In a Tiktok video with more than 3 million views, a woman in a soft, maximalist coat sits in the back seat of a luxury SUV, parked in the middle of a New York City street. Above 6-second videoA line of text reads, “Our bodyguards got us a matcha.” The camera hits in two scary men with a whole law with a red tie, each carrying an iced matcha latte as they walk back to the car.
In a similar video, a girl films a smooth Chevrolet suburban as it pulls in front of her house. A man in a suit opens the door for him before he is whisked away, surrounded by car by other stoic, professionally dressed men. They wiped out his luggage size as he entered the airport, safely brought him to his flight as he boasted the on-video text: “You ordered security to take you to the airport.”
These posts have been that -time strategic in launching a new app called Defense. But the videos are not organic.
“We posted 14 pieces of content for [Protector] resulted in 15 million views and more than 30,000 downloads, “women from Matcha video, Fuzz and Fuzz, write In a Tiktok, it was revealed that they were rented to make these videos.
The others CreateCamille Hovsepian, is not organic promoting the app, either, said a TechCrunch defender spokesman. The creator's girlfriend, serial entrepreneur and the growth of hacker Nikita Bier, is a Counselor to the protector.
In Bier's Playbook, who got his own captures of apps by Discord and FacebookRage bait is part of pleasure.
“When you make 8 numbers, you should never waste the rest of your life trying to be taller – like doing a start of B2B Saas,” Bier wrote in a recent -what Post In X. “Instead, you should think of ways to deliver millions of people on the Internet each day by launching the app's controversial concepts, for pure game love.”
Although the bier growth strategy is artificial, it has been proven to be successful in developing buzz. She recently advised an AI-Powered Health app to change its name From most days to the death clock, the app is then told to add a survey that predicts exactly how and when users will die. Sure enough, the app shot at No. 6 on the health charts in the iOS app store and got a shout at the late show with Stephen Colbert.
“I'm telling you to rename your app: $ 24,000/mo,” Bier write In X. “Your app on a joke in Colbert: It's not worth the value.”
But for the protector, Bier described as “Uber With Gun,” the idea is weaker than adding a gimmicky AI feature to a health app.
Defendant guards are active duty or recently retired law enforcement, each with government -issued permits to carry firearms and work as guards. Hurating a security detail to the protector costs users at least $ 1,000 for a minimum of five hours, including a $ 129 annual membership fee.
According to estimates from Appfigures. Almost a third of those downloads arrived on the day of the launch, as it climbed to No. 3 In the Travel Charts of the App Store. The initial curiosity around the app slowed down even; On February 27, it was sitting at No. 70 on the travel chart.
Even people download the app -maybe out of thin curiosity -these installations don't guarantee that people will actually pay to use it.
The target customer of the protector is unclear, as it is difficult to imagine what kind of person will be able to afford to pay more than $ 1,000 for such a massive, unnecessary service. Perhaps as another tactic to boost the relationship, the protector made appeals to a highly specific audience: business executives concerned about their safety after killing UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson (who is likely to have access to corporation security).
“If a protector is present [when Thompson was killed]The crisis can be avoided, “the company claims In a video on X. The security guard in the video then runs in three possible situations where he claims he can hinder the assailant from making a murder.
With a little potential customer base, it is unclear how the protector can maintain himself.
But so far, the app supports from angel investors including Balaji Srinivasan. Former A16Z General partner is known for losing a public stake that the price of bitcoin is up to $ 1 million, and he has a special interest in Back “Startup societies” and “network states” such as Prospera, Honduras. Last year he expanded this goal by Renting an island Near Singapore to host a 90-day “network school,” which he described as “A Technocapitalist Town Town“For” everyone who does not feel part of the establishment “and believes that” Bitcoin has succeeded in the Federal Reserve. “
While “Uber With Guns” is less intense than the adoption of the islands to be part of a larger, Bitcoin-based revolution, apps like “defenders” can have a more direct impact on average people.
The protector is not the first company to pursue this concept. Blackwolf, an app that also offers armed Rideshare drivers, operates in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas; Appfigures estimate that Blackwolf has downloaded almost 256,000 times since the launch in 2023.
Like the protector, the Blackwolf is leaning over the excessive social media marketing and Fear of mongeringCapitalizing with the news of the driver's no Vandalized. Blackwolf founder Kerry Kingbrown encourages viewers to use his service instead of taking a Waymo, as if something else, more reasonable successors such as Uber and Lyft are nothing.
These tactics remember the citizen, the community crime reporting app offering a $ 20 per month service which users can connect to a security agent in an emergency.
If these new apps can learn anything from the people, it is the public safety incentives and start -up growth will not mix. This is especially clear in a serious incident when Citizen Founder and CEO Andrew Frame promoted the app's livestream feature by broadcasting a seven hours manhunt For a suspected arsonist, who offered $ 30,000 for information leading to the arrest of the man. But after the explosion of notifications to all Los Angeles users joined the chase, it became the wrong person – Los Angeles police arrested an innocent suspect.
Although the citizen is still operating – and the frame remains CEO – its mistakes are big as the protector prepares the next announcement. The protector is not just working on “Uber for guns.” It plans to launch an app called “Patrol,” where users can cowdfund security guards to check their neighborhoods. The more money users are donating, the higher the level of security they can unlock, including robots and drones to monitor the area.
This is a controversial business transfer at a time when Americans' Trust in law enforcement were in doubt at the end of Murder of high-profile killings in police.
“We're not mall cops,” a security guard said in a promotional video for the patrol. “We are real cops.”
