Wasting $300k on the way to $20k/mo

Maciej Cupial tried to build Calendesk in a hurry. To do that, he invested — and wasted — nearly everything he had. About $300k.

Now, he’s focusing on slow, sustainable, bootstrapped growth. He's bringing in ~$20k/mo and he only works four hours per day.

Let’s take a peek at his finances. 👇

Burning $300k

Calendesk isn’t Maciej’s first business. He started with a brokerage business that was bringing in $500k-$700k/yr. And with 33% of the company, he was making about $150k/yr.

But he felt like he had reached the limit of personal growth with it and he wasn’t enjoying the work anymore. So he sold his shares for $150k.

After that, he ran several local businesses and invested heavily in real estate, flipping apartments.

His savings from all of this — about $300k — was invested into Calendesk.

💰 "My lack of SaaS experience led me to deplete my savings quickly, pushing me into bankruptcy. Looking back, I think starting without money might have helped me avoid many mistakes." — Maciej

He assembled a team of 10, including backend and frontend developers, iOS and Android developers, a DevOps expert, a marketing person, a cofounder, and him. The idea was to build Calendesk within 3-4 months, launch it, and rake in the profit.

And yes, he does admit that he was being naive.

💰 "I was building a product I didn't fully understand. I was so confident in my business experience that I overlooked tasks I could do myself, aiming to start a trendy startup rather than concentrating on what truly mattered — engaging with customers and refining the product." — Maciej

After five months, he realized he was going to run out of money and he wasn’t even close to finishing the product. He had to face reality. He let everyone go, little by little, then pivoted the idea, and pretty much started over.

It wasn’t a total loss, though.

💰 "It turned out to be a great learning experience for me. I learned a lot about myself and became more humble. It was an expensive lesson, but I think it was something I needed in my life." — Maciej

He hit rock bottom. He was out of money, relying on credit cards to get by.

So he moved to the Canary Islands, isolated himself for a year, eventually took a position as a fractional CTO ($4k/mo) to pay the bills, and finished the project.

Here are his key learnings from crashing and burning:

• Don't spend too much

• Stay humble

• Keep your job (and income)

• Listen to customers

Hard numbers

Let's take a look at what he’s bringing in now:

• Calendesk revenue: $14k MRR (~$20k/mo total with non-recurring revenue)

• Other sources of income: $300k (personal funding - now spent)

• Founder pay: Up to $5k/mo

• Business bank account: $10k-$20k

• Personal bank account: $20k

The difference between his revenue and MRR is due to extra packages and services that he offers for one-time fees. These include notification packages and configuration options.

Here are his business expenses:

• SEO agency: ~$1500/mo

• UI/UX designer: ~$1500/mo (currently changing their product page)

• Bookkeeper: $500/mo

• Misc outsourcing (marketing, etc.): $1000/mo

• Paid Ads: ~$400/mo

• Servers: $0 (using free credits from Microsoft For Startups), but will soon be ~$1000/mo

• Customer notifications: ~$1000/mo

• Misc tools (Chartmogul, Sendgrid, Google Workspace, etc.): $300/mo

And here are his personal expenses:

• Rent: $650 (lives with partner, so 50% rent)/mo

• Bills: $300/mo

• Food: $1,000/mo

• Health (gym, physio, etc.): $400/mo

• Travel: $1,000/mo

• Insurance: $150/mo

Spend on long-term solutions

You may have noticed that his business expenses are quite high. Most of that comes from outsourcing.

💰 "I'm all about investing in long-term solutions." — Maciej

He says SEO has already boosted his visibility enough to bring in organic traffic and customers.

And design is not in his wheelhouse, so he has to outsource that.

💰 "We've minimized costs by using ready-made frameworks, but when it comes to the product page and key features, I'd rather rely on someone with more expertise." — Maciej

As for bookkeeping, well, he’s not about to tackle the Polish tax system himself.

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Invest via the business

Maciej always focuses on salaries, first and foremost.

💰 "It's essential for me to ensure my own stability first. I aim to live comfortably, opting for gradual growth while maintaining a certain standard of living, rather than pursuing rapid expansion at the cost of minimizing my salary. In the end we are building businesses to live better, right?" — Maciej

But after that, he invests in crypto via his business. This has tax benefits.

