Esc
I built a $25K MRR app with Cursor
Starter Story
Jan 5, 2026
Hassam is a non-technical founder who built his app 100% with AI. Then he hacked distribution by using someone else's audience to share his work. This video breaks down his distribution strategy that helped him his $25K MRR in 90 days.
Build an app with AI → https://build.starterstory.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=hassam
Follow Hassam: https://x.com/hasaamb
🔔 Follow the Second Channel: @StarterStoryBuild
🏁 We're hiring: starterstory.com/jobs
This video is an educational case study of this founder’s experience. It is not financial advice and does not guarantee any income or results. Every business is different and your results may vary.
Chapters
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Transcript
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No tools listed for this business.
I
took
everything
that
I
knew
and
built
my
first
SaaS
Meet
Hassam
a
non
technical
guy
who
launched
an
app
with
Cursor
So
I
spent
literally
all
day
for
the
next
48
hours
building
it
out
And
this
is
what
I
did
But
he
had
no
audience
no
distribution
and
no
way
to
reach
customers
So
he
did
something
I've
never
seen
anyone
do
before
He
found
a
distribution
channel
overnight
Then
90
days
later
his
app
was
doing
over
20
000
a
month
month
If
you
can
spend
1
000
hours
on
a
project
and
implement
your
domain
knowledge
you're
going
to
be
successful
So
I
asked
Hassam
to
come
onto
the
channel
and
share
exactly
how
he
did
it
And
in
this
video
we'll
get
into
how
to
find
the
perfect
business
idea
customized
to
you
how
to
save
yourself
years
figuring
out
distribution
and
his
six
step
playbook
on
how
he
would
do
this
all
again
if
he
had
to
start
over
today
All
right
let's
get
into
it
I'm
Pat
Walls
and
this
is
Starter
Story
All
right
Hassam
welcome
to
the
channel
Stoked
to
have
you
here
Tell
me
about
who
you
are
what
you
built
and
what's
your
story
I'm
Hassam
and
I
turned
my
Amazon
business
into
LaunchFast
I
built
it
with
Cursor
in
48
hours
I
pitched
it
to
a
coaching
company
with
a
massive
audience
and
now
we're
earning
20K
plus
MRR
I'm
excited
to
share
my
story
with
you
today
Okay
that's
amazing
that
you
did
it
so
fast
Before
we
get
into
how
you
built
it
and
everything
I
do
want
to
understand
what
is
this
business
Is
this
SaaS
What
is
it
LaunchFast
is
an
AI
powered
Amazon
product
research
tool
and
it's
built
specifically
for
private
label
sellers
It
helps
you
find
validate
and
source
products
all
in
a
matter
of
minutes
instead
of
weeks
The
growth
timeline
has
been
pretty
steady
since
we
launched
Day
zero
we
launched
with
the
partnership
with
LegacyX
and
about
30
days
in
we
were
at
10K
MRR
Around
day
60
we
were
at
17
to
18K
with
steady
growth
and
now
90
days
in
we're
at
about
21
8K
We
offer
a
50
a
month
pricing
to
the
coaching
customers
of
LegacyX
and
we
have
the
regular
pricing
model
for
199
per
month
for
the
general
public
We
also
have
an
official
Chrome
extension
with
330
active
users
and
all
our
users
are
paying
because
I
feel
like
we
launched
in
a
unique
niche
built
specifically
for
that
audience
That's
really
impressive
man
To
be
doing
over
20
000
MRR
in
90
days
is
amazing
This
is
a
super
cool
story
Before
we
get
into
how
you
built
this
and
everything
I
want
to
understand
a
little
bit
about
your
background
Do
you
have
a
coding
background
Are
you
a
developer
What's
your
background
So
I
have
a
non
