Mas Hossain built an agency. Then, since he knew the pains, he started building products for agencies.
Now, Queue has a 7-figure ARR. Here's Mas on how he did it. ๐
I've been coding since I was 10 years old. I started by building sites for Twitch streamers and startups, and just tinkering with projects for fun. As a first-generation immigrant in the US, it was a way to earn some income early on and really sharpen my skills as an engineer.
From there, I started an agency. And now, I'm building Queue โ a platform that helps agency owners run everything in one place. From billing clients on a subscription to managing projects to sending work out for review and feedback, itโs all there.
We're at a 7-figure ARR and growing every month
What really motivated me to get started was thinking back to when I was running my own agency โ just me, staying up late, trying to make clients happy and get paid. Every time someone launches a new agency on Queue, it brings me right back to that grind.
Thatโs what drives me. I'm building for those ambitious founders chasing something of their own. I see myself in their journeys, and that keeps me inspired.
I built the first version for myself. I knew how hard it was to get clear feedback from clients. Most clients are not great at it unless you guide them.
I used Ruby on Rails for the API, and React for the frontend
From the beginning, I focused a lot on design. If the product is not super intuitive, it creates friction, and you lose them fast. So I made sure I actually enjoyed using it.
From there, I shared it with friends who were in the space, got honest feedback, and kept improving it.
People like to make this part complicated, but it is really simple: Build something, get tough feedback, improve it, and repeat.
The biggest challenge has been getting people to find us. We did almost no marketing or sales early on, and that was a big mistake. To be honest, we still do very little. It's tough when you're a small team.
One thing that has really helped is joining communities. I just show up and answer questions. My username is always "Mas from usequeue dot com", so people know where I am from. I do not need to say anything like "Hey, try out Queue." I just try to be helpful, and people notice. They see my name, get curious, and end up checking out the site on their own. That alone brought in a lot of interest.
And we do things like this interview, posting on Indie Hackers, or sharing what we are building โย just to get the word out.
We also ran outbound email campaigns that were super personalized. I would record a Loom video walking through their website and then showed how our software could help โ one by one for each prospect.
And timing is important too. Lately, with the rise of vibe coding, more people are starting their own agencies, and that has brought in a lot of new interest.
If I had to start over, I would focus on marketing much earlier. And I would try to partner with people in the space who already have audiences.
Make sure you have a way to get your product in front of people. Join a community, start an email list, or create your own group. The worst thing you can do is build something, but have no one to try it. That feeling of having zero customers, zero feedback, and thinking you wasted your time is brutal.
Do it yourself. If I could do it again, I would be more resourceful in the beginning; I would not hire right away. I would do the work myself, build a clear process, and only hire once I knew exactly what needed to be done.
Do not stress about funding. Just focus on building something great and the investors will come later.
And most importantly, build something for yourself. If no one else ends up using it, at least you will. And chances are, you are not the only one with that need. If it solves a real problem for you, there are others out there who will want it too. You just have to find them.
Our goal is to keep running profitably and start adding a lot of AI products. We want to become an AI-first platform that helps agencies grow and succeed.
You can check out everything at usequeue.com. We offer full access to the platform and have video guides to help you get started. Support is available around the clock if you need help. It is completely free until you land your first client, so you can set everything up and start working without paying anything up front.
And you can follow along on X.
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Love this story, Mas! The agency-to-SaaS transition makes so much sense - you had lived the exact pain points your customers face. That's such a powerful advantage over founders trying to solve problems they've never experienced.
Thank you for sharing your story, Mas! I completely agree with you about the importance of marketing for any product company. Could you please share which channels you are currently using to drive traffic to your website, and let us know which ones are the most effective?
Discord + Twitter + Linkedin. Primarily discord at start. Now Linkedin.
โHi , I noticed your team uses Google Forms.
Quick Q: Are you manually moving responses into Sheets or CRM?
I recently built a workflow that makes every response go straight into Sheets + sends an alert (Slack/Telegram/Email).
One of my clients saved ~5 hours/week just from this.
Would you like me to show you a quick demo?
Love this story, Mas! The journey from agency hustle to building a scalable SaaS through authentic community engagement is inspiring.
What stands out most to me is how clear, helpful messaging becomes a silent growth engine even before any paid marketing starts. You didnโt just build a tool; you spoke directly to problems other agency founders care about.
From a copywriting lens, youโre showing that value-first communication is far more sustainable than flashy launches.
Curious, how did you phrase your early outreach or content to ensure it felt genuinely helpful yet compelling? Did you test different wordings in your community posts or messaging?
Fauwaz | Copywriter helping indie makers sharpen landing page and outreach copy
It highlights how real growth doesnโt always come from flashy marketing or chasing trends, but from genuinely serving communities with valuable contributions. The strategies shared feel practical and authentic, showing that building trust and relationships in the right circles can scale a business to incredible heights.
"Really appreciate you sharing your journey here. The part about overcoming the initial challenge of finding your first customers really resonated with me. In my experience, building trust early is key โ sometimes even more important than perfecting the product. Curious to know, if you were to start again today, whatโs the one thing youโd do differently in your launch strategy?"
Really enjoyed reading this, Mas.
I can relate to building something out of a pain youโve experienced yourself โ itโs such a strong motivator. You mentioned that joining communities and being genuinely helpful brought in a lot of interest. How do you decide which communities are worth investing your time in, and how do you keep that balance between being active and not overextending yourself?
โก๏ธ Mas, this is a masterclass in solving real problems through lived experience โ textbook Product-Market Fit execution.
