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My little side project: $500 in 3 weeks

Just in case someone is interested, check out my new startup, I'd love to have a feedback!
K-Stash: The stash for your knowledge. https://k-stash.com

I didn't think that a simple web scraping API (https://onipot.altervista.org/wp-content/sm/) could be so appreciated.

I just wrote ScrapingMonkey in 1 day, published on RapidAPI marketplace and shared on Twitter using hashtags of some sort.

Users began to try it and averagely, in these 3 weeks, half of them purchased the 'unlimited' version at $2.

I am a full time student and I was looking for a simple business that could be easy to handle and completely automated, so that I have to 'waste' nearly zero time for mainteinance.

In the past I launched some good websites, platforms, but they required too much effort. This time an API was the right choice.

I know that for most of you $500 might not seem a lot, but for me they are.

Honestly, the thing that I love the most is the fact that a lot of people are enjoying and using my product.. and this is so motivating!

Things that I have learned so far:

  • Consistently share your product on the web
  • Always include a free subscription plan
  • Not necessarily you got to have an innovative idea. For me the key was: improvement of existing APIs.
  • Focus on your product and try to 'outsource' other aspects: In my case I just manage the code, security and selling aspects are handled by the well known and trusted RapidAPI.

Have a good day!

  1. 1

    I was planning to create an API and found this. Many thanks for the inspiration.

    Keep it up.

  2. 7

    Wow, congrats!
    Regardless of the amount of money, it's 250 people who value what you have created, and that is impressive, and a great vote of confidence to motivate you to keep moving forward!

    I will use the opportunity to ask you a couple of things... I didn't know about RapidAPI. How do they work? Is your code running on your server or on theirs? Are they just a middle man for payments or an all-round solution?

    And finally, just out of curiosity, what are you programming in?

    1. 2
      • The code is running on your own server, RapidAPI just hides it and act as a middle man
      • They also provide free security options (i.e: Threat protection )
      • I would say they are more than just a payment solution, they make you focus on coding only, and for me this was amazing.. and it is.
      • Currently I have coded it in php, thanks to rapidAPI I have included little security checks
      • High flexibility for sub plans: free, pay per use, daily or monthly thresholds or just unlimited!

      Hope I have cleared up your thoughts! :)

      1. 1

        Thanks for the answers! Now I get what the role of RapidAPI is! Looks like a great solution, since it removes the biggest headaches of building api's.

        I might give it a try. I have some tools I use for myself, and since now I know I don't have to worry about billing, limits, etc. could be nice to make public.

  3. 7

    Congrats, don't underestimate yourself!
    Some takes months and years to get their first $500
    what is your next milestone?

    1. 1

      Absolutely going to improve server infrastructure.

  4. 3

    Great job @onipot ! Any profit is good profit friend :) #treatyoself

  5. 3

    This is amazing @onipot. Thanks for sharing and congrats on this fantastic revenue!

    1. 2

      Thank you.. and I hope it will improve over time!

      1. 1

        I have no doubt it will!

  6. 2

    I know that for most of you $500 might not seem a lot, but for me they are.

    It is a lot! Congrats! I'm also a firm believer that consistency is key!

  7. 2

    Third point is really something. I see often times many of us overlook this.

  8. 2

    Nice job, I also made a similar API to extract data from the news articles and posted on RapidAPI as well: https://rapidapi.com/kotartemiy/api/extract-news

    1. 2

      How has the customer response been so far for you?

      1. 2

        Literally none. It just works. Some people just use it.

  9. 1

    Hey, nice job! Very happy for you...I have 1 question, how are you doing your accounting? Are they issuing you invoices for the 20% cut?

  10. 1

    Congrats! This is really awesome!!

  11. 1

    Amazing. Good luck!

  12. 1

    $500 in 3 weeks is freaking awesome! Congrats.

  13. 1

    Congrats mate! Well done to you

  14. 1

    I am so stoked about your project..

  15. 1

    congrats! how did you handle marketing?

  16. 1

    That's awesome, congrats! Are the $2 enough to cover the costs of the data hungry subscribers?

    1. 1

      At the moment, yes they are. I'll see in the future!

  17. 1

    Bravo! That's a great result that many will envy.

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