Zero to $14k ARR in 4 months

TL;DR: Not many lessons here. I'm just sharing my journey from a fun proof-of-concept to a growing primary product. No jaw-dropping numbers yet.

Five months ago, I decided to take a little break from my primary product, Flipp. By that moment, I've been working with image generation for a while, and I was curious if I can do the same trick with the video.

I wanted to rest for a week or two, and building another massive video editor didn't fit my plans. So, I narrowed the idea down to the podcast-to-video thing and started building.

Four days later, I got a working MVP of the future app. That said, I can't help but mention – at that point I had zero intentions to build a real product. It was just a fun proof-of-concept project to keep my brain cells alive by having an active off-work rest.

The next month I spent designing the landing page, implementing tiny improvements, and thinking of a name.

So, on May 25th I did a soft-launch on Twitter and got the first paying customer the next minute. Thanks to my friends on Twitter, even a few retweets gave the product several sustainable acquisition channels. A month later I decided to go full-time with Reel, as it started growing even faster, and it could become a mistake not to invest all my time into it.

Reel in numbers

Today, Reel is:

• $14.000 ARR / $1160 MRR
• 3000+ video created
• 1000 users
• 100 active subscriptions

What worked:

• A skill to build and fix things rapidly
• Building in public (only in terms of getting early attention)
• Being based and having supportive friends

What didn't work:

• Paid advertisement ($400 spent on different ad channels turned into $20 so far, definitely my fault)
• Annoying in public (never tried it tho, might've worked)

Lessons learned:

• Even not annoying limits help to convert faster
• Users who contact support before signing up never convert

What's next?

While Reel keeps its steady growth, I'm not happy enough with the dynamics. The product is complete for its main purpose, so the only headache now is marketing.

My growth plan for the coming months:

• Invest in SEO (content + backlinks)
• Affiliate program
• Partner integrations (Reel button widget)

If you're a podcast influencer, feel free to hit me up for some special affiliate terms.

Product Hunt launch

Today, Reel is on Product Hunt. I would love it if you support me there, and share your opinion/experience in the comments section.

This launch means a lot to me and I appreciate your support there!

https://www.producthunt.com/posts/reel-5