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Sumit Bansal
TrumpExcel
Tech Worker Sees Excel Skills Gap, Builds Blog to 1M+ Visitors and $10K/Month
3 years
$10K MRR
SEO / Content
Growth channel
Solo founder
Founder
Founder
Sumit Bansal
Solo founderβ’Non-technicalβ’India
Commitment
Full-timeExperience
First-timeProduct
Blog and courses teaching Microsoft Excel skills to professionals.
Type
Info productIndustry
EducationModel
HybridMarketing strategy
How Sumit acquired customers
Growth channel
SEO / Content
Also used
Other
Tech Stack
Tools used to build TrumpExcel
WordPressYouTubeGoogle AdsenseTeachable
The full story
TL;DR
Sumit saw colleagues struggling with Excel and built TrumpExcel to 1M+ monthly pageviews and $10K/month revenue.
Sumit Bansal was working for a tech company when he realized the massive demand for Excel tutorials and courses. He saw colleagues struggling with basic Excel tasks and recognized that efficient Excel skills were highly valuable.
The Opportunity
Most Excel training was either too basic or too expensive. Sumit saw a gap for comprehensive, accessible tutorials.
The Content Strategy
He started with free blog content to build his audience, focusing on SEO to rank for Excel-related searches. His consistent, high-quality tutorials built trust with his audience.
The Results
Today, TrumpExcel.com has over 1 million monthly pageviews and generates an average monthly revenue of $10,000, helping millions of people improve their Excel skills.
- Time to $10K/month: 3 years
- Monthly pageviews: 1M+
- Primary channel: SEO
- Monetization: Courses + ads
Key Takeaways
1
Identify skills gaps in the workplace - Excel training has massive demand
2
Build trust with free content before selling courses
3
SEO for educational content can drive millions of pageviews
4
Consistent publishing over years compounds into sustainable revenue
Originally published onStarter Story
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Milestone Journey
Sumit achieved 3 milestones on the path to $10K MRR
First customer
1 year
July 2014
Avg: 1 month
+6 months to next milestone
$1K MRR
$1,000
2 years
January 2017
Avg: 6 months
+1 year to next milestone
$10K MRR
$10,000
3 years
January 2018
Avg: 1 year
3 years
Total journey time
3
Milestones achieved
Against every documented journey
Sumit Bansal reached $10K MRR in 3.0 years, faster than 11% of the 295 documented $10K journeys (median 12 months). The amber bar is this journey.
Sumit's Path to $10K MRRPremium
The journey, decisions, and context behind this milestone
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Frequently asked questions
How much does TrumpExcel make?
TrumpExcel reports $4.5K MRR as of November 2017. Founder-stated total monthly revenue (display ads, course sales, occasional affiliate) as of his November 2017 Indie Hackers post, when the site did about 300k pageviews a month. No founder-authored figure has been published since. Source: Indie Hackers.
What is TrumpExcel?
Blog and courses teaching Microsoft Excel skills to professionals. It operates in Education.
How long did it take TrumpExcel to reach $10k mrr?
Sumit Bansal took 3 years to reach $10k mrr with TrumpExcel.
Was Sumit Bansal a solo founder?
Yes. Sumit Bansal built TrumpExcel as a solo founder.
What marketing channel did TrumpExcel use to grow?
TrumpExcel grew primarily through SEO / Content.
What industry is TrumpExcel in?
TrumpExcel operates in Education.
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