Ania Wysocka
Founder of Rootd, an anxiety and panic attack app, with the host of App Masters
Where to hear and read about Ania Wysocka1 episode or test
Ania Wysocka is the bootstrapped, non-technical founder of Rootd, an anxiety and panic attack app built from her own experience. The lesson most worth taking from her is to own a tiny niche keyword first, then grow it with patient, repeated, personal work, which made Rootd 95% organic.
I did feel like I needed to stand out in a smaller Niche first, especially because there's now obviously more and more apps for anxiety.
Early Stage Growth Strategies
Ania Wysocka: the story and the lessons
1How Ania Wysocka built Rootd with no budget and no marketing background
Wysocka built Rootd out of her own anxiety and panic attacks. The app grew from her personal experience, and she started with no marketing background. In 2018 little existed on app marketing, so she bent SEO advice from blogs to fit the App Store.
The early days were mostly guesswork and optimization. She found her first app marketing course only later, from Darius of Reflectly.
She split the work into what to outsource and what to do herself. An agency quote was out of reach, so she handled wireframing, design, UI and UX herself. She paid her first developer, a local university student she knew from a co-op, out of all her savings.
She is still a non-technical founder and learns development as she goes. She calls it the hardest way possible, but the one her budget allowed.
Rootd now runs on contractors with no employees. Contractors cover social media, support, admin and development. Development has two junior developers on features and two full-stack developers keeping the app running.
At the start she did PR, social, App Store optimization, email, business development and support alone.
2How Wysocka won the "panic attack" keyword in the App Store
She targeted "panic attack" instead of the crowded "anxiety". Few apps competed for panic attacks then, so ranking was realistic, and those searchers needed a tool most. Rootd became number one for panic attacks and held it. For anxiety it flips between number two and three.
The plan was to win the small niche first, earn downloads and revenue, then climb toward bigger terms.
App Store optimization is her best channel and Rootd is 95% organic. Wysocka treats the store as the growth engine. Social media is a slower way to build the brand elsewhere and a second path back into the app.
She says social rarely drives instant downloads.
She tests screenshots by country because tastes differ. On iOS she tests through custom product pages. Calm, soothing images worked in the US, while more colorful, crowded ones did much better in Brazil.
Different screenshots also won on Android.
3Wysocka's press playbook for a bootstrapped app
She started with local journalists, then widened the list. She listed writers who covered mental health and pitched local outlets first, since local press likes backing the tech community. Later outlets like a small bootstrapped app that helps people.
The Cosmopolitan, Women's Health and Bustle logos on the Rootd site came from organic press releases.
She tied small stories to world events. Hooks included World Mental Health Day on October 10th and athletes speaking openly about panic attacks. Journalists need fresh angles on busy news days, so the pitch fills a gap.
She describes the approach as "combining it with some sort of unique story angle".
She sent releases again and again and followed up. Only about 10 to 20 percent of pitches get a reply, so she treated PR like cold email. Press days give only a small download bump.
Bootstrapping made organic her only route. In her words: "it's a long-term strategy and you kind of have to follow up just like cold emails".
She reuses press listings as lasting social proof and search value. Healthline listed Rootd among the best anxiety apps of the year, beside venture-backed Calm and Headspace. That logo became lasting social proof.
Healthline's high domain authority also gives Rootd an indirect search benefit over time.
4How Wysocka grows through social media
She comments helpfully on creators' posts instead of dropping generic plugs. In the early days she spent a couple of hours every day liking and commenting. Real replies to a creator's video worked better than a generic "check out Rootd" comment.
Some influencers with 20,000 to 100,000 followers who lived with panic attacks wrote about the app unpaid.
Instagram worked first because her posts carried real help. In 2018 and 2019 her audience was on Instagram, and useful posts earned more shares and likes. Instagram beat Facebook in her tracking, and she never gave Twitter a real try.
She mixes in occasional testimonials. They get fewer shares but remind followers whose page it is, since an anxiety page can blend in with others.
On TikTok she uses native, trend-aware content instead of templates. Templated posts performed worse there. Rootd now mixes user-generated content and testimonials with a TikToker who follows trends and makes fun videos.
