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Solo founder $10K MRR Stories
59 Solo founders who reached $10K MRR
Key Statistics
Stories
59
Avg Time
2 years
Fastest
4 days
Solo
100%
Top growth channel
Twitter / X (17)
Pieter Levels
How I turned a spreadsheet into a $2M+/year business as a solo founder
In 2013, I sold all my possessions, packed a backpack and a laptop, and flew to Thailand to begin my digital nomad life. I was once a lost musician ea...
$456K/yr·$10K MRR in 1 year·Solo
SaaSTravel🌍 Remote
Tony Dinh
How I made $22K in 7 days with a ChatGPT UI tool
On March 1st 2023, OpenAI announced the ChatGPT API. Right on that day, I came up with the idea to create a new UI to solve my own pain points with th...
$1.7M/yr·$10K MRR in 4 days·Solo
SaaSAI / ML🇻🇳 VN
Jon Yongfook
BannerbearMy 2-year journey to $10K MRR as a solo founder
When I quit my job in January 2019, I had a 2-year runway. For almost 1 year I made no money and burned through my savings. That's because I was doing...
$1M/yr·$10K MRR in 2 years·Solo
API / developer toolDeveloper tools🇯🇵 JP
DC
Damon Chen
Building a $10K MRR testimonial tool by building in public
I built Testimonial.to after experiencing the pain of collecting and displaying customer testimonials for my previous projects. Every founder knows so...
$2.4M/yr·$10K MRR in 11 months·Solo
SaaSMarketing🇺🇸 US
Alexander Isora
How I built a landing page builder to $10K MRR as a solo founder
I've created 20+ products over the years. Unicorn Platform was the one that really got off the ground. I don't have any KPI or growth goals. I'm not c...
sold for $400K·$10K MRR in 3 years·Solo
SaaSDeveloper toolsGeorgia
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/yr·$10K MRR in 2 months·Solo
MarketplaceE-commerce🇺🇸 US
MP
Mike Perham
How I built a $1M+ business selling open source software
Sidekiq started as an open source project in 2012. I was frustrated with existing Ruby background job solutions and built something better. The Ope...
$2.9M/yr·$100K ARR in 4 years·Solo
SaaSDeveloper tools🇺🇸 US
Cory Zue
How I built a $10K+ MRR boilerplate business as a side project
SaaS Pegasus started as a side project while I had a full-time job. It's a Django boilerplate that saves developers weeks of setup time. The Origin...
$105K/yr·$10K MRR in 2 years·Solo
Info productDeveloper tools🇿🇦 ZA
Pat Walls
From side project to $100K/month with founder interviews
I started Starter Story as a side project to interview founders about how they started their businesses. It grew into a full-time business doing $100K...
$6M/yr·$10K MRR in 3 years·Solo
SaaSContent creation🇺🇸 US
DK
Dmytro Krasun
3 years to $10K MRR, 8 more months to $20K - slow growth is valid
ScreenshotOne took 3 years to reach $10K MRR and another 8 months to hit $20K. Long, slow growth is a valid path to success. The Long Road Many...
$240K/yr·$10K MRR in 3 years·Solo
API / developer toolDeveloper tools🇺🇦 UA
Justin Duke
Built newsletter tool while at Stripe, grew to $392K/year solo
I built Buttondown as a side project while working at Stripe. 5-10% month-over-month growth for years led to $392K/year. Side Project First I sc...
$900K/yr·$10K MRR in 2 years·Solo
SaaSMarketing🇺🇸 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 in 1 year·Solo
Chrome extensionE-commerce🇺🇸 US
Ajay Goel
24-year SaaS veteran bootstraps Gmail tool with $10K investment
After 24 years in SaaS, I built GMass with just $10K initial investment and 11 employees. Bootstrap Forever I've been bootstrapping since the 90...
$10K MRR in 1 year·Solo
Chrome extensionProductivity🇺🇸 US
Tim Bennetto
From Locksmith to Self-Taught Developer: $74K MRR Solo
Tim Bennetto worked as a locksmith for 10 years and never imagined he'd build a SaaS. He taught himself to code via Codecademy. The Pivot Starte...
$1.2M/yr·$10K MRR in 3 years·Solo
SaaSMarketing🇬🇧 GB
Kyle Nolan
Side Project Financial Planner: 2+ Years to $10K MRR
Kyle built ProjectionLab because he wanted a better plan for his own financial future. There were 0 paid users when he posted to Hacker News. Hacke...
$1000K/yr·$10K MRR in 2 years·Solo
SaaSFinance🇺🇸 US
Elie Steinbock
Inbox Zero
Open Source Email Assistant: Scratch Own Itch to $10K+ MRR
When running a previous business, Elie spent way too much time on email. He thought, 'Why can't an AI do this for me?' First Mover Elie was a fi...
