Founder stories
$100K ARRin 2 years
4 milestones
From Bankruptcy to $100K ARR: A 2.5 Year Struggle
Founder
MC
Maciej Cupial
Solo Founder•Technical•Poland
Commitment
Full-timeExperience
ExperiencedProduct
B2B reservation management service.
Type
SaaSIndustry
ProductivityModel
SubscriptionMarketing Strategy
How Maciej acquired customers
Primary Channel
SEO / Content
Tech Stack
Tools used to build Calendesk
Google AdsSEO toolsCapterra
The Full Story
Maciej Cupial from Poland had a background as a programmer and entrepreneur. After a challenging 2.5 years building Calendesk, he finally reached $100K ARR.
The Hard Road
The journey wasn't easy - he burned through savings, went bankrupt, and even had to work for others again before getting there.
SEO Focus
SEO became his main channel, though it was slow to see results. Being based in Poland with a less crowded market gave him an advantage.
- Time to $100K ARR: 2.5 years
- Channel: SEO
- Location advantage: Poland
Key Takeaways
1
Entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster - be prepared for extreme ups and downs
2
First marketing attempts may not be profitable but provide valuable customer insights
3
SEO is slow but worth the long-term investment
4
Less crowded markets can be an advantage for bootstrappers
Originally published onIndie Hackers
Inspired by Maciej's journey? Generate a business idea in the Productivity space using AI and real founder data.
Milestone Journey
Maciej achieved 4 milestones on the path to $100K ARR
First Customer
2 months
March 2021
38% faster
vs avg 3 months+4 months to next milestone
$1K MRR
$1,000
6 months
June 2021
46% faster
vs avg 11 months+1 year to next milestone
$10K MRR
$10,000
1 year
July 2022
15% faster
vs avg 1 year+1 year to next milestone
$100K ARR
$100,000
2 years
July 2023
22% faster
vs avg 3 years2 years
Total journey time
4
Milestones achieved
Maciej's Path to $100K ARRPremium
The journey, decisions, and context behind this milestone
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