She wants more creators on the platform.
5How Wysocka designed and validated the Rootd product
She launched with one feature, the red panic attack button. Wysocka waited about a year, gathering reviews and feedback, before adding general anxiety features. This confirmed people needed the core tool before she spent more.
Saving money on features leaves more for marketing.
She designed the app for herself and found her users matched her. The wording and calming colors were what she found comforting. The biggest group turned out to be women aged 24 to 35, reached organically, so product fit needed few changes.
Menu titles name the action the user takes, so someone in a heightened state sees where to go at once. Users rarely ask questions.
She asked for feedback in reviews and said plainly she was small. She collected feedback through App Store reviews and social media, openly saying she was just starting. When feedback became overwhelming and personal, she began saying "we" to sound bigger.
Her stated aim was to avoid "pretending to be a big company".
She drew the monster mascot to make anxiety something to befriend. She drew it on a bad anxiety day, and the original icon looked annoyed. It mirrors the cognitive behavioral therapy idea of befriending anxiety.
The monster looks ridiculous on purpose: he needs a dentist and has a cute belly, so he isn't scary.
6How Wysocka runs her week and monetizes Rootd
She gives each weekday a theme to protect focus. Tuesday is product day and Wednesday is business development, with monetization and experiment days too. She also plans the year ahead, including which feature and Apple technology ships each month.
She still reads user feedback and emails users herself, and users often don't know it is her.
Rootd was freemium from day one and keeps the core free. Counseling was expensive for Wysocka, so she feels a tug of war about charging. Paid ideas are less essential extras such as dark mode and daily motivation.
Understanding lessons are free, with short-term lessons on easing anxiety next, then long-term ones.
She cut intro screens down to one optional slider. Rootd replaced separate intro screens with a single slider. Users who want to learn more flip through it, and others go straight to sign-up.
She finds fewer people drop off before signing up this way.
7What Wysocka would change
Her first paid ads attempt did not work, and she plans a retry. One paid strategy was tried and judged a miss. Peers now report success with paid, and better tracking tools show what each campaign does.
The retry is planned but not yet done.
She wishes she had joined TikTok sooner. Wysocka calls it a small regret and says "I should have jumped on it sooner".
She worked harder than needed but calls it a learning curve. Doing design and UX herself cost extra effort. She does not regret it.
Early Stage Growth Strategies
A bootstrapped, non-technical founder explains how she grew Rootd through niche ASO, repeated PR, genuine social engagement and a one-feature MVP. The result is a mostly organic app (95% organic) that ranks number one for panic attacks in the App Store and earned multiple Apple features.
Wysocka built Rootd out of her own anxiety and panic attacks. The app grew from her personal experience, and she started with no marketing background. In 2018 little existed on app marketing, so she bent SEO advice from blogs to fit the App Store.
The early days were mostly guesswork and optimization. She found her first app marketing course only later, from Darius of Reflectly.
She split the work into what to outsource and what to do herself. An agency quote was out of reach, so she handled wireframing, design, UI and UX herself. She paid her first developer, a local university student she knew from a co-op, out of all her savings.
She is still a non-technical founder and learns development as she goes. She calls it the hardest way possible, but the one her budget allowed.
Rootd now runs on contractors with no employees. Contractors cover social media, support, admin and development. Development has two junior developers on features and two full-stack developers keeping the app running.
At the start she did PR, social, App Store optimization, email, business development and support alone.
She targeted "panic attack" instead of the crowded "anxiety". Few apps competed for panic attacks then, so ranking was realistic, and those searchers needed a tool most. Rootd became number one for panic attacks and held it. For anxiety it flips between number two and three.
The plan was to win the small niche first, earn downloads and revenue, then climb toward bigger terms.
App Store optimization is her best channel and Rootd is 95% organic. Wysocka treats the store as the growth engine. Social media is a slower way to build the brand elsewhere and a second path back into the app.
She says social rarely drives instant downloads.
She tests screenshots by country because tastes differ. On iOS she tests through custom product pages. Calm, soothing images worked in the US, while more colorful, crowded ones did much better in Brazil.
