From weekend experiment to $20k/mo
business
Lukas Hermann built the simplest tool on his list of ideas. He just wanted to build a product in a single weekend, then he'd move on to the next idea.
Three years later, Stagetimer is bringing in $20k/mo. He never made it to Idea #2.
Here's Lukas on how he did it. 👇
Finding an idea
I recorded every idea I had for two years. Everything from "Funny Posters for Toilet Doors" to "Website Generator for Restaurants."
I thought there were 2-3 promising ideas. But I decided to start with the simplest idea.
The simplest idea was one that came to me during a visit to a friend's video studio. I watched him jump up, run to another room to start a timer on an old laptop, then dash back to his video mixer. I thought, "Surely there's a better solution" — but when I searched online, I only found outdated desktop software that looked like Windows 98.
As a web developer, this seemed like such an easy problem to solve. I had always wanted to build my own product anyway, so I put it on that idea list. And since it was simple enough to build in a weekend, that's what I eventually started with
I never got to idea number two.
From side hustle to main hustle
I worked on Stagetimer as a side hustle while working as a frontend developer at a startup. When my project was discontinued, they offered me one month's extra pay to look for another job, but my wife encouraged me to go full-time on Stagetimer instead. It was making $3,000/month at that time.
Stagetimer is a web-based timer app for live events, video production, and presentations. Think of a TED talk where the speaker sees a countdown on screen - that's what we do, but it's remotely controlled through the browser. We serve everyone from small event producers to big companies like Microsoft and IKEA.
We've grown from $0 to over $20k/mo in about three years.
Ugly and basic
I built the first version in a single weekend using Vue.js, Node.js, Express, and MongoDB — all technologies I already knew well. The key is picking something you're comfortable with and can move fast in.
The MVP was incredibly simple: You click start on one device, and a timer begins counting down on another device via a shared link. No user accounts, no payment system, no fancy features. Just a working synchronized timer.
I deliberately kept it ugly and basic because I wanted to focus on solving the core problem first.
Then, I put it online for free because I never thought of people paying for a timer.
The real challenge wasn't coding, but finding users. I spent almost as much time searching for the right subreddit as I did building the product. I eventually found r/CommercialAV through a Reddit mapping tool, posted my free timer, and got surprisingly helpful feedback instead of the usual Reddit toxicity. Those early users gave me a long list of feature requests, which told me I was onto something that people actually wanted.
Getting quality feedback
Early users know they are early users and they are very helpful. They often contacted us through our support email and actively gave us feedback, much more so than nowadays when our product is perceived as more mature.
The next best thing is our product update newsletter. It goes out to ~400 users, and we usually get 3-4 responses. Not much, but better than nothing. We make sure to ask specific questions. For example, "This is an experimental feature; please let us know if it's useful."
We also interview our customers. We target the happy, quiet customers because our product already fits their needs. I found that after three calls, you usually have a good idea of the biggest two to three features you can build to improve your product.
We used to go in with a script, prepared questions, and everything, but it wasn't necessary. Our customers sometimes showed up with their whole team and just loved to tell us how they use our tool and what would make it even better. I take notes, implement the big ones, wait a bit, then do the next round of interviews.
Growth via Google and PLG
50% of our customers come through Google (both organic SEO and paid ads), and 30% through word-of-mouth recommendations.
SEO
I focused heavily on writing technical documentation and how-to articles — not SEO fluff, but real step-by-step guides like "how to integrate a timer with your video mixer." These get low search volume (maybe 100 people per month), but almost everyone who finds these articles has high intent.
PLG
I actively try to encourage word of mouth by using a PLG (product-led-growth) strategy.
When someone uses our free version, our logo appears prominently on the timer display — so every time it's used at an event, conference, or livestream, hundreds or thousands of people see our brand. It's like having a billboard at every event we're used at. And our name and logo are easy to remember.
Nailing the business model
The biggest challenge I've faced was high churn. We had 12% monthly churn because people would subscribe for one event, then cancel.
We solved this by creating "event licenses" — one-time purchases for 30 days with no auto-renewal. It costs almost double the monthly rate, but customers love it because they can bill it directly to clients and don't have to remember to cancel.
This dropped our churn to around 3%.
So now, we use a freemium model with two paid tiers, plus those 30-day event licenses. The free version works without registration — you can create and share a timer immediately, but you need to upgrade for advanced features and to remove our branding.
My takeaway: Understand your customers' actual usage patterns and price accordingly.
Keep it simple
Here's my advice: Pick the simplest idea on your list, not the most exciting one. Your first product will probably teach you more about customers, marketing, and building a business than it will make you money — so make the learning process as easy as possible.
