It seems like there is definitely an advantage to getting apps on these "stores" early in their lifecycle, though I never even hear about their existence until much later. Does anyone know a way to learn about new app stores/marketplaces early on, besides obsessing over tech news constantly?
$8600 MRR business on Airtable
51–60 of 90 posts
Re: $8600 MRR business on Airtable
#52Reminder: Just because this person did it, does not mean his actions are reproducible. If it was reproducible, then every VC would be doing this.
> If it was reproducible, then every VC would be doing this.
No they wouldn't. $8600 MRR is a lifestyle business, not a startup that can potentially 100x. To borrow an old Google saying, VCs have forgotten how to count that low.
There's a lot of space for bootstrapped independent entrepreneurs at that level because VCs just don't care about a business that small. It's pocket change. The VCs will be focusing on finding the next platform (AirTable), not add-ons for existing platforms (this).
Re: $8600 MRR business on Airtable
#53It seems like there is definitely an advantage to getting apps on these "stores" early in their lifecycle, though I never even hear about their existence until much later. Does anyone know a way to learn about new app stores/marketplaces early on, besides obsessing over tech news constantly?
You could periodically skim the forums for pain points... I did this when Airtable first got off the ground.
https://community.airtable.com
I didn't do anything with the info as I didn't have extra time to devote to a new product.
I'm sure other unicorn startups will have communities around them or subreddits.
Re: $8600 MRR business on Airtable
#54I'm curious how much time customer support takes for products around this price and how much impacts the viability of a business this size. At $8600 MRR * 12 ~= $103k. Obviously some level of expenses here but let's assume very high margins. $8600 / $40 plan = 215 customers. Given all that, how much time does it take to service 215 customers' support needs? Assuming profit would be in the $80-90k range, that's multip…
Support is roughly 10 hours per week and we're now up to 270 customers. The rest of the time is spent on product, reviewing marketing content and occasionaly sales. I've been full-time since $5k MRR as trying to juggle all this with a full time job was miserably + slowed down growth.
$80-90k isn't actually that much less than a developer salary (in U.K., not U.S.), but it's an interesting question what I'd do if it didn't grow any more.
I'd probably put it into maintenance-mode, and start another micro-saas, as I love the freedom of working where/when/how I want. I'm hopeful of hitting $150k ARR by end of year though, and $250k next year.
Re: $8600 MRR business on Airtable
#55It seems like there is definitely an advantage to getting apps on these "stores" early in their lifecycle, though I never even hear about their existence until much later. Does anyone know a way to learn about new app stores/marketplaces early on, besides obsessing over tech news constantly?
Founder here. I use this site to find new platforms/ trends! https://explodingtopics.com/ then build them into tools using my framework: https://twitter.com/clokehead/status/1340949414081392640?s=2...
Re: $8600 MRR business on Airtable
#56Re: $8600 MRR business on Airtable
#57No post body was provided.
Re: $8600 MRR business on Airtable
#58I'm curious how much time customer support takes for products around this price and how much impacts the viability of a business this size. At $8600 MRR * 12 ~= $103k. Obviously some level of expenses here but let's assume very high margins. $8600 / $40 plan = 215 customers. Given all that, how much time does it take to service 215 customers' support needs? Assuming profit would be in the $80-90k range, that's multip…
Support is roughly 10 hours per week and we're now up to 270 customers. The rest of the time is spent on product, reviewing marketing content and occasionaly sales. I've been full-time since $5k MRR as trying to juggle all this with a full time job was miserably + slowed down growth. $80-90k isn't actually that much less than a developer salary (in U.K., not U.S.), but it's an interesting question what I'd do if it d…
What customer support needs generally take up the most of your time? By rest of your time, are you talking 40 hour weeks? 60 hr weeks? Just trying to understand the time commitment for this amount of MRR
Re: $8600 MRR business on Airtable
#59He had/did the perfect combination: - right place at the right time (almost certainly a factor here) - actually building and releasing something - promoting it, letting the world know about him/it These success stories are really nice, but it's important to recognize that it usually takes all three of these key elements to be successful. Obviously if you don't do anything, you cannot get success. But if you do someth…
Founder here - that's a great analysis. The way I manufactured right place/ right time was using this framework: https://twitter.com/clokehead/status/1340949414081392640?s=2...
I got similar advice early in my career.
You don’t have to create the wave. Find an existing wave grab a surf board and figure out a way to ride it.
Re: $8600 MRR business on Airtable
#60It seems like there is definitely an advantage to getting apps on these "stores" early in their lifecycle, though I never even hear about their existence until much later. Does anyone know a way to learn about new app stores/marketplaces early on, besides obsessing over tech news constantly?
Founder here. I use this site to find new platforms/ trends! https://explodingtopics.com/ then build them into tools using my framework: https://twitter.com/clokehead/status/1340949414081392640?s=2...
Is explodingtopics.com another project of yours?