Lucas Gabriele

Building @youdjibrands (current GMV: $4M/year) | connecting you with the world's best creators for free, while sharing insights along the way

[Lucas Gabriele @TheLucasGab]

Last month, Youdji hit $4,000,000 ARR.
no funding. 2 people (my cousin and me).
and no, we’re not a SaaS or an AI company

🧵 here’s how we got there ↓

[Lucas Gabriele @TheLucasGab]

$4M ARR isn’t massive for a marketplace (hence why we’re still broke).
But it’s real. It’s growing.
while AI will flood the internet with soulless noise
human creation will keep defining what’s real

let’s roll!

[Lucas Gabriele @TheLucasGab]

Last month, Youdji hit $4,000,000 ARR.
no funding. 2 people (my cousin and me).
and no, we’re not a SaaS or an AI company

🧵 here’s how we got there ↓

[Lucas Gabriele @TheLucasGab]

today, thousands of brands and agencies use it daily to source real, human UGC.
I’ve lost count of how many US marketers told me:
“how the f*ck are you not bigger in the US already?”

It’s coming!

[Lucas Gabriele @TheLucasGab]

@oliverwhudson ADS

[Lucas Gabriele @TheLucasGab]

@TobyWalleruk UGC

[Lucas Gabriele @TheLucasGab]

Took me 3 years to build the ultimate UGC creator database: 4,200+ vetted profiles.

Today, I’m giving it away for FREE.

✅ Pre-qualified (US & Europe)
✅ Filter by industry
✅ Track all partnerships

Retweet, like & comment “UGC” — I’ll DM the list.
(Must be following)

[Lucas Gabriele @TheLucasGab]

…

[Lucas Gabriele @TheLucasGab]

been quietly tracking this chart for months

never really shared it

but it’s become one of the most important signals we have at Youdji

monthly DMs exchanged between creators & brands

no media spend
no growth hack
just liquidity, compounding

marketplaces live and die by one thing:
how often people talk

no messages = no deals
no trust
no life

most people track mrr, gmv or signups
we look at this

because when conversations happen, everything else follows

trust is built
offers are made
orders are placed

95% of this is still just France

we haven’t even opened the US floodgates yet
learning:

if you want retention — create reasons to talk
if you want growth — remove friction to connect

[Lucas Gabriele @TheLucasGab]

Startups don’t fail because the idea was bad.

They fail because the founders gave up too soon.

Not from lack of effort.
From lack of visible progress.

When you grow 10% a month on small numbers, it feels like nothing.

No virality. No headlines.

Just... quiet compounding.

But month after month — if you hold on — that 10% becomes something massive.

That’s what people don’t see.
The early years feel like you’re stuck.
But the truth is: you're stacking momentum, not revenue.

More like slow, quiet pressure — until it cracked open.

If it feels slow, it doesn’t mean it’s broken.

It might mean it’s working.🤍

[Lucas Gabriele @TheLucasGab]

@withveraai - it will take longer than you think
- only trust your paying client
- retention over acquisition

[Lucas Gabriele @TheLucasGab]

crossed $2M/year in march with my platform

- built it with my cousin
- 0 employee
- 0 VC fund

Ask me anything, I’ll answer every single one of you (any subject)

[Lucas Gabriele @TheLucasGab]

just shipped a micro feature that got WAY more love than expected

not a big algo thing
not a fancy AI thing

just this:
👉 when brands scroll through creator profiles, videos now auto-play
they can tap to get the sound without clicking the profile

saves a click
saves 3–4 sec per profile
over 100 profiles? real time saved

originally they only had screenshots in the portfolio
so the upgrade feels ✨ instant

reminder:
sometimes it’s not the big features that change the game

it’s the small ones that remove real friction

if your users browse/search a lot — look for what you can skip for them

less friction = more value

even if it’s just one click