My rollercoaster journey from $0 to $30k/mo, then back to $0
In 2020, I was laid off from my bartender job during the Covid lockdown.
Suddenly I had a lot of time on my hands, and so I decided to code up a SaaS.
My product was Zlappo, a Twitter growth tool offering a suite of tools for power users, including advanced analytics, viral tweet repository, thread previews, auto-retweets, auto-plugs, etc.
I didn't have an email list or a Twitter following when I launched, so I had to get creative with how I got the initial word out and signed up my first 10 users.
It was a grind starting from absolute scratch.
What worked for me ($0-$1k/mo a.k.a. initial traction)
A. Twitter Guerrilla Marketing
Since my product was a Twitter-specific tool, it was only natural that I started marketing on Twitter.
I employed 3 successful tactics that worked to get my first 10 paying customers:
- Sending DMs - I searched creator/marketing Lists and just directly sent DMs to users, telling them about how my product can help them to up their Twitter game. In order to make them feel special, I created a personalized link with a personalized promo code for them to get a discount upon signing up. This boosted my response rate. I did this for hours every day until I got rate-limited for spamming, then rinse and repeat for the next day.
- Using Twitter search - One of the defining features of my product was the ability to schedule threads, which back in 2020 was a feature gap in most leading competitors. So I bookmarked a Twitter search link for the keywords "schedule threads," and every morning I responded to these tweets and plugged my product. This got visits to my site immediately, as I was helping them out directly with a problem that they had.
- Tweet source label - Every tweet posted by my app borne my app name (it said "Zlappo.com") on the bottom-right of every tweet. If you're a Twitter user, you're probably familiar with the "Twitter for iPhone" source label that tweets used to have -- until Elon ruined it (more on this guy later...).
And just like that, I've seeded my app with its initial users who are using my app, paying me monthly, and offering their feedback freely and enthusiastically.
Notice how I never did any content creation, wrote threads, did profile optimization, etc.
B. Really Fine-Tuning the Product
Once I got my first few initial users, I think the most important thing that really accelerated my path to $1k MRR, as a solo founder, was to focus 80-90% of my time/effort on getting the product right, transforming a wonky MVP to a passable/good-enough product that can compete in the marketplace.
Here are some specific things I did:
- I filled in feature gaps so that my product is state-of-the-art for my product category, using customer feedback as my guide -- I worked on the most-requested features first.
- I fixed every bug reported, even if I considered it edge-case (nothing is "edge-case" if a customer encountered it).
- I sped up the site as much as I could, rewriting/refactoring tons of my code to utilize more efficient database queries for instance, adding more RAM/processing power to my server, caching generously, enabling gzip, minification, etc. etc.
- I continually updated the UI/UX if I had a customer emailing me about something that was unintuitive or confusing.
In my opinion, having the product on point was my #1 way of user retention and also to encourage users to proudly share my app with their friends.
What worked for me ($1k-$30k/mo a.k.a. scaling)
C. Affiliate Program
Once I had a small base of die-hard users, I created a generous affiliate program:
- I paid a fat 50% recurring monthly commission to incentivize my users to share and promote my product.
- I also provided double-sided incentive, in that every referred user gets 60-day free trial right off the bat (instead of the usual 30 days).
Soon enough there were users who tweeted constantly, wrote blog reviews, created YouTube reviews, and even ran paid ads to drive traffic to my site.
I assisted them by providing graphics, screenshots, copy, and also creating a simple affiliate dashboard where they can view their affiliate stats and redeem their commissions at any time using a one-click interface.
D. Appsumo Lifetime Deals
I also ran an AppSumo Marketplace deal which eventually accounted for 50%-80% of my monthly revenue, depending on the month.
I could obviously sell lifetime deals on my own (which I did), but selling on AppSumo had several advantages:
- It legitimized my nascent app.
- It helped me garner 5-star reviews/testimonials.
- It got affiliates to link back to my site and thus drive traffic.
