Bootstrapping a side project into a profitable seven-figure business • Hacker News Board

Re: Bootstrapping a side project into a profitable seven-figure business

#171

Post by scubakid » Wed, Jul 09, 2025, 3:58 PM UTC

mattfrommars wrote: post #170

Amazing stuff. I think I'm in the boat as you OP except I just can't get myself to commit to a project since 1) no idea if it works or is unique 2) look for better opportunity and spend time doing LC/apply for job. There is only so many hours after work. > Once you’ve validated your idea, Could you really break this down. I feel you overlooked this part. How do you filter through tons of ideas into idea that for sure…

There are many frameworks and approaches, but here are two of my filtering criteria:

1. I don't start a project unless it's something I deeply want to exist for my own personal use. That way I know there's at least one person who would pay for an elegant solution. And even if no one shows up, at least it's useful to me.

2. I don't start a project unless I can envision the solution top to bottom and feel confident about the scope of the technical work. I'm not the most brilliant person at data structures & algorithms, and I prefer solutions where a simple architecture can get the job done. If there are foggy areas in the technical design, or parts I struggle to visualize clearly, to me that's a red flag.

Re: Bootstrapping a side project into a profitable seven-figure business

#172

Post by immibis » Wed, Jul 09, 2025, 4:21 PM UTC

teiferer wrote: post #96

bruce511 wrote: post #19

It's so, so , so hard to walk the line between persistence (which leads to glory) and stubbornness (which leads to more time following already wasted time.) Congratulations for walking this line correctly. I agree that some sort of market validation is necessary to at least pretend you are on the former not the latter. Those early usage spikes are helpful reminders that there is a business here somewhere. I'll also m…

> It's so, so , so hard to walk the line between persistence (which leads to glory) and stubbornness (which leads to more time following already wasted time.) > Congratulations for walking this line correctly. As much as I like to agree with this message ... isn't there a big portion of luck involved here that makes the difference between the two sides of this line? In other words, aren't we seeing huge survivorship…

It's hugely about luck. We can look back on any success story and identify what made it successful (sometimes) but it only has a little predictive power. Success in startupping ultimately comes from either trying a lot of things (amplifying your luck until it approaches 100%) or survivorship bias when you get lucky on your first try and then write about how smart you are.

It helps to have an idea of what might succeed, by studying things that succeeded before and the present business environment, but that increases each attempt's success chance to, like, 2% rather than 0.2%.

(There's nothing wrong with getting lucky, we just probably shouldn't plan around it being the normal case. It has extreme variance by definition.)

Re: Bootstrapping a side project into a profitable seven-figure business

#173

Post by bprater » Wed, Jul 09, 2025, 4:26 PM UTC

ProjectionLab offers a lifetime plan. How does this factor into profitability - as they'll never be able to bill this subset of customers again (for the same product)? At what point does this group of users start to degrade the performance of the business - simply because there is no more input for their required output?

Re: Bootstrapping a side project into a profitable seven-figure business

#174

Post by adkaplan » Wed, Jul 09, 2025, 4:36 PM UTC

jonkuipers wrote: post #168

adkaplan wrote: post #163

Amazing – congratulations. I've been using the demo version of your product every six months or so since I first saw your post here. I Really appreciate that you've kept it available, and hope you will continue to do so even as the cash continues to pour in. If I was anywhere close to retirement, I'd be a subscriber instantly, but I just like financial planning as a hobby. I recommend it to family and friends. You've…

Thanks so much. Really appreciate that. We’ve always wanted the tool to be accessible to anyone interested in financial planning, even just as a hobby, so it’s great to hear the basic version has been useful. Do you think it strikes the right balance between free access and a sustainable paid model?

I think your method is perfect. Having to make notes and re-enter my settings is just the right amount of frustrating, that each time I'm tempted to buy it. I think most people who are less stubborn (cheap) than I would pay the second time they need the tool.

Having the free no-saving model as a public service is hopefully a win-win for you. The public has access to a financial planning tool, and if they need to take their finances more seriously they can start the paid model.

I also like the prompt you've added which says something like /hey, you lost your settings because you're using the free mode, but we can recover them to save you time/. Good detail.

