Founder stories
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Key Statistics
Stories
47
Avg Time
1 year
Fastest
1 days
Solo
45%
Top growth channel
SEO / Contenu (12)
Sahil Lavingia
From weekend project to $10M+ in creator payouts
I built the first version of Gumroad in a weekend while working at Pinterest. The idea was simple: let anyone sell anything with just a link. The W...
$17.8M/an·$10K MRR dans 2 months·Solo
MarketplaceE-commerce🇺🇸 US
Tyler Tringas
How I built a $20K MRR micro-SaaS while traveling
I built Storemapper while traveling as a digital nomad. It started as a simple store locator widget and grew into a stable micro-SaaS business. The...
$480K/an·$1K MRR dans 6 months·Solo
SaaSE-commerce🇺🇸 US
Rick Blyth
Built extension in a weekend, sold for 6 figures in 5 hours
I built my first Chrome extension, Merch Batch Editor, in a weekend, and it earned over $3,000. Merch Wizard came later as a separate, bigger MVP that...
$10K MRR dans 1 year·Solo
Extension ChromeE-commerce🇺🇸 US
Eric Bandholz
Started with $30 Shopify subscription, 1.6M YouTube subscribers
Beardbrand started with just a $30 Shopify subscription. Now we have 1.6M YouTube subscribers. Authenticity beats production quality. $30 Start...
$10M/an·$100K ARR dans 2 years·Équipe
AutreE-commerce🇺🇸 US
JO
Jordan O'Connor
Solo Dad Builds $42K/Month Chrome Extension with $1/Day Pricing
I'm the self-proclaimed 'winner of Indie Hackers' - if you filter for solo founders with verified Stripe revenue, I come up at the top. Simple Valu...
$420K/an·$100K ARR dans 2 years·Solo
Extension ChromeE-commerce🇺🇸 US
Alex Le
Picture ItAcquired a Shopify app and grew it to $3,500 MRR as a solopreneur
Alex acquired an existing Shopify app and scaled it to $3,500 MRR through product improvements and customer focus.
$1K MRR dans 2 years·Solo
SaaSE-commerce🇺🇸 US
CM
Chris Mason
From $0 to $1K in Revenue in 30 Days by Validating Before Building
Chris and his co-founder validated demand first by talking to WooCommerce store owners, then built One Click Upsells to $1K in 30 days.
$1K MRR dans 1 month·Équipe
SaaSE-commerce🇺🇸 US
Davis Siksnans & Lauris Liberts
Printful: From Garage Printing to $289M Revenue Print-on-Demand Giant
Started printing posters in a living room, Davis Siksnans bootstrapped Printful to $289M revenue and 1,700+ employees.
$2.3B/an·$100K ARR dans 2 years·Équipe
MarketplaceE-commerce🇱🇻 LV
EM
Erikas Malisauskas
Kaching Bundle Quantity Breaks
Building a $4.5M/Year Shopify App Portfolio with $0 Marketing
Erikas Malisauskas quit freelancing and built 5 Shopify apps generating $4.5M annually without any paid marketing.
$4.3M/an·$100K ARR dans 3 years·Équipe
SaaSE-commerce🇱🇹 LT
Marc Chapon
Dropshipping Store (Pets Niche)
From Restaurant Manager to $178K in 3 Months with Dropshipping
Marc Chapon quit restaurant management and built a pet store doing $178,492 in 3 months by dropshipping US/EU products.
$10K MRR dans 3 months·Solo
AutreE-commerceMorocco
CA
Cody Arsenault
From 5 Failed Stores to $1 Million in Dropshipping Revenue in One Year
After failing multiple dropshipping stores, Cody Arsenault finally cracked the code: proper branding, niche focus, and relentless ad testing led to $1M in his first successful year.
$100K ARR dans 1 year·Solo
AutreE-commerce🇨🇦 CA
YE
Yoni Elbaz & Moran Benisty
Loox
How Two Sears R&D Engineers Built a $15M+ ARR Shopify App
Yoni Elbaz and Moran Benisty met at Sears R&D in Israel and bootstrapped Loox to $15M+ ARR without paying themselves for 15 months.
$7.6M/an·$100K ARR dans 3 years·Équipe
SaaSE-commerce🇮🇱 IL
Ben Jabbawy
Privy
How Privy Reached 500K Merchants and a $120M Exit
Ben Jabbawy built Privy into the #1 Shopify sales app with 500K+ merchants, driving $6B+ in eCommerce sales before a successful exit.
