From full-time job to full-time maker and back to a job again — with a side
hustle
Mattia Righetti went from full-time job to freelancing to building products, and now he's back to a full-time job — with a side hustle. He launched BlackTwist last year and is currently bringing in $2k MRR.
Here's Mattia on how he's doing it.
Scratching his own itch
I'm an indie maker from Italy. I studied IT back at school, then worked as a graphic designer for a while, turned freelance marketer for six years, and finally took the leap and started building little projects on the internet.
Over the years, I've built and launched several projects; some flopped, some paid the bills, but all of them taught me something.
I started small with info products related to Twitter because I knew a SaaS would take a while to make money. I marketed them on Twitter, and sold them through Gumroad, which made me about $2.5k, but burned out three months in and spent most of 2023 off recovering.
After that, I tried a newsletter and sold sponsorships. Then I built an AI tool which I recently discontinued (it made about $1k total before shutting it down).
Finally, in 2024, I started BlackTwist out of personal frustration — that's always the case with my ideas and projects. My cofounder and I noticed Threads creators were flying blind. Meta’s own analytics were broken and nobody really knew what was working. So we decided to fix it and help creators manage and grow their Threads accounts. We basically built the tool that we wished existed.
I was living off savings for a while to make it happen, and was about to launch an MVP service, when I got approached for a Product Manager position and I took it. Removing the money pressure off my shoulders was a good choice because we've more than doubled our MRR since then.
Today, BlackTwist is currently at about $2k MRR.
Validating via pre-sale
We validated the need for BlackTwist with a simple pre-sale on Threads.
We announced the product and opened a waiting list in mid-May 2024. By the end of May, we added proper branding with domain, name, and logo. By mid-June, we opened a private pre-sale to people on the waiting list. And one week later, we went public with increased prices and limited spots.
By July 1st, we officially launched the product with 38 customers already on board. It still blows my mind what we did in just two weeks and four emails. To give you some numbers:
120 subscribers on the waiting list
70%+ average open rate across all emails
18 "early" lifetime deals + 1 agency plan ($199)
38 customers total
$3.7k in pre-sales before writing a single line of code
That initial momentum made all the difference! Here's the full pre-launch story.
Building the MVP
We built the MVP with NextJS, Prisma, and shadcn/ui: simple, fast, and nothing fancy.
The first version had just two things:
A basic writing editor to draft posts
A calendar to see all the posts scheduled
A few weeks later, we added a dashboard with the limited data that the Threads API gave us.
The goal was to get it in front of people fast and see if they cared.
Early users gave tons of feedback that shaped what we built next, mostly on improving the scheduling, UX, and what metrics to show. They were really just requesting what other social media tools already had, but it improved their experience and helped us to get a foot in the door.
Today, our stack is NextJS, TypeScript, Prisma, PostgreSQL, Vercel, shadcn/ui, and Claude. Still lightweight, just more refined.
Visibility is make-or-break
I'd say distribution is always the hardest part of building a product. It might seem obvious, but visibility is what makes or breaks your journey.
You can build the best product ever, but if nobody sees it, it doesn’t matter.
For BlackTwist, we grew mainly by showing up on Threads itself. We already had a 30k+ following on X (combined), so we kinda knew what we had to do there.
"Building in public" is not a post-and-they-come strategy. It means:
Sharing sneak peeks and videos of your product
Asking questions to understand your audience's needs
Showing your progress — for example, in finding the name and domain, or building the features
Being transparent about your numbers, successes, and also failures
Being part of the community every day
Word of mouth helped too. Creators started recommending us to each other. We haven't done much to push that, we made something people loved enough to share it organically. And I guess that's the trick: Make a really good product.
We also share revenue with affiliates, both free and paid users, who bring others in.
Overengineering
If I had to sum it up with one lesson: Don’t overthink it.
It's easy to get stuck planning the perfect feature, UX, messaging, or launch. But none of that matters if no one finds value in what you've built.