Also, let me speak to any Germans reading this: Do not be afraid to get started. Our country's bureaucracy can look like a monster. And yes, you'll need some more time to get started (privacy policy, impressum, understanding VAT, etc.), but it's possible, and once you roll, it's not that hard anymore.
What's next?
I thought I'd work on this thing for three years, "finish it," and then move on. Turns out, it's more successful than I ever expected, and it would be stupid not to keep going.
Eventually, I want to use Stagetimer to fuel my next startup that will be more capital intensive. I've already rejected a $500k offer because I think there's more I can do to grow Stagetimer and get a real payout. Or better, eventually hire a CEO and keep Stagetimer as passive income.
I'm building my ideas list again and have long conversations with Claud to understand how different products/industries work that are interesting to me.
You can follow me on Twitter or visit my website to listen to my podcast guest appearances.
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Gold insight on pricing to usage. If you had to drop one lever - SEO docs or PLG branding - which would hurt growth more
Beautiful! I wonder how you got from $0 to $3000 mrr?
Stagetimer was one of my inspirations when I was playing around to build something on the side.
Such a simple and fundamentally useful product!!!
❤️
Thanks for sharing this! @lhermann do you remember which Reddit search tool you used? 🙏
Brilliant honestly. Got a question about paid ads -- did they ever pay-off directly? Like, the lifetime customer value is more the customer acquisition cost via google ads?
And the opposite, would you make it without Ads at all, SEO only?
Thanks
More so, most months the direct revenue (not lifetime) from ads is higher than its cost.
But ads only make up a very small portion of revenue, SEO is MUCH stronger.
Really enjoyed reading your journey, Lukas. I like how you kept things simple at first and let the product speak for itself. The event license solution to reduce churn was brilliant. The mix of SEO and product-led growth sounds like it’s worked really well for you. Which of your marketing channels has delivered the best results? You mentioned that you send traffic via Google Ads, but didn't mention the results.
Organic Google is ~50% and word of mouth is ~30%.
In the absence of outbound sales (for now) Google is the best.
Simplicity Wins, pure build with not such flashy features but utility is all brings success to the grind you make and that's what the life is all about. Being happy for what we do..
Really inspiring read 👏 I love how you focused on the simplest idea, shipped fast, and then let user feedback shape everything. The way you solved churn with one-time “event licenses” is genius — pricing that matches real usage is something many founders overlook.
Also, the mix of SEO (practical guides) and PLG (your logo acting like a billboard at every event) is such a smart combo. For example, I’ve seen retail supply sites like "easywayracks.com” also benefit from combining practical content with strong visibility — a reminder that strategy matters as much as product.
Thanks for sharing all the details — lots of lessons here for anyone trying to turn a small side project into something sustainable.
So many people sit on “big ideas” and never get going, but Lukas shipped something basic, solved a real problem, and let actual users pull the product forward.
I also like the way he handled churn by reshaping the pricing around how customers actually used the tool. That’s a reminder that product-market fit isn’t just about features, but also about aligning the business model with real-world behavior.
The whole journey makes a strong case for focusing less on “perfect” ideas and more on getting something usable in front of people as fast as possible.
Lukas, I love the idea of ​​turning an experiment into a real success story, it's very inspiring, thank you!
Stagetimer’s story is super inspiring — turning something as stressful as live events into a smooth experience is no small feat. I imagine the patterns of how organizers and teams actually use the product must reveal a lot about what drives adoption. Really excited to see how you keep scaling this!
Congrats, Lukas — loved this story. Simplest idea first + the event license fix for churn and that PLG billboard at every event insight really hit home.
You mentioned rebuilding your ideas list—would you be up for validating a few with my synthetic user interview tool? It runs structured interviews against target personas and returns a tight 1-pager (top jobs-to-be-done, objections, pricing signals, etc.). I can run one of your top ideas and DM the insights, or share a private link if you’d rather try it yourself. Interested?
I love how Lukas started with the simplest possible idea and focused on solving one clear problem really well. The fact that he built an “ugly and basic” MVP in a weekend and still turned it into $20k/mo shows how powerful speed and focus can be. Sharing it for free at first to get feedback and uncover real demand was smart — plus finding the right niche community on Reddit clearly paid off.
The other quiet levers here are pricing and distribution. Event-based licenses reframed churn as a feature, not a bug, because they matched real usage. The PLG touch (free timer with visible branding) turned every event into a demo without sales overhead. Add in those early, targeted customer interviews and you get a loop: simple MVP → specific feedback → tiny improvements that compound. Speed started it, but tight fit with how people actually work is what made it stick.
