AI tool turning text instructions into Excel formulas.

David Bressler, the founder of Excelformulabot.com, came up with the idea while on paternity leave. After discovering the power of AI and its potential in Excel formulas, he realized there was a need for an AI-based Excel formula generator. With 1 billion Excel users worldwide, Bressler saw a big enough market and quickly built a barebone application that went viral and gained traction through Reddit, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter. Since the launch in September 2022, the website has generated over $14K in monthly recurring revenue.

Excelformulabot was developed quickly to capitalize on the growing AI industry, with a minimalistic MVP built using the no-code platform Bubble.io. The initial version had basic functionality: an input field for user instructions, a button for generating formulas, an output field displaying the results, and a copy button. This barebone MVP took just a few weeks to build, reflecting David's urgency to harness the first mover's advantage in the AI space. He faced challenges related to unexpected high API costs due to viral exposure and immediately had to create a business model to manage costs efficiently. Feedback from the Excel subreddit was crucial for iterating on the initial version, which transitioned into a subscription-based platform with paywalls and logins over several months, demonstrating the effectiveness of user feedback in refining product offerings.

Viral Marketing on Social Media

Excelformulabot experienced significant growth through viral marketing, particularly on TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, and Reddit. The platform gained traction when users began sharing it as a "website that feels illegal to know." The ripple effect from influencers and micro-influencers posting about Excelformulabot amplified the brand's reach substantially. The virality continued across different social platforms, leading to widespread recognition and traffic.

Why it worked: Viral marketing tapped into the power of social proof. When influencers shared their experiences, their followers were intrigued and inclined to check out the service themselves. The portrayal of the site as a secretive hack added a compelling element that spurred curiosity and shareability.

Influencer Collaborations

Direct engagement with influencers has been a crucial part of Excelformulabot’s marketing strategy. David Bressler reached out to influencers whose audiences aligned with the product's use case in areas like finance, data, and accounting. Collaborations were either based on free promotions or paid partnerships, typically ranging from $200 to $3K per engagement.

Why it worked: Engaging influencers allowed Excelformulabot to tap into established communities that trusted their recommendations. This strategy effectively positioned the product in front of targeted users who found immediate value in the tool, especially amidst audiences who frequently use Excel.

Organic SEO and Branding

Excelformulabot benefitted from organic search traffic, largely driven by people searching for terms like "Excel formula bot." The brand's presence as both the category creator and the main solution provider resulted in high exposure on search engines. The site also garnered backlinks from reputable sites, enhancing its organic search appeal.

Why it worked: The brand's dominance in its niche and the creation of targeted content helped capture users actively searching for AI solutions for Excel. Having a name that directly matched user intent searches significantly enhanced discoverability and credibility.

Email Marketing and User Engagement

For customer retention and reengagement, Excelformulabot deployed email marketing strategies. Personalized messaging was developed based on user interactions, such as the type of formulas searched and user engagement levels. These tailored emails helped retain paying customers as well as encourage trial users to convert.

Why it worked: Personalized email campaigns aligned closely with user behavior, increasing the relevance and impact of each communication. This approach fostered a sense of connection and ensured users saw continued value in maintaining their subscriptions.

The co-founders developed the tool out of necessity for their lead generation agency. Initially, they used existing tools to help their customers generate leads. However, as they scaled, the cost of using these tools, which required payment per email account, became unsustainable.

In response, they decided to create their own tool, utilizing the skills of their developer. Initially, the tool was intended for internal use. However, after discussing it with others, they recognized its unique value and its potential to benefit many similar businesses.

We noticed that as soon as we tried to scale, the prices increased instead of decreasing. — Kaevand Co-founder Instantly; (Source)

Instantly.ai leveraged email marketing powered by its own product to achieve initial growth.

The team targeted existing customers from its previous agency and shared success stories from initial clients via Facebook groups and Twitter. In addition, it launched an email marketing masterclass, which triggered organic growth.

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Instantly sharing success stories on X.com

A screenshot of the Instantly Masterclass on Facebook

AI writing assistant focused on confidentiality and privacy.

After witnessing ChatGPT's remarkable rise in 2022, Jozef became intrigued by AI from both philosophical and technological perspectives. He started researching privacy and AI, believing that the technology would become increasingly invasive.

During his research, he noticed a lack of work in the privacy field, so he decided to focus more of his time there.

His initial idea for StealthGPT was based on his theory that as AI-generated text usage became more prevalent, AI detection systems would also become more common.