$100K ARR dans 4 years·Solo
SaaSE-commerce🇺🇸 US
Maxx Blank, AJ Orbach & Ivan Chernykh
Triple Whale
From Internal Tool to $50M+ SaaS: The Triple Whale Story
The Triple Whale founders built an analytics tool for their own DTC brand, then spun it into a 5,000+ customer SaaS with Shopify as an investor.
$21.6M/an·$100K ARR dans 1 year·Équipe
SaaSE-commerce🇺🇸 US
Chris Koh
GemPages
How a Developer Built GemPages to 100K+ Shopify Merchants
Chris Koh spent years working with eSellers before writing the first code for GemPages, a Shopify page builder now used by 100K+ merchants.
$100K ARR dans 3 years·Solo
SaaSE-commerce🇻🇳 VN
Andrew Bialecki & Ed Hallen
Klaviyo
How Klaviyo Bootstrapped to $1M ARR Before Raising
Andrew Bialecki and Ed Hallen bootstrapped Klaviyo to over $1M ARR before raising, eventually building a $6B+ public company.
$1.2B/an·$100K ARR dans 4 years·Équipe
SaaSE-commerce🇺🇸 US
Tobi Lütke
ShopifyFrom Snowboard Shop to $200B E-Commerce Empire: How Tobi Built Shopify
Tobi Lütke built Shopify because he wanted to sell snowboards online and hated the existing software.
$11.6B/an·$100K ARR dans 3 years·Équipe
SaaSE-commerce🇨🇦 CA
MF
Mark Forrester, Magnus Jepson & Adii Pienaar
Three Strangers From Three Continents Built the World's Most Popular E-Commerce Platform
Mark Forrester met his co-founders in an online forum, launched WooThemes, then WooCommerce - acquired by Automattic for $30M+.
$100K ARR dans 2 years·Équipe
SaaSE-commerce🇬🇧 GB
Eddie Machaalani & Mitchell Harper
From IRC Chat Room to $4.6B IPO: How Two Strangers Built BigCommerce
Eddie Machaalani met his co-founder Mitch Harper in an IRC chat room in 2003, and built BigCommerce to a $4.6B valuation.
$359.1M/an·$100K ARR dans 2 years·Équipe
SaaSE-commerce🇦🇺 AU
Sahil Lavingia
Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Company: The Gumroad Story
Sahil Lavingia left Pinterest before vesting, raised $8M, laid off 75% of staff, then rebuilt Gumroad as a profitable "small" business.
$23.8M/an·$100K ARR dans 2 years·Solo
SaaSE-commerce🇺🇸 US
Davis Siksnans & Lauris Liberts
From Garage T-Shirts to Latvia's First Unicorn: The Printful Story
Davis Siksnans started printing t-shirts in his co-founder's garage at age 22 and built Printful to $1B+ valuation.
$2.3B/an·$100K ARR dans 2 years·Équipe
SaaSE-commerce🇱🇻 LV
RK
Rob Kalin
Building the Handmade Marketplace: How Etsy Created a $45B Community
Rob Kalin built Etsy as a cheaper alternative to eBay for handmade goods. The marketplace is now worth $45 billion and changed how makers sell their work.
$100K ARR dans 2 years·Équipe
MarketplaceE-commerce🇺🇸 US
SB
Simon Beckerman
From Magazine Publisher to $1.6B Fashion Marketplace: The Depop Story
Simon Beckerman created Depop to let people buy and sell clothes on a social marketplace. The app attracted Gen Z and sold to Etsy for $1.6 billion.
vendue pour $1.6B·$100K ARR dans 2 years·Solo
MarketplaceE-commerce🇬🇧 GB
Manish Chandra
How Posh Parties and Social Commerce Built a $7.4B Fashion Marketplace
Manish Chandra bet that fashion resale could be social. Poshmark's Posh Parties turned shopping into community events. Result: IPO at $7.4B, 80M+ users.
vendue pour $1.2B·$100K ARR dans 1 year·Équipe
MarketplaceE-commerce🇺🇸 US
Grant LaFontaine
How Whatnot Turned Livestream Auctions into a $3.7B Collectibles Marketplace
Grant LaFontaine saw Pokémon card sellers going live on Instagram with clunky workarounds. He built Whatnot — a dedicated live auction platform. Result: $3.7B valuation, 200K+ sellers.