Re: Bootstrapping a side project into a profitable seven-figure business

#175

Post by commodorepet » Wed, Jul 09, 2025, 4:44 PM UTC

scubakid wrote: post #169

commodorepet wrote: post #165

How do you differentiate between persistence or stuborness. I have been developing a SaaS product since 2020 which currently is at 3K ARR with a very slow growth (20%). It's a B2B and are we are still missing a bunch of features to make us on par with competitors. We did survive a couple of competitors that came and go as we still have our day jobs and running it costs peanuts ($$$). It often feels I should give up b…

Are your existing customers vocal about what they love or wish you'd add? Do you know how they found you and what made them choose you over competitors? Is there a niche/segment within your larger TAM with a specific pain point you're solving really well? And how big is that segment? Either way, if your existing customers don't all come from paid channels, and they're loyal, and you've outlasted multiple competitors,…

Very vocal, we do have a very solid TODO list for another 12 months. They are also quite loyal and number of them are with us for 3+ years and they use software daily (its just a very small customer list overall). I do wonder sometimes why they stay with us given other competitors are much better. We mostly grew through word of mouth and cold emails. I believe we are already solving a fairly niche use case (TAM is few thousand customers in USA) and my idea is to grow revenue enough to go after larger TAM (several milion).

Re: Bootstrapping a side project into a profitable seven-figure business

#176

Post by jonkuipers » Wed, Jul 09, 2025, 4:48 PM UTC

bprater wrote: post #173

ProjectionLab offers a lifetime plan. How does this factor into profitability - as they'll never be able to bill this subset of customers again (for the same product)? At what point does this group of users start to degrade the performance of the business - simply because there is no more input for their required output?

The lifetime plan is priced higher than expected LTV, so it's profitable upfront.

We wanted to offer an option for early adopters with subscription fatigue. From the start, it has been a way to reinvest in the project: initially to support Kyle’s time, and now to fund growth that drives recurring subscriptions.

We may sunset new lifetime sales in the future, since a one-time payment model doesn’t align as well with our goal of building and maintaining PL over the long term.

Re: Bootstrapping a side project into a profitable seven-figure business

#177

Post by scubakid » Wed, Jul 09, 2025, 4:50 PM UTC

commodorepet wrote: post #175

scubakid wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are your existing customers vocal about what they love or wish you'd add? Do you know how they found you and what made them choose you over competitors? Is there a niche/segment within your larger TAM with a specific pain point you're solving really well? And how big is that segment? Either way, if your existing customers don't all come from paid channels, and they're loyal, and you've outlasted multiple competitors,…

Very vocal, we do have a very solid TODO list for another 12 months. They are also quite loyal and number of them are with us for 3+ years and they use software daily (its just a very small customer list overall). I do wonder sometimes why they stay with us given other competitors are much better. We mostly grew through word of mouth and cold emails. I believe we are already solving a fairly niche use case (TAM is fe…

Word-of-mouth growth sounds like a good sign. And depending on your goals, sometimes building a defensible niche business, maximizing ARPU, and minimizing churn can be better than chasing the mass market. Could something like a referral program potentially move the needle?

Re: Bootstrapping a side project into a profitable seven-figure business

#178

Post by lvl155 » Wed, Jul 09, 2025, 5:01 PM UTC

alittlebee wrote: post #150

As someone that has tried and failed at many attempts over a decade, I just wanted to take a moment to congratulate you. This is so wonderful, and I couldn’t be happier for you. Thank you for sharing your journey, and lessons learned . I’m now a single working mom supporting 2 young kiddos on my own, so my time has become limited; but I’ll be back :)

You tried which is more than 99.9999999%. Keep at it and focus on learning from your experiences. It will eventually come.

Re: Bootstrapping a side project into a profitable seven-figure business

#179

Post by jonkuipers » Wed, Jul 09, 2025, 5:03 PM UTC

adkaplan wrote: post #174

jonkuipers wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks so much. Really appreciate that. We’ve always wanted the tool to be accessible to anyone interested in financial planning, even just as a hobby, so it’s great to hear the basic version has been useful. Do you think it strikes the right balance between free access and a sustainable paid model?

I think your method is perfect. Having to make notes and re-enter my settings is just the right amount of frustrating, that each time I'm tempted to buy it. I think most people who are less stubborn (cheap) than I would pay the second time they need the tool. Having the free no-saving model as a public service is hopefully a win-win for you. The public has access to a financial planning tool, and if they need to take…

glad to hear it. thanks for the feedback!

Re: Bootstrapping a side project into a profitable seven-figure business

#180

Post by esseph » Wed, Jul 09, 2025, 5:10 PM UTC

javcasas wrote: post #120

SenHeng wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Persistence and Stubbornness are just different words for the same personality trait. The former is used when looked at a positive light while the latter is used in the negative. You're persistent if your project succeeded but you're stubborn if you keep at it despite unfavourable outcomes.

So the difference between the two is just luck? I apply to a thousand job offers, get rejected every time => I'm stubborn. I apply for job #1001, I get the job => I'm persistent.

Got selected => lucky

Would not have had a chance to be lucky if not => persistent