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jonkuipers

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Bootstrapping a side project into a profitable seven-figure business

projectionlab.com
1,001 points·by jonkuipers·el año pasado·257 comments

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jonkuipers
·hace 7 meses·discuss
the alternative is a VC-backed startup with millions in the bank. employees aren't clueless, just pay people fairly.
jonkuipers
·el año pasado·discuss
so can a great bootstrapped business ;)
jonkuipers
·el año pasado·discuss
glad to hear it. thanks for the feedback!
jonkuipers
·el año pasado·discuss
The lifetime plan is priced higher than expected LTV, so it's profitable upfront.

We wanted to offer an option for early adopters with subscription fatigue. From the start, it has been a way to reinvest in the project: initially to support Kyle’s time, and now to fund growth that drives recurring subscriptions.

We may sunset new lifetime sales in the future, since a one-time payment model doesn’t align as well with our goal of building and maintaining PL over the long term.
jonkuipers
·el año pasado·discuss
Thanks so much. Really appreciate that. We’ve always wanted the tool to be accessible to anyone interested in financial planning, even just as a hobby, so it’s great to hear the basic version has been useful.

Do you think it strikes the right balance between free access and a sustainable paid model?
jonkuipers
·el año pasado·discuss
I was a customer first. It was the product I had been searching for in my own financial planning, so I immediately saw the potential. When Kyle and I finally met, we hit it off right away. We aligned on the important things and shared a clear vision for where it could go. I’d always had the itch to bootstrap and help build something meaningful and sustainable, so I knew pretty quickly it was the right next move for me.
jonkuipers
·el año pasado·discuss
We do offer a sandbox with preset examples that lets you explore the app. No need to enter any personal data, but you will need to sign up.
jonkuipers
·el año pasado·discuss
Thanks! Kyle solved it for me too, which is how I found him. He lit the fire and I'm just tossing on more logs.
jonkuipers
·el año pasado·discuss
Thanks! Supporting Basic users comes at a real cost, but we want planning to stay accessible for everyone. To us, one-off planning feels like a better alternative than stripping down the product or selling user data.
jonkuipers
·el año pasado·discuss
We noticed a lot of tools neglect international use cases, so from the beginning we've focused on building with global flexibility in mind. About 80% of our customers are US-based, but we have users all over the world and offer international tax presets and account types.
jonkuipers
·el año pasado·discuss
I found him and he originally told me to get lost ;)