How fashion influencer Tezza turned photo filters into an app with $32 million in projected yearly revenue and a newly launched print magazine

Tezza’s photo-editing tools have become favorites among creators, offering a range of filters that can make any iPhone photo or video look like it was taken on 35mm film or captured on a vintage camcorder.

The app’s main form of revenue is a subscription fee, which can cost users between about $40 to $60 for yearly subscriptions to the Tezza Pro (unlimited photo filters and templates) and Tezza Luxe (which also unlocks video-editing tools), respectively. There is also a free option for users.

The company shared that it is projecting an annual recurring revenue of $32 million.

Barton and Cole Herrmann, her husband and cofounder, have bootstrapped the startup since its 2018 launch.

“We built the brand to be profitable from the beginning,” Barton said. “We were kids living in New York and needed to pay rent.”

Turning social media followers into app users

Growing an audience on social media helped the two cofounders build and grow the app.

“The number one way to just grow, in general, is to share,” Barton said. “With the app, the first four years, we didn’t do one paid ad. We didn’t do any marketing. It was all organic growth.”

By sharing content on social media using the Tezza filters and inviting users to give early feedback, “they felt like they were a part of it too,” Barton said of her audience. “Then, they were telling their friends about it and willing to post about it, and they were excited about it as well.”

Barton is looking beyond photo editing, however, when charting out her company’s next steps.

“Something we’re really excited about is building an in-app social network that’s really based around learning and being inspired by creators,” Barton said.

Going beyond the phone with print and in-person events

Barton said she wants Tezza to be a “home base for creators” where creatives can interact with one another and collaborate.

An app is one thing, but Tezza is trying to build a web of media businesses.

Barton’s latest world-building play took place during New York Fashion Week in September, where the influencer launched a new magazine: Tezza Magazine.

The bulky debut issue, weighing in at 144 pages, follows the footsteps of visual fashion and culture magazines like V Magazine, Puss Puss, and The Face. Its content pulls from brands Barton has collaborated with or admires, as well as art created by Tezza app users.

“We really wanted it to feel like an art book,” Barton said.

The magazine, which can be purchased for $30 at Iconic Magazines, will be a biannual publication with a digital version in the works, Barton added.

It’s all part of building a brand that goes beyond the screen.

“We have an app, we have a magazine, we have an art place where we do events,” Barton said. “We hope to one day have Tezza Fest, where you come and there’s music, there are artists, all kinds of food.”

As the creator economy continues to mature, many of the influencers and creators driving it are still figuring out how exactly to build a business model that lasts — especially as fame and trends come and go.

“Our motto is always ‘done is better than perfect’ and that’s because the world we live in unfortunately moves really fast,” Barton said. “Things change quickly, and especially when you’re trying to launch a business, you could work on it forever and then things change. You have to be willing to adapt quickly and listen to your community.”