How he makes $250K per month from a simple app (Letterly)
Starter Story
Nov 24, 2025
Anton built a note-taking app that is designed to be simple and easy to use. This video breaks down his simple product philosophy and how focusing on design and UX created a product users love.
Grab the Black Friday deal → https://www.starterstory.com/blackfriday?utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=anton
Build your own simple app → https://build.starterstory.com/build/ai-build-accelerator?utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=antonletterly
Follow Anton: https://x.com/Samarsky
Check out Letterly: https://letterly.app/
🔔 Follow the Second Channel: @StarterStoryBuild
🏁 We're hiring: starterstory.com/jobs
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:51 - Black Friday deal!
1:25 - Who is Anton?
1:49 - Numbers behind the business
2:26 - Idea for the app
3:20 - What makes his app different?
4:20 - Build your own simple app
5:00 - Why user experience matters
7:01 - Simple app playbook
8:38 - How Letterly works
10:50 - Tech stack and costs
11:51 - Final advice
13:04 - Your turn to build
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
Stack
Transcript
Chapters
Stack
- Custom Built (link)
My
name
is
Anton
and
my
app
makes
250
000
a
month
This
is
Anton
He
spent
years
on
failed
apps
until
he
finally
figured
it
out
What
did
he
change
Well
it's
not
what
you'd
expect
Our
secret
is
and
let
me
show
you
why
Most
founders
think
more
features
equals
more
value
but
Anton
proved
the
opposite
And
the
proof
is
in
his
app
that
makes
millions
Every
point
of
friction
kills
your
revenue
I
brought
Anton
onto
the
channel
to
break
down
his
entire
approach
and
in
this
video
we'll
dive
into
how
he
makes
millions
from
something
you
can
do
for
free
how
every
feature
you
add
to
your
app
is
actually
killing
your
sales
and
the
number
one
thing
you
should
focus
on
if
you're
building
an
app
today
Alright
let's
get
into
it
I'm
Pat
Walls
and
this
is
Starter
Story
Alright
guys
Black
Friday
is
in
just
a
couple
days
and
as
you
might
already
know
we
are
doing
something
huge
at
Starter
Story
I
do
not
want
you
to
miss
out
on
one
of
the
best
deals
we've
ever
done
because
last
year
our
Black
Friday
deal
sold
out
in
just
two
hours
and
once
people
hear
about
this
year's
deal
I'm
positive
it's
going
to
sell
out
even
faster
So
if
you
don't
want
to
miss
out
on
that
just
go
to
StarterStory
com
slash
Black
Friday
or
hit
the
first
link
in
the
description
and
we'll
notify
you
as
soon
as
the
deal
is
live
Spots
are
going
to
be
very
limited
for
this
so
what
are
you
waiting
for
Alright
let's
get
into
the
interview
Alright
Anton
welcome
to
the
channel
Tell
me
about
who
you
are
what
you
built
and
what's
your
story
My
name
is
Anton
and
I
built
Letaly
Letaly
makes
250
000
a
month
and
actually
we
have
launched
two
years
ago
and
before
that
for
15
years
I
was
trying
to
create
a
startup
and
all
of
them
failed
and
I've
tried
like
maybe
six
or
seven
of
them
and
this
one
actually
worked
Okay
before
we
get
an
interview
I
just
want
to
understand
a
little
bit
more
How
big
is
this
app
and
what
does
it
do
Letaly
is
a
very
simple
app
idea
It
turns
your
speech
into
well
written
text
The
main
thing
that
we
are
obsessed
with
is
about
simplicity
and
about
how
easy
it
is
to
use
and
about
user
experience
and
it's
actually
a
paid
application
We
do
have
a
free
trial
In
terms
of
numbers
we're
doing
250
000
in
revenue
30k
monthly
active
users
we
have
20k
paid
subscribers
and
overall
it's
150
000
downloads
for
two
years
All
right
I
love
what
you
mentioned
there
is
how
much
you
guys
focus
on
keeping
this
app
simple
