How Shri Vatz Grew Guidejar to $4K MRR—Solo

Jakob here 🖐

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Meet Shri Vatz, a 30-year-old indie hacker from Chennai, India, who transitioned from software developer to solo founder. After selling two products, ColdDM and SupportGuy, Shri went all-in on his third venture: Guidejar.

Launched in late 2023, Guidejar helps users create step-by-step how-to guides and interactive product demos. Ideal for onboarding, training, and reducing support queries. The initial launch was quiet, but a successful Lifetime Deal (LTD) campaign on AppSumo changed everything. In just four months, Guidejar gained over 950 paying customers.

From there, Shri shifted to a subscription model, growing Guidejar to $4K MRR with 170+ customers. Much of the growth came from word-of-mouth, Reddit engagement, SEO, directory listings, and clever “Powered by Guidejar” backlinks.

Shri faced challenges, messaging misfires, ineffective cold outreach, and low-ROI ads, but learned two key lessons: look beyond the indie hacker bubble, and keep experimenting.

What started as a side project is now a fast-growing SaaS with a loyal user base. Shri continues to refine the product and its positioning. Proving that consistent effort and curiosity lead to compounding wins.

Read the full story
https://www.fakemayo.com/p/how-shri-vatz-grew-his-side-hustle-guidejar-into-a-4k-mrr-success

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