Founder stories
$100K ARRв 1 year
4 этапов
Current revenue
2025 gross. ~30% net margin ($650K profit). Original cohort course retired 2023; Second Brain Enterprise AI program generated ~$1.5M in 2025.
Productivity Expert Launches Cohort Course, Builds $5M/Year Business
Основатель
Tiago Forte
Соло-основатель•Нетехнический•USA
Занятость
Полная занятостьОпыт
ВпервыеПродукт
Cohort-based course on personal knowledge management.
Тип
ИнфопродуктОтрасль
ОбразованиеМодель
Единовременная оплатаМаркетинговая стратегия
Как Tiago привлекал клиентов
Канал роста
Сообщества
Tech Stack
Инструменты, использованные для создания Building a Second Brain
ZoomCircleEmail marketingPayment processing
Полная история
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 taking a live cohort-based writing course in 2016, he launched his first BASB cohort in January 2017 with 25-30 people.
Scaling
It took a few cohorts to hit $100K ARR. Now on cohort 15 with 5,000+ learners and $5M/year at $1,500 per student.
- First cohort: 25-30 students
- Current: 5,000+ learners
- Annual revenue: $5M
- Price: $1,500/student
Ключевые выводы
1
Validate teaching ability on platforms like SkillShare first
2
Cohort-based learning creates better completion rates
3
Start small (25-30 students) and iterate based on feedback
4
Premium pricing ($1,500) is possible with transformational results
Изначально опубликовано наDisco
Вдохновились путём Tiago? Сгенерируйте бизнес-идею в сфере Образование с помощью AI и реальных данных от основателей.
Путь через milestone
Tiago достиг 4 milestone на пути к $100K ARR
Первый клиент
$10
1 month
February 2016
На 72% быстрее
vs среднее 4 months+1 month до следующего milestone
$1K MRR
$1,000
2 months
March 2017
На 82% быстрее
vs среднее 11 months+1 month до следующего milestone
$10K MRR
$37,000
3 months
April 2017
На 86% быстрее
vs среднее 1 year+9 months до следующего milestone
$100K ARR
$100,000
1 year
January 2018
На 69% быстрее
vs среднее 3 years1 year
Общее время пути
4
Достигнутые milestone
Путь Tiago к $100K ARRПремиум
История, решения и контекст, стоящие за этим milestone
Откройте полный путь Tiago
Смотрите полный разбор: стратегия запуска, методы валидации, стартовые затраты, экспертный анализ, replication playbook и другие практические инсайты.
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Frequently asked questions
How much does Building a Second Brain make?
Building a Second Brain reports $2.1M ARR as of December 2025. 2025 gross. ~30% net margin ($650K profit). Original cohort course retired 2023; Second Brain Enterprise AI program generated ~$1.5M in 2025. Source: Forte Labs year-in-review.
How long did it take Building a Second Brain to reach $100k arr?
Tiago Forte took 1 year to reach $100k arr with Building a Second Brain.
Was Tiago Forte a solo founder?
Yes. Tiago Forte built Building a Second Brain as a solo founder.
What marketing channel did Building a Second Brain use to grow?
Building a Second Brain grew primarily through Сообщества.
What industry is Building a Second Brain in?
Building a Second Brain operates in Образование.
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