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137 comments
Congrats! On a related note, can someone on HN can educate me on why MRR is the primary metric? MRR doesn't tell you if the startup is profitable, which is presumably the goal - to make money. If your costs are $3M/month, an MRR of $100K sounds like a terrible deal. Wouldn't it make more sense to report profits?
Generally agree with the sentiment, but here is likely why we continue to talk about MRR.
1. It's likely inherited from how investors look at startups. They are just focused on growth more than profitability.
2. In the US there are tax advantages to running costs through the business so these costs might be inflated and profit artificially reduced.
1. It's likely inherited from how investors look at startups. They are just focused on growth more than profitability.
2. In the US there are tax advantages to running costs through the business so these costs might be inflated and profit artificially reduced.
And with software a lot of your costs and overhead are fairly fixed. So as you scale up, more of your revenue becomes profit. Investors are looking at that future scaled up state.
One-person software shops usually have recurring costs close to zero, so MRR pretty much equals profit (minus taxes and whatever).
But yes, your argument stands for other kinds of startups.
But yes, your argument stands for other kinds of startups.
I'd assume a few thousand for servers + softwares, but yah.. it's close enough to $0 you can usually tell if it's profitable.
Unlike something like e-commerce where 100k in monthly sales could be... 0 profit, or 70k in profit.
Unlike something like e-commerce where 100k in monthly sales could be... 0 profit, or 70k in profit.
Unless it's a data-intensive service, the servers+software costs are under a few hundreds.
Source: I sell self-hosted software, my costs are mostly the domain names and a few $5/mo servers.
Source: I sell self-hosted software, my costs are mostly the domain names and a few $5/mo servers.
Cool. Glad you took the time to correct me.
I run a SaaS and spend a few thousand per month for my hardware and software. And I wouldn’t want to spend any less and reduce my footprint,
I run a SaaS and spend a few thousand per month for my hardware and software. And I wouldn’t want to spend any less and reduce my footprint,
I was not correcting you, just stating that for most solo entrepreneurs, the running costs are close to zero, usually unless your service handles intensive data (images/videos) or decide to spend the money on paid hosted solutions vs hosting open-source alternatives.
why do you have to spend a few thousand?
Why not?
Zendesk alone is over 1k. You can use a fake help desk software for half, but is it worth screwing with the bugs?
My CPU load is something like 200 CPUs 24/7, and needs to be fault tolerant on top of that. Also needs to run without a sysadmin on my side.
Zendesk alone is over 1k. You can use a fake help desk software for half, but is it worth screwing with the bugs?
My CPU load is something like 200 CPUs 24/7, and needs to be fault tolerant on top of that. Also needs to run without a sysadmin on my side.
why such a high cpu load?
I don't think anyone has answered the question yet.
Revenue/cost = profit margin.
There's usually three ways to increase profit margin: economics of scale (sell more units), economy of scope (sell more to the same customers), or innovation (lower cost/increase prices)
All these three are usually linked to revenue in some way. 3 customers and 3000 customers may be roughly the same hosting cost. If you can sell someone a $100 item, you can sell them a $1000 plan later or simply a $1 item for very little marketing fees. Or if you're outsourcing something that could be built in house, it makes sense to hire a team to build and maintain that process once the cost gets high enough to justify new hires.
The other more common answer is revenue is hard to manipulate, while profits are very easy. Buy and furnish a new office and then your cost suddenly hits $3m that month.
Anyone who takes any kind of venture capital is expected to have negative profits. They can hire contractors, outsource social media marketing to agencies, outsource hiring contractors to agencies, and so on. Uber used to buy cars and then sell them to their drivers, to get more drivers. Grab gave out free phones so taxi drivers could download the app.
Startups aren't about profits, they're about growing an asset as fast as possible and then selling it off to someone who can utilize same asset for higher value. e.g. YouTube and WhatsApp don't bring in money themselves, but work very well into Google and Meta strategically.
