Podcast episode
Episode 359 – How a Prayer App Beat Netflix & Amazon to #1 | Alex Jones
Join host Justin Forman for an unforgettable conversation with Alex Jones, CEO and co-founder of Hallow, the world’s #1 Catholic prayer and meditation app. Starting with just $10 in a bank account, Alex and his team have facilitated over one billion minutes of prayer and reached 27.5 million downloads—all while maintaining a steadfast focus on authentic faith over business metrics.
EPISODE NOTES
What happens when an entrepreneur who fell away from faith encounters Jesus in silence and decides to build a prayer app with $10? Alex Jones shares Hallow’s extraordinary journey from a personal spiritual awakening to becoming the #1 app in the Apple App Store—surpassing tech giants like Amazon, YouTube, and Netflix during Lent.
Discover how a heartbreaking note from his aunt who lost her son convinced Alex to dedicate his life to this mission, why they risked everything on a Super Bowl commercial without clear ROI, and how God keeps showing up in miraculous ways (including fixing a crash right after a priest prayed). Alex vulnerably discusses the tension of being an independent entrepreneur while remaining radically dependent on God, and why prayer isn’t about feeling better—it’s about having a real relationship with an invisible God who transforms everything, including pain.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction: From $10 to billion prayers
02:00 Alex’s faith journey: From agnostic to contemplative prayer
03:00 The heartbreaking aunt story that changed everything
08:23 Core customer challenge: Who are we building for?
16:05 Redeeming technology: Gamification for good
18:01 The thin line between virtue and vice
24:28 Prayer in culture: Where we are as a society
25:45 Spiritual revival happening across America
27:36 What prayer really is (and isn’t)
31:33 Authenticity: Partnering with Mark Wahlberg and Jonathan Roumie
36:30 The controversial Super Bowl commercial decision
38:27 Beating Temu to #1 in the App Store
44:53 Cultural impact: Making prayer normative
47:12 The upstream solution to world’s problems
50:21 Scale and scope: 27.5 million downloads
51:02 Working with faith-driven investors like Goodwater
53:46 Three keys: Great people, excellence, radical surrender
57:39 Dependent entrepreneurs: The beautiful tension
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