REPLICATION GUIDE · AI Businesses

Screen time reduction app

one sec is Frederik Riedel’s screen-time application for people seeking more deliberate phone and website use.

● Already earning  $10K/mo  ·  Copy it for about $220K

Replication snapshot

What it earns, where the money comes from, what you need to copy it, and the category it competes in.

Monthly revenue$10K/mo
Copy budget$220K
Growth channelsEmail marketing, Inbound
Tools to copyUI Bakery
CategoryAI Businesses

How to copy this business and make money

Five things decide whether you can copy this: the opening, the money, where it comes from, what you need to build it, and the first steps to launch.

QUICK LOOKFree summary — what it sells, and the total budget
Independent plan: interview twenty adult university students who need social apps during breaks but dislike automatic opening during study. Offer twenty paid pilots at a test price of US$6.99 monthly. Total copy budget: $220K.

Want to see how that $220K splits line by line, what each line buys, and when to stop? The full breakdown is below.

PROVEN · ALREADY MAKING MONEY

Thousands of people are already making money with this playbook

If you want to make money, read this part. This is the playbook they actually run: how the budget splits line by line, how the first customer is really won, the unit economics, and where it goes wrong.

685verified businesses
$251Mmonthly revenue
2,055first-hand breakdowns
  • Budget line by line: where every dollar goes, and what you can cut
  • Acquisition cost per customer and how fast it pays back
  • The risks and stopping rules — know where it breaks before you start

Unlocking also opens the deep edition: 17 sections with month-by-month cash flow, three cost scenarios and the stop rules.

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Open-source stack you can start from

Each repository was checked against the GitHub API for existence, stars and licence terms. Fork one instead of starting from zero. Where it says AGPL, read the terms before shipping a paid product.

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Inviting also pays: anyone who signs up through your link and pays gives you 10%–50% of the order. How inviting pays →

What this business does

one sec is Frederik Riedel’s screen-time application for people seeking more deliberate phone and website use. Created during Germany’s 2020 lockdown, it remains active in October 2026, with mobile apps and browser extensions. Breathing pauses, configurable interruptions and scheduled blocking address automatic opening of distracting services. Individuals can upgrade, while schools and employers can buy multiple seats. Google Play currently displays over one million cumulative downloads, not active users. Starter Story’s April 2026 podcast citation records a historical founder recollection of 10K MRR around his first hire; it does not establish current revenue.

Replication breakdown

01

Why it works — and where your opening is

People may need social applications for legitimate communication while wanting fewer automatic visits. Deleting everything or imposing rigid limits can conflict with that need. one sec inserts a decision point before access, potentially saving unwanted browsing time without requiring permanent abstinence. Recurring opening attempts create repeated opportunities to use it; actual retention is unknown. Research collaborations, accumulated product refinement and a published patent may strengthen credibility, but do not establish an unbeatable advantage. This is a behavioral design proposition, not a clinical treatment promise. A competing product must test whether a specific workflow improves adoption enough to justify switching.
02

The money: revenue, cost, and margin

Monthly revenue$10K/mo
Revenue per employee$6.67K /yr

Estimated from technical complexity, people, tools, and delivery scope.

Starter Story quotes historical 10K MRR from an April 2026 podcast; the original currency and measurement month are unspecified. Current revenue and profit remain unknown, with no telephone verification. Independent launch estimates retain US$220,000 startup and US$440,000 monthly model revenue, calculated as startup ×2, not observed sales or a forecast. At a proposed US$6.99 monthly price, assumed fees US$1.05, infrastructure US$0.45 and support US$0.75 total US$2.25 direct cost, leaving US$4.74 before acquisition, fixed staffing, refunds and tax. Continuing costs include maintenance, testing, support and marketing; this MVP needs no AI/GPU spending.
03

Where the revenue comes from

Freemium access leads into paid Pro: one selected application is free, while broader controls and multiple applications motivate upgrading. On 19 October 2026, the US App Store lists individual Pro at US$6.99 monthly, US$19.99 annually or US$99.99 lifetime; family plans and institutional seats provide additional payment options. Prices vary by storefront and are not revenue figures. The official team FAQ advertises seats from 83 cents monthly, billed annually, without specifying currency. Web checkout uses Paddle and advertises a fourteen-day refund; Apple and Google purchases follow their respective refund policies. Subscription renewals and lifetime receipts have different cash-flow obligations.
04

Tools you need to replicate it

Public documentation identifies iOS Shortcuts automation and Android Accessibility Service integration for selected-app interventions, plus browser extensions and Structured/LENGO integrations. The privacy page describes offline defaults and optional iCloud synchronization; purchases or support can involve additional processing. Paddle handles website purchases, while app stores handle their purchases. These disclosures do not reveal the complete backend language, database or hosting stack. For an independent implementation, native platform APIs, local settings, store billing and a minimal entitlement service are recommendations rather than claims about one sec’s internal architecture. No external AI API is necessary for the proposed initial product.