- It also increased the visibility for my brand by running paid ads on my behalf.
- It jumpstarted word of mouth like crazy, as I later discovered "Zlappo" was mentioned so often within these lifetime deal groups on Facebook.
- Don't forget... the revenue! I would have never hit $30k/mo without the boost that AppSumo gave my deal during times like AppSumo week and Black Friday sales.
Absolutely worth it, 10/10.
E. Email Marketing
As my user base grew into the thousands, email marketing turned out to be massively valuable.
I now had thousands of email addresses to leverage on, to whom I could blast offers or update emails.
I wrote a custom script to send emails to my user base who have trialed but not upgraded, or churned, and I periodically send out offers, discounts, product updates, etc. to get them to re-engage with my product.
And I regained many customers this way.
My downfall ($30k/mo to $0)
My business had been humming along fine for ~3 years... until late-March this year, when Elon Musk announced that Twitter API access would no longer be free but will cost $42,000/mo.
Well shit, my entire business was built on top of Twitter, and there was no way I could pay $42k/mo.
That's a brand-new Tesla every single month!
So with a heavy heart, and after many sleepless nights, I decided that I had to shut down Zlappo, or at least deprecate like 80% of my features, which angered a lot of users and led to massive churn (the churn is still going on as we speak).
My 3-year entrepreneurship journey had ended in failure, and to say I was sad was a massive understatement.
But god damn what a ride it was.
Lessons learned
The most important lesson I learned was to never hitch my star on another company's wagon.
Never have all your eggs in one basket, never have a single point of failure.
If I had diversified early (and integrated Facebook, Instagram, Google My Business, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc. into my product), I might have been able to attract a broad-enough customer base who wouldn't care too much if Twitter was deprecated.
Platform risk is very real, and, although it was a risk I undertook, it was quite unexpected that Elon Musk would buy Twitter, let alone cut off API access.
But it happened, and it can't unhappen, so I saw only 3 ways forward for me:
- Build my next business
- Give up and get a job for life
- Just pack it in, call it a good life, and take a long walk off a short pier
I'm very far from 3, I'd rather die than to settle for 2, so realistically 1 is my only option.
If you want to follow my journey as a 3rd-time founder, I'm currently building Zylvie.
If you're a creator of any sort who sells stuff online, I invite you to please come along for the ride. 😎
Otherwise, I'm open for questions if anyone wants to know anything in particular!
After 19,314 lines of code, i'm shutting down my project
Need feedback for my product.
40 open-source gems to replace your SaaS subscriptions 🔥 🚀
We are live on Product Hunt
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bro, is it typical for so many comments to sound like bots??? Your story was an interesting read, but I don’t know if it warrants all these people eating it up like this. These comments feels somewhat fake; do you feel that?
I didn't want to call them out, but I agree, these days it's hard to tell a genuine human response from a GPT response. 👀
Truly a rollercoaster journey. Good luck going forward!
Thanks, my man.
What a rollercoaster, indeed! But, you achieved something with Zlappo that many will be unable to say they've achieved, in $30K/mo. Be proud of that, and take those learnings and lessons into Zylvie and you'll eclipse $50K/mo in no time! 💪 Thanks for sharing your story!
Hahaha, you really have a sweet way with words.
Thanks man, I'll try my best.
Sounds like a resounding success to me. I particularly like the tenacious, "do this every day" parts of the story. Inspiring.
The tech stack is python+django, I like it.
How do you know?
Jay, thank you for this article, I wish you success with your next business!
Wow, Jay! Your journey from $0 to $30k/month and back is a rollercoaster indeed, filled with valuable insights and experiences. Your resilience and creativity in marketing Zlappo, especially during those initial stages, is truly admirable. The guerrilla marketing tactics on Twitter and the relentless focus on refining your product were key elements of your success story.
