Esc
How I Work: $140K/Month App Developer
Starter Story
Sep 16, 2026
Jay built nomadtable, a mobile app that makes $140K/month. Before that he was a software engineer, until one trip changed his life forever. This episode is a day in the life of a solo app builder in 2026.
iOS App ideas: https://clickhubspot.com/qy55
Follow Jay: https://twitter.com/jayvraavi
Check out NomadTable: https://nomadtable.app/
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Chapters
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Transcript
Chapters
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No tools listed for this business.
I
think
my
philosophy
is
always
just
kind
of
have
fun
with
life
you
know
know
I
think
if
you're
going
to
choose
to
like
go
entrepreneur
out
I
think
you
should
work
on
something
that
you're
passionate
about
otherwise
it's
going
to
suck
when
you
work
on
something
that
you
actually
want
to
work
on
that
you're
passionate
about
It's
so
rewarding
It's
the
best
feeling
in
the
world
I
kind
of
just
got
this
idea
when
I
was
traveling
and
I
think
I
just
thought
it'd
be
really
fun
to
go
and
try
to
build
this
even
if
it
didn't
work
out
Like
I
think
it
would
be
a
lot
of
fun
And
I
knew
that
the
the
the
pain
of
the
what
if
would
haunt
me
more
than
failing
Hey
I'm
Jay
and
I
make
over
a
hundred
K
a
month
as
a
solopreneur
I
bootstrapped
this
business
to
140
K
MRR
1
8
million
users
And
people
often
ask
me
about
how
I
built
my
app
while
traveling
the
world
and
as
a
solo
founder
So
today
I'm
excited
to
tell
you
about
how
I
work
Yeah
I'm
pretty
standard
I
wake
up
I
always
check
my
phone
Um
my
WhatsApp
is
always
crazy
with
my
creators
and
stuff
I
know
some
people
say
like
you're
not
supposed
to
check
your
your
phone
when
you
wake
up
but
um
I
kind
of
just
have
to
you
know
it's
just
like
I
gotta
go
make
sure
nothing
broke
make
sure
nothing
crazy
is
going
going
on
and
yeah
then
I
kind
of
just
you
know
get
out
of
bed
you
know
just
basic
morning
stuff
like
I
shave
I
shower
make
myself
breakfast
sometimes
But
usually
I
try
to
get
out
the
door
by
like
at
least
I
got
the
very
latest
11
If
I
had
a
bad
night's
sleep
if
I
slept
well
then
hopefully
like
9
AM
Then
I
kind
of
just
get
to
the
office
wherever
I'm
working
that
day
whether
it's
a
cafe
we
work
so
yeah
So
Nomad
Table
is
basically
a
meetup
app
for
solo
travelers
extats
and
nomads
Um
kind
of
the
problem
is
when
you're
traveling
alone
it
can
be
hard
to
find
find
you
know
companionship
and
friends
and
stuff
but
yeah
I
launched
about
a
year
year
and
three
months
ago
um
doing
about
140K
a
month
for
1
8
million
users
and
estimated
like
over
a
hundred
K
meetups
that
have
happened
through
the
app
When
I
first
got
the
idea
and
started
like
working
on
it
I
was
still
at
Amazon
as
a
software
engineer
I
was
never
kind
of
like
the
entrepreneurial
type
to
be
honest
Like
I
wasn't
really
like
obsessed
with
making
my
own
business
I
kind
of
just
got
this
idea
when
I
was
traveling
And
I
think
I
just
thought
it'd
be
really
fun
to
go
and
try
to
build
this
I
knew
that
the
the
the
pain
of
like
the
what
if
would
haunt
me
more
than
like
also
the
thing
is
like
I
already
had
gotten
the
job
in
big
tech
Like
I
knew
that
I
could
do
it
again
I
just
kind
of
convinced
myself
that
it
wasn't
really
that
risky
It
seems
very
risky
on
the
outside
but
on
the
inside
it
felt
more
risky
to
me
to
not
try
because
then
I
would
be
like
full
of
regret
and
like
that
felt
like
a
bigger
risk
to
me
than
just
doing
it
and
failing
So
at
that
point
I
was
like
okay
like
logically
I
just
have
to
go
and
do
this
You