Keep things light, and ship even if it feels half-baked or crappy.
As a perfectionist, I find it super challenging. But you’ll learn more from ten real users than from ten days (or ten weeks) of planning.
I procrastinated and "planned" this life for 6 years before starting, and I regret not doing it earlier.
Now, I'm moving quickly. And for BlackTwist, I could say that shipping fast, even if imperfectly, has been our biggest advantage.
Parting advice
Two things I’d tell anyone starting out:
It’s cliché, but talk to your users. Every single call, DM, or email has taught me something that moved the product forward.
Don’t underestimate momentum: Even small projects that go nowhere help you learn and compound over time.
What's next?
Our goal with BlackTwist is to become the go-to tool for Threads creators. Right now, we're focused on reaching $5k MRR, and longer term, we'd love to achieve $500k ARR within the next 2-3 years.
Personally, my goal is pretty indie: to grow sustainable, profitable products that give me the freedom to keep building.
You can follow along on my personal Threads or the BlackTwist Threads account and my personal blog. And check out BlackTwist!
Leave a Comment
I shared a few behind-the-scenes before shipping and immediately iterated on the first feedback after launch. Hope it helps!
Really appreciate this honest breakdown, Mattia. It’s refreshing to see someone normalize going back to a job without framing it as failure. Validating before building and focusing on visibility are great takeaways — definitely lessons more makers should keep in mind.
Leaving your job is a difficult decision, I'm in a rock and a hrd plave right now trying to build my own product and learning about the industry everyday. Noted aobut talking to your users, it's an active form of engagement I am actively getting behind in order to mitigate any errors down the line.
no job, creating something till not getting a new job :D that's me.
my new micro saas is 'bankstatementconverterai (dot) online)
so basically without a huge follower base, this would have been muuuuch tougher! so i realize that nowadays as a indie hacker you either need ninja seo skills or many followers…
Good!
Thank you for sharing.
This post really resonated with me. I also left my job to work on something I believed in (a marketing automation project for freelancers), and I totally get that mix of excitement and anxiety you mentioned.
Thanks for being honest — not everyone shares the "back to a job" side of the story.
Thanks for the kind words, YaQ! It's not an easy challenge :)
This journey is inspiring, showing how shifting from a full-time job to a maker lifestyle and managing a side hustle takes determination. It highlights that success is not always straightforward and adaptability is key. As someone creating tools myself, I find motivation in stories of people who take risks, evolve, and keep moving forward. Thank you for sharing how you handled uncertainty and found balance.
Appreciate the support 😊😊
As someone who is always cross-posting from his IG to Threads, I found it very random. Sometimes it pops off; most of the time, Threads doesn't. Is there a better way to gain traction on Threads? For example, similar to X, where engaging in conversations is more important than posting?
You said it perfectly: "engaging in conversations is more important than posting" :)
Also, I do not and won't cross-post the same content to two or more platforms. Different audiences, mainly. Cross-posting "works" only if you're not active on such a platform, I guess
Great
That’s a solid story — switching from full-time job to maker life and then balancing both with a side hustle takes courage and grit. It shows that success isn’t linear, and being flexible is a strength. As someone building creative tools myself, I’m inspired by how people pivot, iterate, and keep going. Thanks for sharing how you navigated uncertainty and found a balance.
The most challenging thing was definitely surviving and restarting a few times, but glad it's finally working 🤞
so good
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Really enjoyed this story. Mattia’s balance between a full-time job and a growing side project feels genuine and realistic. Taking off the money pressure clearly helped him build with focus. The pre-sale approach was smart too. Real proof that community trust matters more than fancy features.
love how you turned frustration into $2k MRR...
Really inspiring read! Love how you validated with pre-sales before writing a line of code — true indie hacker spirit. The way you turned personal frustration into a solid product and stayed close to users throughout the journey is admirable. Your point about not overthinking and just shipping really hits home — execution truly is everythingThanks for sharing such an honest and practical story, it’s motivating to see how momentum and consistency can make all the difference.
thank you dear but i have a million of ideas about busnisse and stock market and .Thanks for appreciation.