technical
background
I
was
working
a
corporate
job
while
running
two
Amazon
brands
on
the
side
just
a
classic
side
hustle
grind
Because
of
Twitter
I
discovered
cursor
and
AI
tools
early
on
before
general
purpose
and
I
was
so
fascinated
that
I
finally
had
the
power
to
build
things
without
a
CS
degree
I
built
about
10
to
12
projects
across
different
spaces
Most
of
them
never
made
it
to
production
but
I
did
learn
something
from
each
project
So
when
I
eventually
started
building
tools
for
my
own
Amazon
business
I
realized
that
I
have
something
most
developers
don't
and
that's
the
niche
domain
knowledge
on
Amazon
So
I
thought
that
instead
of
solving
theoretical
problems
for
sellers
I
could
build
a
tool
I
wish
I
really
had
as
an
Amazon
seller
So
I
decided
I'm
going
to
put
cursor
to
use
and
I
built
the
tool
to
monetize
my
knowledge
Okay
I
want
to
dive
real
quick
into
the
idea
because
you
had
mentioned
that
you
had
10
to
12
failed
projects
but
then
this
one
was
the
idea
that
really
took
off
Walk
me
through
how
you
found
that
idea
and
how
you
sort
of
knew
that
this
could
be
something
big
Honestly
this
idea
came
out
of
pure
frustration
While
I
was
launching
products
I
was
spending
20
to
30
hours
researching
each
product
idea
copy
pasting
data
into
Google
Sheets
It
was
honestly
exhausting
and
all
the
tools
I
tried
I
just
felt
like
they
had
the
same
problem
They
looked
like
they
were
solving
important
problems
on
paper
paper
but
they
didn't
tackle
the
real
bottlenecks
But
the
thing
is
while
I
had
this
idea
I
also
realized
that
I
had
zero
audience
and
zero
audience
means
zero
distribution
So
even
if
I
did
build
the
best
tool
out
there
no
one's
going
to
know
about
it
and
it's
not
really
going
to
matter
And
that's
when
I
remembered
that
two
years
ago
I'd
actually
bought
a
coaching
program
called
Legacy
X
And
Legacy
X
already
had
the
distribution
They
had
thousands
of
active
Amazon
sellers
just
looking
for
a
new
tool
So
instead
of
trying
to
build
an
audience
and
my
own
distribution
which
can
sometimes
take
years
I
thought
that
I'd
just
partner
with
somebody
who
already
had
the
distribution
And
I
guess
I
wouldn't
be
giving
up
equity
but
I
would
get
instant
access
to
my
target
customers
Okay
so
super
smart
there
You
kind
of
solved
the
problem
that
a
lot
of
builders
run
into
which
is
AI
tools
can
help
me
build
it
really
quick
But
now
I
have
a
way
bigger
problem
which
is
distribution
I
really
really
like
how
you
solve
this
idea
Can
you
explain
to
me
how
you
solve
the
distribution
problem
Yeah
so
I
reached
out
to
Legacy
X
and
I
said
guys
I
can
build
you
a
better
product
research
tool
than
anything
on
the
market
So
I
told
them
give
me
48
hours
And
if
you
like
what
we
see
we
can
partner
No
strings
attached
and
you
guys
have
nothing
to
lose
So
I
spent
literally
all
day
for
the
next
48
hours
building
it
out
And
this
is
what
I
did
for
the
first
four
hours
I
mapped
out
their
existing
systems
and
SOPs
what
data
they
had
what
workflows
they
use
And
then
I
combined
it
with
my
own
processes
to
build
the
MVP
foundation
Once
I
had
that
for
hours
five
to
12
I
started
using
Cursor
to
build
out
the
core
features
It
didn't
have
to
be
perfect
but
as
long
as
it
was
functional
it
was
going
to
be
good
And
then
from
there
I
spent
hours
13
to
20
testing
bugs
iterating
And
Cursor
was
a
lifesaver
here
And
at
hours
21
and
30
I
thought
I
would
spend
a
lot
of
time
polishing
the
UI
and
making
it
look