It's also common to seed "marketing cost" into unsustainable coupons/discounts and such. That's unhealtht revenue, but it's also why unit economics (the cost of one unit sale) is another metric. Turns out it's bloody difficult to fix unit economics. But this is why people check that unit economics are positive and then read MRR.
Revenue/cost = profit margin.
There's usually three ways to increase profit margin: economics of scale (sell more units), economy of scope (sell more to the same customers), or innovation (lower cost/increase prices)
All these three are usually linked to revenue in some way. 3 customers and 3000 customers may be roughly the same hosting cost. If you can sell someone a $100 item, you can sell them a $1000 plan later or simply a $1 item for very little marketing fees. Or if you're outsourcing something that could be built in house, it makes sense to hire a team to build and maintain that process once the cost gets high enough to justify new hires.
The other more common answer is revenue is hard to manipulate, while profits are very easy. Buy and furnish a new office and then your cost suddenly hits $3m that month.
Anyone who takes any kind of venture capital is expected to have negative profits. They can hire contractors, outsource social media marketing to agencies, outsource hiring contractors to agencies, and so on. Uber used to buy cars and then sell them to their drivers, to get more drivers. Grab gave out free phones so taxi drivers could download the app.
Startups aren't about profits, they're about growing an asset as fast as possible and then selling it off to someone who can utilize same asset for higher value. e.g. YouTube and WhatsApp don't bring in money themselves, but work very well into Google and Meta strategically.
It's also common to seed "marketing cost" into unsustainable coupons/discounts and such. That's unhealtht revenue, but it's also why unit economics (the cost of one unit sale) is another metric. Turns out it's bloody difficult to fix unit economics. But this is why people check that unit economics are positive and then read MRR.
As long as you believe you can acquire customers for some margin less than (you project) they will pay you across their lifetime as a customer, the rational choice to to maximise your money is to spend all the money you have (and more!) on acquiring more customers.
As a result, the majority of SaaS businesses aren't profitable, and people talk mostly about MRR.
As a result, the majority of SaaS businesses aren't profitable, and people talk mostly about MRR.
MRR gages whether or not people are willing to spend money for the product/service how this MRR evolves over time and how much it is gives also an idea about growth and the 'demand' side of things in general
Because revenue is hard to fake, while a lot of the other metrics are easy. For example, a manager could cut costs via layoffs, get their bonus because the profitability increases in the short term and then they would leave to the next company. The old company may die as it has lost talent, knowledge and motivation in the long run. Doing these kind of tricks with revenue is much harder to pull off.
Had to find the article, but I recently read this: https://commoncog.com/cash-flow-games/ talks about the guy who invented EBITDA and I found it super informative. Explains WHY profit is a bad measure and why cash flow rules.
for others like me who might not have known:
> Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) is the income that a company expects to receive in payments on a monthly basis. MRR is a critical revenue metric that helps subscription companies to understand their overall business health profitability by keeping a close eye on monthly cash flow.
> Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) is the income that a company expects to receive in payments on a monthly basis. MRR is a critical revenue metric that helps subscription companies to understand their overall business health profitability by keeping a close eye on monthly cash flow.
Because mrr proves the the market exists. And in saas area it is assumed to be in healthy profit margin, compared to other areas. In saas operating costs can be reduced, marketing can be scaled, churn can be reduced - but all of these require demand for your product.
For this sort of business fixed and variable costs are low (he is doing it for free, kind of)
This really depends on how you acquire customers.
I can only imagine your lifestyle in India with $18,036 / month , that's probably the equivalent of making 60k a month in the US? Wish you the best, I'm inspired.
I see some people arguing that 18K in India is the same as elsewhere. Don't pay attention to that. 18K per month in India is HUGE and yes something things are equally expensive as other developed countries (e.g. buying an apartment in crazy expensive cities like Mumbai or Bangalore) but overall, the cost of living is much lower than western countries on average.
Source: An Indian-American (I don't like hyphens but in this case relevant for context) who frequently visits India and has business there as well.