know
it's
like
the
right
choice
right
now
Hey
Gus
here
producer
on
Starter
Story
real
quick
I
hope
you're
enjoying
JStory
and
getting
to
go
behind
the
scenes
on
his
mobile
app
and
how
he
works
I
think
he's
building
in
a
really
smart
space
iOS
apps
and
mobile
apps
are
really
really
hot
right
now
in
2026
If
you're
looking
for
a
mobile
app
idea
well
at
the
link
in
the
description
we
have
a
free
database
of
over
50
iOS
app
ideas
Most
of
them
making
over
10
000
a
month
You
can
get
all
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data
you
need
and
all
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inspiration
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need
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idea
and
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building
Once
again
you
can
get
that
for
free
at
the
link
in
the
description
All
right
let's
get
back
to
JStory
I
always
like
do
some
kind
of
commute
to
my
workspace
I
don't
like
just
you
know
starting
the
day
at
home
I
think
getting
some
like
steps
in
and
getting
a
bike
ride
in
or
something
like
is
always
just
good
to
kind
of
just
get
the
day
started
right
And
then
yeah
I
get
to
the
office
just
open
my
laptop
and
based
off
what
I
saw
in
the
morning
when
I
check
my
phone
you
know
just
kind
of
get
on
those
things
So
if
there's
some
kind
of
time
sensitive
stuff
to
do
I'll
go
and
you
know
address
that
First
like
two
hours
I'm
pretty
locked
in
just
you
know
grinding
or
whatever
that
is
And
then
I
really
like
to
just
you
know
get
on
my
phone
and
just
kind
of
get
on
to
just
you
know
get
on
my
phone
and
just
kind
of
get
on
my
phone
and
just
kind
of
like
my
my
breaks
in
my
day
I
think
breaks
are
really
important
to
kind
of
just
recenter
yourself
And
you
know
at
least
for
me
my
my
hours
have
diminishing
returns
if
I
don't
take
breaks
So
taking
breaks
help
me
help
me
kind
of
like
you
know
recenter
myself
And
when
I
come
back
to
work
I'm
like
back
focused
100
percent
And
I
would
kind
of
change
my
scenery
a
lot
too
I
think
I
get
after
three
four
hours
of
being
in
one
place
like
I
need
to
just
move
So
sometimes
I'll
you
know
go
back
home
and
work
after
that
Sometimes
I'll
go
to
the
gym
and
then
you
know
find
a
cafe
to
work
from
But
But
yeah
I
don't
like
staying
in
the
same
place
for
like
more
than
four
hours
It's
important
for
me
to
like
always
put
myself
back
in
the
shoes
of
my
audience
I've
seen
lots
of
products
that
start
out
good
and
then
as
they
mature
they
kind
of
like
lose
track
of
the
ball
and
distance
themselves
from
the
original
kind
of
good
product
that
they
used
to
be
So
I
never
want
to
do
that
I
always
want
to
kind
of
like
stay
grounded
and
make
sure
that
I'm
still
solving
the
same
problem
that
I
set
out
to
solve
solve
I
think
traveling
helps
a
lot
for
that
Obviously
my
app
targets
travelers
For
example
I
was
just
in
Bangkok
for
four
months
and
that's
a
really
big
hotspot
for
my
app
There's
lots
of
nomads
there's
lots
of
expats
there's
lots
of
travelers
travelers
there
I
got
so
many
future
ideas
by
just
being
in
Bangkok
and
you
know
going
to
meetups
on
my
own
app
and
talking
to
people
And
I
got
so
many
ideas
for
new
things
to
add
and
how
to
like
serve
other
kind
of
sub
segments
of
my
audience
that
I
wouldn't
have
got
if
I
wasn't
just
there
on
the
app
I
mean
I
think
traveling
in
general
will
just
like
like
broaden
your
horizons
a
lot
I
feel
like
just
putting
yourself
in
unfamiliar
situations
just
gives
me
energy
at
least
and
makes
me
think
of
new
ideas
And
maybe
it
might
not
be
the
same
for
everyone
else
because
I
know