💰 "In Poland, the income tax for an LLC is 9%, whereas for an individual, it's around 19%. I also invest personally, but I like to diversify things." — Maciej

So Calendesk invests in BTC and ETH. And Maciej also plans to invest in stocks, bonds, and real estate in the future.

The way he sees it, he can liquidate the investments later and reinvest it in the business. And in the meantime, he’s making money.

Crypto mistakes

Maciej has about $80k of personal money tied up in crypto. 60% is Ethereum because he believes in the technology. Another 20% is in Bitcoin, and the remaining 20% is spread across various altcoins.

He invested it before he went broke. He could have pulled the money out when he was struggling, but he didn’t.

💰 "I preferred to go into credit card debt than sell my crypto, lol." — Maciej

He says he made a big mistake when investing it, though — he invested when it was at a peak. Soon after investing, it went down to $30k. He decided to leave it until he was up again. And now, he’s waiting for the right time to realize the profits.

He also invests a bit in the S&P 500, but not much.

But he isn’t investing in his retirement.

💰 "I don't plan to retire. I'm more focused on creating things that provide a steady income, like SaaS businesses." — Maciej

He’s also working on building up an emergency fund.

Alongside this, he's also working on building up his emergency fund. That’s why he currently has $20k in his personal account. He tries to maintain that balance, as it makes him feel more secure.

Spending and debt

Maciej doesn’t have any debt, but that doesn’t mean he’s never been in debt. Twice in his life, he’s had $100k of it.

The first debt came from school.

💰 "I grew up in a family that didn't have much money and couldn't help me much after I finished high school. I really wanted to get a good education because I believed it was the key to a better life. But I wouldn't go to a university now if I had the choice again. You can learn so much online as an indie hacker." — Maciej

The second time was when he was earning more. He got caught up in the lifestyle.

💰 "Banks kept offering me credit cards and loans, and I kept accepting them. I loved the life where I could spend money on clothes, travels, gadgets, and food. I ended up in a cycle of debt, using one loan to pay off another. If I hadn't started my own business — the brokerage company — I'd still be in debt today." — Maciej

He learned from his mistakes and, these days, Maciej doesn't spend much. He doesn’t own an apartment, car, or anything else that could be a headache. He loves his ability to grab his backpack and laptop and change his surroundings whenever he wants.

💰 "Fewer things means fewer problems." — Maciej

To keep costs low, he avoids luxury items and expensive hotels.

But he doesn’t hold back on his health. Anything that can keep him healthy is worth it to him — healthy food, gyms, experts, trackers, etc.

Also, coffee. He’ll happily drop money on specialty coffee from really good coffee shops.

Money comes from working smart

In the past, Maciej has worked really hard on things that didn’t really make sense. Now, he’s very careful before he starts something. He recommends Simon Sinek’s book, "Start With Why".

💰 "I think money comes from working smart and being consistent; not just from working hard." — Maciej

He currently works 4 hours per day. How?

💰 "Build a SaaS business. Automate it. Hire people. And then oversee things." — Maciej

That, and be okay with growing slowly.

💰 "I prefer to make slow progress, building a business that grows sustainably, on my rules." — Maciej

He actually wants to decrease his hours even more — to a few hours per week. And he plans to do that by finding someone to take over his role completely.

💰 "I want to enjoy life. I feel like after working so hard for the last 18 years, I've done enough. I can't remember taking a holiday without having to bring my laptop. My goal is to change that and disconnect from the internet whenever I want." — Maciej

No quick money

Build slowly. That seems to have been Maciej's biggest takeaway. And that advice was hard-earned.

💰 "Don't chase quick money — it's the perfect way to lose everything you have." — Maciej

He suggests focusing on compound growth and building wealth on “solid foundations”.

💰 "Don't aim for fleeting symbols of wealth like fancy cars; you don't need them. Reflect on what you truly need to feel completely free and independent. There's incredible value in reaching a point where you can shape your day exactly how you want it. That level of autonomy and satisfaction is far more rewarding than any material possession." — Maciej

You can find Maciej on X or check out Calendesk.

Please note that the above are opinions. This is meant for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be financial advice.

And if you'd like to be featured as a guest in a future interview for this series, let me know in the comments!

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