing that the important part was identifying what was wrong with the approach.
The video received 23 likes, zero views, and one comment from someone who bookmarked it. The speaker also bookmarked the video, viewing this as a launch. The speaker defines launch as doing something new in the company and talking about it around the world, noting that 23 views indicate there's something worth discussing.
Making videos became a daily routine as new classes were released almost every day. The speaker attempted to discuss these classes, hoping something interesting would go viral, but this never happened. The truth is that making videos about products is difficult because stories can be told, but presenting products without sounding flattering or revealing too much is challenging.
On the speaker's first day of work on December 2020, a landing page was launched with no copy—just a link and a strange Canva video. At the time, there were approximately 80 followers. This approach continued for four years.
The speaker compares content creation to basketball, emphasizing that you must take thousands of shots to become successful at making the 5,000th shot. The advice is simple: just try it and practice repeatedly.
Over five years, the speaker learned extensively about video enhancement. Making a video now takes approximately one hour, though others may require more time. The speaker emphasizes that producing videos with just an iPhone is perfectly acceptable.
One video that the speaker knew would be a big hit achieved 21 million views on Instagram and continues to drive a large portion of traffic. The algorithm works by delivering content to people who want to see it. The video was later converted into a Facebook ad.
The speaker created a viral idea for Y Combinator that seemed funny in their own mind. The formula remains consistent: showing what is being worked on. An example is "Clicky," an AI friend that appears next to the cursor and teaches anything in real-time. For instance, asking Clicky how to do color grading in DaVinci Resolve instead of watching YouTube videos.
Even a simple video showing "Hi, this is what I'm working on" with the camera turned around to show the computer screen can be effective. The speaker recommends beginners start by making 10 such videos on various topics to become skilled at discussing different subjects.
When watching videos online, the speaker always asks "Do I bounce? When am I bouncing?" The speaker frequently visits Instagram Reels not for entertainment but for learning. The approach involves going to the Reels page with a specific purpose, such as blocking a long-distance girlfriend or reducing weight through travel posts.
A random video found on Instagram Reels featured a black background with light on the person's face and a nice caption stating "2 months ago." This sparked curiosity about what happened 2 months ago. The speaker took this as a note and considered using it as a template for a video about something worked on 2 months prior.
A song achieved 2 million streams. Features that should have been released 6 months ago are now being released, which is what startups should do. Many young founders exhibit a sense of self-contempt, saying things like "This should have been launched 6 months ago" or sharing breakup stories.
Every founder has a story to tell. A demo can be presented as a short story. The speaker heard that in videos, the founder is not themselves but a character named Farza that viewers can relate to and potentially support until the end.
When founders speak to the camera, they appear as a special type. The speaker shows themselves as a character rather than acting in any role. An example is a video about ClickUp's Agents integration and orchestration that wasn't viral but was very well-received by users.
The video about ClickUp's new Brain and agents achieved 10 million views on Instagram despite having no hook, no attention-grabbing effort, and no story—just a group of people sharing what they want to tell. The speaker believes the most important subject for companies is content creation, showing what actually happens in the work process.
The opposite of showing the work process is when a founder talks about their life on the internet, which viewers never want to see. Videos like "A day in the life of a YC founder" are not what people want. Instead, the focus should be on showing what is being done and why, in a new way.
Most big companies like Apple and Meta only show Mark Zuckerberg on stage demonstrating products. However, primary product users are interested in knowing "these four random children who are creating this AI product and how they do it." Videos made in 10 minutes asking "Hey, what are you doing today?" can be quite funny.
When these videos started being made, the key purpose was letting people know what was being done in front of the world. Now these are made every two weeks and are really great. Another thing that comes to light is joy in the videos, not just words.
People like seeing personality in videos, including song choices. When everyone gives updates, they support each other with applause, creating a positive atmosphere throughout the video. The strange reason this works is that you must be just like yourself.
The speaker always tells people asking how to start making videos about their company or great gifts: take out the iPhone, record in selfie mode, talk for 30 seconds about what you're doing, and post on Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, YouTube, or wherever desired.
Only 1-2% of people actually do this. The reason is that when told to hold the phone and record a video, people get nervous about what to say, how it will show, and whether people will think they're a fool. High school friends following might not care about what's being worked on.
The real valuable direction is learning that some embarrassment might be necessary. Many people post their first video and say "This is disgusting, I won't post this." The important part is to continue. YC founders on YouTube are seen making magic on their laptops for 8 hours daily, smiling, which looks interesting.
If you take 10 minutes to stop and ask "What did I do today that made me laugh or was interesting or new?" and talk about it, show it, post it, then go back to work—that's all that needs to be done. In 2026, launching something means showing your work every day, which creates an audience.
Many people say they don't target TikTok or Instagram users for business customers, but this isn't true. People who work at companies where your product would be used are browsing these platforms. Design agencies liked the product very much, with three finding it naturally.
The question became how to get more design agencies. Instead of LinkedIn or specialized design websites, the speaker considered whether design agency founders are on TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube. The answer is probably yes.
A TikTok account was created specifically targeting design agencies, with content saying "Hey, are you a design agency founder? Stop here, let's show you great things." This approach found about 50 design agencies on TikTok alone. The videos averaged 4,000 views but were almost entirely targeted views.
The goal was never going viral but talking about what's being worked on to interested audiences. Historically, Twitter performed worst with terrible conversion rates. A Clicky video got 7,000 downloads from 3 million views on Twitter, which is less than 1% conversion.
