Founder stories
$10K MRRin 1 year
3 milestones
Simple HTML Hosting: 18 Months to First 50 Customers, Now $10K MRR
Founder
Elston Baretto
Solo Founder•Technical•USA
Commitment
Full-timeExperience
First-timeProduct
Simple HTML hosting for static websites.
Type
SaaSIndustry
Developer ToolsModel
SubscriptionMarketing Strategy
How Elston acquired customers
Primary Channel
SEO / Content
Tech Stack
Tools used to build Tiiny Host
HTML/CSSJavaScriptSEO tools
The Full Story
Elston launched Tiiny Host with a simple hypothesis: there are customers who just want a simple tool to quickly host HTML content.
SEO Takes Time
Real organic growth only occurred in the 4 months before reaching $500 MRR, attributed to SEO work 9 months earlier.
Keep It Simple
For about 9 months, he considered adding advanced features but restrained from adding more code.
- 18 months to first 50 customers
- SEO delay: 6-9 months to show results
- Current MRR: $10K
Key Takeaways
1
SEO takes 6-9 months to show results - be patient
2
Simple, focused products can work better than feature-heavy ones
3
Resist the urge to add features before validating core value
4
The journey is slow and grueling - persistence is key
Originally published onIndie Hackers
Inspired by Elston's journey? Generate a business idea in the Developer Tools space using AI and real founder data.
Milestone Journey
Elston achieved 3 milestones on the path to $10K MRR
First Customer
1 year
February 2019
Avg: 3 months
+2 months to next milestone
$1K MRR
$1,000
1 year
April 2019
Avg: 11 months
+2 months to next milestone
$10K MRR
$10,000
1 year
June 2019
16% faster
vs avg 1 year1 year
Total journey time
3
Milestones achieved
Elston's Path to $10K MRRPremium
The journey, decisions, and context behind this milestone
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