Founder stories
Founder stories
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56 stories found
Nathan Barry
How I bootstrapped ConvertKit to $25M/year starting with just $5,000
In 2013, I set a challenge for myself: build a $5K/mo SaaS in 6 months with just $5,000. I got the idea after reading people's complaints about Mailch...
$1K MRR in 6 months·Solo
SaaSMarketing🇺🇸 US
Arvid Kahl
From $0 to $55K MRR in 2 years, then a life-changing exit
My partner Danielle was an online English teacher. Every day after teaching, she'd spend hours writing personalized feedback for each student. I watch...
$10K MRR in 2 years·Team
SaaSEducation🇩🇪 DE
Wade Foster
Found customers in help forums, charged $100 for beta, built to $140M ARR
Zapier started by finding customers in help forums. We charged $100 for beta access to filter for committed users. With only $1.4M in funding, we buil...
$100K ARR in 10 years·Team
SaaSDeveloper Tools🇺🇸 US
Kalo Yankulov
From idea to exit: How I launched, grew and sold my first micro SaaS
Back in late 2016, we launched HeadReach, a sales tool for lead generation. It's a SaaS that helps you find emails of people you want to sell to. Thin...
$1K MRR in 3 months·Team
SaaSMarketing🇧🇬 BG
Paul Copplestone
8 databases to 800 in 3 days after accidental Hacker News launch
We launched accidentally on Hacker News and went from 8 hosted databases to 800 in 3 days. The "Open Source Firebase Alternative" positioning resonate...
$100K ARR in 2 years·Team
SaaSDeveloper Tools🇺🇸 US
Ali Abdaal
Medical Student Creates YouTube Content, $294K First Course Launch
Ali Abdaal started making YouTube videos in 2017 during his final year of medical school at Cambridge. The Grind He uploaded 85 videos with 0 vi...
$100K ARR in 3 years·Solo
Info ProductEducation🇺🇸 US
Mike Perham
How I built a $1M+ business selling open source software
Sidekiq started as an open source project in 2012. I was frustrated with existing Ruby background job solutions and built something better. The Ope...
$100K ARR in 4 years·Solo
SaaSDeveloper Tools🇺🇸 US
Rob Walling
Bootstrapped to acquisition: Drip sold to Leadpages
I bootstrapped Drip from zero to acquisition by Leadpages. The key was focusing on a specific niche and building in public. The Pivot Drip start...
$10K MRR in 1 year·Team
SaaSMarketing🇺🇸 US
Marie Forleo
Business Coach Launches B-School, First Million-Dollar Launch in Year Two
Marie Forleo, along with Laura Roeder, created B-School. The first year enrolled a few hundred students. Fun Marketing The marketing broke all r...
$100K ARR in 1 year·Team
Info ProductEducation🇺🇸 US
Tiago Forte
Productivity Expert Launches Cohort Course, Builds $5M/Year Business
Tiago Forte 'rage quit' consulting with a month of savings. He created a course on SkillShare that became 2 on the platform. Cohort Model After...
$100K ARR in 1 year·Solo
Info ProductEducation🇺🇸 US
Uku Täht
Built a privacy-first analytics tool to $3.1M ARR with 8 people
Plausible grew to $3.1M ARR as a privacy-first alternative to Google Analytics. The privacy focus isn't a gimmick - it's our core value. The Slow S...
$100K ARR in 3 years·Team
SaaSDeveloper Tools🇺🇸 US
Rick Blyth
Built extension in a weekend, sold for 6 figures in 5 hours
I built my first Chrome extension in a weekend. After growing it alongside other micro-SaaS products, I sold it at full asking price in 5 hours. Th...
$10K MRR in 1 year·Solo
Chrome ExtensionE-commerce🇺🇸 US
Dmytro Krasun
3 years to $10K MRR, 8 more months to $20K - slow growth is valid
ScreenshotOne took 3 years to reach $10K MRR and another 8 months to hit $20K. Long, slow growth is a valid path to success. The Long Road Many...
$10K MRR in 4 years·Solo
API / Developer ToolDeveloper Tools🇺🇦 UA
Lukas Hermann
Built first version in a weekend, now €20K MRR with 85% profit margin
Stagetimer started as a weekend project. I posted it on Reddit and it took off. Now doing €20K MRR with 85% profit margin. The Reddit Launch I b...
$10K MRR in 3 years·Solo
SaaSProductivity🇺🇸 US
Allison Seboldt
Building a niche product that went viral on Reddit
I built Fantasy Congress as a side project - a fantasy sports game but for politics. It went viral and taught me everything about building in public....
First Customer in 7 days·Solo
SaaSEducation🇺🇸 US
Pat Walls
Starter Story Founder Builds SaaS: $1K MRR Harder Than Expected
Pat Walls, founder of Starter Story, worked on Pigeon for over a year as a side project. Different Challenge Reaching $1K MRR was significant be...
$1K MRR in 10 months·Solo
SaaSMarketing🇺🇸 US
Kyle Nolan
Side Project Financial Planner: 2+ Years to $10K MRR
Kyle built ProjectionLab because he wanted a better plan for his own financial future. There were 0 paid users when he posted to Hacker News. Hacke...
$10K MRR in 2 years·Solo
SaaSFinance🇺🇸 US
Snow Lee
3x Founder Pivots from DevOps AI to Communication Tool, Hits $400K ARR
Snow Lee is a 3x founder from South Korea who moved his family to California. He received $660K in pre-seed funding. The Pivot First version was...
$100K ARR in 1 year·Solo
SaaSAI / ML🇺🇸 US
Jen Yip
Solo female founder built a budgeting app to $45K+ ARR while traveling the world
Jen quit her job at Twitter, traveled the world, and built Lunch Money as a company of one to 1000+ paying users.
$100K ARR in 2 years·Solo
SaaSFinance🇨🇦 CA
Kevin Conti
Paid newsletter to $10K MRR in just 5 months through community engagement
Kevin turned his SaaS research into a newsletter, growing from $0 to $10K MRR in 5 months by building in public on Indie Hackers.
$10K MRR in 5 months·Solo
Info ProductEducation🇺🇸 US
Gourav Goyal
Open-source Notion extension earns $9K+ while staying free to use
Built to solve his own problem with Notion navigation, Gourav kept Notion Boost open-source while still earning $9K+ through premium features.
First Customer in 4 years·Solo
Chrome ExtensionProductivity🇮🇳 IN
Thomas Sanlis
After 30 failed projects, French dev builds $10K/mo Product Hunt alternative
Thomas failed 30 projects before Uneed. Six years later, he runs it full-time at $10K/month.
$10K MRR in 6 years·Solo
MarketplaceMarketing🇫🇷 FR
Rosie Sherry
How an introvert built a $1.2M/year testing community over 12 years
Started as a free forum in 2007. 12 years later: $1.2M ARR from conferences, memberships, and courses.
$100K ARR in 12 years·Solo
OtherEducation🇬🇧 GB
Marie Poulin
From YouTube Tips to $40K/Month Teaching Notion
Marie discovered Notion in 2018 and started sharing tips on YouTube. When her audience asked for a course, she launched Notion Mastery to $40K/month.
$10K MRR in 2 years·Solo
Info ProductEducation🇨🇦 CA
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A note on these stories: The founders featured here represent those who publicly shared their success. Not every startup succeeds, and timelines vary widely. These stories are meant to inspire and educate, not to set expectations.
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