What a great journey! It’s always exciting to see someone turn real problems into meaningful products. I really like how you focused on validating early and listening to users instead of chasing perfection. Your story shows that staying consistent and learning from each step matters far more than getting everything right the first time. Truly inspiring work!
Such an inspiring story! It’s amazing how you validated the idea through pre-sales before even starting development — that’s the real indie hacker mindset. Turning your own frustration into a useful product and staying closely connected with users shows real dedication. Your message about taking action instead of overthinking really stands out — execution is what truly drives results. Appreciate you sharing this open and practical journey; it’s a great reminder of how consistency and momentum lead to real growth.
Hi!
If someone wants to grow their business, like a US-based company that makes custom apps and websites for startups and small businesses, how can they start working in countries like Japan or the Middle East? Really want to understand what steps can help to enter these markets and connect with local people or small companies. Other than using LinkedIn or email, are there better ways to find local partners, build trust, or get noticed by startups there?
Totally agree with you — building something great isn’t enough if no one sees it. And yes, each call, DM, or email is like free user research that helps improve the product. The path may be full of failures, but consistent effort is what separates those who win in the long run.
Really related to this arc; job → full-time maker → job + side hustle is a sane way to protect cash flow and keep the creative fire alive. The part that stood out: you didn’t treat going back as failure; you treated it as adding constraints (time box, clear offer, one channel) so the side project stays fun and actually ships.
Two things I’m curious about:
What single constraint helped most this time; a weekly ship ritual, a strict scope, or one distribution channel?
If you had to pick one leading indicator for “it’s working,” is it recurring revenue, inbound from strangers, or a 4-week shipping streak?
P.S. I’m with Buzz; we build conversion-focused Webflow sites and pragmatic SEO for product launches. Happy to share a tight 10-point GTM checklist if useful.
"You can build the best product ever, but if nobody sees it, it doesn’t matter" and "Every single call, DM, or email has taught me something that moved the product forward."....these actually suffice the entire article. Hundreds of hurdles appear when you want a product to scale, but from my experience I think if you remain consistent, even with consistent failures, success starts to show - first in small numbers, then in large. A nice read and all the best with BlackTwist...
A side hustle is sometimes considered like a backup plan for when things go wrong at the main job. And personally I think it's the best, because things change too fast and we don't want to feel a gap when speaking of income.
That’s a really inspiring journey — it shows true persistence and adaptability through every stage of your indie-making path. Balancing creativity, burnout recovery, and business growth isn’t easy, but your story reflects how each project adds to your experience and resilience. Building something like BlackTwist from personal frustration into a growing product is the essence of indie success.
I also share a passion for digital creativity and community-driven projects — you can check out more ideas and insights at robbloxapkpro dot com.
Inspiring journey! Shows the balance between stability and pursuing side hustles
Absolutely love this story — it’s inspiring to see how you turned personal challenges into real products. The journey from flops to $2k MRR with BlackTwist shows true persistence and passion. It’s a great reminder that success often comes from solving your own problems first. Keep building — your process and mindset are motivating for every indie maker out there!
Thanks!
Really relatable, I went through the same cycle while building Vettio, it's AI-driven HR automation tool. Balancing stability and building was tough, but focusing on automating one painful workflow (candidate follow-ups) kept me going. Curious what helped you keep momentum after returning to a full-time role?
The job is to pay the bills (and get back to a comfortable life because without money it used to s**k, to be honest), while I'm growing BlackTwist for the future 💪
Your journey is super relatable testing projects, learning from flops, and managing burnout is part of the indie maker path. The key now is pacing yourself so you can keep building without draining your energy. With your marketing and design skills, even small consistent steps will add up.
And since so much indie work happens on mobile, it might be worth upgrading your setup you can always shop iPhone from our store to keep things smooth.
Indie work happens on a computer, sorry :D
This comment was deleted 17 hours ago