From $0 to $62k MRR in three months

Cameron Trew quit his high-paying job, moved in with his parents, and within a few months, became the cofounder of two profitable businesses.

Kleo is at $62k MRR and Mentions is at $20k MRR.

Here's Cameron on how he did it. 👇

Quitting a dream job

I started coding at 13, building RuneScape private servers in my bedroom. That early obsession with creating things never went away.

I studied Computer Science, then spent six years as a Software Engineer. I started at a startup, building licensing software for London councils. Then, I moved into larger corporate roles at Elastic Path, Base, and Vonage, working on Go microservices, event-driven architectures, Kubernetes clusters, and authentication services.

By 26, I was a Senior Engineer living in a 33rd-floor apartment in Canary Wharf, working remotely with a view over London.

On paper, it was the dream. In reality, I wasn't building anything meaningful to me. Promotions quickly lost their thrill. I shipped code that didn't matter to me. I wanted to build something of my own. Something real. And with people I trusted.

I made the call. I ended my apartment lease, moved back into my parents' house, and started exploring business ideas. Just time, savings, and a belief that I could figure it out.

Three months later, Jake Ward proposed an idea to me. He had wireframes, a clear idea, and 60k users from Kleo 1.0, proving demand existed. And I knew I could build it.

Now, I travel the world with my cofounders — Jake Ward, Lara Acosta, and Rob Hoffman — who are also my best friends.

From cease-and-desist to v2.0 in four weeks

Kleo 1.0 was a free Chrome extension that scraped LinkedIn data, showing users what was trending in their niche. It had 60k users before it got a Cease and Desist from LinkedIn and had to be taken down.

We analyzed other tools in the space and saw how we could improve upon them. Then, I built the first working version from scratch in four weeks.

We started from the Vercel AI Chatbot template. It provided a solid foundation for the chat interface, and I built everything else on top of it. The stack was TypeScript, Next.js, Vercel for deployment, Neon for the database, Inngest for async workflows, Claude for the AI, and Clerk for authentication.

Here's our stack now — and why we chose it:

• Next.js with TypeScript for code – industry standard, massive ecosystem, easy to find solutions.

• Claude Code for coding – I've been coding 10+ years; I only started using AI for coding in the last 12 months. It's a game changer for shipping fast.

• Vercel for hosting – deploys in seconds, zero config.

• Vercel Chat SDK for building the chat interface – worked out of the box with the template.

• Vercel Blob Storage for storing files – already on Vercel, no extra setup.

• Inngest for async tasks – simple API, handles retries and queues without the headache.

• Sanity for the blog – quick to set up (moving to WordPress soon).

• Cloudflare for simple bot protection – free tier, easy DNS setup.

• Claude for AI – best model for writing, fits our use case perfectly.

• Claude Vision for reading images and documents – same API, no extra integration.

• Neon Database (Postgres) for data – serverless Postgres, generous free tier, instant setup.

• Clerk for authentication – drop-in auth, handles everything out of the box.

• Slack for communication – where our users already are.

• Loops for emails – clean UI, easy to build campaigns fast.

• Fernand for managing support emails – simple shared inbox, no bloat.

• Calendly for scheduling appointments – everyone knows how to use it.

• LinkedIn API for scheduling posts – direct integration, no middleman.

• ShadCN for styling – copy-paste components, looks good instantly.

• Deepgram for voice-to-text – fast, accurate, easy API.

• Perplexity for web research – gives sources, handles search without building our own.

• PostHog for analytics on user usage – open source, detailed session tracking.

• Langfuse for AI observability – tracks prompts and costs, essential for debugging AI.

I chose the stack for speed. Everything integrates well, letting me ship fast as a solo developer. No over-engineering. Just tools that work.

Iteration and prioritization

We brought in beta users early. They provided suggestions and reported bugs, helping us shape the product. That tight feedback loop was crucial.

We released 500 lifetime discount spots for the beta, which sold out in four days. Then, we spent four weeks fixing bugs and adding features based on user feedback. After that, we opened another 500 spots, which sold out in nine days. We listened again and shipped fast.

Jake and I worked closely together to refine different features and iterations. We'd go back and forth on what was working and what needed changing. We had a million ideas, so prioritization was key. We kept a simple list and worked from top to bottom. New thing comes up? Put it somewhere in the list. No complicated project management. Just a clear order of what matters most right now.