$1B/an·$100K ARR dans 1 year·Équipe
MarketplaceE-commerce🇺🇸 US
MR
Max Rhodes
How Faire Used Net-60 Terms and Free Returns to Build a $12.4B Wholesale Marketplace
Max Rhodes left Square to fix wholesale. Faire offered retailers net-60 payment terms and free returns — eliminating the risk of trying new brands. Result: $12.4B valuation, 700K+ retailers.
$500M/an·$100K ARR dans 9 months·Équipe
MarketplaceE-commerce🇺🇸 US
Noah Kagan
How Employee #30 at Facebook Built AppSumo into an $80M+ Deal Marketplace After Getting Fired
Noah Kagan was fired from Facebook before the IPO. He launched AppSumo with a Reddit post and a $12K deal — building it into $80M+ annual revenue.
$80M/an·$100K ARR dans 1 year·Solo
MarketplaceE-commerce🇺🇸 US
Ben Francis
How a 19-Year-Old Pizza Delivery Driver Built Gymshark into a $1.45B Fitness Empire
Ben Francis was delivering pizzas when he started screen-printing fitness apparel in his garage. By partnering with YouTube fitness influencers, he turned Gymshark into a £1.45B brand.
$814M/an·$100K ARR dans 1 year·Équipe
AutreE-commerce🇬🇧 GB
JS
Justin Shiels
722 orders in one quarter rebuilding socurious from an austin apartment
Justin Shiels rebuilt his stationery brand SoCurious solo from his Austin apartment, landing 722 orders, 485 preorders from a friend's collab and 38 subscribers in Q1 2026.
$72K/an·$1K MRR dans 10 months·Solo
AutreE-commerceAustin, Texas, USA
Elliot Sowersby
the WooCommerce plugin that earned almost nothing for 3 years, then became a full-time business
Elliot Sowersby spent three years building Coupon Affiliates with little to show for it. A decade later it is his biggest source of income and plugins make up over 90% of his revenue.
$10K MRR dans 8 years·Solo
SaaSE-commerceYorkshire, United Kingdom
Ruslan Leteyski
Checkout X
Bootstrapping Checkout X to €600k MRR before Shopify shut it down
Ruslan Leteyski turned a workaround built for a doomed online pharmacy into a one-page Shopify checkout that reached 6,000 merchants and €600k MRR, all without ads or the App Store.
$7.2M/an·$100K ARR dans 3 months·Solo
SaaSE-commerceSofia, Bulgaria
MD
Mat De Sousa
how mat de sousa bootstrapped widebundle to $25k mrr as a student
After three failed Shopify apps, an engineering student built a bundling app in two weeks and grew it to $25,134 MRR in under a year with no paid ads.
$302K/an·$100K ARR dans 10 months·Solo
SaaSE-commerce🇫🇷 FR
SR
Sergi Ruiz
how a personalized map shop quietly made over 500k as a side project
Sergi Ruiz and his wife launched Mapness in 2017 selling custom map prints. Organic Instagram posts grew into a six-figure pandemic peak, then a slow fade.
$9K/an·$100K ARR dans 3 years·Équipe
AutreE-commerce🇪🇸 ES
PN
Preetam Nath & Sankalp Jonna
How two founders used the Shopify App Store to grow SuperLemon past $25K MRR
Preetam Nath and Sankalp Jonna turned a two-week Shopify App Store MVP into SuperLemon, a WhatsApp commerce tool that passed $25K MRR with 20,000 merchants and a two-person team.
$10K MRR dans 1 year·Équipe
SaaSE-commerceBengaluru, India
Lorik Morina
How Lorik Morina grew RotateProduct to $6.5K MRR with $20/day ads and Shopify intent
Lorik Morina did not wait for a viral launch. He took a 33-download, zero-MRR first day, layered Hacker News, $20/day Meta ads, Shopify App Store distribution and referral loops, and grew RotateProduct's app revenue to about $6.5K MRR by week 21.
$78K/an·$100 MRR dans 14 days·Solo
SaaSE-commerceKosovo
Bryce Adams
Bryce Adams quit Automattic to build Metorik and had 10 paying customers in four months
Bryce Adams left a job he loved at Automattic in August 2016 to build the WooCommerce reporting tool nobody else would build. Ten paying stores signed up four months later.
