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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?

#491

I run Bear Blog [1] an opinionated, simple, and speedy blogging platform. It runs as a freemium SaaS and is turning a healthy profit. There area about 15k blogs running on the platform right now. I ran it completely free for about 2 and a half years. When I added the "upgrade" with some add-ons it jumped to $2k a month in a matter of weeks. [1] https://bearblog.dev

What do you find your customers are looking for that other blogging platforms don't provide?

As a paying customer, the combination of dead simple MD and the ability to run with my own domain. It’s easier to get a blog up than to make a sandwich.

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

#492

I run HTTP Toolkit ( https://httptoolkit.com ) which passed $2k a couple of years back. No longer a side project, as it's made enough money for me to work on it full time for a fair while now, but it certainly started that way, and it's still a one-man show (plus many wonderful open-source contributors). I suspect that'll be a common theme in answers here though: if you have a side project making $2k a month, in most…

cool tool

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

#493
We are also launching our product now. It will be available for trial on a free introductory. I don't think about monetization. Just want to make a useful product. I have created many different websites for myself. But I was always apprehensive that my sites could be hacked at any moment, and data and money from projects could be stolen. Therefore, I decided to assemble a team of experienced enthusiastic engineers and develop a scanner that protects against site destruction, theft of personal information, and implementation of data that changes the database and its content. Hope this will be helpful.

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

#494

Threads like this one always baffle me. You have to think of the competitive landscape like a jungle. All of the creatures in the jungle are looking for food, and some have far more competitive advantages than you. If you find a food source that no one else has happened to stumble upon, would you scream out that you've found it? No. If someone is asking you, it's because they want to know how they can get what you ha…

Something's making money, it is more than an an idea. it exists, it has found a small corner place in the market. someone paid for the product, not the idea.

These threads attract unique businesses, with a twist. (Almost) None have groundbreaking, earth shattering ideas. They usually have an interesting story to them. It attracts people like me, who just love to immerse myself in such conversations, stories and experiences. Maybe potential customers, if not me, could be someone I talk to.

Secrecy isn't a strong competitive advantage after you're in the market.

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

#495

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for your detailed response. I just purchased a laser marker (50W) and planning to utilize it for the customized items. I think it might justify my cost eventually. I am also thinking about the software engineering with experience vs handmade wooden / metal things to sell. But I realize I also waste time doing weird hobbies and why not make money while having fun so that would be the justification. Last ques…

Sorry for the late response, had to batch out a couple dozen trays yesterday... The answer to metal, is no. I never learned metal. It's not that I don't think I can, but I have always loved wood. It is warm and soft, and I've been a hobbyist furniture maker for almost 20 years in my spare time.

Makes sense. I started with metal (4KW fiber laser cutter) and moved to lighter stuff (CO2 cutter 150 watts) then to CNC router for wood and acrylic. Now I am enjoying wood more because of its easiness. Thanks for the answers :)

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

#496
post #488

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-t…

Woah i never heard of this. I’m the type of person who loves trying out different notes app This looks incredible I’m definitely going to use it

Thanks! More cool features coming soon.

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

#497

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would love to get into enterprise software. How did you get your first customer?

If you are a one-man shop, no you probably don't. Enterprise customers seem very lucrative and in rare cases can be, if you are working with a small department or individual with autonomy. If you find yourself being asked to make a sales presentation to an IT steering committee, run away.

Hmm,can you elaborate a bit? I know lots of people are saying that b2b is the greatest model, since businesses often are willing to pay way more than regular people. There are lots of people who make a decent living from micro-SaaS/SaaS with this business mode. From my personal experience working for companies, they often pay tons of money for quite simple software.

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

#498

Threads like this one always baffle me. You have to think of the competitive landscape like a jungle. All of the creatures in the jungle are looking for food, and some have far more competitive advantages than you. If you find a food source that no one else has happened to stumble upon, would you scream out that you've found it? No. If someone is asking you, it's because they want to know how they can get what you ha…

Extending this logic, you should never tell anybody anything about anything. Which is clearly not true, nor how humans work. One simple reason to post: For every potential competitor reading about your project, there are thousands of potential customers.

> One simple reason to post: For every potential competitor reading about your project, there are thousands of potential customers.

If you’re happy with your existing cash flow this point seems less relevant; the better choice would then be to protect your competitive advantage and stay hidden, right?

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

#499

I run HTTP Toolkit ( https://httptoolkit.com ) which passed $2k a couple of years back. No longer a side project, as it's made enough money for me to work on it full time for a fair while now, but it certainly started that way, and it's still a one-man show (plus many wonderful open-source contributors). I suspect that'll be a common theme in answers here though: if you have a side project making $2k a month, in most…

Is it possible to make this tool work as a system-wide proxy - like Fiddler? Right now it does not support portable versions of browsers - only normally installed ones.

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

#500
post #499

I run HTTP Toolkit ( https://httptoolkit.com ) which passed $2k a couple of years back. No longer a side project, as it's made enough money for me to work on it full time for a fair while now, but it certainly started that way, and it's still a one-man show (plus many wonderful open-source contributors). I suspect that'll be a common theme in answers here though: if you have a side project making $2k a month, in most…

Is it possible to make this tool work as a system-wide proxy - like Fiddler? Right now it does not support portable versions of browsers - only normally installed ones.

You can proxy anything, it's just the "intercept the entire system" isn't automated here (because targeted interception is usually preferable).

For system-wide setup, you'll just need to configure that manually - setting your system proxy and trusting the CA certificate. The settings you need are on the Intercept page, in the 'Anything' section. For portable browsers, you may also be able to configure proxy & CA settings within the browser itself, which might be more convenient, depending on your setup.

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