Through creativity, persistence, and smart strategies, James Fleischmann turned a weekend experiment into a $20k/month business.
I 've always wanted to build something your story makes this seem very attainable, wishing you more success and thanks for sharing.
Amazing journey, Lukas! Turning a weekend experiment into a $20K/month business is so inspiring—proof that starting simple and sticking with it really pays off. Congrats!
Great reminder to start simple.
Super inspiring, Lukas. You picked the simplest real pain, shipped a weekend MVP, kept it ugly/basic, and let SEO + PLG compound. $0→$20k MRR without ever touching idea #2 is a great case for focus. Encouraging for other similarly situated bootstrappers.
Thanks.
this shows u don't need to build complicated products to make money.
Nice idea.
This is super inspiring, Lukas! What I really liked is how you just picked the easiest idea and launched it fast no overthinking, just solving a real problem
Your way of using small, niche searches and letting the product promote itself at events is really smart too
At GudSho, we’re also building a tool for brands to share and track their videos across social, and I can relate a lot to that phase of listening to your first users closely
Quick question , if you were starting today, would you still use Reddit as your first place to get users?
He showed how passion and persistence can transform small ideas into successful businesses through dedication, smart strategies, and consistent effort.
The key to turning a weekend experiment into a $20k/month business is to identify opportunities, test quickly, and scale intelligently. A large number of founders begin their ventures by building a tool, service, or side business just for fun. Consistent improvements, customer feedback, and effective marketing can help a simple project grow into a successful business. Persistence, adaptability to demand, and converting passion into a sustainable income source are the keys to success.
Keep the MVP ugly and basic—this has been incredibly inspiring to me. Thanks for sharing!
Yes, many people try to build the MVP as their final version of the app. Gotta keep it basic
Love this journey, Lukas. Proof that the “simplest idea” executed fast can beat the shiny ones that stay stuck in a notes app.
I’m building Coupyn solo right now, different space (referral codes/coupons), but the same principle holds ugly + useful beats polished + invisible. Your tweak with event licenses especially hit me. It’s such a clean way of aligning pricing with how customers actually behave instead of forcing them into a model.
Quick question, when you were still early, was there a specific moment (like first $1k MRR, or a certain user milestone) where you knew “this isn’t just a weekend tool anymore”?
Really enjoyed this story. Its a great example of how starting small and letting real usage guide the roadmap can snowball into something big. What stood out most was the clarity:
Solving one sharp pain point with a simple, no-frills tool
Using community feedback as ongoing R&D
Baking subtle product-led growth right into usage
Pricing aligned with how people actually buy (event-based licensing)
Super curious: on your side, which content tends to drive the most signups — integration guides, troubleshooting docs, or workflows tied to specific gear? And is there a single activation moment you’ve found that best predicts someone upgrading (e.g. first successful run, sharing a link, # of sessions)?
P.S. I’m with Buzz, we help founders ship conversion-focused Webflow sites and SEO for product launches. Happy to share a GTM checklist if useful.
Through consistency, market demand, and scalable strategies, Fleischmann built a $20k/month business from a weekend experiment.
Wow, from a weekend project to $20k/month? That's super inspiring! I'm curious to learn more about what that 'simplest idea' was and the steps Lukas took to scale it. Definitely gonna read this one!
Really enjoyed this, Lukas. Turning high churn into event licenses was such a clever move. As someone who studies how pricing and positioning shape conversions, I’m curious — do you feel that shift had more impact than the PLG loop with your logo visibility?
Hi Lukas,
What a brilliantly distilled story of startup simplicity done well—thanks for sharing!
A few highlights that really resonated with me:
Launch fast, learn fast – Building a minimal MVP in just one weekend and owning it with zero polish is pure startup gold. The “ugly and basic” timer that simply synced across devices is the essence of focus.
Lean into feedback – Sharing the free timer via a targeted Reddit community turned feedback into fuel—your first users did the heavy lifting by telling you exactly what to build next
Serve real needs, smartly price – Event-based licensing is a genius flip on “churn”—you met users where they were, simplified billing, and made revenue predictable.
Multiply with PLG & SEO – Combining organic visibility through Google and product-led growth kept the engine humming—all without overcomplicating marketing.
A couple of questions for you:
Channel performance: You mentioned that Google accounts for ~50% of traffic and word-of-mouth ~30%. Any other acquisition channels—like social, partnerships, or niche communities—making noise for you?
