Kyle Nolan

ProjectionLab

Side Project Finanzplaner: 2+ Jahre bis $10K MRR

$83.3K MRR

Current revenue · as of June 2025

ProjectionLab (founder)

2 years

$10K MRR

Communities

Growth Channel

Solo-Gründer

Founder

Kyle Nolan

Solo-Gründer•Technical•USA

Commitment

Side Project

Experience

First-time

Product

ProjectionLab

Finanzplanungssoftware für persönliche Finanzen.

Type

SaaS

Industry

Finanzen

Model

Abonnement

Marketing Strategy

How Kyle acquired customers

Growth Channel

Communities

Tech Stack

Tools used to build ProjectionLab

Vue.jsChart.jsFirebasePaddle

The Full Story

Kyle baute ProjectionLab, weil er einen besseren Plan für seine eigene finanzielle Zukunft wollte. Es gab 0 zahlende Nutzer, als er auf Hacker News postete.

Hacker News Magie

Er schloss den Tab, erwartete, dass er nirgendwohin führt, kam eine Stunde später zurück und fand seinen Posteingang überfluten. Der Post schaffte es auf die erste Seite.

Side Project Knochenschleifer

Gebaut als Side Project über 2 Jahre, während er vollzeitig arbeitete und ~40 Stunden pro Woche verbrachte.

9 Monate bis $1K MRR
4 Monate bis $2K MRR
2 Jahre bis $10K MRR
Side Project Stunden: ~40/Woche

Key Takeaways

Baue für dich selbst – kratze dein eigenes Jucken

Hacker News kann ein Game-Changer für Entwickler-Tools sein

Side Projects erfordern Opfer, reduzieren aber finanzielle Risiken

Wachstum acceleriert nach erreichen anfänglicher Meilensteine

Originally published onIndie Hackers

Founder proof brief

A one-page proof brief turns Kyle's ProjectionLab playbook into your next test.

See what it covers before you sign up: the pattern worth copying, the channel to test, and the risk to avoid when you adapt this story.

Pattern

$10K MRR

Channel

Communities

Output

Action checklist

What a proof brief covers

A one-page brief that turns Kyle's pattern into a testable plan
Channel bet: start from Communities
A risk check before copying the ProjectionLab playbook

See what a proof brief covers

See what it covers first. Create an account only if you choose to unlock.

Inspired by Kyle's journey? Generate a business idea in the Finanzen space using AI and real founder data.

Milestone Journey

Kyle achieved 3 milestones on the path to $10K MRR

Erster Kunde

2 months

May 2021

Avg: 1 month

+7 months to next milestone

$1K MRR

$1,000

9 months

December 2021

Avg: 6 months

+1 year to next milestone

$10K MRR

$10,000

2 years

June 2023

Avg: 1 year

2 years

Total journey time

Milestones achieved

Against every documented journey

Kyle Nolan reached $10K MRR in 2.3 years, faster than 20% of the 295 documented $10K journeys (median 12 months). The amber bar is this journey.

See the full distribution

Kyle's Path to $10K MRRPremium

The journey, decisions, and context behind this milestone

How Kyle actually did it

7/7 funnel stages sourced

Reconstructed from Kyle's own published sources. Quoted claims are the founder's words, verified verbatim; anything marked as our analysis is exactly that.

Where the idea came from

Personal pain

Kyle was following the financial independence movement and wanted a clearer, more detailed picture of his own long-term finances than any existing app or his own spreadsheet could give him, so he built the tool for himself first.

“I looked around, but couldn’t find a good tool with a modern UI where you can build detailed long-term financial plans and that’s actually fun to use”

"Why I Built Another Financial Planning Tool" - ProjectionLab company blog

Validation

Built first, validated after

MvpValidated

Built the full working web app (originally launched as "ProjectiFi") based on his own needs before doing any formal market validation, then posted it publicly to see if the demand extended beyond his own use case.

Kyle built the complete tool to solve his own planning problem, then found out via public posts that many others wanted the same thing.

“I had trouble finding a good FI planning and simulation tool that could model things in enough detail to finally ditch my spreadsheets... so I built one.”

Show HN: "I made a simulator for personal finance" (OP text + Kyle's own comments, username scubakid)

First test users

Online communityFree testersHacker News (Show HN)

After a few low-key Reddit shares went nowhere, Kyle posted the tool to Hacker News without much expectation; the post unexpectedly reached the front page within the hour and brought in the first wave of users.

“I posted the link to HN just for kicks, but didn't bother checking back in... then an hour later I found my email inbox blowing up”

Tweet by @_knolan (Kyle Nolan) announcing $100k ARR

First paying customer

Online communityFree to paid upgrade

The first paying customer ("first internet dollar") came out of the same Hacker News post that produced the first users, in May 2021.

“First internet dollar!”

"We reached $1M ARR with zero funding" - ProjectionLab company blog

Acquisition channels, and whether they worked

Communities · Hacker News (Show HN)LaunchWorked

Kyle posted the product link to Hacker News on a whim, without expecting much, and didn't check back in for an hour.

