37-year-old bootstrapped startup founder on saving smartly, not aggressively

In 2016, Anshul moved to Luxembourg and started Razrtech, a managed services company. Later he founded Socially to satisfy the need to build for himself and not just his clients.

Today, his bootstrapped startup earns $1MM in annual revenue. Let's take a look at this financial journey.

Building Razrtech

With over 17 years of experience, Anshul Gupta's background in product management and technology includes launching India’s first OTT platform known DittoTV which has since been integrated into Zee5, one of India's top OTT services today.

Anshul moved to Luxembourg in 2016 and started Razrtech, a managed services company that built consumer web and mobile products.

Razrtech made its first dollar with a social app for celebrities they built back in 2017. Anshul recalls the "awesome" feeling of taking that product from 0 to $1MM.

"We thought a network for only celebrities and their fans would work and it did work, before it tanked."

Building for yourself

Eventually, when building for clients was not satisfying enough, Anshul started to build for himself.

Currently, the 37-year-old works full-time as the founder of Socially, a SaaS-based community building platform for niche communities. The platform helps creators, coaches, communities and businesses to sell memberships, events, private groups etc.

Since 2017, they have been iterating and creating products for the creator economy, enabling over 200 communities and empowering four niche social networks. So far, they have served more than 150,000 users.

Bootstrapping Socially

Socially's business model is subscription-based but they run lifetime deals occasionally. They also charge for custom features and custom app deployments for enterprise customers.

In a month, the company brings in anywhere between $12-18K. Yearly, they manage to get at least 2-3 enterprise clients seeking on-premise solutions, which help them increase their revenue and take it up to $1MM.

At the moment, Socially is totally bootstrapped from the revenue they generate from the business itself. Here's what that looks like:

• Revenue: $12-18K/mo (bootstrapped)

• AWS: $2000/mo

• Cloudflare annual subscription: $2200

• Team salaries: $7000

• Tool subscriptions: $500/mo (Canva, Figma etc.,)

When to bring in VC

According to Anshul, bootstrapping stands the test of time while a good VC can help you get market share.

He feels that one should go for VC funding only when the product is a business in itself and you need the funding to grow your business and not when you need money to establish a business.

Saving smartly not aggressively

While saving is crucial, Anshul believes many people over-prioritize it to the point where they miss out on experiences and opportunities that can bring value, growth, or joy to their lives.

"I believe that a balanced approach—one where you save smartly but also invest in experiences, learning, and even occasional indulgences—is key."

For example, he indulges in buying shoes but saves money on software subscriptions with lifetime deals. According to him, money is a tool, not the goal. He believes that living too frugally can mean missing out on the present, which has its own kind of financial cost. To that end, he advises fellow indie hackers to "always pay yourself".

"A lot of founders go without salaries for months and eventually go bust."

Personal finance

Living in Luxembourg, one of Europe's richest countries in terms of per capita GDP, means expenses and salaries can be high. So, Anshul pays himself a decent wage as per Luxembourg standards and has enough in savings to sustain himself with the following monthly expenses:

• House Mortgage: €1600

• Car Lease: €918

• Groceries+Take aways+Restaurants: €1500

Anshul tries to invest in the Magnificent Seven stocks, as well as dividend stocks that pay every month.

As a resident of Luxembourg, his social security benefits automatically accrue towards his pension.

"Aggressively saving every penny can be just as detrimental as reckless spending."