Founder stories
$10K MRRin 1 year
3 milestones
How I built Carrd to $1M+ ARR as a solo founder
Founder
AJ Ladwal
Solo Founder•Technical•USA
Commitment
Full-timeExperience
ExperiencedProduct
Simple, free, fully responsive one-page sites for pretty much anything.
Type
SaaSIndustry
Developer ToolsModel
SubscriptionMarketing Strategy
How AJ acquired customers
Primary Channel
Twitter / X
Also Used
Product HuntWord of Mouth
Tech Stack
Tools used to build Carrd
JavaScriptPHPStripe
The Full Story
Carrd started as a side project in 2016. I wanted to create the simplest possible way to build one-page websites.
The Concept
After years of building complex web tools, I wanted to go back to basics. One page. Simple. Fast. The idea was to make it so easy that anyone could create a professional-looking landing page in minutes.
Launch and Growth
I launched on Product Hunt and got a great response. The freemium model worked well - free for basic sites, $19/year for Pro features. Growth was organic through word of mouth and Twitter.
- 2016: Launch
- 2017: $10K MRR
- 2019: $1M ARR
- 2023: Over $1M ARR with millions of sites created
What Worked
The product sells itself. I focused on making it incredibly simple and fast. No complex features, no bloat. Just the essentials done really well.
Key Takeaways
1
Simplicity wins - remove features rather than add them
2
Freemium can work if your free tier is genuinely useful
3
Solo founders can build million-dollar businesses
4
Word of mouth is the best marketing
Originally published onIndie Hackers
Inspired by AJ's journey? Generate a business idea in the Developer Tools space using AI and real founder data.
Milestone Journey
AJ achieved 3 milestones on the path to $10K MRR
First Customer
7 days
January 2016
93% faster
vs avg 3 months+3 months to next milestone
$1K MRR
$1,000
3 months
April 2016
73% faster
vs avg 11 months+9 months to next milestone
$10K MRR
$10,000
1 year
January 2017
43% faster
vs avg 1 year1 year
Total journey time
3
Milestones achieved
AJ's Path to $10K MRRPremium
The journey, decisions, and context behind this milestone
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