professional
Something
I
learned
from
Amazon
is
that
branding
is
everything
So
I
put
the
branding
in
and
made
it
feel
like
a
real
product
After
that
hours
31
to
40
it
was
more
testing
again
testing
out
the
edge
cases
making
sure
I
put
everything
together
and
it
worked
fluently
After
that
it
was
just
the
final
polish
prepping
the
demo
And
then
from
there
I
recorded
the
video
and
sent
it
over
Next
day
I
woke
up
to
the
call
hey
quit
your
job
we're
going
to
do
this
full
time
And
from
there
that's
when
I
felt
like
the
pitch
was
worth
it
Even
though
I
traded
equity
for
this
instant
distribution
I
knew
that
I
was
going
to
get
instant
validation
And
now
I
literally
had
a
built
in
customer
base
So
when
it
comes
to
software
instead
of
me
sacrificing
other
resources
that
can
be
more
valuable
than
equity
such
as
my
time
I
would
trade
that
any
day
to
get
access
to
someone
else's
distribution
Even
if
it's
at
50
I
would
say
50
of
20k
MRR
is
better
than
50
of
zero
MRR
What
I
love
about
Hassam's
story
is
that
he
did
it
with
zero
coding
experience
He
had
an
idea
he
shipped
it
with
Cursor
and
with
the
right
distribution
strategy
he
hit
20
000
a
month
So
I
wanted
to
ask
you
what's
your
idea
What
have
you
been
planning
to
build
And
are
you
ready
Now
AI
is
making
it
possible
for
anyone
to
become
a
builder
And
Hassam
is
perfect
proof
of
that
If
you've
made
it
to
this
point
in
the
video
I
think
you
might
want
to
become
a
builder
too
So
I
want
to
invite
you
to
check
out
Starter
Story
Build
It's
our
program
where
we
teach
you
how
to
build
apps
with
AI
And
in
just
a
few
weeks
you'll
go
from
idea
to
launch
and
finally
build
that
idea
that's
sitting
in
your
head
right
now
Our
next
bootcamp
starts
soon
So
if
you're
ready
to
build
head
to
the
first
link
in
the
description
to
join
Starter
Story
Build
All
right
let's
get
back
to
the
video
I'm
also
curious
about
another
thing
You
mentioned
that
you
had
like
10
to
12
products
that
went
nowhere
Why
do
you
think
that
this
product
really
took
off
I
felt
like
this
project
was
successful
over
others
because
I
had
niche
domain
knowledge
in
the
Amazon
world
Previously
I
was
trying
to
launch
products
like
Lyric
AI
video
generators
or
automating
job
applications
I
didn't
really
know
what
the
end
user
wanted
or
why
the
current
softwares
weren't
living
up
to
their
hype
With
the
Amazon
world
I
already
understood
from
A
to
Z
what
problems
new
sellers
were
running
into
what
data
they
needed
That's
why
I
feel
like
putting
my
domain
knowledge
into
LaunchFast
was
successful
versus
the
graveyard
in
my
GitHub
And
honestly
I
think
every
person
has
a
niche
hobby
or
interest
that
they're
into
And
with
access
to
AI
now
you
have
the
chance
to
monetize
that
knowledge
You
probably
know
problems
and
solutions
better
than
anybody
in
those
niches
If
you
turn
them
to
software
productize
it
properly
and
get
the
solutions
into
the
hands
of
other
people
there's
a
huge
opportunity
waiting
for
you
This
is
something
that
I
100
agree
with
And
it's
something
I
tell
a
lot
of
people
who
join
Starter
Story
is
pick
an
idea
where
you
have
domain
knowledge
where
you
have
knowledge
where
you
have
skills
Go
build
something
in
there
and
you
won't
have
to
waste
two
years
learning
about
a
whole
new
domain
For
anyone
watching
this
who's
maybe
questioning
what
is
my
domain
knowledge
Or
if
I
have
domain
knowledge
how
do
I
get
started
What
would
be
your
playbook
if
you
had
to
start
over
today
finding
