Founder stories
$100K ARRin 2 years
4 milestones
Privacy-First Analytics: From Tenerife Idea to $100K ARR
Founder
Adriaan van Rossum
Co-Founders•Technical•Netherlands
Commitment
Full-timeExperience
ExperiencedProduct
Privacy-first web analytics.
Type
SaaSIndustry
Developer ToolsModel
SubscriptionMarketing Strategy
How Adriaan acquired customers
Primary Channel
Product Hunt
Tech Stack
Tools used to build Simple Analytics
PostgreSQLJavaScriptTwitter automation
The Full Story
Adriaan van Rossum came up with the idea for Simple Analytics while on holiday in Tenerife. He wanted to build a privacy-first analytics tool as fast as possible.
Launch Strategy
In September 2018, Simple Analytics launched on Product Hunt, reaching #3 of the day. The Hacker News launch was explosive - #1 within 5 minutes, stayed 9 hours.
50/50 Rule
Adriaan set a 50/50 goal for programming vs marketing. Reality was 75/25, but still better than 100/0.
- Time to $100K ARR: 2 years
- First 30 paying customers: Hacker News launch
- 800 Twitter followers from launch
Key Takeaways
1
Use familiar tools to build your prototype as fast as possible
2
Marketing matters as much as product - aim for at least 25% of your time
3
Build tools to help with your marketing efforts
4
Launch on multiple platforms for maximum exposure
Originally published onIndie Hackers
Inspired by Adriaan's journey? Generate a business idea in the Developer Tools space using AI and real founder data.
Milestone Journey
Adriaan achieved 4 milestones on the path to $100K ARR
First Customer
14 days
September 2018
85% faster
vs avg 3 months+3 months to next milestone
$1K MRR
$1,000
3 months
November 2018
73% faster
vs avg 11 months+9 months to next milestone
$10K MRR
$10,000
1 year
September 2019
43% faster
vs avg 1 year+1 year to next milestone
$100K ARR
$100,000
2 years
September 2020
38% faster
vs avg 3 years2 years
Total journey time
4
Milestones achieved
Adriaan's Path to $100K ARRPremium
The journey, decisions, and context behind this milestone
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