The same video on YouTube had 20,000 views but achieved approximately 20% conversion rate for app downloads. Each channel is different—Twitter is used for doom scrolling random content, while YouTube performs best for most companies.
With 872 subscribers and 20,000 views, the numbers seem small, but the conversion results in quite good sign-ups. YouTube is such a library that survives for decades, while Twitter content seizes the moment and ends. Instagram is another very important medium, with 70% of traffic coming from there.
Smart posting requires checking how many people actually convert. The speaker always makes videos and after a few asks "It should start" and tracks conversion through link in bio like /IG to see who downloaded from Instagram and their conversion rate.
Most videos are made for Instagram, then posted on Twitter. Some videos are made specifically for Twitter then posted on Instagram. The difference is targeting—Twitter prefers 16:9 ratio over vertical video. A system was created to draw directly on screen with polygons and arrows, optimized for Twitter.
The same content posted on Instagram performed better with millions of views as a vertical video. The speaker maintains high standards for themselves while feeling relaxed about expressing many things. Success comes from making many disclosures and continuously improving.
A very general video about GPT creating real-time shell commands for computer control achieved 3.8 million views on Twitter and 4.6 million on Instagram. The video demonstrated Cookie (AI) opening Spotify, playing ACDC's "Back in Black," adjusting volume to 50%, and opening Stripe dashboard to check daily earnings of $140.
The speaker used examples like Spotify song playback and volume reduction that represented first-time user experience. Videos are made thinking about watching from outside—if it seems great to the speaker, it would be nice for others too.
The opening of the video is intentionally designed to create attraction and excitement. The speaker emphasizes that everything in the video is purposeful, with no cuts, and includes bits that maintain viewer interest. The music volume is turned down so the speaker can talk over it, and the dashboard shows stripes indicating engagement metrics. The speaker mentions someone commenting on how many people are watching and earning money from the content.
The key principle is always moving the story forward to maintain attention. The speaker explains that viewers should feel compelled to keep watching, similar to watching a movie where you want to reach the end. The speaker intentionally creates videos that attract viewers who maintain attention for a long time.
The speaker introduces the concept of "beats" as a crucial element in video creation. These are specific moments or elements designed to keep viewers engaged. The speaker shares an example of creating an AI that can draw directly on screen and show paths through content, which was developed over nine weeks of work.
The speaker explains that two weeks ago, while sitting in their apartment trying to find a great idea, they created something that now thousands of people use daily. The beats system is described as being embedded in the speaker's mind and is used by many people who watch videos extensively.
The speaker invested early in building a team, even when the company was small. The first two appointments were made before the company started: number one was a filmmaker and number two was an engineer. This was crucial because the speaker didn't want the pressure of making videos every day while also running the company.
The speaker notes that many founders on YouTube know that nobody wants to make videos every day. At some point, founders realize they need someone full-time to handle video creation, production, and expression to help launch products and make the company look good.
The speaker explains that while code and software have become very easy to make and simple, what viewers do next has become much more difficult than before. Anyone can clone the speaker's product in two minutes, but building a community and surrounding enthusiasm around the company is what makes it difficult to replicate.
The speaker emphasizes that having an audience of around 1 million people who are genuinely interested in the work would be extremely valuable for any founder, whether in enterprise AI, photography, or any special field.
For screen recording and demos, the speaker uses Screen Studio, created by an indie hacker, which records the screen, local audio, and makes the cursor look beautiful for around $30. For more cinematic videos, the speaker uses a Sony FX3 or Sony FX30 with a DJI microphone.
The speaker stresses that audio quality is the most important aspect of video creation. Even if someone is working in a basement with poor video quality, if the audio is sparkling and the content is interesting, viewers will stay engaged. The speaker recommends that every founder invest in a good, cheap DJI microphone rather than relying on MacBook or AirPods microphones.
For laptop editing, the speaker uses DaVinci Resolve. The most important part of the production equipment is Vikrant, who makes all videos for Clicky and is described as extremely talented in film construction, story speaking, and writing.
The speaker works closely with Vikrant, sitting together to discuss how to make videos for new features. Vikrant often comes up with shot ideas, hooks, and additional creative concepts. The speaker focuses on writing and music, while Vikrant handles shooting, setting up shots, editing, and motion graphics.
As a founder, the speaker's duty is to focus on business extension, staff recruitment, and product creation, rather than spending all time on video making. The speaker believes no founder wants to handle video production entirely themselves.
For founders who cannot afford to hire a filmmaker, the speaker recommends starting with old "jeep school videos" and any social media content, then beginning to create launch videos. The more videos made daily, the more normal the process becomes and the more skilled one becomes.
The speaker emphasizes that founders must do everything themselves in the beginning - tax work, designing, filmmaking. There is no room for childish behavior in any area. Founders must take out their cameras and start posting embarrassing things because the first attempts will be embarrassing anyway.
For all writing, the speaker always uses Freewrite (freewrite.io), an app the speaker created specifically for this purpose. It's free, open source, and very important for writing. The speaker recommends spending as much time as possible writing before recording videos.
The speaker presents a challenge for everyone watching: find 10 minutes every day to record a video on your phone (iPhone or Android) about what you did that day, then post it on social media - Instagram or TikTok. Start a new Instagram account so current followers don't know about it.
After 30 days of daily posting, the speaker guarantees that at least one video will get over 1,000 views. This allows creators to learn from their content and improve their next videos based on what worked.
The speaker notes that this approach is much easier now than it was before, and encourages everyone to take on this challenge, offering to give likes to participants who complete it.
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