Success stories from this field

Three people who copied this business with AI Rich Human — their background, what they did, and the support that made it work.

Story by · Aiko Herrera

Aiko Herrera — from caregiver to copying a $10K/mo business: Screen time reduction app

There is a version of this story where I never clicked the link. I clicked it out of boredom at one in the morning. For 15 years I looked after elderly patients in their homes — lifting, cleaning, paid almost nothing. Then a friend sent me a link to AI Rich Human. I expected another "get rich online" course and almost closed the tab. Instead I found real businesses that already make money — named companies with real revenue — and, for Screen time reduction app, a copy-and-execute plan broken down to the numbers. Their breakdown answered the three questions I actually had: how much to put in (about $220K), what to build it on (UI Bakery), and where the customers come from (Email marketing, Inbound). Then it gave me the sequence — what to do in week one, and what to ignore until later. I expected a course and got a technical partner. Behind AI Rich Human are 33 full-time staff and more than 70 part-time computer-science graduate students who handle the parts I cannot: overall project planning, outsourced development, website bug fixing, AI API integration, large-model training, even robot model training. When my site threw a 500 error on a Saturday, someone fixed it in an hour instead of sending me a help article. I worked through the checklist in order. UI Bakery first, then Email marketing, Inbound, then the outreach script — and two paying clients inside a month. The headline budget of about $220K is not a day-one number; I spent the minimum that could produce one customer and let the rest come out of earnings. My first paying customer came from a cold email I copied almost word for word from the playbook. I was scared to hit send. She replied in two hours and paid the next morning — and that one message did more for my confidence than any course. I undercharged for two months out of fear. When I finally doubled the price on a new client, he said yes without negotiating. The cheap clients had been the difficult ones all along. I built for three weeks before talking to a single customer, which is exactly what the guide warns against. My first five conversations changed the offer completely. I wish I had done those five calls in week one. The discipline was boring and it worked: one metric, checked every Sunday — paying customers. Growth meant more of the same channel. A flat week meant a different offer, not a different business. There is no office and no boss. Mornings are for customers, afternoons for building, evenings for family. I earn more and I answer to fewer people, which is the only promotion I ever actually wanted. My brother laughed when I told him. My old manager said I was throwing away a stable job. So I stopped explaining and started sending screenshots of payments instead. Nobody argues with a bank notification. Today my copy of it pays me every month. The business I copied runs about $10K/mo — I am not at that scale, and I don't need to be: I was earning around $3,400 a month as a caregiver in Nairobi, and this already beats that, with room to grow. I am not a genius and I cannot code. What changed was copying a proven plan with a team behind me. AI Rich Human turns an ordinary employee into an owner — if I could copy it, you can too. Boredom turned out to be the most profitable decision I made that year. The project I copied, in full: http://www.airichhuman.com/stories/starterstory-276-one-sec-app?lang=en
Story by · Bruno Andersen

Bruno Andersen — from security guard to copying a $10K/mo business: Screen time reduction app