Source: An Indian-American (I don't like hyphens but in this case relevant for context) who frequently visits India and has business there as well.
18K USD is a LOT of money in India. Real estate in bigger Indian cities is super expensive. Everything else is much, much cheaper than western countries. You can get fantastic food (tasty and healthy) compared to the U.S, very cheap. Things can get much, much cheaper if you step out of the bigger cities.
More importantly, one can hire maids for everything: cooking, driving, babysitter, concierge doctor on-call, etc.
I can't even imagine, my yearly income is $8350, and I still manage to save money (Indian here as well)
No, it's the equivalent of making ~$18,036 / month.
Do you think Mercedes makes a cheap version of an SLK for the "poor Indians"?
I make more than the OP and live in his/her part of the world. Luxury items are more expensive than they are in the US.
That bigger house you can afford? You're still paying US prices or higher for your furniture and appliances. Same goes for autos, edu, cars, wine, dining, etc.
Generally speaking, "poor countries" are only relatively cheaper in terms of labor and situationally, real estate. Your Merc will cost you, having it washed will be relatively cheap.
Do you think Mercedes makes a cheap version of an SLK for the "poor Indians"?
I make more than the OP and live in his/her part of the world. Luxury items are more expensive than they are in the US.
That bigger house you can afford? You're still paying US prices or higher for your furniture and appliances. Same goes for autos, edu, cars, wine, dining, etc.
Generally speaking, "poor countries" are only relatively cheaper in terms of labor and situationally, real estate. Your Merc will cost you, having it washed will be relatively cheap.
Went I left Russia in 2011, I was making 54,000 a year, I took my first job in the USA for about $92,000 a year. It felt like I took a huge pay cut. Like I was making several times less money.
Yes, it is easier to buy luxury things in United States, most of the things are cheaper, comparing to other countries (SLK, laptops, phones, etc). But that is not what defines the life.
If I remember everything correctly, below is break down of monthly spending Russia vs USA in that time. Based on my annual pay, my monthly salaries were $4,500 in Russia, $7,700 in USA
Let's compare (first number is spent in Russia, second in USA), everything per month. At that time I used to use the money-spent tracking software, so kind of remember pretty well most of the bills.
- Taxes: 7% (~$300) vs ~18% ($1386)
- Rent: $300 vs $1200
- Cellular: $20 vs $100 (2 people)
- Internet: $10 vs $60
- Medical: $0 vs $200 (co-pays, dentals, plus paying for spouse to keep her on the plan)
- Groceries: $300 vs $1000
- Cinema/Bars: $100 vs $300
- Commute: $20 vs $100
- Car insurance: $20 vs $100
---
- What is left: $3430 vs $3254.
At the end, comparing the Russian's salary vs USA - based on just common spent, I ended up with a little less money to keep on hands. And it always felt like those money that left way easier to spend in USA without even looking. Clothes, shoes, concerts, etc.
For me, only when I started to get more than $250,000 a year in USA, I felt that I was making a salary, that I could compare to one I had in Russia.
Few notes: I lived not in the very big city, just around 600,000 people, so rent and everything way cheaper comparing to Moscow or St Petersburg. $54,000 a year is very high salary in Russia, not very common, I used to work remotely for UK based company.
P.S. I never regretted moving to USA (especially now), yes, it did feel like I was making less, but the companies I was working for, the products, the people, are on different level. I learned a lot. Built my own company, living American dream.
Yes, it is easier to buy luxury things in United States, most of the things are cheaper, comparing to other countries (SLK, laptops, phones, etc). But that is not what defines the life.
If I remember everything correctly, below is break down of monthly spending Russia vs USA in that time. Based on my annual pay, my monthly salaries were $4,500 in Russia, $7,700 in USA
Let's compare (first number is spent in Russia, second in USA), everything per month. At that time I used to use the money-spent tracking software, so kind of remember pretty well most of the bills.