$1K MRR dans 12 months·Solo
SaaSE-commerce🇦🇺 AU
Chris Meade
Chris Meade emptied a $7,000 401k into volleyball nets and sold them out of a trunk
Chris Meade pulled about $7,000 out of his 401k, spent all of it on inventory, and sold nets off the sand on Venmo. Eight years later CROSSNET had passed $35 million in sales and was acquired.
$100K ARR dans 1 year·Équipe
AutreE-commerce🇺🇸 US
Derek Sivers
The favor for a friend that became the largest independent music store online
A friend asked Derek Sivers to sell his CD too. He said sure, charged $35 to add an album and $4 per sale, and CD Baby was profitable in its second month.
vendue pour $22M·$100 MRR dans 1 month·Solo
MarketplaceE-commerce🇺🇸 US
Ezra Firestone
How Ezra Firestone turned $434,256 of ads into $1.4 million in a single month
BOOM! by Cindy Joseph made almost nothing for four years. Then Firestone published the exact numbers behind a month where $434,256.72 of advertising produced $1,422,500.15 in sales.
$20M/an·$100K ARR dans 4 years·Équipe
AutreE-commerce🇺🇸 US
Gretta van Riel
How Gretta van Riel turned $24 and an Instagram account into $600,000 a month
Gretta van Riel started SkinnyMe Tea in May 2012 with $24 in her bank account, while still working a full time marketing job. She says the brand was doing $600,000 a month within six months of launching.
$100K ARR dans 6 months·Solo
AutreE-commerce🇦🇺 AU
JK
Jake Karls
How Mid-Day Squares sold 500,000 bars in its first 11 months
Jake Karls and his two co-founders started making chocolate bars by hand in a condo kitchen in August 2018. Eleven months in he posted that they had sold 500,000 of them.
$20M/an·$100K ARR dans 9 months·Équipe
AutreE-commerce🇨🇦 CA
Justin Mares
Justin Mares took nearly $500 in two weeks before Kettle & Fire had any bone broth to sell
Before quitting his job in April 2014, Justin Mares put a $29.99 bone broth page online with a PayPal checkout and about $50 of Bing ads. Two weeks later he had taken nearly $500 for a product that did not exist.
$100M/an·$10K MRR dans 1 year·Équipe
AutreE-commerce🇺🇸 US
MB
Mike Beckham
Six months of research, then the first Simple Modern bottle sold
Mike Beckham and two co-founders put $200,000 into a drinkware brand competing with Yeti. The first bottle sold about six months later, and 24 million followed in seven years.
$200M/an·Premier Client dans 7 months·Équipe
AutreE-commerce🇺🇸 US
MC
Mike Cessario
Mike Cessario spent 14 months building an audience for Liquid Death before there was a can to sell
Liquid Death was a Facebook page and a fake commercial for over a year before it was a product. By the time the first cans shipped in January 2019, the brand already had 100,000 followers and less than $10k of paid media behind it.
$263M/an·Premier Client dans 1 year·Équipe
AutreE-commerce🇺🇸 US
Moiz Ali
Native sold 60 deodorants before it owned a single one
Moiz Ali launched Native on Product Hunt in July 2015 with no inventory, no factory and a formula bought from an Etsy seller. He placed his first production order only after 60 units were already sold.
vendue pour $100M·Premier Client dans 1 days·Solo
AutreE-commerce🇺🇸 US
Peter Askew
He bought an expired domain for $2,200, then went looking for a farmer
Peter Askew won VidaliaOnions.com at auction with a bid he expected to lose, spent a month working out what to do with it, then partnered with a Georgia onion farmer. They forecast 50 orders in season one and shipped over 600.
Premier Client dans 1 month·Équipe
AutreE-commerce🇺🇸 US
RB
Ryan Bartlett
$26,000 in month one: how Ryan Bartlett started True Classic as a side project
Three friends put a few thousand dollars into a t-shirt brand in late 2019. Bartlett says the first month brought $26,000 and 651 orders.
$10K MRR dans 1 month·Équipe
AutreE-commerce🇺🇸 US
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Stories47
Avg Time1 year
Fastest1 days
Technical68%
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