$120K/yr·$10K MRR in 1 year·Solo
SaaSProductivity🇺🇸 US
Lenny Rachitsky
Ex-Airbnb PM Launches Newsletter, $360K ARR in Year One
Lenny Rachitsky launched his newsletter about a year before going paid. When he introduced paid subscriptions, he had 15,000 free subscribers. Pric...
$4M/yr·$100K ARR in 2 years·Solo
Info productContent creation🇺🇸 US
Pat Flynn
Fired Architect Creates LEED Exam eBook, Builds Multi-Million Dollar Brand
Pat Flynn was fired as an architect in 2008. He launched an ebook about the LEED exam based on his own study materials. The Pivot That first inf...
$1.9M/yr·$10K MRR in 2 months·Solo
Info productContent creation🇺🇸 US
James Clear
Habits Writer Builds 3M+ Subscriber Newsletter Worth $20M+
James Clear has been writing about habits and continuous improvement since 2012. In year one, his list went from 0 to 30,000 subscribers. Slow Buil...
$10K MRR in 5 years·Solo
Info productContent creation🇺🇸 US
Ryan Holiday
Author Revives Ancient Philosophy with Daily Email to 320K+ Subscribers
Building on the success of The Obstacle Is the Way, Ryan Holiday launched Daily Stoic in 2016. Daily Consistency Each morning, Ryan sends a shor...
$10K MRR in 3 years·Solo
Info productContent creation🇺🇸 US
Adrian Horning
Psychology Major Becomes "Web Scraping Guy", Hits $10K MRR
I was a psychology major in college. One day I learned about Uber and decided I wanted to be in tech. So I moved to San Francisco, attended a coding b...
$120K/yr·$10K MRR in 1 year·Solo
API / developer toolAI / ML🇺🇸 US
Bhanu Teja
24-Year-Old From India Reaches $10K MRR in 1 Month with AI Chatbot
I had around 10,000 Twitter followers and frequently mentioned I would be launching a new AI product soon. I didn't have high expectations. Multi-P...
$190K/yr·$10K MRR in 1 month·Solo
SaaSAI / ML🇺🇸 US
Dustin W. Stout
From Zero to $20K MRR in 163 Days with All-in-One AI Tool
After following the BuildInPublic journey of many indie makers, I decided this was the approach I was going to take. Slow and Steady I didn't w...
$1.2M/yr·$10K MRR in 5 months·Solo
SaaSAI / ML🇺🇸 US
Sebastian Röhl
German Developer Reaches $10K MRR After 2.5 Years with Habit App
I'm a 29-year-old software engineer from Germany who left my full-time job to dedicate one year to building my own projects. The Grind My MRR gr...
$336K/yr·$10K MRR in 2 years·Solo
Mobile appProductivity🇩🇪 DE
Andy Cloke
Solo founder bootstraps Airtable API tool to $10K MRR in 2 years
Data Fetcher recently hit $10k MRR. It's still 100% bootstrapped with one full-time team member (me!). Background I studied engineering at unive...
$276K/yr·$10K MRR in 2 years·Solo
SaaSDeveloper tools🇬🇧 GB
TS
Thomas Sanlis
After 30 failed projects, French dev builds $10K/mo Product Hunt alternative
Thomas failed 30 projects before Uneed. Six years later, he runs it full-time at $10K/month.
$10K MRR in 6 years·Solo
MarketplaceMarketing🇫🇷 FR
KC
Kevin Conti
Software Ideas
Paid newsletter to $10K MRR in just 5 months through community engagement
Kevin turned his SaaS research into a newsletter, growing from $0 to $10K MRR in 5 months by building in public on Indie Hackers.
$120K/yr·$10K MRR in 5 months·Solo
Info productEducation🇺🇸 US
Sergiu Chiriac
Solo dev builds AI directory of directories to $10K revenue in one year
Sergiu created a meta-directory listing AI tool directories, reaching $10K revenue by helping AI startups get discovered.
$60K/yr·$10K MRR in 1 year·Solo
MarketplaceMarketing🇷🇴 RO
Julien Nahum
Bootstrapped a Notion form builder from $0 to $10K MRR in one year
Julien built NotionForms to solve his own problem, reaching $10K MRR in 12 months through Product Hunt and SEO.
$444K/yr·$10K MRR in 1 year·Solo
SaaSProductivity🇫🇷 FR
Rosie Sherry
How a community expert built her second $10K/month business teaching what she knows
After building Ministry of Testing to $1.2M, Rosie started Rosieland to teach community building. Reached $10K/month in 2.5 years.
$10K MRR in 2 years·Solo
Info productEducation🇬🇧 GB
Marie Poulin
From YouTube Tips to $40K/Month Teaching Notion
Marie discovered Notion in 2018 and started sharing tips on YouTube. When her audience asked for a course, she launched Notion Mastery to $40K/month.