- Taxes: 7% (~$300) vs ~18% ($1386)
- Rent: $300 vs $1200
- Cellular: $20 vs $100 (2 people)
- Internet: $10 vs $60
- Medical: $0 vs $200 (co-pays, dentals, plus paying for spouse to keep her on the plan)
- Groceries: $300 vs $1000
- Cinema/Bars: $100 vs $300
- Commute: $20 vs $100
- Car insurance: $20 vs $100
---
- What is left: $3430 vs $3254.
At the end, comparing the Russian's salary vs USA - based on just common spent, I ended up with a little less money to keep on hands. And it always felt like those money that left way easier to spend in USA without even looking. Clothes, shoes, concerts, etc.
For me, only when I started to get more than $250,000 a year in USA, I felt that I was making a salary, that I could compare to one I had in Russia.
Few notes: I lived not in the very big city, just around 600,000 people, so rent and everything way cheaper comparing to Moscow or St Petersburg. $54,000 a year is very high salary in Russia, not very common, I used to work remotely for UK based company.
P.S. I never regretted moving to USA (especially now), yes, it did feel like I was making less, but the companies I was working for, the products, the people, are on different level. I learned a lot. Built my own company, living American dream.
As someone who visited both US and Russia last year:
1. Taxes in Russia are actually higher. You forgot to include 30% Social Security tax, 20% VAT tax and import taxes, that make, for example, cars, clothes and every bit of electronics 50% more expensive. Now, because of the sanctions, it's 100% more expensive.
2. Rent depends on location, prices in Moscow are closer to $1000 range. And in the US you usually get larger, cleaner apartments, with more amenities.
3. Cellular and Internet are indeed much cheaper, but it's small amounts.
4. Healthcare is cheaper while you are young and healthy. If you have cancer, your life expectation will be 1/3 of that in the USA. And overall you will live 15 years less, that is, if you don't get mobilized.
5. Groceries are basically 1:1. Some items, like bread, are cheaper in Russia, but fresh fruit and vegs are more expensive.
1. Taxes in Russia are actually higher. You forgot to include 30% Social Security tax, 20% VAT tax and import taxes, that make, for example, cars, clothes and every bit of electronics 50% more expensive. Now, because of the sanctions, it's 100% more expensive.
2. Rent depends on location, prices in Moscow are closer to $1000 range. And in the US you usually get larger, cleaner apartments, with more amenities.
3. Cellular and Internet are indeed much cheaper, but it's small amounts.
4. Healthcare is cheaper while you are young and healthy. If you have cancer, your life expectation will be 1/3 of that in the USA. And overall you will live 15 years less, that is, if you don't get mobilized.
5. Groceries are basically 1:1. Some items, like bread, are cheaper in Russia, but fresh fruit and vegs are more expensive.
1. That is true, I actually wanted to mention that, but forgot. If you work for a corporation, they pay a high percent of taxes for you, that you don't see. But if you work as sole proprietorship you pay 7% (or 0%, if nobody is going to report you).
2. Sorry, I would not agree to that. If you want to compare cities, Moscow should be compared to NY or SF, where for $1,000 you will get a corner in a garage, if you are lucky. :D
3. I don't know $200 a month is a large amount of money. In some countries it is a month living. I have not been in Russia for a while, and my knowledge is based on 10 years ago, but you can get a $50 Android phone with like $3/month service, that will have some internet, an be able to make calls and texts. In USA, I believe, the cheapest would be close to $20 a month? The same about internet, you can start with $3/month in Russia for home internet, but in USA it is going to be at least $40?
4. I mean current time is different, obviously. But free health care is a free health care. Based on the relatives (mom, dad, grandfather and grandmother), they got an ok health care. My dad has serious asthma, with oxygen tanks, and he is actually running from doctors more, than he should, they are always reminding him about checking with them in the hospital. My mom has diabetes, she get all the prescriptions for free. My grandfather died of cancer, I mean he got some treatment, probably not the best, but he stayed in the hospitals for a long time. He actually lived in Crimea, when it was part of Ukraine, and at the same time this state was very corrupt (probably now as well, don't know), but he still got a treatment. To be honest, I don't have much knowledge yet about how the treatment of serious illness is going to be in USA, but my guess that they will suck all your money first, and after that get your on medicare. That is my guess.