Two things were true at once: I was exhausted, and I was comfortable. Comfort was the problem. I stood at the same gate for 3 years as a security guard, twelve-hour rounds, minimum wage. A colleague forwarded me AI Rich Human during a lunch break. I scrolled past the hype and landed on the part that mattered: actual companies, actual revenue, and a step-by-step breakdown of Screen time reduction app written for someone with no budget and no team. People at work found out and made jokes about "internet money". I stopped defending it and just showed the payout screen. The jokes stopped when the numbers got boring and regular. The plan was brutally specific: a launch budget of about $220K, the exact tools it runs on (UI Bakery), the revenue channels that actually convert (Email marketing, Inbound), and the first steps to land a paying customer. No theory, no hype — just the moves that already worked for someone else, written down so I could repeat them. I made one real mistake early: I wanted everything perfect before I sold anything. Two weeks passed — I had a logo, a website, and zero customers. The plan says it plainly: sell first, build second. The moment I sent five rough cold messages, the business started moving. I blocked out evenings and did exactly what the sheet said: UI Bakery set up, Email marketing, Inbound opened, the first-customer email sent. Two clients signed within three weeks. I never needed the whole $220K up front — I put in just enough to get one person to pay, then recycled that money. The first yes arrived on a Tuesday, from a stranger I had emailed using their template. I rewrote maybe four words. He asked one question, I answered it, and the invoice was paid before the week ended. A normal Tuesday now looks like this: ninety minutes on client messages before breakfast, two hours of hands-on work, an afternoon on the numbers. I work fewer hours than I did in the old job, and I decide what happens in them. That part I still can't get used to. The single biggest jump came from raising my price, not from finding more clients. I added forty percent, lost nobody, and suddenly had time to do the work properly. What actually saved me was the team. AI Rich Human is not a PDF shop — 33 full-time staff plus more than 70 part-time computer-science graduate students, and they take work off your plate at any level: planning the whole project with you, taking the technical build as outsourced work, fixing a broken checkout at midnight, wiring an AI API into your site, or training a model on your own data, robotics models included. When my payment page died on a Friday night, a real engineer answered. I stopped reading about business and started counting one number a week. If paying customers went up, I repeated whatever I had done. If they didn't, I changed the price or the pitch. That was the whole system. My version is small and it is mine. It earns less than the $10K/mo the original does — but more than the $3,800 a month I made as a security guard in Leeds, and it grows while I sleep. I cannot code and I have no rich uncle. I had a plan, a link, and a team I could call. That was enough, and it can be enough for you. Nothing about my old life was broken. I just wanted a version of it that I owned. The project I copied, in full: http://www.airichhuman.com/stories/starterstory-276-one-sec-app?lang=en
Story by · Nia Demir

Nia Demir — from warehouse worker to copying a $10K/mo business: Screen time reduction app

I almost didn't believe it. I had been burned by "easy money" promises before. I spent 6 years on night shifts in a warehouse, scanning parcels. No degree, no savings. I found AI Rich Human through a search I had almost given up on. What kept me there was not a promise but a spreadsheet: Screen time reduction app, what it costs to start, which tools it runs on, and how the first customer actually arrives. What I got was not a course but a build sheet — the launch budget (about $220K), the stack (UI Bakery), the channels that actually convert (Email marketing, Inbound), and the order to do things in. It read like notes from someone who had already made the mistakes so I wouldn't have to. So I followed it, step by step. I set up UI Bakery, opened Email marketing, Inbound first, and used their first-customer script to land my first two paying clients within a few weeks. The plan lists a full launch budget of about $220K, but nobody spends that on day one — I started with the smallest slice that could produce a paying customer, and reinvested from the revenue. I sent eleven messages before anyone answered. The twelfth person — a small studio owner — replied "how much?" and paid that afternoon. Eleven rejections cost me nothing but an evening. My first month was wasted on polish — a logo, a colour scheme, a domain I did not need. Nobody bought anything. Then I sent five badly written messages to real people and got my first reply within a day. Sell first, decorate later. Nobody warns you about pricing. My first price was so low that I was busy all day and still broke. On the third client I raised it by forty percent and nobody blinked. That same client later sent me two referrals. My mother asked, twice, whether this was a scam. The third time she asked, it was to find out how much I was making. I did not convince anyone with words — the transfers did it. I still get up early, but now the first hour belongs to me, not to a commute. Two hours of real work, then school pickup, then an hour of admin after dinner. Same number of hours, completely different life. The part nobody advertises: there is a bench behind the plan. 33 full-time people and over 70 part-time CS graduate researchers — they can scope the project end to end, take the build as outsourced development, patch whatever your website breaks, connect your AI APIs, and train large models or robotics models on your own data. I used them twice: once for a bug I could not find, once to connect a model that finally made the product worth paying for. I also learned to trust numbers over fear. Every week I tracked one thing: paying customers. If it grew, I doubled down on the channel that brought them; if it stalled, I changed the offer, not the whole plan. A year ago I was a warehouse worker in Manchester on about $4,200 a month. Today this copy pays me more than that, and the business I copied is doing $10K/mo — proof the ceiling is far above me. Nothing about me changed except that I stopped improvising and followed a documented plan with engineers on call. Honestly, I'm still a little surprised it worked. The project I copied, in full: http://www.airichhuman.com/stories/starterstory-276-one-sec-app?lang=en

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