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Ask HN: Side project of more than $2k monthly revenue? what's your project?

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Re: Ask HN: Side project of more than $2k monthly revenue? what's your project?

#2
I run Buttondown (buttondown.email) full-time now, but until this past year it was a side project for me alongside my day job as an IC (later EM).

It took...around two and a half years, I think, to hit $2k/mo MRR. It was definitely not the stereotypical "launch → iterate a bit → boom, PMF" story that you often hear, which was fine because it was 'just' a side project and I didn't have to worry about running out of money or time.

Re: Ask HN: Side project of more than $2k monthly revenue? what's your project?

#3
post #2

I run Buttondown (buttondown.email) full-time now, but until this past year it was a side project for me alongside my day job as an IC (later EM). It took...around two and a half years, I think, to hit $2k/mo MRR. It was definitely not the stereotypical "launch → iterate a bit → boom, PMF" story that you often hear, which was fine because it was 'just' a side project and I didn't have to worry about running out of mo…

Looks nice! Congrats :)

Re: Ask HN: Side project of more than $2k monthly revenue? what's your project?

#4
I'm the founder of the open-source and cross-platform note-taking app https://www.get-notes.com (written in Qt C++).

I earn about $2000 a month from ads on the landing page (organic SEO), but very soon plan to add a subscription for pro features (while people could still compile it from source and get the full experience without paying, if they wish).

I started the project 8 years ago to create a slick looking note-taking app for myself on Linux. Then I open-sourced and published it, and it just took off and got popular (more than 1.2 Million downloads).

Took around 2 years to get a high rank on Google. Then it was just a matter of putting ads (which I don't like but my income relies on) and ever since it's been quite stable.

Re: Ask HN: Side project of more than $2k monthly revenue? what's your project?

#5
post #2

I run Buttondown (buttondown.email) full-time now, but until this past year it was a side project for me alongside my day job as an IC (later EM). It took...around two and a half years, I think, to hit $2k/mo MRR. It was definitely not the stereotypical "launch → iterate a bit → boom, PMF" story that you often hear, which was fine because it was 'just' a side project and I didn't have to worry about running out of mo…

I never hear that story. But I hear the 2 year one alot. The advantage of getting older is time is at warp speed so 2 years is nothing ha ha!

Re: Ask HN: Side project of more than $2k monthly revenue? what's your project?

#7
post #2

I run Buttondown (buttondown.email) full-time now, but until this past year it was a side project for me alongside my day job as an IC (later EM). It took...around two and a half years, I think, to hit $2k/mo MRR. It was definitely not the stereotypical "launch → iterate a bit → boom, PMF" story that you often hear, which was fine because it was 'just' a side project and I didn't have to worry about running out of mo…

Looks amazing, good job man :) I'm actually way more motivated by seeing a post like this where you specifically say it took effort and time to build something meaningful, than seeing "10k$ MRR in a week, no-code" crap that we get bombarded with lately. Keep up the good work!

Re: Ask HN: Side project of more than $2k monthly revenue? what's your project?

#9
post #2

I run Buttondown (buttondown.email) full-time now, but until this past year it was a side project for me alongside my day job as an IC (later EM). It took...around two and a half years, I think, to hit $2k/mo MRR. It was definitely not the stereotypical "launch → iterate a bit → boom, PMF" story that you often hear, which was fine because it was 'just' a side project and I didn't have to worry about running out of mo…

Really nice!
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