It's inspiring to see how you adapted and scaled, incorporating an affiliate program and leveraging platforms like AppSumo. Your use of email marketing to re-engage users showcased your business acumen. The lessons you've shared about diversifying and mitigating platform risks are invaluable for aspiring entrepreneurs.
The setback with Twitter's API changes was a tough pill to swallow, but your determination to build something new, like Zylvie, shows your entrepreneurial spirit remains unbroken. Wishing you all the best on this exciting new venture! Can't wait to follow your journey and see what amazing things you'll accomplish with Zylvie.
Thank you for sharing your story and the lessons you've learned. Looking forward to more updates and insights from you!
Thanks for sharing your journey!
Good luck with the next business!
Thank you, Lia.
“This is not a failure, it is just a course correction.” I just have a question: Were you a programmer or did you learn programming after you were laid off from work? 👍
I was a programmer who hadn't programmed for 6 years at that point.
So yes and no. 😅
This is interesting 🤔😁
Wow, your journey from bartender to SaaS founder to facing the harsh reality of platform risk is both inspiring and cautionary. It's incredible how you bootstrapped your way to $30k/mo, especially focusing on product improvement based on real user feedback. The twist was unforeseen, but it perfectly illustrates why you can't afford to depend entirely on a single platform. Looking forward to hearing about your next venture, Zylvie! 🚀
Man, that's quite the rollercoaster with Zlappo. It's rough how things turned with the Twitter API pricing. But kudos to you for the hustle and getting it to where it was.
Your lessons on platform risk hit home. It's a tough reminder for all of us .
Looking forward to seeing what you do with Zylvie. Keep at it!
Wow, Jay! Your story with Zlappo had me hooked from start to finish. It's incredible how quickly fortunes can change in the world of startups. That jump from bartending to building a SaaS tool is gutsy, and hitting $30k/mo is no small feat. Best of luck, mate! 🍻
Great stuff
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
I don't think you should be calling it a failure. You have not only got a lot of learnings but you also have an email list of active people, you can sell them a lot of other stuff.
Good luck with all your future endeavors!
Can I ask what tech stack you used to build both of the products?
It seems this time your product is dependent on Stripe. As a starting point, it's great to outsource extra things. But you should be considering having some alternative if things go wrong with Stripe. Just a suggestion...
I'm already integrating PayPal as we speak!
My tech stack:
Loved your story man!
From 0 to $30k/m is a really tough task but you did it. Congrats for the success and good luck for your next venture.
Wow, Jay, your journey is both inspiring and humbling.
The lessons learned from this experience will undoubtedly be invaluable in shaping the success of your future projects. Best of luck in the future!
Thanks for Sharing. What an incredible journey. Sorry that it ended like this, but I'm very confident that you'll build something again. Builders like you will rise again.
Thanks for sharing! Really inspiring yet heartbreaking but I'm glad you're embarking on another project and I'm sure to check it out :)
I was wondering did you do any sort of market validation before building your product and doing "Twitter Guerrilla Marketing"? Thanks!
Hah, yes I did.
In fact, let me dig out this post on Indie Hackers all the way back from 2019:
https://www.indiehackers.com/post/is-there-a-market-for-my-idea-bad347b3b6
unbelievable, from a bartender to the founder of a SaaS company , did you complete all the coding work by yourself , How did you learn ?
impressive~thanks for sharing your story.
Best wishes for Zylvie.
Incredible story! Thanks so much for sharing and best of luck with Zylvie, as you start your next adventure.
Curious to know, did you learn to code as part of your first product? Or did you build skills prior to starting your indie journey? Thanks!
I learned to code before my first product, actually.
Zlappo was my 2nd, my first was all the way back in 2011 (which was also profitable).
So yeah, it's been a long journey.
Thats why building in public and leveraging your current success for social media followers or emails is very important.
Its like insurance in case your product suddenly failed, you still have the audience who know you and trust your product, so your next ventures will be much easier to market and test out.
