My tool reached $300 MRR! Here's how I did it (no audience, no ads)
$300 MRR is actually surprisingly hard to reach if you don't have an existing distribution built. It took me 6 (quite difficult) months to get here.
Here's how I did it:
1) Your tool needs to solve a REAL, recurring problem.
I built many tools before that were "interesting". This one is the only that managed to go from "a couple of $ here and there" to consistent revenue because it solves a real, recurring problem people can easily measure ROI.
This single reason mattered more than any tech, UI or features.
Recurring problems also means recurring revenue. Unless you already have large distribution, it's REALLY hard to bootstrap without recurring revenue. So if there is only 1 thing you take away from this post it's this: build a recurring painkiller, not a nice-to-have.
2) You MUST have a customer acquisition strategy
Launching on Product Hunt is not an acquisition strategy. You must know where your target audience hangs out and how you'll consistently reach them. Before you build anything, you must test this strategy.
For me my main acquisition channels are Reddit and X, and before I shipped my tool I had a landing page with a waitlist. I was sending cold DMs to my target audience to see if I could get signups to my waitlist. If this could work (which it did) it meant I can continue doing the same once I launch to get customers.
3) TALK to users (especially the ones who leave)
It's really hard to get PMF from your first try. I've iterated like crazy before I reached a stage where I have steady growth. I talked a lot with users who sign up but don't start paying to understand why. I also talked to users who canceled to understand why. I also talked to users who continued using the tool month-after-month to understand what they like most about it. I used all this data to improve my offer and activation.
These are the 3 core reasons why I managed to get to this stage.
Timeline (for context)
3 months → ~$100 MRR
Churn hit
Big iteration phase
Another 3 months → ~$300 MRR
If you've got questions happy to go deep so you can apply what I learned to your SaaS!
Congrats on hitting $300 MRR — that's a real milestone for a solo founder.
The "recurring painkiller vs nice-to-have" framing is spot on. I've noticed the same pattern: tools that solve problems people experience weekly/daily have completely different retention curves than those solving one-time pains.
Curious about your Reddit DM approach — do you find the response rate differs significantly between people who posted vs people who just commented? I imagine the intent level varies quite a bit.
Also, your point about talking to users who churn is underrated. Most founders focus on happy users, but the ones who leave often have the sharpest feedback.
Thanks!
I haven't found a significant response rate difference between people that post vs people that comment, but I've been mostly sending DMs to people that post (around 90%).
On Reddit I've been getting the highest reply rates (~35%) out of other platforms like X. DMs there are really underrated.
Appreciate this — and 100% agree on the “recurring pain” point, it changes everything. On Reddit DMs, I’ve found people who posted usually reply more because they’re actively seeking solutions in that moment, while commenters are more hit-or-miss unless their comment shows they’re currently struggling with the exact problem. And yes on churned users — the best insights often come from the people who almost loved it but hit one friction point.
Yeah, that makes sense! As long as the post / comment is recent, it's a good signal the person is actively seeking for a solution.
Absolutely — recency is a huge signal. If someone posted in the last few hours/days, they’re usually in “solve it now” mode, not just browsing.
One thing I’ve found helpful is keeping a simple rule like: reply publicly first → then DM only if they engage, so it stays natural and avoids coming off spammy.
Do you use any quick system to track which threads you’ve already touched (even just a sheet), or do you go by memory?
I use bazzly.ai for replying and DMing. It finds posts + leads for me to reply / DM, so I don't have to keep track of this.
Hey Filip,
Really impressive journey. Going from $0 to $300MRR in just six months is no small feat, especially without an existing audience or ads. Your focus on solving a real, recurring problem really stands out, so much of SaaS fails because it’s solving nice-to-haves instead of painkillers.
Appreciate it — thank you 🙌 Totally agree on the painkiller vs nice-to-have point. The biggest shift for me was narrowing the niche + getting users to their first “win” as fast as possible so value is obvious right away.
Thanks man! Yeah, I think most founders (me included) are stuck because they don't solve a real, recurring problem and just build "cool" stuff.
Time is the essential!
Huge congrats on hitting $300 MRR, especially without an existing audience or paid ads. That’s a real milestone. The point about building a recurring painkiller vs a nice-to-have really hits home, and I like how you validated distribution before fully shipping instead of hoping Product Hunt would do the work.
Also respect the emphasis on talking to users who leave - that feedback is often uncomfortable but incredibly valuable. Curious during your iteration phase: What change had the biggest impact on retention once churn hit?
Thanks for sharing such a clear, honest breakdown.