He then came across a viral video about GPTZero, one of the first AI Detectors, and at that moment, he knew that he needed to create StealthGPT.

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GPTZero viral video

Jozef took his savings to start building the initial product for StealthGPT. He leveraged the free version of Vercel to incubate his business and took on side projects to finance his development. Working on the prototype in the evenings, it took about six months before he was making enough revenue to both keep expanding through ads and start paying himself.

Like any good indie hacker, I started broke. I started by personally loaning $250 to the business. — Jozef (Source)

Jozef StealthGPT Techstack:

• NextJS/React
• Vercel
• Tailwind
• Planetscale
• Resend (Notifications)
• Clerk (auth)

A Snapshot of StealthGPT in Feb 2023

StealthGPT grew organically. Mentions on tech-focused podcasts and blogs boosted SEO rankings for keywords like undetectable AI.

Jozef allocated a marketing budget to user-generated content from reliable small creators on TikTok and Instagram, as well as to advertising on Google, Meta, and X.

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Tweet encouraging usage of StealthGPT

Krish and his team realized there is no way for teams to remember or even reference what was said in meetings unlike emails that you can easily check again.

They decided to use their NLP technology to transcribe meetings, make them searchable, and create notes and action items, & that’s what Fireflies.ai does today.

This early version focused on automating note-taking for remote teams.

As co-founders progressed, they developed a dashboard to store and make transcriptions searchable, addressing challenges like the high costs of audio streaming and improving transcription quality.

After validating the product's feasibility, they worked on improving the infrastructure and economics, eventually securing a seed round of funding in late 2019.

With additional engineering hires, Fireflies officially launched in January 2020, marking the start of their formal journey with a few hundred early customers providing valuable feedback.

*A Snapshot of Fireflies.ai in January 2020

Fireflies.ai's growth was significantly driven by a product-led strategy, which leveraged organic word-of-mouth from satisfied users.

Satisfied customers would post their experiences on platforms like Twitter, and Fireflies.ai leveraged the user-generated content to create a community and encourage virality, leading to more people talking about the platform.

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Fireflies responding to customer testimonial

In my early career, I used to be a recruiter (mostly tech) for some of the largest companies in the world. Back in 2018, I ended up writing the most popular resume advice on the internet via a post on Reddit on random Saturday morning that went mega-viral. Since then my resume template has been downloaded over 4M times since then – so I knew without a doubt that there is massive demand for trustworthy, straightforward, actionable resume advice.

Over the years, I've maintained the reddit thread by answering thousands of comments and questions from job seekers, all for free, accidentally positioning myself as redditors' most trusted resume whisperer.

With the advent of AI, I've been able to amplify my time and expertise by training the Sheets AI Resume Builder with my recruiting knowledge. We gave it away for the first week and saw thousands of excited users with great reviews, so we knew we were ready for prime time.

This is very different than my past business experience as Founder and CEO of Sheets & Giggles, a sustainable bedding brand known for its Eucalyptus Sheets.

In 2023, I started doing 1:1 resume reviews in my spare time with my good friend and old recruiting colleague Nate, who is also a software engineer at EventBrite. We loved helping people 1:1 and making such a huge impact on their lives, but we just didn't have enough time to help out everyone who came to us. Plus, because each resume review took a ton of time, we had to charge $400, which was prohibitive for a lot of folks who were unemployed.

In 2024, Nate asked me if maybe we should automate our reviews to help more people at a lower price, and voila! The Builder's tech stack is OpenAI, Gemini, PHP (Laravel), RestAPI, AWS, and a few other pieces. We started training an AI with our resume rules and recruiting knowledge, and it took about 4 months (working nights and weekends) before we had the UX dialed in.

We let people build their resume, and then ask them if they'd like to become a lifetime member for $99 – no recurring fees, unlimited usage, and no-questions-asked refunds. We are trying to figure out how to add in a free usage tier, but for now if anyone needs it for free because of financial constraints, they just have to email me and I'll grant them a free temporary membership.

The business is totally bootstrapped.

My image

We use Google Ads, affiliate marketing, PR, influencers, YouTube sponsorships, podcast sponsorships, and SEO content marketing to drive more website traffic.

We have a robust organic Reddit presence, answering questions freely and often. I think my best tip is that it's important to help people first and foremost, as often as you can, asking for nothing in return... and good things will follow.

"Scalable AI content generation tool for SEO success."

