The $500K Tool That Got Me a Cease-and-Desist from 𝕏

The $500K Tool That Got Me a Cease-and-Desist from 𝕏

I wasn’t trying to break the rules—I was just trying to survive.

A few months ago, I had $15 in my bank account, a toddler to take care of, and the gnawing feeling that I was running out of options. I live in a place where opportunities don’t come easy. Payments are hard to collect, tools and platforms are geo-restricted, and even when you have talent, the global market feels just out of reach.

But one thing I knew for sure? Social media is where the money is. Specifically, 𝕏 (formerly Twitter). Brands, creators, marketers—they all need to get their message out, and I saw an opportunity there.

The problem was, nobody had cracked the code for scaling outreach effectively.

This is where my story begins.

I’m a developer by trade, so when the idea hit me, I spent days obsessing over it. What if there was a way to target leads on 𝕏 with laser-precision, based on demographics, interests, age, gender, language preferences, and even behaviors from their tweets.

In short: What if you could find the exact people who’d want to buy what you’re selling and message them all in one go?

Imagine saving all that data as a CSV, importing it, and crafting a single, personalized message that could bypass restrictions and reach 10,000 prospects with just one click.

No spam. No guessing. Just clean, focused strategy.

I knew the potential was massive, but building it wasn’t easy.

I started with zero resources—no budget, no team, no safety net. My nights were fueled by caffeine, my days were spent debugging, and I relied on sheer determination to make it happen.

The biggest hurdle? The normal API access wasn’t enough. I kept hitting rate limits, which meant the tool couldn’t scale the way I envisioned. The only option was to use Twitter’s Enterprise API, but that came with a hefty price tag: $42K/month.

I didn’t have $42K. So, I borrowed money from family, took out loans, and went all in.

After months of grinding, I finally had something groundbreaking: a tool that could scrape millions of profiles from 𝕏, automate personalized outreach, and deliver results like nothing else.

But would it work?

I tested it on a small campaign, and the results blew my mind.

I knew I had something big on my hands, so I decided to package it and sell licenses to marketers, agencies, and creators. I set the price high because I believed in the value it provided—$4,997 for a license.

And because of the nature of the tool, I couldn’t put it out there publicly. It wasn’t just a technical challenge—it was illegal. I had to stay low-key, reaching out directly to people who needed it most. The only thing I knew was this: just get the job done, even if it’s illegal.

Price $4,997 per license. It wasn’t cheap, but businesses saw the value immediately. Most made back their investment after a single campaign.

Within weeks, I sold dozens of licenses. By summer, I had sold hundreds, making over $500K in revenue.

This tool wasn’t just software—it became a movement.

Clients were sharing how it transformed their businesses. They were closing deals faster, scaling their revenue, and dominating their niches. Word spread fast, and it felt like, for the first time in my life, I was truly winning.

But then came the storm. The Email.

In November, I woke up to an email from 𝕏’s legal team—a 13-page cease-and-desist.

It wasn’t just a slap on the wrist—it was a detailed list of accusations: unauthorized data scraping, violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and breaching their Terms of Service.

They even quoted my tweets (yeah, I bragged a little):

• “Scraping 2M profiles a day with sniper precision.”
• “Sold $100K in licenses this month. Illegal? Maybe. Effective? Absolutely.”

They banned my account, revoked my API access, and threatened further legal action if I didn’t stop immediately.

I won’t lie—it shook me.

But here’s the thing: I don’t regret a second of it.

That cease-and-desist wasn’t just a threat—it was validation. It proved I’d built something so powerful, it caught the attention of one of the biggest companies in the world.

Sure, I can’t share public testimonials or proof due to legal restrictions, but the numbers don’t lie:

• Hundreds of licenses sold.
• Over $500K in revenue.
• Countless businesses transformed.

And here’s the kicker: the tool is still technically up and running.

Even now, it quietly delivers for those who know how to use it. I’m pivoting to build new, compliant solutions, but this journey taught me one thing: the real impact comes when you’re bold enough to step outside the lines.

If you’re out there grinding, building, and hustling—remember this: the system isn’t broken; it’s rigged to keep you in your place. I don’t wait for permission, and I sure don’t play by their rules.

Build. Disrupt. Win.

Don’t fold under pressure. Let them hate from the sidelines—because that’s exactly where they’ll stay.

This isn’t the end of my story—It’s just the beginning.

Thanks for sticking around this far.

Good day 👋🏻

Featured on:

&