So feel free to follow me on twitter @AzharJow and if you are a blogger checkout my automated seo tool creativeblogtopic.com
Thanks for sharing.
Totally with you on how risky it is to put all your eggs in one big platform's basket. I'm pretty dependent on Amazon and it's a constant concern.
The same thing applies to customer acquisition channels. Relying too much on a single channel is a high-risk game.
Well on the bright side, it's nothing if nothing happens.
But it's everything if something happens.
Lots of lessons here. Thanks for sharing and all the best with Zylvie
It's absolutely not a failure! You did everything right and any lessons learned will make your next project even stronger
Nah, it is a failure, and I take full responsibility for it.
It's important to call a spade a spade.
I appreciate your kind words though. 😀
Thanks for sharing, jay.
Thanks for sharing. With $30k/mo you probably accumulated good savings to go at it again, so nothing is lost. Good luck.
I did save a lot, so yes.
It's a privilege to be able to bootstrap a startup with proceeds from another startup, which I am doing now.
Super awesome journey! Thanks for sharing Jay. It’s really valuable insight.
Also, I vouch for you on building Zylvie. Keep going man!
Thank you so much!
Thanks for sharing your story!
How are you planning on getting your initial users for your new venture? The same way as before?
My initial soft launch was launching Zylvie to 8,000+ Zlappo users via email marketing.
I had 100+ sign-ups in the first 24 hours doing that, and many users uploaded their products and connected their Stripe accounts.
But soon I discovered my MVP was far from sufficient (in terms of feature set) to convince users to switch over from other platforms like Gumroad.
So now my #1 priority is to build a short-term roadmap for Zylvie based on user feedback, fulfill it, and then do another marketing push to see if it moves the needle.
I also created a twitter growth tool after Elon, I tried to market it but I failed, the price hikes ruined the competition and my project.
Awesome to hear how well you did, but also so sorry to hear how everything ended.
Yes, platform risk is huge and I don’t think enough people understand it until it happens to them. It’s happened to me and it sucks. Pls diversify.
Best of luck in any future endeavors
I'm really sorry this happened to you, taking an indie project from $0 to $30k is a huge achievement! Congrats, you're a success in my book. Curious to see what you do next.
Thanks man, I wouldn't call it a success, more like quick flame-out + crash and burn.
Definitely aiming to build something more sustainable next time!
I guess that's the downside of relying too much on 1 company 's services, nice share great story.
Keep pushing
Did you ever consider trying to pay the 42k? It's not to far away from 30k, with some of the competition probably gone with the new pricing as well.
Not really.
The trust has been completely lost.
Who's to say that Elon won't hike the price again tomorrow, or completely change the rate limits, or even just cut off API access completely?
It's all equally likely!
I'd much rather not hitch my future and livelihood to the capricious and unpredictable whims of an eccentric billionaire.
I prefer to sleep soundly at night.
Plus I should not double-down on a flawed business model.
I should just move on and build a more sustainable business, armed with my lessons and knowledge from this one, instead of being overly-attached to my last one.
Really good read thanks. Best of luck with Zylvie
Wow just checked it out. Stunning landing page. One of the best I’ve seen on IH. The product might actually be useful for me in the near future too.
edit: I’ve just noticed the menu is transparent on Safari iOS so the text is on top of more text and it’s hard to read. Hope this helps.
Will fix this very soon!
That was hard to read :(
In that sense I am building my product that relies totally on Notion.
Anyway, best for the next one!
A journey as an entrepreneur brings many ups and downs. Definitely more than anyone would need. :D Great that you managed to restart after the shock. When we founded our first startup, we didn't understand why there were so many serial entrepreneurs. We wanted our first startup to remain the only one and become really big. It has grown, but not become huge. But we've learned so much and we have so many ideas for new products that I understand why many founders start multiple companies. It is work and passion at the same time. You have to learn to appreciate shocks as a new opportunity... Good luck with your new product! #elonfree ;)
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Thank you!