5. That is hard to compare. In Russia there are still local markets, which aren't exactly the same as US markets. In local markets you can buy groceries (fruits, veggies) from local farmers for cheaper than in the supermarket. In USA markets are all super-organic food, that even has higher prices than in supermarkets. And the cheapest fruids/veggies you can buy are wallmart-like stores, where everything not even fresh. In Russia people do eat meat less often, but veggies and fruits can be way cheaper than in USA.
2. Sorry, I would not agree to that. If you want to compare cities, Moscow should be compared to NY or SF, where for $1,000 you will get a corner in a garage, if you are lucky. :D
3. I don't know $200 a month is a large amount of money. In some countries it is a month living. I have not been in Russia for a while, and my knowledge is based on 10 years ago, but you can get a $50 Android phone with like $3/month service, that will have some internet, an be able to make calls and texts. In USA, I believe, the cheapest would be close to $20 a month? The same about internet, you can start with $3/month in Russia for home internet, but in USA it is going to be at least $40?
4. I mean current time is different, obviously. But free health care is a free health care. Based on the relatives (mom, dad, grandfather and grandmother), they got an ok health care. My dad has serious asthma, with oxygen tanks, and he is actually running from doctors more, than he should, they are always reminding him about checking with them in the hospital. My mom has diabetes, she get all the prescriptions for free. My grandfather died of cancer, I mean he got some treatment, probably not the best, but he stayed in the hospitals for a long time. He actually lived in Crimea, when it was part of Ukraine, and at the same time this state was very corrupt (probably now as well, don't know), but he still got a treatment. To be honest, I don't have much knowledge yet about how the treatment of serious illness is going to be in USA, but my guess that they will suck all your money first, and after that get your on medicare. That is my guess.
5. That is hard to compare. In Russia there are still local markets, which aren't exactly the same as US markets. In local markets you can buy groceries (fruits, veggies) from local farmers for cheaper than in the supermarket. In USA markets are all super-organic food, that even has higher prices than in supermarkets. And the cheapest fruids/veggies you can buy are wallmart-like stores, where everything not even fresh. In Russia people do eat meat less often, but veggies and fruits can be way cheaper than in USA.
Biggest expenses are food and rent. Those aren’t cheaper in India?
Your point is taken, but like, I don’t have a monthly line-item for Mercedes.
Your point is taken, but like, I don’t have a monthly line-item for Mercedes.
I am entirely sure that like 90% of what my annual spending goes toward in a typical year would be a lot cheaper in India. Food, services (restaurants, childcare, cleaning, delivery, healthcare, barbers, dentists, and so on), housing.
I'm not buying tens of thousands of dollars of cars and high-end electronics per year. Or fancy clothes. I'm buying tens of thousands of dollars of services, housing, and food.
I'm not buying tens of thousands of dollars of cars and high-end electronics per year. Or fancy clothes. I'm buying tens of thousands of dollars of services, housing, and food.
> Do you think Mercedes makes a cheap version of an SLK for the "poor Indians"?
they, do? Global pricing of the same product is vastly different depending on regions. If there is an Italian and a Nepalese market for a handbag, that same bag could selld for twice as much in Italy. Just look at videogame prices!
they, do? Global pricing of the same product is vastly different depending on regions. If there is an Italian and a Nepalese market for a handbag, that same bag could selld for twice as much in Italy. Just look at videogame prices!
Interesting thing, that Mercedes cost more in Germany, than in USA. And a lof of the models, they actually assemble in Germany and ship to USA.
They don't. Not cars, not electronics, not house appliances. As was said elsewhere - these are more expensive in poorer countries, not cheaper. Maybe handbags/other apparel, but I don't buy that.
