Meet Marc, a 30-year-old entrepreneur residing in Bali. He’s launched 20 startups; most didn’t work out, however 7 did earn a living. His largest hit? ShipFast, pulling in about $55,000 a month. Let’s learn the way he did it.
What’s your backstory, and the way did you give you the thought?
I graduated from Pc Science in 2016 and didn’t apply for a job. As a substitute, I consider I used to be Mark Zuckerberg and constructed a secret app for a 12 months. I by no means launched it.
I felt horrible, so I moved to South Korea and created a VC-backed startup with a pal. We raised $100,000 to foretell the worth of flight tickets (reverse engineering ticket pricing). It was one other flop.
Bored of massive concepts, I began mini-projects to hopefully make a residing on the web in 2018. I created a SaaS that also pays the payments in the present day after 5 years (about $600/month).
I moved to Bali and saved engaged on tiny tasks but it surely wasn’t rising. I used to be making about $1,500 in 2020.
In late 2021, I found Indie Hackers, and my life was reworked. I’ve at all times felt alone constructing apps at midnight. Discovering the group of makers who construct in public was a giant turning level.
Within the final 2 years, I shipped startups like a madman (16 startups). Doing the identical factor again and again, I spotted I might promote my startup codebase to ship quicker. That’s how I created ShipFast.
Describe the method of launching and rising the enterprise.
Now I’ve over 50,000 followers on Twitter, product launches get extra consideration however the course of is at all times the identical
1. Make a novel launch video, like this one.
2. Create a Product Hunt launch
3. On launch day, make a tweet with the video and hyperlink to Product Hunt.
4. On launch day, launch in all places else (Reddit, Indie Hackers, Hackers Information). I made some guides for these platforms in my e-newsletter.
Nothing fancy. Rinse and repeat.
What has labored to draw new clients?
1. Viral launch movies just like the one above
2. Engineering-as-marketing: free no-signup instruments that promote the principle product
3. A rattling good headline on the touchdown web page
What are your plans for the long run, and what are you presently engaged on?
I’m working full-time on ShipFast and ByeDispute. I’m additionally making ready a course to assist makers create viral launch movies.
What platform/instruments do you utilize for your enterprise?
My $60,000/month solopreneur enterprise prices $183/mo:
– Internet hosting → Vercel $20/mo
– Database → MongoDB $7/mo
– Analytics → Believable $30/mo
– E-newsletter → Beehiiv $99/mo
– Assistant → Co-Pilot $10/mo
– Advertising → Twitter + Typefully $17/mo
Do you’ve any recommendation for different entrepreneurs who’re simply beginning out or need to get began?
1. Keep away from SaaS, subscriptions and free plans
2. Construct a really small model of your startup and launch it with a purchase button, customers will construct the remainder of the product
3. Doc every part on Twitter, as a result of in case your startup flops, you’ll nonetheless develop an viewers. That can enable you to for future tasks.
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