A few things I've learned this year from building a small, profitable internet business from zero to $100k ARR in 8 months.

Ride the wave:

People often ask what we do for marketing, and I don't really have a good answer. You don't have to push your product as hard if you're building for a vocal community of passionate people within a growing market. They'll do most of your marketing for you.
Scratch your own itch:

If you don't experience the problem you've set out to solve, you’ll have a slight disconnect between what your problem actually is, who’s experiencing it, and how to reach them. I’ll probably never do another user test in my life.
Get specific:

The web hosting space may be crowded, but the web hosting space for Notion is not. I used to think a niche would limit the total size of my business, but If we capture 1% of all Notion users, we'd be making at least $720k/month—far beyond what's enough for me.
Use side projects as marketing:

Some of our record signup days came from one of my side projects. The only mention of it was a link to it in the footer of the page. Your side projects don't have to be clearly correlated in order to still correlate.
Use design to your advantage:

Although utility should come first, good design can be a huge advantage. Don't underestimate the power of good fonts, colors, layout, imagery, and white space to provide clear value and reduce friction wherever you can.
Scale at your own pace:

Opportunities to scale are everywhere, whether it'd be hiring, taking outside investments, or spending on ads. Either of those would have added more to my todo list which I have no interest in. Don't be afraid to grow at the pace you're comfortable with.
If you don't know by now, the business I'm talking about is @super_. Couldn't be more excited for what's to come in 2021 ⚡️

More from Startups

I shipped all these apps in 2020. Most of them generated $0.

🎬 https://t.co/JAhXqsuu6h $0
🌍 https://t.co/BrNUAhfiIT $0
💡 https://t.co/ZWcLfOH4aI $0
🐞 https://t.co/aghOxYEcPI $1.99
👍 https://t.co/2JhJLe27pW $3,025 in 10 days.

But that's ok, just keep shipping! My stories👇

🎬
https://t.co/wuiBp1XsYD is the first thing I created. It's a community for indie makers. The different thing is we post updates in videos. I created it for fun as I think the world doesn't need one more text-based forum, so I make a video one. No monetization plan so far.

🌍 https://t.co/fiwjgCWho5 is a social app. The idea is from Linktree, an app to share your social links. I thought it would be cool to add more visuals to it, and meanwhile we can explore others around. I also have no monetization plan for it. Make it for fun too.

💡 https://t.co/fZfL45uvVX is a platform to connect influencers with their fans. People says it's like @superpeer. But the only difference is it's all sync. Influencers don't need to commit their time to fixed slot. Fans pay to ask questions, influencers can answer at anytime.

Continuing Influenswer... I think the product has its potential. But for now maybe I didn't find the right niche to serve. Will re-evaluate it in future.
I gathered the best design tools for startups.

Save 100+ hours researching.

A thread 🧵👇️

1.
https://t.co/JuO4PMIkK6

Checklist Design is a collection of best UI and UX practices to provide a complete, honest and rewarding experience for your users.

Price: Free

{ 1 / 12 }

2. https://t.co/pBbmgt6ITD

Coolors is a super fast color schemes generator for designers. Create, save and share perfect palettes in seconds!

Price: Free

{ 2 / 12 }

3. https://t.co/GYboviE1yX

Blush makes it easy for anyone to add stunning illustrations to their work with a huge collection of designs from artists around globe.

Price: Free + Paid

{ 3 / 12 }

4. https://t.co/eLsLkLAyNm

Feather is a collection of simply beautiful open source icons. Each icon is designed on a 24x24 grid with an emphasis on simplicity, consistency and readability.

Price: Free

{ 4 / 12 }

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