As someone coming from a poorer country, I'd check if it really is the same item - usually what happens is that they produce a cheaper version out of cheaper materials and with lesser service commitment that costs almost the same price (80-95%) as the better item in a rich country.
As someone coming from a poorer country, I'd check if it really is the same item - usually what happens is that they produce a cheaper version out of cheaper materials and with lesser service commitment that costs almost the same price (80-95%) as the better item in a rich country.
You cannot generalize every commodity and every 'poor country' like that. There are cars in Colombia that are less expensive in Colombia, and some that are more expensive in Colombia, than the U.S.
Similarly, I was shocked to find that scotch whiskey is actually cheaper in Colombia than the US, and it's the same product. The market is more competitive because discount liquor (especially rum) is decently good quality and reaaally cheap. It's also hard to sell someone a bottle that is half their monthly salary!
Of course, this doesn't hold for anything (and I frankly have no idea how supply chains work), but my point is that it's not as simple as made out above.
Similarly, I was shocked to find that scotch whiskey is actually cheaper in Colombia than the US, and it's the same product. The market is more competitive because discount liquor (especially rum) is decently good quality and reaaally cheap. It's also hard to sell someone a bottle that is half their monthly salary!
Of course, this doesn't hold for anything (and I frankly have no idea how supply chains work), but my point is that it's not as simple as made out above.
No, the same car is practically never less expensive in Colombia than in the US. There are few specialty items such as liquor, tobacco products or drugs where it's different - but that's about it. Certainly not cars, electronics, home appliances or anything else like that.
Yes, some car companies do in fact create less expensive vehicles specifically for certain markets.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Kwid
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Kwid
Not really applicable to premium brands so no need to be pedantic
The definition of premium shifts with the market. Subaru is premium auto in Colombia and they sell the XV instead of the Crosstrek, for example.
I noticed MRR is the key measure reported by startups. I've seen some startups in really saturated markets have very high MRR and it made me wonder if they're just spending $.99 of every $1 on ads so really they do not make any profit but high revenue. Can you comment on profit vs revenue?
>> wonder if they're just spending $.99 of every $1
If they spend $0.99 for $1 of MRR, that is amazing, because the first month's revenue covers the cost of acquisition and the rest of the stream is profit (minus other expenses of course.)
Some of it depends on churn and how much MRR you lose and how quickly.
If they spend $0.99 for $1 of MRR, that is amazing, because the first month's revenue covers the cost of acquisition and the rest of the stream is profit (minus other expenses of course.)
Some of it depends on churn and how much MRR you lose and how quickly.
So it's a metric you can game if you go viral on Twitter and get a lot of signups that cancel after one month?
Not really, because MRR isnt the only metric.
We'd look at an objective function of LTV to CAC ratio.
We'd ignore everything below a certain absolute MRR.
We'd also ignore anything below a certain MRR growth rate.
The ones we'd typically look at as an investor are: MRR/ARR, Churn, CAC and TLV.
TLV would be total lifetime value which includes the monthly revenue * months given churn.
CAC would be the advertisement cost.
This basically means, how much $ are you spending to make what total $ per customer, and how what is the volume.
We'd look at an objective function of LTV to CAC ratio.
We'd ignore everything below a certain absolute MRR.
We'd also ignore anything below a certain MRR growth rate.
The ones we'd typically look at as an investor are: MRR/ARR, Churn, CAC and TLV.
TLV would be total lifetime value which includes the monthly revenue * months given churn.
CAC would be the advertisement cost.
This basically means, how much $ are you spending to make what total $ per customer, and how what is the volume.
Monthly recurring revenue typically corresponds with cashflow and cashflow pretty much rules the roost when thinking about useful metrics for a business. With sporadic, or unreliable, MRR you're going to have more risk because there's a higher likelihood of having a "down month" where you're forced to use savings or loans to cover expenses.
I typically only see MRR numbers for "one man startups" because you see the number and compare it to your salary and go - Shit I can do that. I could've done that. Damnit!