$480K/yr·$10K MRR in 2 years·Solo
Info productEducation🇨🇦 CA
DS
Derryck Strachan
Copywriter Spots SEO Demand, Builds $30K/Month Content Agency
Derryck recognized the growing demand for SEO content and built Big Star Copywriting to $30K/month, surviving the 2008 crash.
$360K/yr·$10K MRR in 3 years·Solo
Agency / serviceMarketing🇬🇧 GB
Sumit Bansal
Tech Worker Sees Excel Skills Gap, Builds Blog to 1M+ Visitors and $10K/Month
Sumit saw colleagues struggling with Excel and built TrumpExcel to 1M+ monthly pageviews and $10K/month revenue.
$54K/yr·$10K MRR in 3 years·Solo
Info productEducation🇮🇳 IN
Martin Moravek
Software Engineer Builds $20K MRR App to Fight His Own Phone Addiction
After nearly a decade in automotive/aerospace, Martin Moravek built Minimalist Phone to solve his own screen addiction problem.
$240K/yr·$10K MRR in 1 year·Solo
Mobile appHealth & wellness🇩🇪 DE
Jesse Mecham
Broke College Student Builds Spreadsheet Into Multi-Million Dollar Business
Jesse Mecham built a simple spreadsheet to manage money with his wife. That spreadsheet became YNAB, now used by millions worldwide.
$49M/yr·$10K MRR in 5 years·Solo
SaaSFinance🇺🇸 US
AU
Andres Ugarte
Solo Founder Builds Apple Design Award Finalist Finance App
Andres Ugarte started building Copilot Money in 2018, creating a native iOS finance app that became an Apple Design Award finalist.
$2.9M/yr·$10K MRR in 2 years·Solo
Mobile appFinance🇺🇸 US
Jon Yongfook
Jon Yongfook Bootstrapped Bannerbear to $10K MRR After 12 Failed Startups
After 12 startups in 12 months challenge, Jon found his calling in automated image generation and bootstrapped Bannerbear to $50K+ MRR.
$1M/yr·$10K MRR in 1 year·Solo
API / developer toolDesign🇯🇵 JP
Steve Kamb
Nerd Fitness: Building a 7-Figure Business for Fitness Misfits
Steve Kamb turned his nerdy approach to fitness into a 7-figure business, starting from around 3,500 email subscribers near his first $10K MRR milestone.
$10K MRR in 2 years·Solo
Info productHealth & wellness🇺🇸 US
AD
Aaron Davidson
Cronometer: A Nerdy Side Project That Became the Most Accurate Nutrition Tracker
Aaron Davidson built Cronometer as a personal tool for CRON dieting, now used by millions for precise nutrition tracking.
$3.8M/yr·$10K MRR in 10 years·Solo
Mobile appHealth & wellness🇨🇦 CA
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 in 3 months·Solo
OtherE-commerceMorocco
Justin Duke
Building a Successful Newsletter Business by Building Less
Justin Duke built Buttondown as a side project at Stripe into a profitable, solo-run business with a handful of contractors - without raising VC.
$900K/yr·$10K MRR in 5 years·Solo
SaaSContent creation🇺🇸 US
Justin Moore
From $5M in Sponsorships to Teaching Creators How to Land Deals
Justin Moore made over $5M in sponsorships himself before building Creator Wizard to help other creators do the same.
$10K MRR in 3 years·Solo
Info productContent creation🇺🇸 US
Fabrizio Bianchi
How a Weekend Project Became a 3M+ User Color Tool
Fabrizio Bianchi built Coolors in a weekend in 2014, and it grew to 3M+ users through viral simplicity.
$10K MRR in 4 years·Solo
SaaSDesign🇮🇹 IT
AZ
Aktarer Zaman
How a 22-Year-Old Built Skiplagged and Beat United Airlines in Court
Aktarer Zaman built Skiplagged at 20, got sued by United Airlines and Orbitz, and won - now helping millions find cheaper flights.
$20M/yr·$10K MRR in 2 years·Solo
SaaSTravel🇺🇸 US
Guillermo Rauch
V0: How Vercel's CEO Built an AI UI Generator Used by 3M+ Developers
Guillermo Rauch, a self-taught developer who never finished high school, built Next.js and Vercel. Then he used AI to make his own platform accessible to 100M+ potential users.
$200M/yr·$10K MRR in 1 year·Solo
SaaSDeveloper tools🇺🇸 US
ET
Ethan Tian
how textideo's solo founder reached $18k a month with one ai content editor
Ethan Tian bootstrapped Textideo, an all-in-one AI editor for video, copy, and illustrations, to a self-reported $18,000 a month by listing everywhere, shipping constantly, and letting creators dictate the roadmap.