Activation Metrics: What user action best predicts conversion—from free use to paid event license? Was there a pivotal moment, like starting a timer or sharing a link, that had high signal-to-conversion?
Weekly milestone: Was there a specific MRR threshold—maybe hitting $3k/month—that finally made you confident enough to go all-in on Stagetimer? From your post, that pivot happened with your wife’s support near that milestone.
Takeaway for fellow builders: You’ve shown that the fastest path to traction is built on solving one narrow problem deeply, shipping with urgency, listening to users, then refining revenue in a way that matches usage patterns.
Really inspiring—thanks again for laying out this journey so clearly. Looking forward to learning what’s next for Stagetimer!
Amazing how momentum builds
This is such a great story of how momentum builds. You didn’t chase the “perfect” idea. Actually, you just solved something you saw in real life, and that made all the difference. I like how you kept a list but still acted when the right moment came, instead of waiting forever to validate everything. Also really cool that your wife nudged you to go all in! Now, that kind of support is priceless. Inspiring to see how far it’s grown in just a few years.
Loved this article. The way Stagetimer grew from a quick experiment into a real business is such a good reminder that you don’t need flashy ideas, just a clear problem and a simple solution. The event license tweak was especially eye opening. This has been a big inspiration for me to start my own solopreneur journey.
What I like about this story is how Lukas kept things simple and actually shipped.
Instead of polishing for months, he built a basic version in a weekend, shared it where potential users were, and let feedback guide the next steps. That feedback loop gave him both confidence and direction.
The smart move was adjusting pricing to real customer behavior. Most people only needed Stagetimer for one event, so offering one-time licenses turned a churn problem into steady revenue. Add in clear SEO content and product-led growth, and suddenly a weekend project is pulling $20k a month.
Big reminder that you do not need a perfect idea. You need something simple that solves a real problem and the discipline to put it in front of people fast.
Actually heard about this on some podcast when driving, super inspiring! Proves that any idea, big or small, can become very successful! Great job!
Congrats on turning a weekend idea into 20K MRR. That inflection point , where side hustle turns legit , is also when stuff like contracts, onboarding, and risk start to matter. I run no-BS HR cleanups for lean teams. Happy to do a quick audit if it’s helpful.
Love how Lukas focused on solving one very specific problem instead of chasing a big, complex idea. The reminder to start simple and learn from real users before worrying about polish is super valuable.
Helpful thanks for sharing
Congrats and I love that your wife pushed you to pursue your idea.
wild how the throwaway weekend ideas end up changing lives while the “big” ideas just sit in a notes app this story hits cause it shows you dont need fancy branding or perfect features you just need to solve one annoying problem for real people and then listen to them feels like the real cheat code is keeping it ugly simple and listening hard the event license solution too thats genius like turning churn into a feature respect to lukas for sticking with it and showing how boring ideas quietly turn into 20k months
Never getting to idea two is THE DREAM, but sadly I've never taken it slow nor calm enough to notice I'm at ONE. Someday though.
And yeah, simplest first is almost always the best way.
Simple's so hard though LOL.
That’s an inspiring journey! Amazing how a simple weekend idea turned into a $20k/mo business. Shows the power of solving real problems.
Amazing to see how a simple weekend project turned into something so substantial. It’s a great reminder that small bets can sometimes unlock the biggest opportunities. Curious — at what point did you realize this was more than just a side experiment and worth going all in?
Huge congrats — love “weekend → $20k/mo” stories.
Would you mind sharing a few specifics other makers can copy?
1) The weekend scope
• What exactly shipped by Sunday night (deliverable, not features)?
• Who was the first target user and what was the 1-line job-to-be-done?
2) First 10 customers
• Where did they come from (channel mix + rough counts)?
• One message/hook that worked verbatim?
3) Activation → revenue
• What single action best predicted payment? (e.g., import X, connect Y, publish Z)
• Did you design a 60-sec “first success”? What was the conversion to paid?
4) Pricing/packaging evolution
• Your first meaningful paywall and why?
• Today’s ARPU driven by seats, usage, or tiers? Any expansion motion?
5) Retention + ops
• What is “healthy” usage for a retained user in your product?
• Time allocation now (build vs support vs growth) and the non-obvious process that unlocked $→$20k/mo.
Even a rough month-by-month (T+1, +3, +6…) would be gold. Thanks for sharing!