Chris Riley, a seasoned media site builder, spotted a gap in the programmatic AI content market when ChatGPT launched in early 2023, seizing the opportunity to revolutionize SEO strategies. With a modest initial investment of $9,000, Cuppa AI achieved profitability in their very first weekend, hitting $30,000 MRR today and targeting $50,000 by 2025.

The initial product development for Cuppa AI began with the acquisition of a barebones AI content framework for $9,000 in February 2023. This foundational purchase was made possible through networking on Twitter and was funded entirely through personal means, as the team opted not to seek external investment. Building on this framework, the team spent 4-6 weeks transforming it into the first operational version of Cuppa AI. The process of advancing the framework into a viable product was challenging and costly, primarily due to development expenses required to make it market-ready. The co-founders found the transition from a skeleton framework to a consumer-ready product to be a demanding endeavor, navigating both the technical intricacies and financial demands inherent to such a transformation.

Organic Social Media

Cuppa AI leveraged organic social media, mainly through platforms like X (Twitter), to drive initial sales. The strategy centered on "building in public" to generate excitement about the product. They cultivated curiosity by sharing authentic and transparent updates about their development process. This approach allowed them to create anticipation and awareness without spending on advertising, focusing on their existing following and networks to amplify their messages.

Why it worked: Authenticity and transparency in communication foster trust and community engagement. By showcasing their journey and progress openly, Cuppa AI was able to create a strong initial interest in their product, which translated to immediate sales upon launch. Their network on X played a crucial role in spreading the word, leveraging the platform's wide reach within their target audience.

Email Marketing

Email marketing has been a significant channel for Cuppa AI to increase and retain their customer base. They focus on collecting emails not just through product sign-ups but also via newsletters to provide ongoing value. This method keeps them directly in contact with their audience, allowing personalized communication and better engagement than social media timelines.

Why it worked: Email provides a direct line to the customer's inbox, bypassing the noise of social media. This enables Cuppa AI to upsell, cross-sell, and foster brand advocacy more effectively. The ability to consistently offer value through their email campaigns helps maintain customer interest and reduce churn, leading to sustained growth.

Reddit Posts

Cuppa AI utilized Reddit strategically to tap into discussions related to their product. By crafting thoughtful posts and engaging with the community, they were able to showcase their product's value and benefits, driving significant traffic and interest.

Why it worked: Reddit's platform is built on niche communities that are often highly engaged and specific in their needs. By participating in relevant subreddits, Cuppa AI could directly reach a segment of their target market that was likely searching for solutions like theirs. This approach helped them gain credibility and reinforce their product’s positioning through genuine interactions and discussions.

Student-focused AI writing tool for effortless creativity.

Dmitry Afonov, leveraging his experience as a software developer and CTO, founded Aithor after noticing CEOs often missed technical aspects. Launched in May, Aithor reached $6M in revenue, capturing students and professionals with its AI-writing assistant.

In 2020, Ramsri Goutham Golla uncovered the potential of AI-generated quizzes while collaborating with an edtech founder in Singapore. After moving back to India post-team conflict, he built Questgen.ai as a side project, eventually achieving $4k MRR with 70-80% profit margins.

To build the first version of Questgen.ai, Ramsri Goutham Golla focused on a simple interface, where users could input text in one textbox and receive generated quizzes in another. Not being a full-stack developer, he utilized no-code tools and chose Bubble.io for its supportive ecosystem to construct the initial prototype. This version communicated with an API to generate the quizzes and included basic features like Google authentication for users. Over time, as his technical skills developed and AI-assisted coding became more mainstream, he transitioned to using NextJS to rebuild the system for more advanced capabilities like streaming. This development process was a learning journey, involving experimentation and gradually integrating features like databases and Stripe payments.

SEO

Questgen.ai relies heavily on search engine optimization (SEO) for acquiring new customers. By focusing on this channel, they were able to drive traffic without spending money on paid advertisements. Over time, as the founder shared his learnings and experiments via blogs, he optimized them to include links back to the SaaS platform once it was launched. This strategic approach to SEO ensured a steady flow of organic traffic.

Why it worked: The strategy effectively leveraged past content, guiding interested readers to the new product. As the content was relevant, it naturally improved the site's SEO standing, bringing in traffic searching for AI quiz generation solutions. Given the nature of their educational domain, consistent content updates aligned with SEO best practices helped maintain visibility despite changing algorithms.