$216K/yr·$10K MRR in 1 year·Solo
SaaSContent creation
Sebastian Volkis
how a nontechnical founder got 11,300 ChatIQ users in his first month
A nontechnical founder used a six-month YouTube audience and a no-code Bubble MVP to launch an AI support chatbot to 11,300 users and roughly £3,500 MRR in 30 days.
$10K MRR in 2 months·Solo
SaaSAI / ML🇬🇧 GB
JB
John Brewton
how john brewton grew a quiet substack into a $200k business in six months
John Brewton spent nine months publishing to barely a thousand readers, then a single proof post timed to a small coaching offer flipped his Substack into a six-stream business on track for $200k.
$200K/yr·$10K MRR in 1 year·Solo
Info productContent creation
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 in 8 years·Solo
SaaSE-commerceYorkshire, United Kingdom
Juanjo Valiño
how juanjo valiño turned a repeated-code problem into a $15k month with wrapfast
After shipping 15+ iOS apps, Juanjo bundled the boring repeated code into a SwiftUI boilerplate called WrapFast, made $750 on day one, and rode a Black Friday surge to his first $15k month.
$180K/yr·$10K MRR in 9 months·Solo
OtherDeveloper toolsGalicia, Spain
Nic Polotnianko
how nic polotnianko grew blogtopin to $15k mrr after four years of failed products
A Ukrainian software engineer spent four years shipping products that went nowhere, then built a Pinterest automation tool to scratch his own itch and grew it past $15k MRR.
$180K/yr·$10K MRR in 1 year·Solo
SaaSMarketingDnipro, Ukraine
Dominik Sobe
how dominik sobe turned notion into a $3k mrr help center business
A self-taught Austrian developer needed a help center for his app, hated every option, and built one on top of Notion instead. HelpKit hit $3K MRR and 130+ customers within roughly a year.
$120K/yr·$10K MRR in 3 years·Solo
SaaSProductivity🌍 Remote
Dru Riley
how Dru Riley took Trends.vc from zero to $20k MRR in under a year
Dru Riley quit a big-data job with savings and a vague plan, burned through three years of side projects, then turned weekly research reports into a one-person newsletter that hit roughly $20k MRR within a year of launch.
$240K/yr·$10K MRR in 4 months·Solo
Info productMarketing🌍 Remote
Eric Provencher
Giving an AI coding workflow away before turning it into 5-figure MRR
Eric Provencher built Repo Prompt as a free AI coding workflow tool, grew a power-user community, then monetized it into 5-figure MRR within a year of the first tester build.
$10K MRR in 1 year·Solo
SaaSDeveloper tools🇨🇦 CA
Eric Smith
How AutoShorts.ai reached $40K MRR with faceless-video automation
Eric Smith built AutoShorts.ai from a personal need for automated short-form videos, got the first paying subscriber on February 1, and reached $20K MRR by April 27 before the source reported $40K MRR on May 13.
$1.2M/yr·$10K MRR in 4 months·Solo
SaaSContent creation🇺🇸 US
Matthew Miller
How Matthew Miller livestreamed BridgeMind to $14.8K MRR in 165 days
Matthew Miller turned his vibe-coding livestream into BridgeMind, an agentic development ecosystem that reached about $14.8K MRR by day 165 through public building, community and dogfooding instead of paid acquisition.
$178K/yr·$10K MRR in 6 months·Solo
SaaSDeveloper tools🇺🇸 US
Cedric Roberge
How Cedric Roberge took Pep AI to $60K MRR by turning GLP-1 tracking chaos into a subscription app
Cedric Roberge found a fast-growing GLP-1 and peptide tracking niche, launched Pep AI quickly, then combined Reddit validation with creator-led distribution to reach a reported $60K MRR.
$720K/yr·$10K MRR in 1 month·Solo
Mobile appHealth & wellness🇺🇸 US
SA
Sorin Alupoaie
How a solo developer turned Zendesk pain points into a €20K MRR app portfolio
Sorin Alupoaie did not start Swifteq by chasing a giant SaaS idea. He watched Zendesk support teams repeat the same painful workflows, shipped tiny apps around those pains, and grew a portfolio to €20K+ MRR.
$240K/yr·$10K MRR in 4 years·Solo
SaaSProductivityDublin, Ireland
Derrick Reimer
Derrick Reimer hit $10K MRR with SavvyCal one year after the first line of code
After walking away from a Slack competitor he had built for a year, Derrick Reimer took on Calendly instead and passed $10K MRR twelve months after starting to write SavvyCal.
$240K/yr·$10K MRR in 1 year·Solo
SaaSProductivity🇺🇸 US
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Quick Stats
Stories59
Avg Time2 years
Fastest4 days
Technical73%
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