Here are the core lessons and story from an interview with Ha Gia Bao, the founder of the Vietnamese photo editing app, BinSoo.
TL;DR:
- The Catalyst: BinSoo was born from adversity. After being laid off during the 2023 tech recession and facing self-doubt, the founder turned his unemployment into an opportunity to build a passion project.
- $0 Marketing = Extreme Craftsmanship: For an indie hacker with no budget, the product’s meticulous craftsmanship and polish became the marketing strategy. A beautiful, smooth, and useful app inspires organic sharing.
- Cultural Connection is a Moat: Creating photo filters named after Vietnamese cities (“Đà Lạt,” “Sài Gòn”) forged a powerful emotional bond with the local community, turning users into proud ambassadors and fueling viral growth.
- Listening is King: Many of BinSoo’s best features, like Polaroid-style frames and the “Formula” function, came directly from listening to and implementing ideas from users, both free and paying.
BinSoo: A Story of Craftsmanship, National Pride, and $0 Marketing
Ha Gia Bao, a 26-year-old Mobile Developer, created BinSoo—a simple photo editing app on iOS. His journey is a powerful testament to turning adversity into opportunity and how deep care for a product can become the most effective marketing tool.
1. From Manual Laborer to Laid-Off Developer
Bao’s path was not a straight line. After finishing high school with disappointing grades, he spent time as a manual laborer, loading dragon fruit onto trucks. It was his mother’s persistence that pushed him to attend university and pursue a career in tech.
In 2023, during the tech downturn, the company he worked for went bankrupt. He found himself unemployed, facing constant rejection in job interviews. Self-doubt began to creep in. It was in this difficult period that he decided to return to his personal projects and bet on BinSoo.
2. The Birth of BinSoo: A Strategic Bet for an Indie Hacker
With zero budget, Bao strategically chose to build a photo editing app for three reasons:
- No Server Costs: All processing happens on the user’s device.
- High Virality Potential: Photos are one of the most shared forms of content on social media.
- A Validated Market: Giants like VSCO and Photoshop proved the demand exists. He could “stand on the shoulders of giants.”
His philosophy was simple: “Complain about other people’s software by making your own.” He noticed gaps in other apps (VSCO lacked frames, others lacked certain film colors) and decided to create a product that combined the best of everything.
3. The BinSoo Playbook: Craftsmanship, Culture, and Community
a. Craftsmanship as a Marketing Strategy
As an indie hacker, Bao had no marketing knowledge. He realized that for a $0 marketing plan to work, he “had to have an extremely, extremely, extremely polished product.”
He focused on creating a unique UI that felt like an “art museum” for the user’s photos. The smoothness, user-friendliness, and aesthetic detail were the things that made users take notice and want to share.
b. The Vietnamese “Secret Sauce”
The unique element that sparked BinSoo’s viral explosion was its photo filters named after Vietnamese locations: Đà Lạt, Sài Gòn, Măng Đen… The default filters, “Đà Lạt” and “Sài Gòn,” became huge hits within the Vietnamese community.
This tapped into a sense of national pride. Users didn’t just use the app; they proudly shared photos with captions like “This is a Vietnamese app,” and “Vietnam is the best.”
c. The Community Spark
The real success came when Bao shared BinSoo in a Vietnamese tech group (J2Team). The app went from zero active users to 400 simultaneous users in 30 minutes.
This initial spark created a domino effect, catching the attention of major Vietnamese tech influencers and KOCs like Vinh Vật Vờ and Duy Luân, who amplified BinSoo’s story to millions.
An Indie Hacker’s Philosophy
- Listen to All Users: Bao insists that the best ideas often come from his users. They use many different apps and bring valuable feedback to improve his product.
- Craftsmanship Over Speed: Unlike the common “build in 2 weeks and validate” mantra, Bao believes in taking the time to build something “properly and decently,” putting his heart into every detail.
- Build What You Love: Create a project that solves your own problems. You’ll only have the passion to see it through if you have a personal need to use it every day.