Super helpful for anyone bootstrapping.
Glad it's helpful!
The biggest change was to improve my core offer (my initial offer was to find you leads on Reddit automatically, but now it also automates DMs + replies which saves a lot of time). The new offer made my tool more valuable hence retention improved a lot.
Another change that had big improvement was to require a credit card for starting a free trial. This ensured I don't spend money on people that never plan to convert, and those that are serious are more incentivized to follow the system I recommend to get the best results. This increased my signup to paid a lot!
Also, adding a demo in my LP not only increased trust, but it helps those that want to learn how to use the tool watch and copy me.
That makes a lot of sense, expanding the core offer instead of just adding surface-level features is a great lesson. Automating DMs + replies on top of lead discovery clearly turns it into a real workflow tool rather than just a data source, so the retention improvement tracks.
Requiring a credit card for trials is also something a lot of founders hesitate to do, but your reasoning is solid. Optimizing for serious users instead of raw signups is a mindset shift I’m still internalizing myself.
The demo insight is underrated too - reducing friction before signup saves everyone time and sets better expectations.
Appreciate you sharing the specifics. I’ll very likely be one of your customers soon.
The product and the way you think about distribution and retention really resonate with me. Looking forward to following your progress :)
Thanks man, appreciate you! I'll keep sharing progress on IH and on X.
And yeah, when it comes to features, I only add surface-level features when a client requests it, otherwise I try to focus only on building high-leverage features that improve my core offer.
Huge congrats — this is the most impressive kind of growth because it’s repeatable (no ads, no audience). The part that matters most here is you proved real demand + willingness to pay. If you’re open to sharing, what was the biggest lever: a specific distribution channel, a tight niche, or a clear “instant win” onboarding? This is a great case study for early builders.
Thanks man!
My biggest growth channel has been cold DMs + replies on Reddit.
I also made my LP speaks to one specific niche (early-stage SaaS founders) even tho this product is also used by other industries too.
I put quite a bit of effort in getting people to see the first "win" as fast as possible. For me that's showing them as many high-quality leads as possible as soon as they start their trial.
In practice, you should track every conversion metric in your funnel and see where your bottleneck is and improve that part first.
Love this — this is exactly how you build momentum fast.
Cold DMs + Reddit replies are underrated because the intent is already there, and your point about niche positioning is spot on: one clear ICP message converts better than “everyone can use this.”
Also 🔥 on the “first win” focus — showing value immediately is the fastest way to improve activation + retention.
Curious: what’s your rough split in effectiveness between DMing the OP vs DMing commenters on Reddit?
Just launched (external testing) my first app this week. Started building a small waitlist via LinkedIn and Threads a month back. Only today put it up on Reddit and threads. So far I have 10 people who have downloaded it. Would love to hear more about how I can scale this. It’s a simple screenshot and visual data organizing system. Perfect for anyone who needs agonized visual data, designers, contractors, project managers, etc.
Congrats on the first 10 downloads — that’s the hardest step. The fastest way to scale from here is to tighten your niche and message: pick ONE primary user (ex: designers or PMs) and make the promise super specific (“turn messy screenshots into a searchable library in 60 seconds”). Then post 3–5 short demos showing the exact before/after workflow, and drive everyone to one simple onboarding action that proves the value in the first minute. Once that activation step is strong, distribution gets way easier.
Start sending cold DMs to your target audience. These will help you get conversations started and understand what people are looking for and how well your offer fits their needs. If you can get consistent signups with cold DMs, it means your offer is solid and you can continue using this approach to get customers once you launch. If you can't get people to sign up, then you can ask them what's missing.
Thank you for the tips! I keep asking users for feedback, but getting silence. How did you overcome this if you experience it?
Since cold DMs has been my main growth channel, I was asking for feedback through DMs. People reply way more through DMs than email, but some people also reply to emails too.
If you're sending emails, make sure they are 1:1, not automated. Automated emails rarely get replies.
Thanks! Right now, I'm also just sending cold dms (X, LinkedIn) but maybe not enough. I probably have to up my output then
You can checkout this post and see my exact cold DM strategy: https://www.indiehackers.com/product/bazzly?post=bB7HdU4yQPjhQ6EK2Wf7
It was refreshing that you mentioned launching on Product Hunt is not a strategy. ~
Gaining users early looks as a habit rather than a campaign. Locations and dialogues repeat over and over.
How long did it take for Reddit/X to go from weird to natural for you?
I think around 1 month of consistently showing up on Reddit / X made me understand the platform and what works and what doesn't.
Being uncomfortable is where we grow!