Social Media

The founder of Questgen.ai actively used social media, particularly LinkedIn and Twitter, to announce the launch and subsequent updates of the product. Building in public, he shared new features and product developments, which helped generate interest and engagement. This approach was consistent and organic, allowing him to connect directly with potential customers without incurring significant costs.

Why it worked: Social media platforms are effective for building personal and product narratives, especially when you're willing to share the journey transparently. By actively posting updates and engaging with his audience, the founder capitalized on the natural reach and word-of-mouth marketing inherent to social platforms. The personal touch and continuous updates kept the product top-of-mind for followers, leading to organic growth.

Product Hunt Launch

Questgen.ai was also launched on Product Hunt, a platform widely known for product discovery. This was part of a broader strategy of 'building in public' and sharing comprehensive product announcements.

Why it worked: Product Hunt is a community known for its active engagement with new and innovative products. Launching there provided visibility to an audience specifically interested in new tech solutions, thus leading to increased exposure. The nature of the platform often results in a spike of initial traffic, feedback, and sometimes a catalyst for further organic growth due to the community sharing interesting finds within their networks.

AI-powered platform for professional headshots from selfies.

After a varied career including a failed coffee bar, a marketing agency stint, and multiple small ventures, Ricardo Ghekiere's lightbulb moment came post a night out in Spain. Teaming up with Miguel Rasero, who had found success with Minecraft servers and AI projects, they transformed BetterPic.io, growing it from $1,500 to $20,000 in monthly revenues by July 2024.

Building BetterPic's product was a complex yet innovative process primarily focused on utilizing AI technology for creating professional headshots from selfies. Initially, Miguel Rasero worked alone, developing the AI model using open-source tools like Stable Diffusion, building with his proficiency in Python and JavaScript. Early development involved rigorous testing and iterations on text-to-image models, image processing, pipeline optimization, and advanced training methods, resulting in gradual improvement of the AI's ability to produce quality headshots. The first prototype faced challenges, especially in achieving realistic facial resemblance and texture details, which took three months to reach acceptable quality. The tech stack included Vue 3 (Nuxt) for the frontend, Supabase for authentication, PostgreSQL for the database, Vercel for deployment, and Node.js for the backend. Despite launching incomplete before a vacation, the experience taught valuable lessons in rapid problem-solving under pressure, highlighting the chaotic but rewarding journey of a solo founder deploying a cutting-edge product.

SEO

BetterPic focused on search engine optimization (SEO) from the start, producing content and building links to improve visibility in search results. They targeted specific keywords like 'studio AI headshots,' improving their Google rankings over time. Despite some setbacks, such as temporarily losing their ranking for 'AI headshot generator,' they persevered and regained positions. This strategy gradually increased their monthly organic revenue.

Why it worked: Customers were actively searching for AI-generated headshots and related services. By optimizing their website for popular search terms and consistently improving their content strategy, BetterPic captured organic traffic, which was crucial for their low average order value business model.

Pinterest

BetterPic leveraged Pinterest as an unconventional yet effective marketing channel. By posting over 100 headshot images on their Pinterest page, they amassed 750,000+ impressions. This approach drove significant traffic to their site without incurring direct costs.

Why it worked: Pinterest is a visual platform, ideal for showcasing headshots. It attracted users interested in visual content, leading to increased brand visibility and website visits. The approach was creative and leveraged an untapped marketing avenue for BetterPic's type of service.

Pricing Strategy

To increase the average order value, BetterPic adjusted their pricing strategy. They raised the price of their basic package from $25 to $29, making the $35 package appear more attractive. This change resulted in a 400% sales increase of the $35 package.

Why it worked: By strategically altering their pricing tiers, BetterPic nudged customers toward a higher value package without making significant changes to the offerings themselves. This psychological pricing tactic effectively increased revenue per customer.

After leaving his nearly decade-long finance career and spending years contracting at tech companies, the co-founder of My AskAI saw his breakthrough when experimenting with GPT-3 technology. Teaming up with a colleague, they initially created tools like a university personal statement generator and No Code AI Model Builder before pivoting to My AskAI, which now makes $25k/month and handles AI customer support for SaaS businesses.

The initial version of My AskAI was developed using the no-code platform Bubble, which allowed the founders to rapidly prototype and iterate based on user feedback. This approach enabled them to create a functional product within just two weeks, even while one of the co-founders was on vacation in Thailand. Their initial product concept allowed users to upload a file and interact with it using natural language, a feature they tested with 5-10 potential users to ensure usability. Challenges included managing scope and iterating features swiftly, but the no-code setup allowed quick adjustments without heavy resource investment. The v1 development cost was approximately $50 in software fees, showcasing a lean and efficient build process that prioritized user feedback and testing.