MRR is meaningless in larger startups because for all intents and purposes would be eaten by the salaries in two seconds, unless it's huge. At any point it becomes reported as annual revenue.
MRR is meaningless in larger startups because for all intents and purposes would be eaten by the salaries in two seconds, unless it's huge. At any point it becomes reported as annual revenue.
Startups spend like $2-$5 per $1 of MRR, which is why they run out of runway and constantly need more investors.
Successful startups spend more like $1.25 per $1 of MRR.
Profit is for solo founders and bootstrapers.
Successful startups spend more like $1.25 per $1 of MRR.
Profit is for solo founders and bootstrapers.
Just to dive into this, most advertising people are tracking "ROAS", Return on Ad Spend, so for every dollar you are spending in advertising, how much do you get back. Depending on your situation you may target different roas numbers and find it acceptable.
ROAS is a good operational metric, but I'd argue that for a SAAS, you need to look at CLV vs cost of acquisition.
Maybe I'm a little thick today, but can someone explain what NoCodeApi does? I watched the video on the site and I still don't understand the value added here. Is it just proxying calls to various APIs?
You can change the project name and add members though. I concur, I also think it's just a proxy that hides the actual credentials from the user but I'm not 100% on that. I guess it doesn't matter though, they sold it for 100K+ so someone understood.
6 figures seems like a low ARR multiple, but maybe my perspective is skewed from very large acquisitions. What is a common multiple at this size?
For small acquisitions like that, I've seen rough multiples of 4–8x ARR.
So 6 figures makes sense for $5k MRR.
So 6 figures makes sense for $5k MRR.
I wonder how different your financial & business situation would be if you lived in a developed country such as the US or the UK?
This is beyond impressive, considering you are still young. Clearly, you've skills to reuse rinse and repeat formula.
This is super cool, congrats!
I run https://www.startups.fyi and feature profitable startups/side-projects along with revenue info (a lot of them are from solo-founders like yourself).
Would love to feature you if you're up for it?
I run https://www.startups.fyi and feature profitable startups/side-projects along with revenue info (a lot of them are from solo-founders like yourself).
Would love to feature you if you're up for it?
Do you verify the figures reported? Also could you please add profit details
For nocodeapi how did you land Microsoft, google etc and what was the value prop over google?
You have a typo on the View API Docs button at https://nocodeapi.com/marketplace/youtube/ that leads to https://nocodeapi.com/docs/youotube-api/. I think it's supposed to lead to https://nocodeapi.com/docs/youtube-api/.
Congratulations!
Things I've noticed: no way to get back to nocodeapi landing page once logged in.
I am surprised that the list of big-names you give on your landing page rely on this because all users of nocodeapi have to trust you with their security tokens and API tokens. We have to trust the are properly encrypted, that no one could decrypt and use them... I would have thought most companies legal coding guidelines would prevent them from trusting a 3rd party with such tokens.
Things I've noticed: no way to get back to nocodeapi landing page once logged in.
I am surprised that the list of big-names you give on your landing page rely on this because all users of nocodeapi have to trust you with their security tokens and API tokens. We have to trust the are properly encrypted, that no one could decrypt and use them... I would have thought most companies legal coding guidelines would prevent them from trusting a 3rd party with such tokens.
Nice! Is it safe to put the token inside the URL like that though (Looking at https://github.com/nocodeapi/embed-instagram-feed)? Like would I be able to see the URL by inspecting the page/watching the network tab, or does the element that takes this URL as a parameter do something fancy?
How did you acquire you first 100 users and how much did your popular twitter play into that?
How much for marketing spend, most profitable levers you used?
How much for marketing spend, most profitable levers you used?
Great success, thanks for sharing!
Why did you sell now instead of building for a few more years? If you had hit $30-50k per month you probably could have sold it for enough to be financially independent for life. Were you bored or burned out? Or did growing it further require things that you didn’t want to do?
