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I was on the VC track, sold my startup, then started indiehacking. Just hit over $100 MRR launching early access 1 month ago. AMA!

I built CoffeePass (An app kind of like the Starbucks app for ordering ahead but for all local shops). We were trying to go big! Raised some seed funding and we were about to raise more when I decided I didn’t like where things were headed. As in needing huge volume like door dash, uber eats, grub hub but no profit.

So we sold.

Now I’m building businesses that will just work to provide for me and my family. Less stress!

First built Supportman at the beginning of 2020. Have some paying customers and currently at $300 MRR. Things were shaping up but I thought there were better opportunities elsewhere.

Now building Potion, which allows you to create custom websites in minutes on Notion.
Have been building in public on Twitter which has been really valuable!

Now at over $100 MRR after launching early access 1 month ago.

So if you’re interested in…

  • Trying the go big or go home route
  • Selling a business
  • Building in public
  • All things Notion

I’m your guy.

If you're interested in diving deeper, do check out my blog and podcast!

ASK ME ANYTHING!

  1. 3

    Hi Noah, I thought you only have one product - Potion.

    I was starting to work this morning and quickly features your product on ProductStartups.

    https://my.productstartups.com/c/saas/supportman-io-intercom-metrics-ratings-in-slack

    Hope you like it.

    I just have one question?

    How do you get ideas to build small SaaS Products like these and what efforts you take to make it profitable?

    Venkat

    1. 2

      Cool! Thanks for adding Supportman.

      Lot of my ideas come from looking at this intersection...

      Potential customers that I'd like to serve
      Ideas that big venture backed companies wouldn't go after (So you aren't having huge competition take your lunch)
      Current waves that are rising that I can jump on.

      A lot of this is about being in the water as Justin Jackson talks about. Being online seeing whats going on around me and seeing what opportunities come by that I might be a good person with my skills to go after. Also Just trying ideas and trying things helps you to see other problems that you can go for.

      Hopefully that helps!

    2. 1

      Hi Venkat, I like what you're doing with ProductStartups. Any chance for GrowthHunt.co to join in the fun?

      Cheers :)

  2. 3

    Hey Noah!

    If you can think back to the early days of Supportman and compare it to current times with Potion, what feels different? What's the same?

    1. 5

      Great Question!

      Feels like there is market pull with Potion. Have lots of people reaching out to me and telling me what they want and would like to see. With Supportman it felt like a lot more of an uphill battle. No one was reaching out. I had to do a lot of the leg work to talk to people and get their feedback. I think some of this can do with supportman being more b2b instead of pro-consumer though too.

      With Supportman it felt like I was on my own timeline. I could turn it into a bigger business. I would just have to put in the work. With Potion if feels like I'm more so trying to catch a wave and I need to jump on it. There is good and bad of both. I feel like there is more pressure with Potion. Or at least I have put that pressure on myself.

      Whats the same? Well there is always something that is hard in building a business. I have hit different walls with both of them. They may just look different. Trying to figure those out and get through the tough moments is something I have experienced in both. Also, marketing and finding traction has been hard for both. probably because its a skill I'm not as good at!

  3. 2

    I also did a time capsule on @noahwbragg to find out the exact steps he took to make $100 MRR for Potion! You can read the post here.

    1. 1

      Thanks for writing this up! Really cool!

  4. 2

    I checked your LinkedIn and looks like you're quite technical. How are you approaching the coding aspect of this upcoming project? Do you feel like you value the product side less now that you've been through the wringer?

    And are you working on this full-time?

    1. 1

      Thanks for the questions. Basically I try to build the fastest way possible to get to answers that are needed in building the business. So I'm ok with worse code quality if it means I am getting something out there faster. In business the technical side usually isn't the hard part, at least now a days with so many great tools and libraries that you can use.

      I think the product is still really important but marketing and getting traction is usually harder, especially for indie hackers and engineer types like most of us.

      I am part time on this currently. I was full time on CoffeePass back in the day.

  5. 2

    Hey, Noah! Thanks for doing the AMA.

    The pre-sales route is ideal for many indie hackers - a great way to get early validation. Can you talk about your process for closing pre-sales?

    1. 2

      I haven't really ever strictly done pre-sales. I would talk to potential customers and try to learn what their needs where.

      With Supportman I did about 30 interviews of support managers before I started creating the product. I didn't ask them to pay right then and there because I was still a little unsure of what I was actually going to create as the solution. Once I had an mvp I then went back to them to show off the product and get feedback.

      But hightly recommend pre-sales and do think it is a great way to go!

      1. 2

        That's awesome. Just curious - when you were interviewing support managers, was that cold outreach, or were those warm leads?

        1. 1

          Mostly cold outreach. Then I used those connections to find more.

  6. 2

    ASK ME ANYTHING!

    If you could guarantee with 100% confidence that your product could hit $83,333 MRR, but it would take 3 years to do, but an investor comes and says they will invest in the company to accelerate that growth to be by EOY, which would you do?

    Also what's your favorite canned food?

    1. 2

      I would just not take the investor's money and build it out over the 3 years. Seems like that would be a more enjoyable ride. Have that happen in 1 year would be so stressful and hectic that I would probably forget to breathe! :)

      Canned food? Shredded chicken.

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