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In a TikTok TV with over 3 million thought , a fair sex in a fluffy , maximalist coat sits in the back seat of a sumptuousness SUV , parked in the middle of a New York City street . Atop the6 - second video , a line of text reads , “ our bodyguard got us matcha . ” The television camera zoom in on two intimidate men in full suits with crimson tie , each carry an iced matcha latte as they walk back to the car .
In a similar picture , a new woman shoot a slick Chevrolet Suburban as it rive up in front of her house . A man in a suit reach the door for her before she ’s whisked away , surround in the car by other stoic , professionally prune men . They pedal her carry - on - sized baggage as she introduce the airport , safely escort her to her escape as she brags in the on - television school text : “ pov you ordered certificate to take you to the airdrome . ”
this is everything#nyc#bodyguard#nycgirl
These posts were time strategically with the launch of a new app calledProtector , which debuted last hebdomad in Los Angeles and New York City , allowing average citizenry to set up a Secret Service - like security detail . But the videos were n’t organic .
“ We posted 14 piece of content for [ Protector ] which resulted in 15 million position and over 30,000 downloads , ” the women from the matcha video , Fuzz and Fuzz , wrotein a TikTok , disclosing that they were hired to make these videos .
The othercreator , Camille Hovsepian , was not organically promoting the app , either , a Protector voice say TechCrunch . The Jehovah ’s young man , sequent enterpriser and growth hacker Nikita Bier , is anadviserto Protector .
In Bier ’s playbook , which earned his own apps skill byDiscordandFacebook , rage hook is part of the fun .
“ Once you make 8 image , you should n’t waste the quietus of your life trying to get incrementally gamey — like doing a b2b saas startup , ” Bier wrote in a recentposton X. “ or else , you should be thinking of ways to piss off millions of people on the internet each day by launching controversial app concepts , for consummate love of the game . ”
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your own personal bodyguard lol#fyp#bodyguard#airportlife#travel#privatesecurity#protectorapp@Protector
Though Bier ’s growth scheme is contrived , it has proven successful in return bombination . He recently notify an AI - power wellness app tochange its namefrom Most Days to Death Clock , then told the app to add a survey that promise on the dot how and when users will give way . for sure enough , the app burgeon forth to No . 6 on the health charts in the iOS app store and got a shoutout on the “ Late Show with Stephen Colbert . ”
“ Me telling you to rename your app : $ 24,000 / atomic number 42 , ” Bierwroteon X. “ Your app in a jest on Colbert : Priceless . ”
But for Protector , which Bier key out as “ Uber with throttle , ” the idea is more tenuous than adding a gimmicky AI feature to a health app .
guardian ’s safety are active duty or recently retired constabulary enforcement , each of whom has governance - issue licence to carry firearms and work as a precaution . Hiring a security detail on Protector will be drug user at least $ 1,000 for a minimum of five 60 minutes , plus a $ 129 one-year rank fee .
According to estimates fromAppfigures , an app intelligence business firm , Protector has been download by U.S.-based iOS drug user about 97,000 time in the first week after its February 17 launch . About a third of those downloads came on launching twenty-four hours , as it climbed to No . 3 on the App Store ’s locomotion chart . This initial curiosity around the app has slow down , though ; as of February 27 , it sit at No . 70 on the Travel chart .
Though multitude are downloading the app — perhaps out of sheer oddment — these installs do n’t guarantee that mass will actually pay to apply it .
Protector ’s fair game client is unclear , since it ’s unmanageable to conceive of what kind of person would be on board with paying over $ 1,000 for such an ostentatious , unneeded religious service . Perhaps as another tactic to boost engagement , Protector has made appeals to a highly specific consultation : business executive who are concerned about their safety after the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson ( who would likely have access to corporate security measure anyway ) .
“ If a Protector was present [ when Thompson was bolt down ] , crisis could have been turn away , ” the companyclaimsin a video on X. The certificate guard duty in the video then runs through three possible scenario where he claims he could have discourage the assailant from committing slaying .
What if cataclysm did n’t have to strike ? We revisit the execution of UnitedHealthcare ’s CEO and examine how a Protector may have interchange the outcome.pic.twitter.com/XA2PLNadiS
With such a minimum potential customer al-Qaida , it ’s not clear how Protector will be able to keep up itself .
But for now , the app has back from angel investors , including Balaji Srinivasan . The former a16z general partner is known for losinga public betthat the Bitcoin cost would extend to $ 1 million , and he has a particular involvement inbacking“startup societies ” and “ net states ” likeProspéra , Honduras . Last yr , he boost this goal byrenting an islandnear Singapore to host a 90 - daytime “ internet School , ” which he line as “ a technocapitalist college township ” for “ everyone who does n’t palpate part of the establishment ” and believes that “ Bitcoin succeeds the Federal Reserve . ”
While “ Uber with grease-gun ” is less extreme than adopting island to be part of a larger , Bitcoin - found revolution , apps like “ Protector ” could have a more lineal effect on average people .
Protector is n’t the first companionship to pursue this construct . BlackWolf , an app that also offers armed drive - contribution machine driver , operates in Arizona , Florida , Georgia , Tennessee , and Texas ; Appfigures figure that BlackWolf has been downloaded about 256,000 times since launching in 2023 .
Like Protector , BlackWolf has run on extravagant social medium selling andfearmongering , capitalizing on news of driverless Waymo railcar beingvandalized . BlackWolf founder Kerry KingBrown urge watcher to use his table service rather of get hold of a Waymo , as though other , more sensible option like Uber and Lyft do not survive .
These manoeuvre recall Citizen , the community - source offense - report app that offer a$20 per month servicewhere users can connect with a security agent in an emergency .
If these new apps can learn anything from Citizen , it ’s that the incentives of public safety and startup ontogenesis do n’t shuffle . This was especially unclouded in an crying incident when Citizen founding father and CEO Andrew Frame promoted the app ’s livestream feature by broadcast aseven - 60 minutes manhuntfor a suspected arsonist , offering $ 30,000 for entropy leading to the adult male ’s arrest . But after pillory notice to all Los Angeles exploiter to connect the pursual , it turn out that they had the wrong guy — the Los Angeles police force arrested an clean-handed someone .
Though Citizen is still operate — and Frame stay on CEO — its misunderstanding loom big as Protector prepares its next announcement . Protector is n’t just working on “ Uber for guns . ” It plans to found an app bid “ Patrol , ” where substance abuser can crowdfund security system guard to survey their neighborhood . The more money user donate , the higher the point of security they can unlock , admit golem and drones to supervise the domain .
It ’s a controversial business enterprise move in a clock time when Americans’trust in law enforcementhas wavered in the wake ofhigh - visibility law killings .
“ We ’re not shopping centre copper , ” a security guard duty said in a promotional television for Patrol . “ We ’re real cop . ”
