Carving out a small niche in a big market and bringing in $10k+ MRR

Really impressive how you carved out a small niche in a large market - hitting $10K MRR is a testament to focused positioning and value-driven execution. The clarity on niche selection and customer fit is refreshing. Thanks for sharing this roadmap - great inspiration for other builders.

Loved this post. It really hits home — especially the part about keeping focus and doing one thing really well.
I’ve had a similar realization while working on my own project, GoPilot, a planner that understands both time and place. I started it mostly out of frustration with existing scheduling tools — they’re either too manual or too rigid to fit how real days actually flow.

Your story is a great reminder that clarity and focus beat feature overload every time. Also love how you treated open source not just as a dev choice but as a growth channel — that’s such an underrated move. Thanks for sharing your journey so honestly. Really motivating read.

"Do one thing really, really well." That line hits hard. It’s the difference between being just another SaaS and becoming a must-have tool. The open-source + Product Hunt combo also shows how distribution can be as powerful as product design itself.

Really inspiring to see how you carved out a niche and built it into solid MRR 👏. I’ve noticed the same in our work with BrushO, an AI-powered smart toothbrush. Instead of trying to compete with every big oral care brand at once, we focused on a clear niche — smarter brushing habits and a lifetime free brush-head plan — and that positioning made it easier to build trust and consistent growth.

Really like how you approached growth by narrowing the focus instead of chasing the whole market. It’s counterintuitive, but owning a small niche often creates far more leverage than trying to compete everywhere.

I’m currently in the validation stage of my idea, and your point about narrowing focus really hit home. It’s so tempting to build too many features, but focusing on one thing (and one subniche) seems to make all the difference. Appreciate you sharing this!

useful app and interesting story. sometimes it's difficult to anticipate if people will pay for this service. The problem you are solving resonates with me but when I thought to solve this my friends told me they would never pay for something like this. I am wondering how founders validate the idea

Really inspiring! Focusing on a specific niche market is key to success, and your journey is truly motivating.

riches in niches.

Love this. A perfect reminder that niching down isn’t a limitation — it’s leverage.
You solved your own pain first, stayed focused, and shipped before it was “easy.” That’s real execution.
Curious — what was the biggest insight after hitting $10k MRR? And how are you planning to scale without losing that tight focus?

Cyber security samina here I here to help of free of cost

Really inspiring. It’s always interesting to see how solving your own pain point turns into a product with real MRR.

Curious .. what was the first signal that told you Inbox Zero could actually become a real business rather than just a personal tool? Congrats

$10k+ MRR by staying laser-focused on one painful problem in a crowded space is such a strong reminder that depth beats breadth every time. Love how you leaned into open-source + SEO instead of chasing shiny marketing tactics. What’s been the biggest retention win now that competitors are everywhere? Congrats! 🔥

HOW I RECOVERED MY LOST CRYPTO FROM FAKE BROKER ONLINE.

I had lost over $752,000 by someone I met online on a fake investment project. After the loss, I had a long research on how to recover the lost funds. I came across a lot of Testimonies about THE HACKANGEL RECOVERY TEAMS. I contacted them providing the necessary information and it took the experts about 48 hours to locate and help recover my stolen money. If anyone is looking for a Recovery firm to Recover your lost Crypto. You can contact THE HACKANGEL RECOVERY TEAMS . I hope this helps as many out there who are victims and have lost to these fake online investment scammers. You can contact them by using Email OR Phone 

WhatsApp +1(520)200-2320

Impressive strategy! Focusing on a small niche can be incredibly powerful—$10k+ MRR shows how targeted solutions can outperform broad approaches.

I am having a real hard time finding a niche, or trying to niche down the SaaS I am working on, it's tough.

This is really thought provoking, choosing a niche is tricky but one you have nailed it, it can be really rewarding.

Nexia nació con una idea simple:
crear soluciones de IA que realmente funcionen en empresas reales, no solo en presentaciones.

Y desde Argentina estamos trabajando con equipos de distintos países, demostrando que:

• el talento técnico local es altísimo
• el pensamiento creativo resuelve problemas donde otros ponen más complejidad
• se puede construir tecnología global sin estar en Silicon Valley

Nuestra visión:
ser una empresa de IA que crea impacto real, no ruido.

Seguimos construyendo, aprendiendo y compartiendo nuestro camino.

This is a perfect example of how a 'small' niche is actually a massive opportunity. So many founders see a crowded market and run away. But you saw it as a sign of validated demand and found a crack you could wedge yourself into. The beauty of this approach is that your marketing becomes incredibly efficient—you know exactly who you're talking to, where they hang out, and what specific language resonates. Congratulations on proving that you don't need to boil the ocean to build a thriving business!

Wow, really inspiring how Elie built Inbox Zero by focusing on one clear problem and iterating carefully. At The Paint 3D, we take a similar approach — we noticed how many beginners struggle to get started with 3D art, so we created step-by-step Paint 3D tutorials and downloadable assets to make the process simple and fun.