“I posted the link to HN just for kicks, but didn't bother checking back in”

Tweet by @_knolan (Kyle Nolan) announcing $100k ARR

Kyle never gave a specific reason the HN post took off; he frames it as an unplanned break rather than a deliberate tactic he can explain or repeat on demand.

Our analysis, not the founder's claim

Communities · RedditPre-launchDidn't work

Before the Hacker News post, Kyle shared the tool a few times on Reddit, which produced almost no response.

“a few shares to places like Reddit were met with little (i.e. no) fanfare”

Tweet by @_knolan (Kyle Nolan) announcing $100k ARR

Word of mouthScalingWorked

In the run-up to $10K MRR, Kyle names reposts to HN/Reddit and organic word-of-mouth as essentially the only growth channels he actively used.

“Mostly just posts to HN / Reddit and word-of-mouth growth so far.”

"My side project hit $10K MRR!" (Kyle Nolan's own Indie Hackers post + his replies in the comments)

Other · Financial-independence bloggers/podcasters (Mad Fientist, Physician on FIRE, Rob Berger, Mr. Money Mustache, etc.)ScalingWorked

As ProjectionLab matured, established voices in the financial-independence niche gave it unpaid shoutouts, extending its reach beyond Kyle's own posts.

“community took notice!!”

"2023 Year in Review" - ProjectionLab company blog

What didn't work

ChannelPre-launchCost: time

Early low-key posts of the tool to Reddit got almost no traction before the Hacker News post took off.

“a few shares to places like Reddit were met with little (i.e. no) fanfare”

Tweet by @_knolan (Kyle Nolan) announcing $100k ARR

What they did instead: Posted to Hacker News instead, which unexpectedly hit the front page and drove the first real wave of users and revenue.

TeamScalingCost: time

For years, Kyle fielded inbound interest from people wanting to become a growth/marketing partner, but most wanted a large equity stake for little contribution, or weren't the right skills fit.

“Several wanted an outsize equity stake to essentially just make suggestions. Others had the wrong skillset or didn’t feel like a complete fit.”

"We reached $1M ARR with zero funding" - ProjectionLab company blog

What they did instead: Brought on Jon Kuipers, who put in a year of real contribution before being asked to join full-time as growth partner.

How it changed as they grew

At launch: 1 person (Solo founder, building as a side project alongside a full-time software engineering job.)

First 10k mrr: 1 person (Still a solo founder at the $10K MRR milestone, over two years into bootstrapping.)

Bootstrapped

Pricing increase

Kyle didn't know how to price the product when he launched it and started out too cheap.

“Initially I had no idea how to price a product and started out way too low.”

"My side project hit $10K MRR!" (Kyle Nolan's own Indie Hackers post + his replies in the comments)

What broke as they grew

As a solo engineer with no marketing background, Kyle recognized that continuing to handle everything himself would cap ProjectionLab's growth, which is what eventually pushed him to bring on a dedicated growth/marketing partner rather than keep building alone.

“Keep doing everything myself and watch growth plateau”

"We reached $1M ARR with zero funding" - ProjectionLab company blog

Sources (7 in the founder's own words)

"My side project hit $10K MRR!" (Kyle Nolan's own Indie Hackers post + his replies in the comments) · founder-authored · 2023-06
Show HN: "I made a simulator for personal finance" (OP text + Kyle's own comments, username scubakid) · founder-authored · 2021-04
Tweet by @_knolan (Kyle Nolan) announcing $100k ARR · founder-authored · 2023-04
"Why I Built Another Financial Planning Tool" - ProjectionLab company blog · founder-authored · 2021-08
"Reached 10k MRR" - ProjectionLab company blog · founder-authored · 2023-06
"We reached $1M ARR with zero funding" - ProjectionLab company blog · founder-authored · 2025-06
"2023 Year in Review" - ProjectionLab company blog · founder-authored · 2024-01
"Building > Marketing: Kyle Nolan of ProjectionLab" - Indie Hackers staff interview (Kyle's words quoted by an IH interviewer) · third party · 2023-01

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Frequently asked questions

How much does ProjectionLab make?

ProjectionLab reports $83.3K MRR as of June 2025. Hit $1M ARR ($83.3K MRR) June 30, 2025, with 4,300+ customers. Kyle publishes monthly milestones. Source: ProjectionLab (founder).

What is ProjectionLab?

Finanzplanungssoftware für persönliche Finanzen. It operates in Finanzen.

How long did it take ProjectionLab to reach $10k mrr?

Kyle Nolan took 2 years to reach $10k mrr with ProjectionLab.

Was Kyle Nolan a solo founder?

Yes. Kyle Nolan built ProjectionLab as a solo founder.

What marketing channel did ProjectionLab use to grow?

ProjectionLab grew primarily through Communities.

What industry is ProjectionLab in?

ProjectionLab operates in Finanzen.

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The Full Story

Kyle baute ProjectionLab, weil er einen besseren Plan für seine eigene finanzielle Zukunft wollte. Es gab 0 zahlende Nutzer, als er auf Hacker News postete.