I just made my first $1 on the internet!
In 2020 I wanted to create annotated charts showing events influencing the COVID-19 numbers. I looked around and didn’t find great ways to do it, so of course, as a software engineer, I started building a thing: contextualize.ai.
Fast forward many weekends, and lots and lots of hours around my 9-5s, I get the project to a level where I’m not absolutely embarrassed by around a month ago and start building and sharing charts with it. Some were really popular on Hacker News, Reddit, and other social media.
And then yesterday something new happened: I got my first customer! Someone who is not my mom or a good friend is willing to pay from their hard-earned money to use this thing I materialized into the world out of sheer will and persistence.
The feeling is a mix of gratitude and cautious relief. Going from zero to one is an important milestone, but it’s just the first step in the uncertain path towards “making something people want”.
My goal from the start was creating a business that can sustain me and my family. That hasn’t changed, and I’ll continue doing the work: marketing, talking to users, doing my best to build something that makes their lives better.
I haven’t officially launched yet, but I can now say this with confidence: contextualize.ai is the easiest way to build and share a beautiful and engaging annotated chart.
P.S.: I’ll start sharing more on Twitter (X?) if you’re interested in following along: twitter.com/mpereira.
Best feeling in the world. Now double it!
This is the start of something big :)
Congratulations!
Hey Murilo. Congrats on the first customer! Looks like an awesome project. I also am building projects with a 9-5. How long did it take you to build your project to where it is now?
Hey Youssef,
It's a bit embarrassing, but I've been working on and off on this for around 3 years. More "on" as of recently.
Good luck with your projects!
Congratulations Murilo, here is to extra zeros behind the 1💯💯💯
Thanks Chimnwendum! Good luck with Nkem as well.
Thank you so much 🙏
Congrats Mate! Take a screenshot and keep it safe, when you become very successful you can make yourself remember where it started!
I appreciate the optimism here, thanks Akshay :)
That featured annotated chart is great copy!!! Kudos!
Thanks Jevon!
Congrats on your first customer! Must be amazing feeling. I'm yet to attain that milestone, zero-to-one indeed. Keep up the good work, it'll pay off at the end!
Hey Toli. It does feel good! But as I say in the post, nothing is guaranteed. One needs to keep moving forward!
I hope you find your first customer soon too :)
Yes, moving forward is the trick :)
Thank you for the good wishes and best of luck for you as well! :)
Congratulations my man!
Wow, that's an incredible journey you've shared! It's so inspiring to see individuals like you, who not only identify gaps in the market but take the initiative to fill them. The dedication and hard work you put in, even with a full-time job, is commendable. Getting your first customer, especially one outside of your close circle, is a significant validation of your efforts. Kudos to you for reaching this milestone! Building something that can potentially benefit many, and aiming for it to sustain your family, is truly noble. I'll be sure to check out contextualize.ai and follow your progress on Twitter. Keep pushing forward and best of luck with your official launch! 🚀
Great idea and work!
What an inspiring journey! Congrats on getting your first customer Murilo! That's an exciting milestone and validation that you're building something people want
Amazing!
Oh wow, congrats, and it's even recurring! I still have to get the first recurring $. Good luck!
Congratulations 🎉
I saw your product and was totally surprised but it.
You are definitely filling the need in the market
Congrats!
She's a beauty, she saves a penny, keep it up. Good luck
Congratulations man, the only way is up! :)
Congrats! Hit the same milestone about a year ago and it's been driving me ever since
Congratulations! 🎉
nice! the first one always help justify what we are working on - keep up the good work.
Congratulations! keep it up.
Congrats 🎉. Keep up the good work
This is huge man. Frame that thing and put it up somewhere. Always helped me with motivation and discipline (my first frame is my first client buying a printer in my first ever brick-and-mortar company, a small computer shop; my 2nd poster is my first "online" revenue of $100 with Adsense, in 2003).
I remember very well this pleasant feeling when my product brought the first money. These emotions are indescribable! Very happy for you! Congratulations!
contextualize is such a simple yet awesome idea. Love the product.
This is beautiful, Murilo. Thank you for sharing. I've almost forgotten the feeling of when I made my first $1, and reading this reminds me of why it matters so much to share. I love what you are building with Contextualize AI. Looking forward to playing around with it! cheers to many more $$$
This looks really cool! And it is something that I would never have though and as many people probably told you: “I can make charts in excel” . This is extremely inspiring, congratulations!
Congratulations! This product look super cool — excited to check it out!
Great inspiration and good luck, I'm too waiting for my first customer to pay for My SaaS business.
Hi, Murilo! My congrats on the good work! I followed you in Twitter. I like the website and I think the idea is easy and interesting
Congrats - the site looks great and I have created graphs recently where your site would have made things much cleaner than, eg, Canva
Congrats. Keep going ! it will addictive
Congratulations, Murilo! The moment I earned my initial online dollar was truly transformative, shaping my journey into exploring IH as well.
Great job keep going! 👏
I would recommend you to see this video by Kathryn Minshew founder of The Muse on how to launch and get customer from nothing, Acquiring Your First Users Out of Thin Air, The Lean Startup Conference 2013
She highlighted it in step by step and it is almost like a checklist on how to get the customers
Basically, if you just post and expecting people to care about you it not gonna work. Instead you need to talk to people on by one, talk with bloggers, journalist, dm people and a lot of other things to do.
You need to hustle your way to existence.
Alternatively you can check this article to understand the overall concept of how to acquire first few customer. Rules to acquiring Your First Users
Congrats, Murilo! Making that first dollar online was a game changer for me and how I ended up exploring IH too.