This is awesome! Super simple, but fulfilling most of your financial goals:)
I have a question about churn: you reduced it by introducing the new pricing tier, but those users are primarily one-time purchasers. By doubling the price of that one-time purchase, have you actually increased the overall LTV?
simple idea, but great success. Well done
That’s a really inspiring journey 🙌 — especially how you started with the simplest idea and just kept iterating until it turned into a real business. I think that’s something many of us founders can learn from.
I’ve been working on a couple of MVPs myself — Taskdrip, a SocialFi platform for influencers,creators and brands, and LawColab, a legal collaboration tool — and your story is a good reminder that sometimes it’s better to start lean with one clear use case and grow from there. Thanks for sharing your path, it makes the process feel more achievable.
Really inspiring
Stagetimer does help a lot of users. Good work.
great but i want to add to know how you came up with this idea.
Reading your story made me realize that sometimes the simplest ideas are the ones that really work. You shipped fast and kept improving based on user feedback, which showed me that growing a business is about taking action first and iterating, instead of chasing perfection from day one. Really inspiring!
Thank you!
Really good idea on doing the one-time-purchase. I'm building a code scanning product and selling primarily as a subscription but perhaps a single-time scan offering might be a good idea.
The pricing has to fit the customer, not the other way around đź‘Ś
Really inspiring story man! Keep it up The race is just beginning
The idea of using a watermark on the free version is genius, because the people using the app were paying with publicity — especially at public events.
Love how you built something useful in a weekend and let real user feedback shape the product. Your pricing evolution is especially insightful!
We iterated a lot on pricing, and we're not finished I think.
love how you proved that simplicity beats complexity in early SaaS — and how you solved churn by matching pricing to real usage patterns.
→ The real takeaway for founders: Validate with the simplest build, listen deeply to early adopters, then evolve your model to fit behavior, not assumptions.
Your journey is proof that the “smallest idea” can create the biggest compounding results.
#SaaSScaling #PLG #ChurnReduction #FounderLessons #GoToMarket #SaaSCoaching
Great ideas to take into consideration as I just launched my own nutrition api product!
That's great
Have start making sales?
Not yet! Launched on Tuesday this week. Have a few signups but no paid users yet. Having trouble finding the right areas to promote to attract devs I think....
You don't mind if I take a look at the product maybe you could send a link or something?
I'm not allowed to post links yet it says, however its called "Avocavo Nutrition"(yes with a V not Avocado). If you search google for that it should be the top hit.
Have tried it I didn't see anything like that or is there any other way to get that.
How should I type it on my Chrome?
It's nutrition dot avocavo dot app.
I recommend allowing users to try out the product for free, right from the home page.
I went to check it out just now, but I don't want to hand over a ton of information without being able to try it out, first.
Got it! The site looks confusing though
If I may ask, what’s your approach towards creating a solid online visibility for the product?
That's good feedback, maybe it's too confusing for people to understand. In all honesty web design/layout and marketing is not my specialty, but I'm trying to learn. As far as making an online presence, I have been posting to reddit and hosting ads with minimal success. I'm having an explainer video developed now which I will use in marketing and for product hunt.
Got any tips?
Hey đź‘‹
How are you doing today, how is business?
Web design and marketing is a major component of getting results with a business like this
It’d be great if you actually work with a specialized developer in those field.
I work with/know a few people who specialize in helping products like yours get back on track and start pulling in consistent sales.
If you wouldn’t mind, I could help
very cool, you've done a great job
This one’s a great example of how picking the “simplest” idea can outperform the “most exciting” one if you execute well and position it right.
What really stands out for me:
Ultra-fast MVP — built in one weekend, shipped ugly and basic, solved just the core problem.
Right audience discovery — spent as much time finding the perfect subreddit as coding.
Organic PLG growth — logo in the free version became a billboard at every event.
Smart pricing pivot — event licenses doubled ARPU and cut churn by 75%.
It’s a reminder that sometimes, the fastest route to $20k/mo is just solving a boring problem really well — and making sure people see your product in action.
The idea is very simple and the person just wrote down all his thoughts for 2 years and turned it into an app. I am always amazed by such people.
Love this story! It's inspiring to see how focusing on a simple, real pain point and iterating with customer feedback can turn a weekend project into a sustainable business. Your use of freemium and event licenses to tackle churn is clever. Do you think there's potential to apply similar PLG tactics to AI-driven products for creatives, like those used in video and event production?
PLG is incredibly powerful. Not all products offer an easy angle for it like Dropbox. I'd recommend taking a long walk and thinking it over, you may find some neat idea :)
Appreciate that however nowdays there are lot of AI tools provide reall time reminder of compeltion and start of projects
I mount furniture with a screwdriver, but a professional uses a $600 electric tool.