Got $5,100 MRR in 4 months | What worked for us

Hi PH! :) We’ve launched on Product Hunt twice now.

• Our first launch was a few months ago.

• Our second launch happened more recently.

As of today, we’re at $5.1k MRR.

That didn’t happen overnight.

In fact, during both launch days, performance was… underwhelming. But looking back, those launches were still some of the most important things we did.

I tried almost every growth tactic I could think of over the last few months.

Some were huge time sinks, some quietly compounded and ended up carrying most of the growth.

Writing this out so others don’t repeat the same mistakes.

Context:
We’re building a no-code tool that helps non-technical people build apps - think Cursor or Bolt, but way simpler and friendlier. Less “developer-first”, more “I just want something that works”.

What actually worked

1/ Product Hunt (both launches)

Neither launch won product of the day.

• First launch landed us #7 Product of the Day

• Second launch didn’t perform great during the day either

But here’s what actually mattered:

• First launch got us our first 2 paying customers ever

• Second launch got featured in the Product Hunt newsletter again
  → we saw payments coming in overnight, not during the launch day
  → big awareness spike, especially on X

Timing is out of your control. Still, PH was 100% worth it both times.

What helped:

• Completing every PH field

• Clean visuals

• A short, personal video

• A launch discount

• Replying to every comment instantly

Even if the launch day itself feels quiet, the after-effects compound.

2/ Building in public (X + LinkedIn)

This one tested my patience. During the first launch, building in public barely worked.

I had ~800 followers... BUT! Most were inactive from years ago

I would get 30 impressions per post and 1 like, from my co-founder (lol).

Basically, it was a fresh account

But I kept posting daily!

Day counters. Screenshots. Small lessons. No skipping.

Around day 90, things flipped. Suddenly:

• Multiple posts every week with 100–200+ likes

• Some posts going properly viral

• People DM'ing saying they’d been following quietly for weeks

Lesson: Building in public compounds slowly, then all at once. If you stop early, you never see the upside.

Also:

• X loves Product Hunt launch announcements

• Reddit… not so much 😅

3/ SEO (but not generic content)

Instead of generic “AI app builder” blog posts, I focused on:

• Competitor comparisons

• Alternatives pages

• Content aimed at frustrated users

These people are already searching because something didn’t work for them.

This channel didn’t explode immediately, but it kept sending:

• High-intent traffic

• Consistent conversions

Now, at $5.1k MRR, SEO is clearly one of the biggest long-term drivers.

4/ Talking to users (especially unhappy ones)

We refunded people early on. The product wasn’t ready - it always hurt.

Instead of avoiding those conversations, I asked:

“What made this not work for you?”

The feedback was blunt. Sometimes uncomfortable. But it removed guesswork entirely.

Those conversations shaped the roadmap more than any analytics dashboard ever could.

5/ Email marketing (early)

I set up:

• Retention emails

• Failed payment recovery

• Re-engagement flows

This quietly saved revenue we would’ve lost.

It’s not flashy, but at scale, it matters a lot.

6/ Reddit (done carefully)

We shared the product in builder communities where it genuinely made sense.

No spam, but actual demos. And we got real answers!

This brought direct paying customers, not just traffic.

7/ Showing my face

Most indie founders hide behind logos. Whenever I showed my face:

• Engagement went up

• Trust went up

• Conversations felt more human

It sounds small, but it compounds just like everything else.

What completely failed

1/ Small SaaS directories

Submitted to a bunch of niche directories and launch sites. Result:

• Almost no clicks

• Zero conversions

• Time I’ll never get back

2/ Hacker News

Launched twice in 4 months. Always got 1 upvote.

Not every channel fits every product :)

What I’m doubling down on now

• Building in public

• SEO

• Talking directly to users

I’m still holding off on:

• Ads

• Cold email

• UGC / Paid influencers

There’s more upside squeezing what already works than chasing new shiny tactics.

Biggest lessons

People don’t care about fancy features. They care about solving painful problems simply.

If you:

• Listen to users

• Fix what’s broken

• Show up consistently where they already are

Growth happens.

this is my saas