$140 MRR in first two weeks — here's what worked (and what didn't)

Hit my first milestone with ShotDirector: $140 MRR after launching paid tier 2 weeks ago.

Not life-changing, but it's real revenue from strangers. Here's the breakdown:

Numbers:

• 7 paying customers ($20/mo)
• 143 free users
• ~7% conversion rate
• Built with $0 ad spend

What Worked:

1. Solving a real pain point. Every paying customer said the same thing: "Other AI tools waste my time."

2. Free tier that actually works. 5 free generations/month. Enough to see value, not enough to never upgrade.

3. Product-led growth. Output images have a small watermark. Users share them → new signups.

4. Finding my people. Posted in ecommerce Slack groups and Reddit. Response was immediate.

What Didn't Work:

1. Twitter., Instagram, Tiktok Zero conversions. Lots of "cool!" but no signups.

2. Cold email. Sent 100 emails to DTC brands. 2 replies. Both "not interested."

3. Fancy landing page. Spent 3 days perfecting copy. Made zero difference to conversion.

Biggest Lesson:

Speed > Perfection. I almost delayed launch to add more features. Glad I didn't. Users tell you what matters.

What's Next:

Working on setting up an email infrastructure which will hopefully convert some more free users to the paid tiers.

Goal for next month: $1K MRR.

Questions:

• What channel worked best for your first customers?
• How do you decide what features to build next?