Why did you sell now instead of building for a few more years? If you had hit $30-50k per month you probably could have sold it for enough to be financially independent for life. Were you bored or burned out? Or did growing it further require things that you didn’t want to do?
This is similar to Zapier, right? What is the value add? Just trying to understand the market a bit better.
Thanks for sharing. It's nice to read about someone that's moving forward successfully.
For the longest time and continue to think, no one uses no code tools. Let alone, anyone would pay for it.
OP. How did you figure out "this idea will make me money for sure if I continue to work on it"
What is your tech stack that let's you build project and sell.
OP. How did you figure out "this idea will make me money for sure if I continue to work on it"
What is your tech stack that let's you build project and sell.
I'd highly recommend you check out Upekkha.
https://viestories.com/upekkha-invest-60-early-stage-b2b-saa...
https://viestories.com/upekkha-invest-60-early-stage-b2b-saa...
Awesome and inspiring work!! Did you create legal entities/companies around each product that you built, or did you have one legal entity that you still are in control of and just sold off the IP from (or a mixture of both)?
I'd literally rather just get two jobs at mid series B startups or one Faang job. I completely don't understand why grinding out 5yrs for $18k a month is even close to worth it.
2 reasons:
1. They want to do their own things, controlling their own time and not work for someone else
2. 18K/Mo in a developing country like India is huge. Assuming that's revenue and profits are say at least 50% (usually higher for SAAS but I am being conservative), that income puts you in top 10% at the minimum.
1. They want to do their own things, controlling their own time and not work for someone else
2. 18K/Mo in a developing country like India is huge. Assuming that's revenue and profits are say at least 50% (usually higher for SAAS but I am being conservative), that income puts you in top 10% at the minimum.
Am I misreading or am I just learning the amount folks are earning on this site?
In what country is 18k/mo not huge? That was my annual salary in my last job! I need to move to America lmao
In what country is 18k/mo not huge? That was my annual salary in my last job! I need to move to America lmao
Seriously? The jobs will make you work at least 8 hours a day on stuff you probably don't like, just to make the founders rich.
At least he has control of his time.
At least he has control of his time.
In another 5 years it could be $180k per month
For one thing, you get to control your own time, but just as importantly, that $18k/month is an asset you can sell for ~$1mm.
they are not making 18K per month, it's just revenue (MRR), so you are right as employee you will earn much more (at least at that stage in US)
They live in India.
I hope it was high six figures, because a product with that much recurring revenue that’s several years old should get at least 5x multiplier unless there’s something weird going on.
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Hey @mddanishyusuf!
Is there some contact info so one may get in touch?
I'm building something quite similar to tableapps, it would be nice to exchange ideas around that.
Is there some contact info so one may get in touch?
I'm building something quite similar to tableapps, it would be nice to exchange ideas around that.
congrats!
1. are your projects open source?
2. have you written about your experience working on these projects somewhere e.g. a blog post?
Now that it has been acquired, is the purchaser planning to continue building it?
Did you have to enter a support agreement given you were a solo founder?
Did you have to enter a support agreement given you were a solo founder?
Thank you for sharing here on HN. Would you mind mentioning the tech stack? Looks like the site is built on WordPress / Elementor.
Can you tell some more details? What was this API, how long did it take, what tech did you use, how much experience do you have?
I think the product is literally called "NoCodeAPI." It's still available: https://nocodeapi.com/
Would be 18k if you don't pay any tax, which is probably very doable in India considering
Congrats on your achievements! What´s your main tech stack for all your applications ?
How and where did you learn your designing skills? Would love to learn.
Do you need help with tableapps.io? Sounds like a cool project.
Very impressive. Thank you for sharing the details.
congrats, but title is misleading, you was not founder first two years, so it should be from 2000/month to 18K in 4 years, since you also counted years wrong, 2017-2022 is 7 years if you include first and last year and more importantly I'd be curious about net profit after expenses, those numbers are meaningless if your expenses grow exponentially
just curious, who's your competition? there must be other people doing this no?
Nice bro. Wish u all the best