How do you build a tech startup that actually brings people together and then walk away from it to chase your dream?

In this episode of Hooked, Playkit co-founders Julia Pintar and Nick Sanchez sit down with Avery Kokka, the 23-year-old co-founder and former CMO of Plots, a venture-backed startup backed by a16z that’s reinventing how Gen Z connects IRL.

Avery shares how she turned her passion for live events into a viral growth engine and how she’s now channeling that same creativity into a full-time career as a DJ and artist.

Highlights From This Episode:

(00:06:00) – The chaotic truth about growing on TikTok as an artist

(00:08:15) – How Avery and her team used events to acquire their first 100K+ users

(00:14:45) – The college playbook: why LMU’s “boring” nightlife became her unfair advantage

(00:18:50) – The secret to competing with bigger startups: relationships and scrappiness

(00:22:00) – Julia’s lesson on why giving value always wins (in startups and life)

(00:24:30) – The “college page” strategy that took Plots from 0 → 300,000 users

(00:32:30) – Knowing when to drop what’s working (and when to pivot)

(00:38:40) – “People don’t care about your brand… they care about the humans behind it.”

(00:40:10) – How Julia hacked early TikTok growth by adding her face to brand videos

(00:45:30) – Do views really equal conversions? The truth about organic attribution

(00:53:00) – Avery’s transition from startup life to music and what losing someone taught her about risk

(00:55:00) – Why building your life around what you love is the ultimate act of creativity

What You’ll Learn

• How to build community-first products that grow organically
• Why authenticity beats polish every time on social
• How real-world experiences can power viral growth
• What it takes to transition from tech to creative work
• How to think scrappy when you can’t outspend your competition

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

Follow Playkit for more conversations with founders, creators, and operators rethinking what growth looks like in 2025.

‍