and
we're
going
to
get
into
that
but
what
I
want
to
understand
first
is
how
do
you
even
come
across
an
idea
like
this
an
idea
that
eventually
makes
over
200
000
a
month
So
this
idea
came
to
us
while
we
were
actually
building
something
else
Two
years
ago
a
little
bit
more
there
were
apps
that
took
chatGPT
and
OpenAI
transcription
that
you
can
talk
and
then
transform
it
to
everything
but
all
of
them
were
like
prototypes
and
we
thought
wow
this
is
so
powerful
and
simple
idea
This
is
something
I
need
a
lot
but
I
can't
use
them
myself
because
they
are
not
implemented
well
enough
and
back
then
we
did
another
startup
and
we
had
a
team
and
we
kind
of
stopped
that
startup
and
decided
that
okay
now
it's
time
to
focus
on
this
idea
Okay
cool
so
you
come
up
with
the
idea
but
honestly
I
think
a
lot
of
people
watching
this
might
be
wondering
and
I'm
wondering
this
too
is
how
does
this
app
make
200
000
a
month
a
ton
of
free
alternatives
and
you
could
potentially
do
it
for
free
with
chatGPT
This
seems
kind
of
crazy
and
this
is
why
I
wanted
to
bring
you
on
the
channel
is
that
you
have
an
interesting
philosophy
about
this
Can
you
explain
to
me
why
your
app
is
crushing
it
when
there's
tons
of
others
that
aren't
The
number
one
goal
with
Letaly
is
to
make
it
really
simple
It's
all
about
making
it
more
simple
eliminate
friction
Every
screen
that
we
are
doing
every
interaction
that
we
are
doing
is
about
this
This
is
our
competitive
advantage
We
think
that
this
is
the
main
reason
we
are
succeeding
right
now
Everyone
can
build
a
product
but
there
are
really
few
that
are
very
simple
and
easy
to
use
and
that's
why
we
are
here
That's
why
we
want
to
build
a
product
product
that
is
very
simple
easy
to
use
and
we
thought
about
the
user
and
eliminate
any
friction
possible
I
think
Anton's
approach
to
building
is
spot
on
Build
something
that's
easy
for
people
to
use
and
forget
everything
else
This
is
exactly
the
approach
that
we
teach
in
Starter
Story
Build
which
is
our
program
where
we
will
show
you
how
to
find
build
and
launch
your
idea
using
only
AI
coding
tools
The
best
part
is
you'll
learn
how
to
use
AI
to
make
your
app
simple
and
easy
to
use
just
like
Anton's
So
if
you're
ready
to
get
off
the
sidelines
and
start
building
we'll
head
to
the
first
link
in
the
description
to
check
out
Starter
Story
Build
Our
next
cohort
is
opening
up
this
week
right
now
so
click
that
link
and
save
your
spot
All
right
let's
get
back
to
the
video
Okay
so
as
I
understand
simplicity
is
what
made
you
win
here
in
the
elimination
of
friction
any
sort
of
friction
point
that
your
users
experience
A
lot
of
the
founders
we
talked
to
have
some
sort
of
secret
sauce
Often
it's
some
sort
of
marketing
channel
or
what
tool
they
use
to
build
the
app
in
but
you
have
something
different
What
is
the
secret
sauce
to
Letterly
So
I
think
that
it's
user
experience
because
it's
like
a
multiplier
to
everything
you
do
It
helps
you
to
onboard
users
it
helps
you
to
retain
them
because
your
app
is
much
easier
to
use
it
helps
you
to
convert
to
sales
and
it
helps
you
to
attract
more
people
because
others
start
recommending
you
And
of
course
I'm
not
saying
that
focus
on
user
experience
and
everything
will
work
out
No
of
course
you
have
a
good
problem
to
solve
but
if
you
don't
optimize
for
user
experience
then
you
would
not
win
how
much
you
will
try
to
do
in
other
areas
In
the
early
days
of
Letterly
we
were
like
asking
our
customers
like
crazy
like
why
are
you
using
us
for
this
and
not
ChargeGPT
And
everyone
was
told
I
don't
know
it's
like
feels
much
easier
To
start
recording
with
Letterly
like
a
click
of
a
button
it's
a
widget
and
you
can
click
