Founder stories
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27 stories found
Courtland Allen
Indie HackersHow I built Indie Hackers and sold it to Stripe
I was frustrated with how hard it was to find real information about starting an online business. Everyone talked about raising venture capital, but I...
$1K MRR in 4 months·Solo
MarketplaceContent 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
Adam Enfroy
Digital Marketer Launches Blog, Hits $100K/Month in 2 Years
Adam launched AdamEnfroy.com in January 2019 as a side project while working full-time as a Digital Marketing Director. Aggressive Growth He sta...
$100K ARR in 2 years·Solo
OtherContent 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
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...
$10K MRR in 2 years·Solo
SaaSContent Creation🇺🇸 US
Joe Thomas
Near bankruptcy to 10M users after pivoting based on Product Hunt launch
We were near bankruptcy when we launched on Product Hunt. 3,000 signups in 24 hours saved the company. We pivoted from usability tests to video record...
$100K ARR in 4 years·Team
SaaSContent Creation🇺🇸 US
Sahil Bloom
Private Equity Analyst Builds 800K Newsletter During COVID, $70K/Month
Sahil Bloom was working at a private equity firm when March 2020 hit. Instead of 70+ hour weeks, he was suddenly at home. COVID Opportunity He h...
$10K MRR 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...
$10K MRR in 5 years·Solo
Info ProductContent Creation🇺🇸 US
Ben Thompson
Growth Engineer Launches Tech Analysis Newsletter, Builds $3M Business
Ben Thompson founded Stratechery in March 2013 from Taipei while working at Automattic. Accidental Format He introduced paid daily updates in 20...
$1K MRR in 2 years·Solo
Info ProductContent Creation🇺🇸 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...
$100K ARR in 2 years·Solo
Info ProductContent Creation🇺🇸 US
Anne-Laure Le Cunff
Neuroscientist Launches Mindful Productivity Community, $100K ARR in 22 Months
Anne-Laure Le Cunff sent her first Maker Mind newsletter in July 2019. Ness Labs started as free content and community. Pivot to Paid In the fir...
$100K ARR in 1 year·Solo
Info ProductContent Creation🇺🇸 US
Justin Jackson
From $33 to $30K MRR in 1 year - achieved 5-year goal in 12 months
Transistor went from our first $33 customer to $30K MRR in just one year. We achieved what we thought would take 5 years. Product Hunt Success W...
$10K MRR in 1 year·Team
SaaSContent Creation🇺🇸 US
Hamish McKenzie
Newsletter Platform Co-Founder Gets First Publisher, $100K+ Revenue Day One
Substack found the perfect first customer in Bill Bishop, who generated $100K+ in revenue on his first day going paid.
$100K ARR in 6 months·Team
SaaSContent Creation🇺🇸 US
Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson Built Transistor to $1M+ ARR by Building in Public
After years of solo projects, Justin teamed up with Jon Buda to build Transistor.fm, documenting the journey publicly on their "Build Your SaaS" podcast.
$100K ARR in 2 years·Team
SaaSContent Creation🇨🇦 CA
Francesco Di Lorenzo
Francesco Di Lorenzo Launched Typefully to 1000 Users in One Day
Francesco and co-founders launched Typefully on Product Hunt and Hacker News, getting 1,432 signups on day one. Now at $100K+ MRR.
$100K ARR in 4 years·Team
SaaSContent Creation🇵🇹 PT
Justin Jackson & Jon Buda
How We Built a $1M+ ARR Podcast Hosting Business as a Calm Company
Justin Jackson and Jon Buda built Transistor to over $1M ARR while documenting everything publicly on their "Build Your SaaS" podcast.
$100K ARR in 2 years·Team
SaaSContent Creation🇨🇦 CA
Justin Duke
Building a Successful Newsletter Business by Building Less
Justin Duke built Buttondown as a side project at Stripe into a profitable business with half a dozen employees - without raising VC.
$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
Samy Dindane & Yannick Veys
From a Tweet to 7-Figure SaaS: The Hypefury Story
Samy Dindane and Yannick Veys scaled Hypefury from a tweet asking about thread scheduling to a 7-figure bootstrapped business.
$100K ARR in 2 years·Team
SaaSContent Creation🌍 Remote
Julia Enthoven & Eric Lu
Building a Viral Video Editor with the "Watermark Growth Hack"
Julia Enthoven and Eric Lu bootstrapped Kapwing to 100,000+ users using SEO and the viral watermark strategy.
$10K MRR in 2 years·Team
SaaSContent CreationSan Francisco, CA
Ankur Nagpal
From Side Project to $250M Exit: The Teachable Story
Ankur Nagpal started Teachable at 24, grew it to 30 million students, then sold it for $250M - and was completely burned out.
$100K ARR in 2 years·Solo
SaaSContent Creation🇺🇸 US
Spencer Fry
Building Since Age 11: How Spencer Fry Created Podia After Three Exits
Spencer Fry built his first internet business at 11, had three exits, then started Podia to help creators make a living doing what they love.
$100K ARR in 2 years·Solo
SaaSContent Creation🇺🇸 US
Kenny Rueter & Travis Rosser
From Backyard Sprinkler to $500M+ Creator Platform: The Kajabi Story
Kenny Rueter wanted to sell a sprinkler toy for kids, realized selling information was easier, and built Kajabi into a platform that has paid creators $500M+.
$100K ARR in 3 years·Team
SaaSContent Creation🇺🇸 US
Jack Conte & Sam Yam
Musician Builds $4B Platform After YouTube Paid Him Almost Nothing
Jack Conte had millions of YouTube views but made almost nothing. He called his friend Sam Yam and together they built Patreon, now worth $4B.
$100K ARR in 1 year·Team
SaaSContent Creation🇺🇸 US
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A note on these stories: The founders featured here represent those who publicly shared their success. Not every startup succeeds, and timelines vary widely. These stories are meant to inspire and educate, not to set expectations.
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