Start where the pain is personal. Building from your own journey fast-tracks PMF and customer empathy. (#PMFAdvisor)
Community-led growth isnโt just a trend โ itโs a Go-to-Market Strategy that drives trust and organic pull. (#GoToMarketStrategy)
Before chasing ARR, focus on clarity, usability, and feedback loops โ fundamentals of smart SaaS Scaling. (#SaaSCoaching #ScalingExpert)
You're not just building Queue โ you're showing founders how to lead with value first.
Reaching a 7-figure ARR by adding value to niche communities is a smart, sustainable growth strategy. You build trust and authority by genuinely engaging, solving problems, and sharing insights where your ideal audience hangs out. By using this organic strategy, you will create loyal customers, strong referrals, and compound growth without having to rely heavily on paid advertisements or broad marketing strategies.
I faced something similar during a manual install. Rechecking the database and clearing old tables fixed it for me
Achieving a 7-figure ARR involves consistently adding value in niche communities through genuine engagement, solving problems, building trust, and offering targeted solutions that scale with audience needs.
Thank you for sharing your story
Love how practical and inspiring it is. You donโt need a groundbreaking idea, just solve a real pain clearly.
Solve a big enough problem and you're good.
Yes, as you say, solving the customer's problem first should be our top priority.
Talking about founder-market fit. Agree on the "Do not stress about funding. Just focus on building something great and the investors will come later.", but I think that depends on the situation of the founders. It's hard to quit a full time job and dedicate fully to a startup idea when there is no resource to back it up. Thanks for sharing the story
Don't quit your job until the revenue matches it or your growth rate is noticeable.
This is solid. Really like the part about building for yourself first , too many folks skip that and end up solving fake problems. Also, showing up in communities with your name tied to the product is such a simple but smart play. Quiet exposure > loud pitching.
Really inspiring to see how you scratched your own itch and scaled it to something impactful. A lot of founders forget the power of solving their own real-world problems. Itโs like building something youโd use even if no one else did โ and that honesty shows in the final product.
Speaking of real-world tools, if anyoneโs curious about 4 years gratuity calculation for UAE employees, this guide might be helpful:
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I like how you highlighted the role of niche communities in driving growth. I already knew that it has potential but seeing actual result is not that common. Also, the part about consistently sharing value there really stood out.
Thank you for sharing! You build the product, we make sure the world hears about it.
Love how Mas focused on solving real problems he faced himself. Itโs so relatable building for people who get the grind, and not just for the sake of profit. Also, great point on marketing: itโs all about showing up in the right communities and adding value first. Definitely taking notes on that approach! Excited to see how Queue evolves with AI.
Authentic contribution drives long-term business success for James Fleischmann, who achieved 7-figure annual revenue by continuously adding value to niche communities, focusing on trust, engagement, and solving specific problems.
This is such a great example of how founder-market fit makes all the difference. Building from firsthand experience is a true unfair advantage.
Incredible journey โ especially love the part about recording Looms for outbound. That level of personal touch wins trust.
Love this story, Mas. The โscratch your own itchโ path really resonates. itโs wild how often the best SaaS ideas come out of solving your own operational headaches.
I also relate to what you said about community-driven growth. Weโ are also working on a project called Teamcamp, and one of the biggest lessons for us has been exactly that: the value of just showing up where your users hang out, sharing what you learn, and letting curiosity do the rest.
Curious about as you moved from agency life to SaaS, how did you keep yourself from over-engineering? Did you have a framework to decide โthis is enough for v1โ before putting it in the hands of other agency owners?
I asked users what they wanted or what problem they wanted solved. You can't over-engineer that much with AI in 2025 unless you're doing things no one will notice (like TDD). So just build something great.
thanks you,insipiring
How large is the team?
How much MRR did you have before you decided to make the first hire, and what prompted it?
5
$250k ARR
Really admire your journey from coding as a kid to building Queue.
The focus on user-friendly design and community-driven growth is spot on.
Looking forward to seeing how you integrate AI next โ exciting times ahead!
Hey, really impressed with your UI! What framework did you use? Would love to hear how you approached responsiveness
ruby on rails + react
This is a masterclass in value-first growth. Love how you emphasized engaging with niche communities genuinely.
"Build something for yourself" - this advice made me $50K poorer.
Here's why Mas succeeded where most fail:
What Mas did: Built for himself AND validated others had the same problem
What I did: Built for myself and assumed others would want it
The difference: Customer interviews before building vs after building
His marketing "mistake": Actually brilliant relationship marketing disguised as community participation
The real lesson: Product-market fit can overcome marketing weakness, but marketing weakness can't overcome product-market fit problems.
For agency owners reading this: What internal tools are you building that other agencies might pay for? That's your next SaaS idea.
The agency โ SaaS transition works because you understand the customer journey intimately. You've been there.
Anyone else made this transition? What was your biggest surprise?
What strikes me about this story is how it flips the usual startup narrative - instead of pivoting toward product-market fit, Mas already had the market because he was the market. There's something compelling about building from that place of personal frustration rather than market research. His marketing approach feels almost anti-marketing - just being genuinely helpful in communities without the hard sell. It makes me wonder if this kind of organic, community-first growth is more sustainable than the typical venture-backed playbook, especially for B2B tools where trust and understanding the problem deeply matter more than flashy launches.
This is the blueprint. Build for the pain you know, stay close to your users, and let the product evolve through real feedback. Mas nailed the fundamentals โ shipping fast, being present in communities, and focusing on real utility over hype. Inspiring and refreshingly honest.
We did almost no marketing or sales early on, and that was a big mistake' - this hits hard. I'm guilty of the same thing. It's so tempting to just keep building features when you're a developer, but getting in front of people is just as important as the product itself. The personalized Loom videos for outbound sounds like a lot of work but probably had way better response rates than generic emails and I started doing that as well even through Linkedin when outreaching so let's hope for the best!