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I made a million dollar product from my dorm room (2025)

nick.winans.io

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Re: I made a million dollar product from my dorm room (2025)

#21

Post by davkan »

c7b wrote: post #8

I admit, I barely understand what the product does, much less how there's 50k people wanting this. This is a component you can use if you're building a DIY keyboard and want to make it wireless? Seems profoundly niche to me. Am I missing something? Anyway, congrats on finding and reaching your market! The Internet at its best (although part of me wishes this nerd community had found a more self-hosted way of connecti…

There’s a quite large community of custom mechanical keyboard enthusiasts. If you are familiar with the audiophile space they have similar spending habits.

Re: I made a million dollar product from my dorm room (2025)

#22

Post by the__alchemist »

For anyone out of the loop: Custom mechanical keyboard firmware/hardware have been the embedded hobby product of choice for a few years. It's a bit like sneakers, mechanical keyboards in general, etc. Or like the test-pattern boats makers create using 3d printers. If someone goes on an OSS embedded space and asks "What should I make to learn", the answer will probably be "a keyboard". My point is: This has a bigger market than you might think!

Re: I made a million dollar product from my dorm room (2025)

#23

Post by Cool_Caribou »

c7b wrote: post #8

I admit, I barely understand what the product does, much less how there's 50k people wanting this. This is a component you can use if you're building a DIY keyboard and want to make it wireless? Seems profoundly niche to me. Am I missing something? Anyway, congrats on finding and reaching your market! The Internet at its best (although part of me wishes this nerd community had found a more self-hosted way of connecti…

It was for years pretty much the only way to have a split bluetooth keyboard, the holy grail of keyboards.

Re: I made a million dollar product from my dorm room (2025)

#24

Post by Cool_Caribou »

Really cool to see. I was one of the first 1000 customers, making sure I wouldn't miss the group buy from the other side of the world. Probably the first and last group buy I will ever participate in. But at that time it was an extremely important product for an extremely small group of potential customers.

Re: I made a million dollar product from my dorm room (2025)

#26

Post by fragmede »

freetime2 wrote: post #15
c7b wrote: post #8

I admit, I barely understand what the product does, much less how there's 50k people wanting this. This is a component you can use if you're building a DIY keyboard and want to make it wireless? Seems profoundly niche to me. Am I missing something? Anyway, congrats on finding and reaching your market! The Internet at its best (although part of me wishes this nerd community had found a more self-hosted way of connecti…

> Seems profoundly niche to me. Am I missing something? As someone who dreams of someday starting a "lifestyle business", I love that it is profoundly niche. It gives me hope that I can go out and solve a problem that is important to me, but too niche for investors to bother with, and earn some money from it.

It blew my mind how much $1 million is too niche and not a lot of money the first time I heard that.

Re: I made a million dollar product from my dorm room (2025)

#27

Post by fragmede »

Topology1 wrote: post #25

This is cool, but honestly, I find it hard to believe that 50,000 units were sold.

If you find that hard to believe, keep in mind this is just one product in a rather crowded niche marketplace, so there's undoubtedly tens of thousands more similar products that have already been sold.

Re: I made a million dollar product from my dorm room (2025)

#29

Post by fragmede »

spaqin wrote: post #20
fragmede wrote: post #6

> both of these new boards that popped up are advertised as nice!nanos and are shipped with the exact same firmware I use on the nice!nano, so when someone plugs it in, it says it’s a nice!nano. Trademark dispute is the way to go. Since there were no stories about an onerous amount of returns of clones to the author, probably not worth it, but returns of clones is why it financially makes sense and not just to enrich…

That's gonna be tough; as author mentioned, they're made and sold primarily in China, for 3$ a piece (no wonder they're popular). The clones also have a different PCB design (it doesn't say nice!nano on it), so they're not that easily mistaken.

The author is incentivized to go after companies in his country selling the clones.
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