and
then
building
on
some
domain
knowledge
If
I
were
starting
today
here's
the
exact
steps
that
I
would
take
So
step
one
is
going
to
be
to
identify
your
domain
knowledge
and
then
write
down
three
to
five
industries
or
domains
where
you
have
deep
knowledge
and
you've
personally
solved
problems
The
step
two
would
be
to
find
validated
markets
So
from
those
three
to
five
domains
you're
going
to
look
for
niches
that
already
have
successful
SaaS
tools
If
they're
already
making
money
that
means
the
market
exists
We
can
use
tools
like
SensorTower
RF
or
even
Google
Console
just
to
find
other
competitors
that
are
doing
well
within
these
niches
So
the
key
here
is
that
you
don't
need
a
unique
idea
You're
just
going
to
execute
better
in
a
proven
market
Step
three
is
going
to
be
to
do
a
deep
dive
on
user
pain
points
So
we're
going
to
go
where
those
customers
actually
hang
out
We're
going
to
dive
deep
into
Reddit
Facebook
groups
Twitters
and
even
review
sites
We're
going
to
identify
who
the
user
is
what
their
ultimate
goal
is
and
what
are
the
current
defects
in
the
tools
they're
using
Step
four
is
going
to
be
to
build
the
MVP
We're
going
to
build
the
one
feature
with
the
highest
ROI
potential
yet
the
easiest
implementation
Don't
worry
about
getting
it
perfect
Just
make
sure
it's
functional
and
get
it
into
the
hands
of
users
as
fast
as
possible
Step
five
we're
not
going
to
try
to
build
this
audience
from
scratch
We're
going
to
see
who
already
has
access
to
our
target
customers
Is
it
coaching
companies
Is
it
communities
Or
is
it
other
influencer
groups
We're
going
to
send
them
the
demo
We're
going
to
offer
them
a
partnership
for
access
to
the
distribution
And
just
remember
that
50
of
something
is
a
lot
better
than
100
of
nothing
Start
listing
out
five
potential
distribution
partners
and
try
to
reach
out
to
three
by
the
end
of
this
week
Step
six
is
after
we
launch
we're
going
to
have
to
ship
daily
and
we're
going
to
iterate
fast
based
on
real
user
feedback
We're
going
to
take
actionable
insights
from
their
feature
requests
from
bugs
and
what
things
break
Take
their
feedback
and
commit
to
shipping
at
least
one
improvement
every
day
for
the
next
30
days
To
wrap
up
the
playbook
just
remember
that
you
no
longer
need
to
be
an
engineer
to
build
production
software
If
you
can
spend
1
000
hours
on
a
project
test
it
thoroughly
and
implement
your
domain
knowledge
you're
going
to
be
successful
Amazing
Thank
you
for
sharing
that
playbook
I
think
it's
super
cool
I
want
to
change
the
topic
slightly
As
someone
who
doesn't
have
a
crazy
development
background
what
is
your
tech
stack
for
building
a
SaaS
right
now
What
have
you
used
for
your
product
So
this
is
a
tech
stack
that
literally
anybody
can
use
to
go
from
idea
to
MVP
in
48
hours
To
write
the
code
we're
going
to
use
Cursor
We're
going
to
host
on
Vercel
And
Vercel
is
great
because
we
can
host
right
from
Cursor
We're
going
to
deploy
it
with
the
CLI
and
it's
going
to
be
no
friction
or
configuration
We're
going
to
use
Superbase
to
do
our
database
auth
and
storage
This
is
going
to
replace
Firebase
And
with
the
Superbase
MCP
there's
going
to
be
no
friction
in
implementing
it
with
Cursor
We're
going
to
make
sure
all
of
our
onboarding
emails
are
personalized
and
we're
going
to
send
that
with
the
email
for
developers
which
is
resend
We're
going
to
use
Apify
because
a
lot
of
niches
depend
on
data
aggregation
And
Apify
is
going
to
simplify
the