Bugs always came first. After that, we prioritized features that generated revenue and things our users asked for — not what we thought they wanted. That distinction matters. It's easy to build what you think is cool. It's harder to listen and build what people are telling you they need.

For example, users kept asking for a way to save and reuse their best-performing content formats. That wasn't on our original roadmap, but it kept coming up in Slack. So we built it. Same with voice input. People wanted to talk their ideas out instead of typing. We added Deepgram for voice-to-text when users requested it.

We also learned a lot from watching users seemingly "do things wrong". It was never their fault. We needed to simplify things more.

Users struggled to fill out their identity section properly, so we simplified it. They found it clunky to add writing style preferences, so we added Claude Memory to automatically update their preferences as they make changes to their posts. Kleo slowly gets better over time the more you use it.

Hitting $62k MRR in three months

We went from $0 to $62k MRR in 3 months. And we'll be launching publicly in mid-January. We achieved this growth through distribution and trust.

Distribution

Jake has grown his LinkedIn to 180k+ followers and Lara has 300k+. Their audiences are LinkedIn creators, providing the perfect target audience for a LinkedIn content creation tool. We used their reach to build a waitlist before launch. Plus, Kleo 1.0 already had 60k users who trusted our ability to build, giving us a warm, ready audience.

We employed a multi-layered distribution strategy. Lara ran 3 pre-launch webinars, selling $5k+ on each one. She then conducted masterclasses with Jake to demonstrate Kleo's use. Jake and Rob both created viral posts using the tool.

This was key. We built the tool for our own use. We sold nothing we didn't believe in. We used it daily and showed people the results.

Emails focused on new features, user success stories, and building hype. Then we sold 500 lifetime discount spots twice.

No ads. No Product Hunt launch. We had a product people wanted, we built fast, and we distributed through trusted individuals.

Trust

We built trust through process transparency. Jake and Lara shared behind-the-scenes updates on LinkedIn about our progress. Rob created short-form videos showing our progress.

We maintained a private Slack community for beta users to talk directly with us. When someone reported a bug, I often fixed it within hours and personally informed them.

People saw we weren't a faceless company. We were real people building something we cared about, treating their feedback like gold.

Revenue growth

We use a tiered subscription model through Polar.

We started with discounted beta pricing. The first 500 spots were $59/month. The next 500 spots were $79/month.

Standard pricing is $99/month. We are also launching an enterprise plan for ghostwriting agencies with unlimited team members and profiles.

And we're constantly building features that justify the subscription. Kleo gets better the more you use it. Claude Memory learns your writing style over time. That stickiness keeps people subscribed.

Solo devs need AI code editors

AI code editors have been my biggest advantage. Without a doubt.

I'd been coding for over a decade before tools like Claude Code existed. When they came along, everything changed. All those years of experience meant I knew exactly how to leverage them. I could architect solutions properly, review what the AI produced, and catch mistakes fast. The combination of deep experience and AI tooling let me build Kleo as a solo developer in a way that wouldn't have been possible a few years ago.

Focus on distribution and shipping

Here's my advice:

• Distribution first. The best product in the world means nothing if no one knows it exists. Find your audience before you build. Partner with people who already have reach.

• Build something you actually use. We built Kleo for ourselves. Jake, Lara, and Rob all use it daily. When you're your own user, you know exactly what needs to be better.

• Ship fast, then listen. We had a working version in 4 weeks. It wasn't perfect. It didn't need to be. Get it in front of real users and let them tell you what's broken and what's missing. They'll show you what to build next.

• Learn AI tools. If you're not using AI to code, you're leaving speed on the table.

• Keep prioritization stupid simple. One list. Work top to bottom. New idea? Put it somewhere in the list. That's it. No fancy project management. Just focus.

• Don't over-engineer. Pick tools that let you move fast. Start from templates. Use services with generous free tiers. Your job is to validate, not to build the perfect architecture.

• Work with people you trust. The hard days are easier when you're building with friends. The wins are more fun too.

• Trust the process. There will be doubt. Ship anyway.

What's next?

After seeing my work at Kleo, my cofounders, Jake, Lara, and Rob brought me on as cofounder and CTO at Mentions. It's a platform tracking how brands appear in AI-generated responses like ChatGPT and Perplexity. It's currently at $20k MRR.

Our goal for 2026 is to 5x Kleo to $300k MRR and Mentions to $100k MRR.

And we're looking to get acquired in the next 18 months.

You can follow along on X and LinkedIn. And check out Kleo and Mentions.