it
click
stop
and
the
text
is
ready
Even
now
we
kind
of
always
thinking
especially
now
how
it's
easier
like
what
should
we
do
We
should
build
a
new
feature
that
lots
of
people
asking
us
or
we
need
to
make
the
already
built
feature
easier
And
also
another
thing
from
my
past
startups
I
was
always
trying
to
make
something
unique
something
know
well
that
doesn't
exist
And
I
always
ended
up
building
something
that
people
doesn't
really
need
that
much
Here
we
intentionally
get
something
that
is
a
little
bit
tested
That's
why
we
said
okay
this
is
validated
business
model
We
want
just
to
make
it
much
better
and
much
simpler
that
the
way
that
we
want
to
use
it
For
majority
of
people
it's
better
to
find
something
that
is
already
working
and
that
can
be
done
better
Okay
cool
So
simplicity
user
experience
I
think
a
lot
of
people
watching
this
have
built
something
or
are
planning
to
build
something
So
my
question
for
you
is
if
you
were
to
start
over
and
come
up
with
a
new
app
idea
how
would
you
think
about
building
it
as
simple
as
possible
What
would
be
your
playbook
to
get
something
to
be
as
simple
and
usable
as
Letterly
Yeah
so
I
think
that
the
number
one
thing
that
everyone
should
understand
is
that
like
simplicity
user
experience
is
quite
expensive
You
should
treat
it
as
a
separate
feature
As
a
product
grows
you
should
assess
and
try
to
simplify
the
product
more
and
more
The
truth
is
you
have
to
iterate
and
iterate
a
lot
and
iterate
on
different
levels
So
the
first
iteration
is
on
prototypes
So
you
draw
something
and
you
begin
to
discuss
it
to
try
it
out
and
you
simplify
you
change
Then
you
begin
building
And
as
you
build
it
you
see
it
You
didn't
yet
release
it
And
you
kind
of
have
to
stop
a
little
bit
and
think
is
it
really
simple
and
user
friendly
as
you
dreamed
of
before
On
this
step
we
always
kind
of
struggle
that
we
kind
of
we
promise
some
users
a
feature
and
we
kind
of
have
to
postpone
it
because
we
need
a
few
more
weeks
to
make
it
better
And
then
there
is
a
release
And
after
release
you
get
some
feedback
You
see
people
using
it
You
see
people
asking
some
questions
And
now
you
understand
that
you
already
also
missed
something
and
begin
to
make
it
again
So
that's
the
approach
That's
the
steps
I'm
remembering
the
Steve
Jobs
quote
about
that
simple
is
actually
harder
than
complexity
and
how
hard
you
have
to
work
to
actually
make
a
product
simple
I
love
you
You
could
actually
show
me
your
app
Can
you
show
me
what
your
app
actually
does
and
how
simple
it
is
and
sort
of
show
what
you
mean
by
this
This
is
Lettaly
And
it
turns
your
words
into
written
text
And
this
text
can
be
used
for
notes
messages
emails
social
media
posts
It
can
also
record
your
meetings
meetings
and
then
create
a
note
of
this
meeting
And
the
app
is
created
for
people
for
whom
speaking
is
easier
than
typing
for
different
reasons
either
speed
or
they
think
that
way
or
maybe
there
are
some
difficulties
with
typing
So
now
you
see
the
recording
screen
You
can
choose
multi
speaker
or
not
Then
you
click
stop
and
you
get
the
text
And
by
the
way
it's
transcribing
and
it's
pretty
fast
But
now
we're
doing
it
like
real
time
So
you
get
text
instantly
We
have
a
lot
of
ways
to
rewrite
your
text
and
you
can
create
your
own
If
you
add
something
to
favorite
you
see
it
on
the
bottom
of
the
note
So
it's
much
much
easier
to
trigger
this
rewrite
And
also
you
can
understand
that
you
need
more
than
one
rewrite
For
example
you
need
takeaways
from
what
you've
pasted
And
you
can
click
on
this
as
well
And
after
that
you
can
actually
scroll
between
the
screens
You
can
choose
what
you
prefer
Also
we
know
that
sometimes
we
have
a