Do one thing really well' is advice everyone gives and nobody follows until they've already built the bloated version first.

I'm curious what your bloated version looked like before you cut it down. What features did you kill that seemed important at the time?

Thanks for the post! I agree that the UX is importand and that the user has to be able to understand what to do as fast as possible. I will also try to focus on only one use case!

Loved reading this — thank you for sharing the journey. It’s always inspiring to see a founder build something out of a genuine personal pain point and then take it all the way to real traction. The way you framed “doing one thing really well vs. doing ten things halfway” is a reminder a lot of us need. Rooting for your continued growth!

The part where you mentioned how carving out a micro-niche helped you stand out in a saturated market really resonated. In Italy, the tax-tech space feels exactly the same, crowded, complex, and dominated by big platforms. That’s why with Codice Fiscale Calcolo, I decided to go ultra-specific: instead of building a full finance suite, we focused only on accurate fiscal-code validation and automation for small freelancers. It’s a tiny segment, but the precision builds trust — and trust turns into organic traffic faster than broad features ever could. Your post nailed that balance between small scope and real traction.

I really appreciate how you emphasized solving one specific pain point instead of trying to do everything at once — that mindset completely changed how I approach side projects. When I was building Calcolo Stipendio Netto, a simple net-income calculator for freelancers, I noticed the same thing: focusing on clarity and usability for a small target group worked far better than chasing more features. Your post reinforces how narrowing down actually accelerates growth, thanks for sharing such a grounded perspective.

Love this story.

Especially how you focused on one problem and kept it tight. I also try to find what really bothers me or people around me first. Then try to validate if the problem is big enough to look for solution.

I have a couple of questions;

1- How you make people trust you with linking their mail box?

2- What is differentiation from competitors? Or do you really need one?

3- Do you think someone could build a smaller version of Inbox Zero using tools like Lovable or Replit today, or does it still need a full Next.js setup to perform well?

thanks a lot, really inspiring

That’s an incredible journey — your experience interviewing founders and building products like dbrief and LoomFlows shows real depth. I also love how you balance SaaS insights with something as unique as Ancient Beat!

Love this niche focus. I’ve been building mini AI tools that solve oddly specific pains..funny how small problems can create deep loyalty.

Curious if your early adopters came from a specific channel or just word of mouth?

Small niches in big markets require a targeted audience, a unique problem, and consistent value - leading to sustainable $10K+ MRR growth.

Really inspiring post.

Hey,I saw your recent milestone,congrats

I’m Samuel by name who supports founders with email marketing and product design

Let me know if you could use some support right now

That's pretty impressive, and I have to say I really like the onboarding experience. This feels much more premium than the other products out there.

I've tried the Notion Mail, for organizing, and I really liked the onboarding on that one too. The UX is what truly matters, from my point of view.

Keep up the great work!

“Very helpful post, thank you for sharing your experience!”

Fellow developer here — really impressed by your work. Your stack (Next.js, TypeScript, Prisma/Neon, and Upstash Redis) is a perfect example of clean, modern engineering.

What I admire most is your focus on doing one thing exceptionally well, your foresight in building before the AI wave, and your smart use of open source as a growth driver.

I’m curious about how you handle AI scaling costs, queue prioritization, and feature discipline as you grow.
If there’s ever an opportunity, I’d love to collaborate or contribute to what you’re building.

Perfect example of the power of focus! I love how you resisted feature creep and went deep on solving one painful problem really well. The scratch-your-own-itch approach combined with open source distribution and SEO is such a solid playbook. Inbox Zero hitting $10k+ MRR proves that narrow, well-executed beats broad and shallow. Congrats Elie!

The combination of open source visibility + Product Hunt + SEO dominance is a masterclass in early-stage distribution. So many indie founders could learn from that multi-channel approach.

Really loved reading this, Elie! The “scratch your own itch” approach always hits differently — solving your own problem first usually leads to something truly valuable. Also, the focus on doing one thing really well instead of spreading across features is such an important reminder. Congrats on hitting $10k+ MRR and building a product that actually helps people save time and stay productive. Super inspiring!

Focused expertise, reduced competition, and targeted marketing enable you to attract loyal customers and consistently generate $10k+ in recurring revenue monthly by carving a small niche in a big market.

Hi I'm guru Vardhan

I've built a initial version of production app(edTech). However, I've realized that moving forward alone- especially when it comes to decision making and execution is becoming a challenge.

I believe this project has real potential.
I'm looking for frontend dev. Can't pay now but offering equity and future share.

Really loved reading this! The decision to zero-in on a small corner of a big market and hit ~$10k MRR really resonates — it’s amazing what you can do when you stop chasing “everything” and focus instead.

I’m working on something quite similar (and yes, in the process of preparing it for the next chapter, including exploring a sale). Seeing your journey gives me a lot of encouragement.