SEO

My AskAI has been focusing on search engine optimization (SEO) to drive traffic to their site. They work with an agency to create blog content and build tools that can attract visitors from search engines. This strategic approach aims to capture people who are actively searching for solutions or insights related to AI and customer support.

Why it worked: By positioning themselves as a source of valuable content related to their niche, they can attract their target audience. SEO helps build a sustainable flow of organic traffic that grows over time, leading to consistent customer acquisition.

Social Media (LinkedIn)

The team noticed their best clients often came from LinkedIn. They plan to spend more time there, using social selling tools like Breakcold to build deeper connections and leverage networking opportunities.

Why it worked: LinkedIn is a platform designed for B2B networking and is effective for reaching potential business clients. By engaging thoughtfully and authentically, they can attract high-quality leads who are interested in SaaS solutions.

Product Marketing

My AskAI actively promotes their product through email flows, newsletters, and updates about new features. They ensure their communication channels highlight recent developments and benefits to keep existing and potential customers engaged.

Why it worked: Constant updates and clear communication keep the brand top of mind for their audience. Highlighting the product's evolving features can help convert prospects to paying customers and maintain interest from current users.

Customer Engagement and Feedback

The team places a high priority on engaging with customers and capturing feedback. This approach includes qualifying users, focusing on a specific user subset, and tailoring the product to meet their needs effectively.

Why it worked: By understanding their customers deeply and adapting their product accordingly, they can increase loyalty and reduce churn. This targeted strategy also helps attract long-term users who are more aligned with their product’s offerings.

Andrew and Michael, leveraging their extensive startup and web3 backgrounds, founded BasedLabs in December 2023 after struggling to find high-quality AI b-roll for automated content creation, quickly achieving a $10K MRR and 150,000 signups with less than $500 on marketing.

Michael managed to have the MVP of BasedLabs up and running in just three days. The initial product included an image-to-video generator and a user-friendly website with features like Google Auth signup. The development focused on being lean and fast, enabling them to spend only $100-200 on essential expenses during the first month. They leveraged Replicates API for AI models to quickly introduce new tools and services, allowing rapid iteration and development. This process was challenging due to tight budgets and the need to balance speed with functionality, but it set them up to acquire their first customers and gather valuable feedback for improvements.

Social Media

BasedLabs found success through social media platforms like Twitter, TikTok, and Reddit. From the onset, both founders focused heavily on creating content for these networks. They utilized Twitter for sharing promotions and user-generated content, which helped generate initial traction. A pivotal moment was a viral tweet shared by @ThunderMonique, which significantly boosted their traffic by 10,000 visits in one week. This focus on social media, particularly in their early days, allowed them to gain 500-1,000 sign-ups in their first month and build a solid foundation for growth.

Why it worked: Social media platforms are excellent for organic growth, especially when funds are limited. By targeting relevant communities and leveraging viral content, BasedLabs was able to reach potential customers at nearly no cost. The viral tweet indicates the power of peer sharing and the influence it can have on driving traffic.

SEO

SEO quickly became a primary growth channel for BasedLabs, with a focus on creating articles, free tools, and user-generated content to attract organic traffic. By month three, the company began to rank for SEO keywords, gradually increasing sign-ups to 10,000-40,000. The founders concentrated on building a strong backlink profile and focused on ranking for high-traffic keywords. This commitment to SEO resulted in a consistent flow of roughly 5,000 daily visits from organic Google searches.

Why it worked: SEO provided a scalable method for attracting customers without significant ongoing costs. By building their core strategy on SEO from the very beginning, they established themselves as a go-to resource, allowing them to capture user interest repeatedly without continual expenditure on paid marketing.

Partnerships and Affiliates

Another successful strategy was building partnerships and utilizing affiliate marketing. By offering free credits to AI video creators and building relationships with bloggers who would use their affiliate links, BasedLabs increased their visibility and sign-ups significantly. During months three to four, these efforts expanded their reach, helping them capture broader audiences through trusted third-party endorsements.

Why it worked: Partnerships and affiliates can exponentially increase one's reach through existing networks. By aligning with content creators and bloggers, BasedLabs amplified their efforts via channels that had already built-in trust with their target audience, providing a bigger impact than traditional advertising might have achieved.