We hit $1M ARR in 4 years. With zero funding.

I'm still processing that this is real.

We reached $1,000,000 in annual recurring revenue. 🥹

No AI hype. No VC money. Just 4 years of hard work building good software to solve a real problem we had ourselves.

When I started ProjectionLab as a side project in 2021, I was just a normal engineer working solo on nights & weekends after my day job, because I wanted a better financial planning tool.

I couldn't imagine my little app ever making 5 figures... let alone 7! 🤯

But today, we're a 3 FTE team helping 100k+ households plan for a better financial future.

The chart looks nice when you zoom out, but the journey to $1M ARR had ups, downs, and moments I wanted to quit. I've been documenting it along the way, and you can read the full story here.

One thing I was shocked to discover is that success in this arena indexes less on IQ and more on consistency. Once you've validated your idea, keep showing up to make it a little better every day. Even when there are distractions. Even when growth is flat. Even when it feels pointless.

And even when that voice in your head says you’re not a “real entrepreneur.”

It said that to me too. A lot.

So you know what? Do what most people can't: actually show up every day. And prove it wrong.

Also, you don't necessarily need to grow a huge following like on indie hacker Twitter (or X, whatever). I literally don't understand how all those guys are posting constantly. Deep technical work on a complex product takes time and focus -- I would never be able to get anything serious done replying to stuff 100x a day.

I think the main thing is: find a real problem you understand deeply where the market isn't completely saturated. And solve it really damn well.