Swerve

What do they actually do

Swerve is a consumer iOS app for making and watching short, playful videos with friends. You snap a quick video (or photo), pick what you want to see next, and the app uses AI to transform it into a shareable clip (YC Launch, App Store).

Beyond creation, you can follow friends and browse trending videos from the community, giving a lightweight way to discover and co-enjoy content without heavy manual editing or setup (YC Launch, YC company page).

Who are their target customer(s)

• Teens and young adults who want to make quick, funny videos with friends: They don’t want to learn editing tools or coordinate long shoots, so getting anything polished is slow and frustrating.
• Short‑form video consumers who want fresher, more interactive feeds: Current apps surface repetitive, algorithm-driven content; they get bored scrolling with little control over what comes next.
• Casual creators who want one‑tap effects and AI help: They lack skills or time for manual editing and need fast, reliable transformations that still look decent when shared.
• Small friend groups co‑creating inside‑joke or collaborative content: Passing files around is awkward; few apps make synchronous, playful co‑creation easy, so momentum drops.
• Social sharers who repost to TikTok/Instagram and need unique assets fast: They struggle to produce enough distinct content and waste time re‑editing the same footage for different platforms.

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Use founders’ friends and immediate circles: host a few “clip parties” where groups make 3–5 clips, post one to stories, and grant early-access perks.
• First 50: Recruit 10–15 local micro‑creators on TikTok/Instagram; pay a small test fee or give promo codes for a 48‑hour “fun with friends” challenge that requires tagging and cross‑posting a Swerve‑made clip.
• First 100: Launch campus ambassadors (8–10 reps) to run weekly clip nights and a two‑click referral reward (unlock a popular effect for both sides); amplify with short ambassador testimonials on TikTok.

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

Short‑form video is a massive market: global ad spend on short‑form video is projected around $115B in 2025, and TikTok alone is forecast to exceed $30B in ad revenue in 2025 (Statista, Basis citing WARC).

Bottom-up calculation:

Near‑term, focusing on iOS users aged ~13–24 in English‑speaking markets: assume 2M monthly active users via friend‑group/campus growth and cross‑posting, with ~$8 annual ARPU (ads + optional effects) = ~$16M obtainable annual revenue. With 4M MAU and $10 ARPU, the opportunity reaches ~$40M.

Assumptions:

• Initial focus is iOS only; teen/young‑adult cohort in US/UK/CA provides a large enough pool to reach 2–4M MAU.
• ARPU blends lightweight ads and optional paid effects; $8–$10/year is achievable for casual social video apps.
• Adoption is driven by friend‑group virality and reposting, yielding 2–4M MAU before broader international expansion.

Who are some of their notable competitors

• TikTok: The leading short‑form video app with powerful creation tools and a dominant discovery algorithm; it competes for creation and viewing time across the same audience.
• Instagram Reels: Short‑form video inside Instagram with strong distribution to existing followers and trends; creators often use Reels for quick edits and cross‑posting.
• Snapchat: Friend‑centric short video and AR effects popular with teens; overlaps on casual, playful creation and private friend networks.
• CapCut: A free editor (from ByteDance) widely used for templates, effects, and quick cuts; many creators use it to make shareable clips without complex editing.
• Viggle AI: An AI video tool focused on turning images into animated meme‑style clips; overlaps with AI‑driven, one‑tap transformations for social sharing.