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Show HN: Side project passed $2.5k/mo revenue after 2 years (Phoenix and Vue)

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Re: Show HN: Side project passed $2.5k/mo revenue after 2 years (Phoenix and Vue)

#61

Post by danjac »

koyote wrote: post #11

As someone who isn't a software developer by trade, how did you decide on the software stack? I hadn't even heard of Phoenix (I am not a web dev by trade, so maybe that's why!), so I am a bit surprised to see something less mainstream as a 'goto'.

It depends on motivation: is my motivation to learn something new or play around for fun? Then I'll choose whatever I'm interested in learning.

If the motivation is to build something I actually need independent of the stack - in other words, something I expect to be paid for building, or has some other utility - then I'll use what I know. That doesn't mean I won't learn new things, but I'll learn those things in order to get the job done, rather than for their own sake. That doesn't rule out small experiments - for example, trying out an individual library to accomplish a task - but the overall stack will be something I'm familiar with.

Re: Show HN: Side project passed $2.5k/mo revenue after 2 years (Phoenix and Vue)

#64

Post by nickjj »

nickjj wrote: post #20

Hi, If you ever want to talk about how you build and deploy your app along with your tech stack in detail let me know. I've love to have you on the https://runninginproduction.com podcast. There's 14 Phoenix episodes at https://runninginproduction.com/tags/phoenix but the more the merrier since every story is unique. If you wanted to come on the show click the "become a guest" button on the top right to get the ball…

Just posting an update here.

The OP responded and we're in the process of scheduling a time.

Also, thanks a lot everyone!

I checked my email this morning and there were 10 new submissions to be on the show.

I will be responding to all of you with follow ups today.

Re: Show HN: Side project passed $2.5k/mo revenue after 2 years (Phoenix and Vue)

#66

Post by zalebz »

nine_k wrote: post #47
xbmcuser wrote: post #44

You need to onboard a sales/marketing person. Someone with a few years experience in business software sales. Will the sales increase be enough to pay for the new person is not a given but you have probably reached a point that for growth you need marketing. No matter how good a software is and how much the end user likes it you will need a sales guy to get it pass the purchase department.

A part-time marketing contract is a pretty common thing. Somebody spending 4 hours a week on skillful promotion could make a lot of difference here, at a rather moderate expense.

I would also appreciate any advice you could provide to find such a person.

Re: Show HN: Side project passed $2.5k/mo revenue after 2 years (Phoenix and Vue)

#67

Post by MattLockstone »

enraged_camel wrote: post #50
Palmik wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any tips for finding such a person if you don't know anyone in your circles?

I'm also curious!

Please post an update when you guys get a chance. I would also love to know.

Thanks!

Re: Show HN: Side project passed $2.5k/mo revenue after 2 years (Phoenix and Vue)

#69

Post by subbu »

mehphp wrote: post #17

Just out of curiosity, are you leveraging liveview at all? I also use Phoenix for my SaaS project (took me 5 years to hit $2.5k/mo so congrats!) but I went all-in on liveview. It's some solid tech and I'm pretty happy with it but I'm wondering what the limits are when there is a lot of interactivity which seems to be the case with your app.

I am building a property management software (PMS). It's a specialized form of CRM. I have dumped MVC entirely in favor of LiveView. handle_event and handle_info are a better programming model for high-level of interactivity in a page. It also gets you closer to the database, entirely bypassing GraphQL and client-side JavaScript. I had to expose a whole API endpoint to set a flag here, a preference there. No more of that.

Re: Show HN: Side project passed $2.5k/mo revenue after 2 years (Phoenix and Vue)

#70

Post by kleiba »

No advice, but just from looking at your pricing options - do you actually get interested parties to click on the "get in touch" button for the Enterprise tier?

I wonder whether the difference in appearance to the other tiers provides an additional (albeit small) mental barrier. That, combined with the psychological incentive for clicking on the "Business" option (look, it's our most popular one! and it has a different background color!) might actually steer people away from ever exploring the "Enterprise" option.

Perhaps, though, you only intended it as a way to avoid having "Business" being the most expensive one? Kind of my "ugly shoe theory" (Why do shoe stores carry so many ugly shoes? So that the mediocre ones become more attractive.) I think people are more inclined to choose one of the "inner" options for a product they have not tried out before, because it seems like a saver choice.

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