Thanks for sharing — I’ll definitely be stealing a few lessons for my own next steps

Find an underserved segment within a large market and become the absolute best at solving one specific, painful problem for them.

This focus allows you to dominate your niche, charge a premium, and achieve $10k+ MRR by being a big fish in a small, well-defined pond. You check out this on my social site.

I remember showing a product to my fellow toastmasters, and one of them asked, “So what does it do?”
I had built 5 features into it, trying to make it everything for everyone.
That line stayed with me, so I distilled it to one thing - an AI Word of the Day generator. People loved it!

Wow, this is so inspiring, Elie! I love how you built something just to solve your own problem and it ended up helping so many people.

Focusing on one thing and doing it well really makes sense, too many tools try to do everything and end up confusing users.

Congrats on the $10k+ MRR! That’s such a big win. 👏

Sticking to one clear use case instead of trying to do everything usually works way better, keeping it simple beats overcomplicating things. I also like how your tech choices and open-source approach show you’re thinking things through. congrats Elie!

That’s great insight! Focusing on one strong use case instead of spreading across features is key — simplicity scales better than complexity. Your tech stack and open-source strategy also show smart execution. The Paint3D team follows a similar principle: build one thing incredibly well — making 3D creation simple, fast, and accessible for everyone.

Love this story — it’s the perfect example of scratching your own itch and turning it into something genuinely useful. 🙌
Totally agree on the “focus on one use case” part — that’s where most people get stuck early on, trying to do everything at once.
Also cool how you went open source and nailed SEO for “Inbox Zero” — that combo is killer. Congrats on hitting $10k+ MRR, that’s no small feat!

Really enjoyed this one Elie. Especially the reminder that focus beats feature creep every time. It’s easy to get caught chasing breadth when depth is what really wins. Also love how you used open source as a distribution engine instead of just a dev decision. That’s an underrated growth play. Thanks for sharing the full stack too. Super helpful for those of us building lean SaaS tools around automation and compliance.

niche is a secret sauce. great job man

This gives me motivation to continue working on my project!

fantastic. why did you not build directly on AWS ....

niching down is so underrated!

This is so wonderful to get so high MRR by finding a suitable niche market!

This really hit home. I also built a small bottleneck checker for pc builds and learned the same lesson about focus. I tried adding guides, benchmarks, and all sorts of stuff, but people mainly loved the simple cpu/gpu balance check. Funny how doing one clear thing right matters most.

I wanted to share some lessons from my journey building Sports Clothing Apparel, a sportswear manufacturing brand based in Sialkot, Pakistan. We started as a small local supplier and today we’re manufacturing for clients in multiple countries — all bootstrapped.

Onboarding bigger customers needs a different playbook. A targeted outreach plan could work: find your ideal companies and the right person inside, then send personal emails that uses your tool on the long end. Happy to go for a partnership here :)

Love this. Going after a slice of a huge market instead of fighting the big guys is such a good move. Looks like the smaller the niche, the easier it is to actually connect with people. How long did it take before you started seeing some real traction coming in and how was your user growth curve?

Everyone’s busy elbowing each other in the big market, meanwhile niches are just… waiting

I like how James focused on carving a niche instead of going broad.
I’m building a product in a similar space, but with a different approach that puts more emphasis on user ownership.
I believe entrepreneurs shouldn’t delegate ownership of their operations.
I think for anyone else it's fine, but entrepreneurs should fully own what they do.

I recently read that a salesperson said half of his 150 cold calls per day are now answered by a Google AI assistant.
Automation is tempting, but when tools for entrepreneurs replace their judgment instead of assisting it, they risk making the work less valuable and less creative.

Thanks for the article. It’s encouraging to see how much progress can come from refining one clear idea instead of chasing many, and that inspires me more to continue in this journey.

Love this story, Elie 🙌 Building Inbox Zero out of a personal need really shows how strong “scratch your own itch” products can be. The focus on doing one use case really well instead of chasing feature bloat is a powerful reminder for indie founders. Also great to see open source working as a genuine growth channel — it builds both trust and visibility. Congrats on the $10k+ MRR milestone! 🚀

That's what determination looks. Great story btw...

This is such a great reminder that focus beats features every time. What really stood out to me is how Inbox Zero didn’t win by being the first or the only option—but by being the clearest about solving one painful, universal problem in a way people immediately understand.

Really inspiring journey, Elie. Seeing how you locked in one problem, built a sharp UX, and already scaled to $10K+ MRR shows real product discipline.
I actually work with founders building tools in similar productivity spaces, helping them with lead generation / investor visibility.
If you'd ever want to chat about growing your reach or connecting with relevant partners/investors, I’ve got some ideas.

This is a great idea, and through your efforts, you have developed your own SaaS product with additional monetization. It is a happy thing, and I believe the future will be even better. Keep up the good work.

Check out faceseek on google

Yea I have also came to the conclusion that doing one thing well, is infinitely better than doing a bunch of stuff OK.

And finding niches (even small ones) are so important