Oasis

Cormac grew up in Minnesota drinking tap water without worry. But when he moved to Los Angeles, he noticed the water tasted different and gave him an upset stomach. Instead of accepting it, he did what many founders do—he tried to solve the problem himself. He discovered that water quality reports actually exist and are free: you can request them from any city or contact bottled water companies for their testing data. The problem? Finding and accessing this information was incredibly difficult and time-consuming.

Cormac built Oasis as an app and website to aggregate and organize this free government data into a simple, searchable format. Users could check their city's water quality or scan a bottle of water to see contaminants. The genius of the model: he wasn't creating new data, just making existing public information accessible. He added a freemium layer—basic searches free, detailed reports and independent testing behind a $45-50 annual paywall. He also created affiliate partnerships with water filter companies to diversify revenue.

When Oasis launched, it had $10,000 in monthly revenue. But the breakthrough came through social video. Cormac started posting simple TikTok videos: green-screen format, holding a bottle of water (like Liquid Death), explaining the hidden contaminants and chemicals inside. The videos went viral—reaching over 1 million views each—because they tapped into a growing health consciousness around water quality. Each viral video drove downloads and conversions to paid subscriptions.

The viral TikTok strategy worked remarkably well. Once Cormac found a format that resonated, he could repurpose it endlessly. TikTok's algorithm rewards consistent creators, so the same video template could be posted repeatedly with different products and still reach millions. Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts amplified the effect. The paywall also worked—despite initial skepticism ("who would pay for this?"), thousands of users subscribed because the value of knowing their water was actually contaminated justified the $50/year cost. The affiliate revenue from water filters provided additional margin.

Oasis grew from $10k to $40k monthly revenue (annualized $480k ARR) by staying laser-focused on the viral content machine. Cormac publicly shares metrics on Twitter—"Oasis metrics over the last 28 days, monthly gross revenue: $25,000"—showing transparency that builds trust. He's also begun doing independent water testing at scale, spending thousands per test to verify government reports and provide differentiated data. His stated mission: build a 100% independent testing platform for products and provide healthy alternatives. The founder predicts Oasis could become worth tens of millions of dollars or more, as the water quality and product testing category is still tiny compared to where it will be in 10-20 years.