Our bootstrapped startup crossed $500k ARR, here our main growth tips and channels.
Yesterday we posted that papermark.com crossed $500k ARR.
After we were asked a lot by our startup friends especially by COSS (open source) startups : "What we did to make it take off?"
This is the kind of hardest question out there, not only for open source startups but for all. So, I gather here my top tips for our founders and open source friends:
From 0 to 10 customers
- Personal messages to people we know
- Posting on twitter practically every day (like updates, features)
- Launch on Product Hunt
- Posting on Reddit (for OS it can be just weekly- monthly updates, like change log)
- Dev to posts (This really helped a lot in the beginning)
→ What it gave us?
First awareness, but the also STRENGTH to our domain, which lay a background for the next SEO efforts
From 10 to 100 customers
I think this is when it really took off. And attracted not people we know but just people with problem who search in Google. And the channel is SEO.
- Alternatives pages
If you open source, and you come as alternative to some existing company USE it. Your goal rank first. Both alternatives and alternative. Just rank from your main page as alternative, or create separate page. - List of tools
Look which type of tools your product belong to and create listicle articles, like listing top 10 tools, this is a quick win. We have a lot of conversions from them. - Create how to guides
Involving your product of course - Localise landing page on different languages
I was not sure before about it, and would not recommend do it as a fist thing, but after you already more confident in your content game, it can be good addition. People who don't speak English are underserved.
Step by step to get quick SEO results for open source and not only:
- Check your traffic on Semrush or similar
Are you perform for some terms already? - Set up Posthog or similar to see from which pages people convert.
Without that you had no idea, if pages you create will convert. - Create alternatives and list of tools pages.
Spend just one week on it no more. The faster you publish them the better. For the blog we use mdx files, so make it simple. Have no blog? Create just pages for now, they will perform even better. - Clear pricing and your SaaS offering.
I notice many COSS startups neglect their pricing offering, expecting only customers for self-hosted product. Reality is that most of your customers will use your hosted version. - Make easy for people to pay
Also one of the things i notice for coss companies, the conversion flows are not always build or take not so much attention. Result: people just don't understand how to pay. If you do SEO efforts make it easy to pay or call with you.
Don't be obsessed with tracking in the beginning, create your SEO pages today. And than you have your 5 pages ready, you have payment available and support open than expect results in next 4 weeks 🚀
Post-launch lesson: traffic came, activation didn’t
I Stopped Browsing Reddit Randomly. Here's the Keyword Monitoring System That Actually Gets Me Customers.
For indie hackers: Outsource marketing or do it yourself?
congrats, team! inspirational :
I always thought that open-source tools had an easier time finding users, but that was before I started creating and trying to promote products myself. It's hard for everyone to get attention, no matter what you're making.
"Have no blog? Create just pages for now, they will perform even better." - That's valuable advice for me because it was kind of holding me back—starting a blog. But starting with just pages is brilliant. Thank you.
Yes everyone struggling with marketing and getting users.
I found that it better push some general pages faster than wait when you prepare full set up. Even articles can be made first like that, and than you optimise.
🔥 This is gold, Iuliia!
Really appreciate how you broke this down step by step — especially for open-source and bootstrapped SaaS builders. The part about “alternatives pages” and “list of tools” really hit me — I’ve overlooked that and I’m already rethinking how I structure my content.
I’m currently building BuildBidSafe, a platform for Jamaicans abroad to safely manage building projects back home using escrow and verified contractors — super trust-focused, niche market. We just started lead gen and I’m now about to go deep into SEO. This gave me the blueprint to move faster.
Big thanks for sharing real numbers, real process — not just hype 🚀
Good luck with it!
Look for some big companies in the market which you can get traffic from in the beginning, there can be many ways for them, one is SEO.
thanks
This post has been very helpful, thank you
great post
Wow, super helpful tips! $500k ARR bootstrapped is amazing. Definitely gonna try out those SEO strategies and Reddit posting ideas. Thanks for sharing!
Respect. Most people just flex numbers , you showed the path
This is gold, thank you for breaking this down so clearly!
We’re super early on a compliance-focused tool for freelancers and small startups (think AI tax form analysis meets legal co-pilot). This part hit home:
“Personal messages to people we know, ... posts, and Reddit updates gave us strength for the SEO work later.”
We’re still pre-launch, but already testing this flow:
Waitlist page live
Soft founder DMs and Reddit value posts
Starting Twitter this week to build a trail
Question for you: when you were just starting those first SEO pages (like "alternatives" or tool roundups), did you find they helped before you had strong domain authority? Or did the real SEO gains come after a few backlinks and social traction?
Appreciate any insight!
If you find the really good bottom of funnel keywords, like alternative to, which has lower competition, or your product just such a great fit, you will rank even with very week domain.
So don't delay I would say, the earlier you create first pages the better, they can be basic at first. And dont make anything very generic, very on point, when customer look for solution.
Good luck! If anything can reach me on Twitter (shnai0)
These are great tips, thank you! For Reddit, what was your approach to avoid self promotion?
I experimented a lot on Reddit, with many posts deleted, I think now it is getting very hard to post there, even no self promotion.
But I would still give it a try. I see pages performing from there still
Good tips, thanks
aswsome
Interesting angle on posting on updates on Reddit. Would you create a new topic or post updates on a particular thread?
We mainly posted on self hosting and open source channels.
A lot of posts get block though now, so not so active on Reddit anymore
This is a gold post. Thank you so much
Really glad it is useful, I share more tips on growth on Twitter or LinkedIn
Exactly the kind of info that makes this website useful. As a first time started I am trying to strategize around ways to grow an organic following. It has so far proven to be a hard road but this is a great outline as to things that I could and should be doing.
I like the list of tools page!
Performs typically very well.
Congrats on reaching $500k ARR! Your approach to leveraging SEO and community engagement is inspiring. As I'm working on my own SaaS project, Pixel Pen, which focuses on AI-powered blogging and affiliate content creation, I'm curious how did you prioritize between content creation and community engagement in your early stages?
thank you for the detailed breakdown of each stage, I appreciate it!
much success!
Scott
Great to see that you have figured out marketing. Most founders fail to make a proper marketing and even be consistent about it.
Right now I am testing my MVP on twitter to build some traction
This is the kind of post that fuels indie hackers like me. Hitting $500K ARR without funding is no small feat — it’s proof that relentless focus, understanding your users, and smart experimentation can take you far. What stood out most to me is how grounded your growth tips are. Nothing flashy, just consistent effort and real insights. Huge congrats — this inspired me more than you know!
Thanks so much for sharing this — incredibly helpful and encouraging for those of us still in the early stages.
I’m curious: how long did it take you from the moment you started building Papermark to reaching your first meaningful revenue or profitability? I often find myself feeling anxious about timelines and whether we’re “behind,” so hearing your experience would really help put things into perspective.
Appreciate all the insights you’ve already shared — especially the part about not waiting for everything to be perfect before publishing SEO content. That really resonated with me.
I know this isn't your primary focus with this post, but how were you able to differentiate yourself in the early days? If you're intentionally competing with the leaders in your space, what makes people think you are special right away?
the "Alternatives pages" sounds like really great content, how long before you saw SEO efforts results ?
That’s awesome!
We’re just starting out with ChompChat (AI order assistant for restaurants), bootstrapped too. Curious: what was your #1 growth channel in the early days?
Lets goooooo