for
you
know
know
someone
else
maybe
like
it's
annoying
to
always
change
settings
not
having
your
monitor
you
shut
up
whatever
But
I
think
for
me
the
benefits
I
get
from
the
inspiration
from
from
new
places
like
definitely
outweighs
the
cost
of
not
having
my
perfect
monitor
and
not
having
like
the
right
right
Wi
Fi
the
right
lighting
the
right
desk
the
right
chair
Yes
after
work
I
mean
I
love
working
out
at
this
point
it's
like
I
need
to
it's
just
a
must
after
working
for
a
long
time
just
move
my
body
and
get
active
Usually
it's
like
a
run
or
playing
paddle
or
playing
tennis
or
you
know
hitting
the
gym
and
doing
some
lifting
After
that
then
usually
get
home
make
like
a
smoothie
make
dinner
And
then
my
kind
of
evening
routine
after
that
usually
yeah
it
depends
on
the
day
I
mean
if
there's
something
going
on
with
my
friends
I'll
hang
out
with
my
friends
I
think
that's
a
pretty
big
part
of
my
life
So
I
try
to
always
make
time
in
my
day
to
see
some
friends
whether
it's
co
working
with
them
or
you
know
hanging
out
grabbing
some
dinner
Then
last
like
a
couple
hours
before
bed
usually
you
know
just
make
some
like
tea
and
I'll
do
some
like
light
work
like
I've
got
my
laptop
on
the
couch
you
know
just
kind
of
chill
and
you
know
do
some
like
relatively
chill
work
and
then
you
know
know
just
pop
in
bed
nothing
nothing
too
crazy
I
think
you
should
pretty
much
only
work
on
like
what
you
care
about
If
you're
going
to
choose
to
like
go
like
the
entrepreneur
route
I
think
you
should
work
on
something
that
you're
passionate
about
and
that
you
really
care
about
Otherwise
like
it's
going
to
suck
Like
if
you're
putting
all
your
life's
effort
into
like
something
that
you
don't
enjoy
like
just
to
make
money
or
like
just
to
get
status
or
whatever
it's
just
like
you're
not
going
to
enjoy
that
It's
going
to
suck
When
you
work
on
something
that
you
actually
want
to
work
on
that
you're
passionate
about
it's
so
rewarding
Like
it's
I
can't
even
put
it
into
words
I
can't
It's
like
it's
priceless
Like
it's
the
best
feeling
in
the
world
Even
if
I
could
get
just
two
people
to
meet
because
of
my
app
I
would
be
so
fulfilled
And
I
also
think
it
gives
you
like
an
unfair
advantage
I
think
when
you
actually
have
that
passion
that
drive
for
an
idea
that
you're
working
working
on
you
know
you
can
be
anybody
No
one
can
compete
with
that
Like
if
you're
just
having
fun
every
day
with
work
it's
very
very
hard
to
compete
with
you
When
you
do
that
not
only
is
it
like
more
fun
and
enjoyable
but
like
I
think
you're
a
lot
more
likely
to
actually
succeed
I
think
my
philosophy
is
always
kind
of
have
fun
with
life
you
know
I
think
life
is
short
Don't
take
things
too
seriously
Have
fun
Go
spend
time
with
your
loved
ones
Go
hang
out
with
your
friends
Like
go
do
what
makes
you
happy
I
don't
think
anything's
that
serious
at
the
end
of
the
day
I
think
you
just
think
big
picture
you
know
only
got
one
life
to
live
and
you
know
you
know
tomorrow's
not
guaranteed
So
I
think
it's
the
golden
age
to
just
try
stuff
out
now
Like
you
can
build
software
so
fast
and
just
go
out
there
and
try
You
can
do
whatever
you
want
do
whatever
you
want
You
can
even
do
stuff
at
the
same
time
as
your
work
Think
about
it
and
think
if
you're
going
to
regret
not
doing
something
in
the
future
versus
just
trying
it
out
So
yeah
I
would
just
say
go
out
there
and
have
fun
and
enjoy
your
life
and
don't
take
things
too
seriously
I
want
to
make
it
to
the
podcast
Please
include
me
as
his
amazing
roommate
My
dream
is
it
to
be
in
a
podcast
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