Attention Idea: Solo Founder printing $23K/Month with water rating app

Solo Founder printing $23K/Month with water rating app

General

Pat Walls

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Updated: August 10th, 2025

The Post

Title/Hook: Solo Founder printing $23K/Month with water rating app
Format: Share A Case Study
Impressions: 10000
How many followers they had at the time: 0

Check out the post -> link

Why it works

1. Headline That Promises a Mini Success Story

"Solo Founder printing \$23K/Month with water rating app"

Specific revenue figure — concrete numbers create instant curiosity and credibility.
"Solo Founder" — signals that this is accessible and possible for individuals, not just big teams.
Unusual niche — water rating app is intriguing because it’s specific and unexpected. That novelty hooks people.

2. Instant Relatability and Accessibility

Early in the post, the author says:

“Cormac isn’t a CS major or traditional software engineer. He taught himself…” This breaks down the mental barrier for readers who think, “I could never do that because I’m not technical.”

By framing Cormac as self-taught, the story becomes inspirational and attainable.

3. Clear Breakdown of the Success Formula

The structure is tight:

Who they are + why they’re relatable.
Their growth strategy (daily short-form content with a repeatable, simple format).
Their monetization model (subscription + affiliate).

This 3-step dissection lets readers instantly understand how it worked, which makes them feel like they’re getting a “behind the curtain” look.

4. Trendspotting & Industry Framing

The post zooms out from the individual success to the macro trend:

“Fundamental shift in the app economy”
“AI tools have collapsed the barrier to entry”

This makes the story feel bigger than one person — it’s part of a wave readers can ride, creating urgency and FOMO.

5. Actionable Inspiration Through Replication

The post directly says:

“The Oasis Water strategy can be replicated across countless other niches” And then gives examples (food additives, cosmetic ingredients, EMF radiation).

This bridges the gap between admiration and action — readers leave thinking, “I could do this in my own niche.”

6. Perfect Fit for the Subreddit

r/NoCodeSaaS is full of indie builders who:

Want concrete, real-world wins.
Love seeing actual revenue figures.
Are always on the lookout for replicable growth playbooks.

This post delivers all three — and avoids theory in favor of a real, recent example.

7. Call-to-Action That Extends the Conversation

Instead of just ending the post, the author asks:

“What other niches do you think could benefit…?” And promotes their related subreddit in context — it’s not a hard sell, it’s framed as a logical next step.

This keeps engagement high and funnels attention into a community they control.

8. Copywriting Hooks That Pull You Through

The writing has built-in “curiosity bumps”:

“This is why this case study is particularly interesting…” (forces you to keep reading)
“Here’s what makes this so powerful…” (teases a payoff)

Each section feels like it’s leading somewhere, which keeps readers scrolling.

9. Engagement Mechanics

Specific numbers + niche novelty = strong clickthrough from the subreddit’s feed.
The clear formatting (bullets, bold phrases) makes it skimmable and shareable.
Asking an open-ended niche question at the end invites lots of comments.

10. Strategic Link Placement That Feels Natural, Not Spammy

This post uses links in a way that:

Adds context instead of interrupting The founder’s app (Oasis Water) is mentioned in the opening paragraph after the reader is already hooked by the revenue number and unique niche.
Piggybacks on the curiosity By the time the link appears, the reader wants to see the app because they’ve just read that it makes \$23K/month and went viral on TikTok.
Feels like a natural next step It’s embedded in a sentence describing what the app does, rather than tacked on at the end with a “check this out” vibe.

Example from the post:

“…The Oasis Water app is brilliantly simple – it tells you if there’s harmful chemicals in popular water brands…” Here, the link to the app sits in a purely informational sentence, so clicking feels like learning more, not leaving the post.

11. Secondary Links for Value Stacking

The other links (to tools like AppAlchemy and Cursor) serve a different purpose:

They extend the value of the post by showing tools readers can use to replicate the success.
They boost credibility by associating the case study with other respected products in the space.
They subtly affiliate or cross-promote without breaking the flow of the narrative.

The combination of:

Curiosity-driven primary link (to the founder’s app).
Tactical value-driven secondary links (to relevant tools). … creates a layered funnel: 📖 Read story → 🤔 Click founder’s app → 💡 Explore tools → 🧠 Think “I can do this too.”

meet the author

Pat Walls

I'm Pat Walls and I created Starter Story - a website dedicated to helping people start businesses. We interview entrepreneurs from around the world about how they started and grew their businesses.

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