Founder stories
$100K ARRin 3 years
4 milestones
$1K on launch day to $2M ARR with zero marketing spend
Founder
AJ
Solo Founder•Technical•USA
Commitment
Full-timeExperience
ExperiencedProduct
Simple, free, one-page website builder.
Type
SaaSIndustry
ProductivityModel
SubscriptionMarketing Strategy
How AJ acquired customers
Primary Channel
Product Hunt
Also Used
Twitter / XWord of Mouth
Tech Stack
Tools used to build Carrd
JavaScriptNode.jsStripe
The Full Story
Carrd launched on Product Hunt and made $1K on day one. It grew to $2M ARR with absolutely zero marketing spend.
The Launch
Product Hunt launch was massive - 4,000+ upvotes, one of the most popular launches ever. My existing audience made the difference.
Simple Pricing
$19/year for Pro features. Low price, high volume. Most users start free and upgrade when they need more.
Word of Mouth
Every free site has a small Carrd badge. Users become marketers. The product sells itself.
- Launch day: $1K
- Product Hunt upvotes: 4,000+
- Current ARR: $2M
- Marketing spend: $0
Key Takeaways
1
Existing audience makes launch explosive
2
Limiting features can be advantage
3
Zero marketing works with strong word of mouth
4
Low price, high volume model works
Originally published onAJ - The Making Of Carrd
Inspired by AJ's journey? Generate a business idea in the Productivity space using AI and real founder data.
Milestone Journey
AJ achieved 4 milestones on the path to $100K ARR
First Customer
7 days
January 2016
93% faster
vs avg 3 months+1 month to next milestone
$1K MRR
$1,000
2 months
March 2016
82% faster
vs avg 11 months+10 months to next milestone
$10K MRR
$10,000
1 year
January 2017
43% faster
vs avg 1 year+2 years to next milestone
$100K ARR
$2,000,000
3 years
January 2019
6% faster
vs avg 3 years3 years
Total journey time
4
Milestones achieved
AJ's Path to $100K ARRPremium
The journey, decisions, and context behind this milestone
Unlock AJ's Full Journey
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