collection
for
us
and
it's
going
to
be
critical
for
some
niches
And
we're
going
to
make
sure
that
we
build
the
app
on
TypeScript
and
Next
js
just
because
this
is
the
most
modern
and
AI
friendly
stack
And
you're
going
to
find
Cursor
works
a
lot
better
with
this
tech
stack
So
the
great
thing
about
this
stack
is
once
you
launch
your
costs
are
going
to
be
pretty
minimal
Cursor
is
going
to
be
the
only
one
with
their
max
subscription
at
200
And
until
you
hit
that
winning
product
you
won't
have
hurt
your
pockets
too
much
Last
question
that
we
ask
everyone
who
comes
on
Starter
Story
If
you
could
stand
on
young
Hassam's
shoulders
before
you
had
built
any
software
or
for
anyone
watching
this
that
wants
to
build
software
find
distribution
like
you
did
as
well
what
would
be
your
advice
If
you're
an
ideas
person
you're
somebody
who
sees
problems
imagines
solutions
You
can
now
use
AI
to
build
those
solutions
I
feel
like
AI
tools
have
really
closed
the
gap
between
idea
and
execution
So
I'll
tell
Hassam
to
just
stop
waiting
stop
planning
just
start
building
Try
to
ship
something
this
weekend
Just
get
in
front
of
at
least
10
people
Listen
to
their
feedback
iterate
and
ship
again
And
if
it
doesn't
work
just
repeat
it
I
feel
like
the
tools
exist
the
knowledge
exists
And
the
only
thing
stopping
you
from
shipping
is
yourself
So
just
ship
and
keep
shipping
Well
that's
amazing
advice
Hassam
Thank
you
for
coming
on
20
000
MRR
in
90
days
is
amazing
This
is
such
a
great
example
of
what's
possible
in
2025
and
beyond
So
thanks
for
coming
on
Thanks
for
sharing
everything
being
transparent
And
good
luck
in
the
future
Thanks
so
much
That
was
pretty
fun
What
do
you
think
What's
your
takeaways
I
mean
this
story
is
absolutely
insane
This
guy
who
didn't
know
how
to
code
who
didn't
have
an
audience
He
built
the
app
in
48
hours
Obviously
they
probably
took
some
equity
maybe
50
equity
in
that
But
now
he's
making
10
000
a
month
peer
profit
And
the
business
was
started
in
2025
which
is
the
year
we're
in
right
now
What
do
you
think
Yeah
I
mean
it's
just
such
a
smart
strategy
Especially
for
people
who
have
no
audience
or
small
audience
It's
like
a
hack
It's
a
new
way
of
thinking
How
do
I
get
customers
You
always
think
well
Reddit
and
Twitter
and
all
this
stuff
And
I
hadn't
thought
of
something
like
this
before
So
yeah
that's
what
I'll
take
away
for
sure
I
think
a
lot
of
people
out
there
just
no
offense
But
you
suck
at
finding
customers
You
suck
at
marketing
And
it's
going
to
take
a
long
time
for
you
to
get
better
This
is
a
great
way
to
shortcut
that
You
don't
have
to
sell
half
your
app
for
the
next
app
you
build
or
the
next
app
you
build
But
for
the
first
one
that's
a
pretty
good
deal
I
would
take
that
any
day
of
the
week
But
again
reminder
that
none
of
this
would
be
possible
without
the
knowledge
on
how
to
build
apps
and
an
idea
So
if
you
were
inspired
by
Hassam
you
want
to
learn
how
to
build
stuff
quickly
Well
that's
exactly
what
we
teach
you
in
Star
Story
Build
In
a
couple
of
weeks
you'll
come
up
with
an
idea
We'll
teach
you
how
to
build
it
with
AI
tools
And
we'll
teach
you
how
to
launch
into
the
real
world
and
get
it
into
the
hands
of
real
so
that
you
can
do
it
over
and
over
and
over
again
until
you
become
great
like
Hassam
And
if
you
are
ready
to
get
off
the
sidelines
and
get
building
check
it
out
All
right
guys
see
you
in
the
next
one
Peace
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