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Ask HN: One-person SaaS apps that are profitable?

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Re: Ask HN: One-person SaaS apps that are profitable?

#151

Post by 55555 »

coderholic wrote: post #72

I started https://ipinfo.io as a side project, and then ran it fulltime as a one-person SaaS app for over a year. We're now a team of 8, profitable, and growing quickly. We're still 100% bootstrapped, and I have zero plans to raise any outside funding. We started with a simple IP geolocation API, which now handles over 20 billion API requests per month. We've added new data to that service, such as IP type classifica…

I love your service. I've been using it for years! I use the responses at /geo and /json. The 'org' data is appreciated.

Re: Ask HN: One-person SaaS apps that are profitable?

#152

Post by 55555 »

aerovistae wrote: post #141
anthonylee wrote: post #67

https://letterfromyou.com/ Letter from You is a service that allows business owners to connect with their clients through beautifully handwritten letters. It's my first side project and currently talking to some larger recurring companies.

That is a really clever, original idea for a business, I mean it. Damn.

It's actually not at all original. Maybe he independently came up with the idea, but there are tons of these.

Re: Ask HN: One-person SaaS apps that are profitable?

#153

Post by chubot »

cperciva wrote: post #68

Depending on how you define SaaS: I started Tarsnap in 2006 (launched in 2008) and it was a profitable one-person company for many years. (Now it's a profitable two-person company.) Mind you, it isn't a side project -- this has been my full time job for a dozen years. Starting a successful SaaS company as a side project is much harder.

Congrats on running it sustainably and profitably for so long.

I imagine that TarSnap must have done very well since many tiny HN startups used it 10 years ago, and some of them are now huge. When those companies are growing like crazy I'm sure they just pay the bills and don't think about switching!

Re: Ask HN: One-person SaaS apps that are profitable?

#154

Post by azhawkes »

I'm the solo founder of Loadster (https://loadster.app) which has been profitable for a while and is now making me pretty close to a comfortable living.

I really enjoy the freedom and variety that comes with running a SaaS, and while the grass is always greener on the other side, I think I'm pretty much ruined for a regular job at this point. So beware!

One piece of unsolicited advice: if I were to start all over again as a solo bootstrapper, I would probably do something less technical. As others here have pointed out, there is a LOT more to running a SaaS than just building software, and it's often hard to find the time or brain space to give all the facets of your business the attention they deserve.

Re: Ask HN: One-person SaaS apps that are profitable?

#155

Post by jordiee »

My saas https.appdoctor.io is barely profitable but that is mainly because of how cheap the infrastructure cost is(something I think helps a lot in 1 man/woman projects). I would agree with what others have stated though that I don’t recommend solo founding(looking for a co founder now). They don’t tell you that making an functioning application that is useful is less then half the battle to having a successful saas.

Re: Ask HN: One-person SaaS apps that are profitable?

#156

Post by mi100hael »

aacook wrote: post #137

Go for it! I'm working on NanaGram ( https://nanagram.co ) solo and bootstrapped. Although I'm not making a full-time income yet, it's generating a profit. It's mostly automated. NanaGram is the 3rd greatest generator of happiness and fulfillment in my life (after my wife and my dog). I get a constant stream of good vibes from customers, most recently voicemails from grandmothers! ( https://nanagram.co/blog/feedback-…

Happy customer here :)

I recently visited my grandma and found a drawer full of envelopes with every photo we've ever texted.

Re: Ask HN: One-person SaaS apps that are profitable?

#157

Post by wmeredith »

BrandonM wrote: post #131

The Overcast podcasting app seems to be built by a single person: https://overcast.fm/skeptics_faq

It helps that he had a tumblr exit, then founded and exit Instapaper and was a popular well known podcaster/blogger before he launched Overcast.
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