Different screenshots also won on Android.
She started with local journalists, then widened the list. She listed writers who covered mental health and pitched local outlets first, since local press likes backing the tech community. Later outlets like a small bootstrapped app that helps people.
The Cosmopolitan, Women's Health and Bustle logos on the Rootd site came from organic press releases.
She tied small stories to world events. Hooks included World Mental Health Day on October 10th and athletes speaking openly about panic attacks. Journalists need fresh angles on busy news days, so the pitch fills a gap.
She describes the approach as "combining it with some sort of unique story angle".
She sent releases again and again and followed up. Only about 10 to 20 percent of pitches get a reply, so she treated PR like cold email. Press days give only a small download bump.
Bootstrapping made organic her only route. In her words: "it's a long-term strategy and you kind of have to follow up just like cold emails".
She reuses press listings as lasting social proof and search value. Healthline listed Rootd among the best anxiety apps of the year, beside venture-backed Calm and Headspace. That logo became lasting social proof.
Healthline's high domain authority also gives Rootd an indirect search benefit over time.
She comments helpfully on creators' posts instead of dropping generic plugs. In the early days she spent a couple of hours every day liking and commenting. Real replies to a creator's video worked better than a generic "check out Rootd" comment.
Some influencers with 20,000 to 100,000 followers who lived with panic attacks wrote about the app unpaid.
Instagram worked first because her posts carried real help. In 2018 and 2019 her audience was on Instagram, and useful posts earned more shares and likes. Instagram beat Facebook in her tracking, and she never gave Twitter a real try.
She mixes in occasional testimonials. They get fewer shares but remind followers whose page it is, since an anxiety page can blend in with others.
On TikTok she uses native, trend-aware content instead of templates. Templated posts performed worse there. Rootd now mixes user-generated content and testimonials with a TikToker who follows trends and makes fun videos.
She wants more creators on the platform.
She launched with one feature, the red panic attack button. Wysocka waited about a year, gathering reviews and feedback, before adding general anxiety features. This confirmed people needed the core tool before she spent more.
Saving money on features leaves more for marketing.
She designed the app for herself and found her users matched her. The wording and calming colors were what she found comforting. The biggest group turned out to be women aged 24 to 35, reached organically, so product fit needed few changes.
Menu titles name the action the user takes, so someone in a heightened state sees where to go at once. Users rarely ask questions.
She asked for feedback in reviews and said plainly she was small. She collected feedback through App Store reviews and social media, openly saying she was just starting. When feedback became overwhelming and personal, she began saying "we" to sound bigger.
Her stated aim was to avoid "pretending to be a big company".
She drew the monster mascot to make anxiety something to befriend. She drew it on a bad anxiety day, and the original icon looked annoyed. It mirrors the cognitive behavioral therapy idea of befriending anxiety.
The monster looks ridiculous on purpose: he needs a dentist and has a cute belly, so he isn't scary.
She gives each weekday a theme to protect focus. Tuesday is product day and Wednesday is business development, with monetization and experiment days too. She also plans the year ahead, including which feature and Apple technology ships each month.
She still reads user feedback and emails users herself, and users often don't know it is her.
Rootd was freemium from day one and keeps the core free. Counseling was expensive for Wysocka, so she feels a tug of war about charging. Paid ideas are less essential extras such as dark mode and daily motivation.
Understanding lessons are free, with short-term lessons on easing anxiety next, then long-term ones.
She cut intro screens down to one optional slider. Rootd replaced separate intro screens with a single slider. Users who want to learn more flip through it, and others go straight to sign-up.
She finds fewer people drop off before signing up this way.
Her first paid ads attempt did not work, and she plans a retry. One paid strategy was tried and judged a miss. Peers now report success with paid, and better tracking tools show what each campaign does.
The retry is planned but not yet done.
She wishes she had joined TikTok sooner. Wysocka calls it a small regret and says "I should have jumped on it sooner".
She worked harder than needed but calls it a learning curve. Doing design and UX herself cost extra effort. She does not regret it.