Founder stories
$10K MRRin 2 months
3 milestones
How building 120+ side projects led to a viral hit with 14M page views
Founder
Mubashar Iqbal
Co-Founders•Technical•USA
Commitment
Side ProjectExperience
ExperiencedProduct
Interactive tool that calculates probability of job automation using Oxford University research data.
Type
OtherIndustry
EducationModel
Ad-supportedMarketing Strategy
How Mubashar acquired customers
Primary Channel
Product Hunt
Also Used
Twitter / X
Tech Stack
Tools used to build Will Robots Take My Job
LaravelTailwind CSSAlpine.jsDigitalOceanFigma
The Full Story
TL;DR
After 80+ failed projects, one finally went viral. 4 million page views in 4 weeks, $4K/month in ad revenue, then sold.
Mubashar "Mubs" Iqbal started coding at age 8 on a Commodore VIC 20. For over 20 years, he maintained an extreme schedule: full-time job during the day, side projects from 10 PM to 3 AM, sleeping only 4-5 hours per night.
He built over 120 products. Most failed. Then one went viral.
The 80+ Failed Projects
Before "Will Robots Take My Job?" succeeded, Mubs had launched over 80 projects that went nowhere. But each one taught him something about building and launching products quickly.
His philosophy: quantity leads to quality. More projects = more learning = higher hit rate.
The Viral Hit (May 2017)
"Will Robots Take My Job?" launched May 30, 2017. Built with designer Dimitar Raykov in just a few weeks, the tool calculated the probability of any job being automated using Oxford University research data.
It exploded.
The Numbers
- Week 1: Featured on Product Hunt, Business Insider, Daily Mail, The Next Web
- 4 weeks: 4 million page views
- 12 months: 14 million page views
- Peak revenue: $4,000/month from advertising
- Exit: Sold in September 2018 (price undisclosed)
The Product Hunt Record
Mubs became Product Hunt's Maker of the Year in 2016, holding the record for most products launched on the platform (85+). His strategy: launch everything, validate quickly (2-4 weeks max), kill what doesn't work, monetize what gains traction.
The Portfolio Today
After 20+ years of balancing full-time employment with side projects, Mubs finally went full-time indie in early 2024. His product studio now generates $10K/month while he continues shipping new projects.
- Pod Hunt (podcast discovery platform)
- Founderpath (SaaS funding, co-founded with Nathan Latka)
- Multiple products sold through MicroAcquire
The Marathon Mindset
"I've been building side projects for over 20 years," Mubs shared. "The key is treating it like a marathon, not a sprint. Keep your day job to remove financial pressure. Build what you'd actually use. And accept that most things will fail - that's fine, you only need one to work."
- Total projects built: 120+
- Product Hunt launches: 85
- Products sold: 5+
- Time to viral success: 20 years of building
- Current revenue: $10K/month from product studio
Key Takeaways
1
Validate an MVP, not an idea. Don't just build landing pages. Ship functional products that users can actually try. Real usage provides infinitely better feedback than mockups.
2
Kill projects quickly. Set a 2-4 week time limit. If you can't validate traction in that window, move on. Don't fall in love with projects that aren't working.
3
Building in public on Twitter has the highest ROI. Paid ads rarely work for side projects. Growing an audience and sharing your journey generates customers, feedback, and opportunities.
4
Treat it like a marathon. Keep your day job to remove financial pressure. 20 years of consistent building eventually leads to breakthroughs.
Originally published onMubs Indie Hackers Post
Inspired by Mubashar's journey? Generate a business idea in the Education space using AI and real founder data.
Milestone Journey
Mubashar achieved 3 milestones on the path to $10K MRR
First Customer
1 days
May 2017
99% faster
vs avg 3 months+29 days to next milestone
$1K MRR
$1,000
1 month
June 2017
91% faster
vs avg 11 months+1 month to next milestone
$10K MRR
$4,000
2 months
July 2017
91% faster
vs avg 1 year2 months
Total journey time
3
Milestones achieved
Mubashar's Path to $10K MRRPremium
The journey, decisions, and context behind this milestone
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