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Tiago Forte
Building a Second Brain
Productivity Expert Launches Cohort Course, Builds $5M/Year Business
1 year
$100K ARR
Communities
Growth channel
Solo founder
Founder
Founder
Tiago Forte
Solo founderβ’Non-technicalβ’USA
Commitment
Full-timeExperience
First-timeProduct
Cohort-based course on personal knowledge management.
Type
Info productIndustry
EducationModel
One-time paymentMarketing strategy
How Tiago acquired customers
Growth channel
Communities
Tech Stack
Tools used to build Building a Second Brain
ZoomCircleEmail marketingPayment processing
The full story
Tiago Forte 'rage quit' consulting with a month of savings. He created a course on SkillShare that became #2 on the platform.
Cohort Model
After taking a live cohort-based writing course in 2016, he launched his first BASB cohort in January 2017 with 25-30 people.
Scaling
It took a few cohorts to hit $100K ARR. Now on cohort 15 with 5,000+ learners and $5M/year at $1,500 per student.
- First cohort: 25-30 students
- Current: 5,000+ learners
- Annual revenue: $5M
- Price: $1,500/student
Key Takeaways
1
Validate teaching ability on platforms like SkillShare first
2
Cohort-based learning creates better completion rates
3
Start small (25-30 students) and iterate based on feedback
4
Premium pricing ($1,500) is possible with transformational results
Originally published onDisco
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Milestone Journey
Tiago achieved 4 milestones on the path to $100K ARR
First customer
$10
1 month
February 2016
Avg: 1 month
+1 month to next milestone
$1K MRR
$1,000
2 months
March 2017
67% faster
vs median 6 months+1 month to next milestone
$10K MRR
$37,000
3 months
April 2017
75% faster
vs median 1 year+9 months to next milestone
$100K ARR
$100,000
1 year
January 2018
50% faster
vs median 2 years1 year
Total journey time
4
Milestones achieved
Against every documented journey
Tiago Forte reached $10K MRR in 3 months, faster than 87% of the 295 documented $10K journeys (median 12 months). The amber bar is this journey.
Tiago's Path to $100K ARRPremium
The journey, decisions, and context behind this milestone
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Frequently asked questions
How much does Building a Second Brain make?
Building a Second Brain reports $2.1M ARR as of December 2025. 2025 gross. ~30% net margin ($650K profit). Original cohort course retired 2023; Second Brain Enterprise AI program generated ~$1.5M in 2025. Source: Forte Labs blog (Tiago Forte).
What is Building a Second Brain?
Cohort-based course on personal knowledge management. It operates in Education.
How long did it take Building a Second Brain to reach $100k arr?
Tiago Forte took 1 year to reach $100k arr with Building a Second Brain.
Was Tiago Forte a solo founder?
Yes. Tiago Forte built Building a Second Brain as a solo founder.
What marketing channel did Building a Second Brain use to grow?
Building a Second Brain grew primarily through Communities.
What industry is Building a Second Brain in?
Building a Second Brain operates in Education.
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