share
button
We
understand
that
sometimes
it's
much
easier
just
to
copy
in
one
click
and
we
put
it
And
this
is
like
one
of
the
most
usable
feature
right
now
You
can
also
trigger
actions
like
share
it
with
Google
Docs
or
Notion
It's
really
on
the
click
of
a
button
Everything
on
the
screen
And
also
another
magic
thing
that
we're
building
right
now
is
so
you
can
add
something
to
the
note
You
just
click
here
and
you
record
something
and
it's
transcribed
here
in
this
recording
So
yeah
it
looks
pretty
simple
but
actually
we've
put
a
lot
of
effort
a
lot
of
hours
like
thousands
of
hours
to
this
app
Rebuilding
doing
a
lot
of
prototypes
doing
a
lot
of
versions
That's
how
we
come
up
to
this
simple
UX
Okay
cool
Thank
you
for
sharing
that
I
wanna
change
topics
just
a
little
bit
and
talk
about
TechStack
What
is
this
app
built
on
Yeah
so
in
terms
of
mobile
apps
we
started
from
React
Native
but
some
time
ago
we
changed
React
Native
on
Apple
on
Swift
backend
on
Python
And
yeah
so
this
is
kind
of
basic
technologies
we're
using
for
our
app
Okay
cool
And
on
the
same
note
what
does
the
costs
and
margins
look
like
for
an
app
like
this
So
we
are
a
team
of
10
right
now
So
we
have
salaries
and
it's
about
30K
a
month
We
are
using
ChargePT
and
other
technologies
So
it's
AI
costs
like
5K
a
month
And
yeah
and
in
terms
of
advertising
it's
about
200
000
a
month
It's
quite
a
lot
of
investments
but
we
do
it
because
we
want
to
continue
to
make
the
best
possible
user
experience
And
also
we
want
to
grow
And
that's
why
we
invest
in
advertising
All
right
Well
thank
you
for
sharing
that
being
transparent
about
the
numbers
The
last
question
that
we
ask
everyone
who
comes
on
Starter
Story
is
for
anyone
watching
this
right
now
who
wants
to
build
an
app
who
wants
to
build
an
online
business
From
everything
you've
learned
from
all
your
previous
failed
startups
and
now
this
very
successful
one
what
would
be
your
advice
Yeah
so
I
can't
give
advice
because
I'm
not
sure
if
they
will
work
for
someone
or
not
but
what
works
for
us
and
I
want
to
share
it
So
number
one
is
work
with
co
founders
from
day
one
Build
something
you
can
launch
in
one
two
months
But
as
you
know
it
will
take
a
little
bit
more
time
because
of
user
experience
Choose
an
idea
that
is
quite
novel
It's
a
new
idea
but
it's
validated
by
someone
else
Don't
spend
a
lot
of
money
and
time
to
validate
a
completely
new
idea
When
you
see
that
there
is
attraction
that
you
see
some
revenue
just
go
for
it
Leave
your
jobs
and
focus
100
on
that
one
Also
build
something
that
can
generate
money
from
day
one
so
you
can
go
from
there
Beautiful
Thank
you
for
sharing
all
that
Thank
you
for
coming
on
the
channel
Anton
what
you
built
is
awesome
Letterly
is
super
cool
It's
crushing
it
Congratulations
And
thanks
for
coming
on
and
sharing
everything
Thanks
a
lot
I
wanted
to
thank
Anton
again
for
coming
onto
the
channel
and
sharing
this
I
do
truly
believe
that
simplicity
is
the
secret
sauce
for
Letterly
So
I
love
this
conversation
And
even
though
it
seems
a
bit
counterintuitive
keep
it
simple
stupid
I
love
that
quote
K
I
S
S
And
I
think
there's
a
lot
that
we
can
learn
from
Anton's
app
that's
making
250
000
a
month
This
is
also
why
we
launched
Starter
Story
Build
where
we
will
help
you
take
your
idea
and
turn
it
into
a
real
app
using
only
AI
tools
So
if
you
are
ready
to
launch
your
project
build
something
simple
like
Anton
we'll
head
to
the
first
link
in
the
description
description
to
check
out
Starter
Story
Build
All
right
Thank
you
guys
for
watching
watching
That's
it
for
this
episode
We'll
see
you
in
the
next
one
Peace
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