Starterslab Weekly Digest – Week of September 22 – September 28, 2024

Hey Indie Hackers! 🙌

Welcome to the inaugural Starterslab Weekly Digest, where we bring you the latest wins, product launches, insights, and inspiring tweets from indie hackers in our community and beyond. Dive into this week’s highlights and feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!

🚀 Product Launches & Milestones

Here are some amazing indie hackers making strides this week:

1. @CreatedByJannn
   Jan just reached an incredible milestone – $300,000 in revenue within only 6 months of launching! 🚀 Curious how he did it? Follow his journey for insights, tips, and a behind-the-scenes look at what he's building.

1. Max blade launched a new product
   Product: ServerBuddy.
   Ever had that moment when you wish you could log in to your server to check logs or diagnose failing services? This week, Max Blade launched a platform designed to solve exactly that. Check out his Twitter for more details!
   

2.  Jojo Sold his startup
   Product: Studio IX.
   Jojo has been diligently building Studio IX for some time now, and yesterday he sealed a $20,000 deal! Huge congratulations to Jojo on this amazing milestone!

💡 Insights & Threads Worth Reading

We’ve curated some of the most insightful and educational Twitter threads shared by indie hackers this week:

1. John Rush
   From a viral movie app to a VC-backed unicorn, John Rush’s startup journey is full of highs and lows. 🎢 It starts with a Hollywood-style pitch, explodes in popularity, and even raises Series A—until it all crashes. Worth a read!

   • Bootstrapped Success: In 2012, John sold his first bootstrapped startup and made his first million, aiming to create a unicorn with backing from VCs.

   • Unique App Idea: He met someone with an idea for an app that uses sliders to filter movie genres based on user preferences, offering a solution to the common problem of movie selection.

   • Viral Launch: The app went viral in the early days of the App Store due to the limited number of apps available, gaining lots of users quickly.

   • Monetization Struggles: Despite the app’s popularity, they struggled to monetize it, focusing on a niche Nordic audience, which became their biggest mistake.

   • Running Out of Money: They ran out of investor money and couldn’t raise new funds, while competitors moved to larger markets like the US.

   • Pivot: They pivoted by collaborating with cinemas, developing white-labeled versions of their app for cinemas, which was a world-first idea.

   • ReLaunch and Scale: After relaunching with cinema branding, the app grew significantly. They saw potential for scaling, and the app became a hot topic at a cinema conference in Vegas.

   • Series A Funding: The company raised Series A funding as VCs loved their rapid growth, scaling their dev team from 4 to 20 and building a large sales and marketing team.

   • The Crash: At the peak of success, everything came crashing down, though the details of the crash aren’t fully revealed in the tweet thread.

1. Jerad Maplethorpe
   After 8 months of hard work, I’ve tripled my MRR this month by using automated directory listings, marketing collaborations, SEO content, and paid campaigns. My goal is to improve my paid-to-free user ratio, and I’ve learned that focusing on one product and experimenting with multiple channels, rather than relying on just one, is key to long-term success.
   
   Highlights:

   • MRR Growth

   • Key Marketing Levers

   • Paid to Free User Ratio

   • Paid Marketing vs. SEO

   • Avoid Over-Reliance on One Channel

   • Focus and Long-term Commitment

   Take a good look, it’s worth a read

📅 What’s Coming Next Week?

Here’s what you can look forward to in the coming days:

• Fun Fridays – Join us for casual chats, games, and relaxation on 4th of October at 5 PM GMT.

• SaaS Showcase – Show off your product and get valuable feedback in the #sass-showcase channel!

That's it for this week, folks!
f you haven’t joined the Starterslab community yet, now’s the perfect time! Connect with fellow indie hackers, share your journey, and get support as you build.

See you around the community! ✨