My app makes $41K/month
Starter Story
Sep 13, 2025
Joe Rozek went out for brunch and got an idea that would become a $40K/month app.
LLC Formation, Bookkeeping, Business Taxes, and more in one platform → https://go.starterstory.com/joerozek
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Follow Joe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-rozek/
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🏁 We're hiring: starterstory.com/jobs
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:55 - Who is Joe
1:08 - Joe's background
1:48 - Idea for Waitly
2:48 - How to get your business foundations right
3:55 - Growth timeline: 0 to $40K MRR
4:29 - Growth strategies
5:19 - What is Waitly
6:11 - Competing with $1B companies
7:11 - How to come up with a successful idea
7:56 - Opportunities to build now
8:51 - Numbers behind Waitly
9:12 - Tech stack
9:30 - Costs & margins
10:28 - Keep going
This video is an educational case study of one 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
No tools listed for this business.
I'm
going
to
be
honest
I
get
a
lot
of
DMs
from
people
who
want
to
come
onto
the
channel
I'm
sure
they're
cool
but
90
of
those
DMs
don't
go
anywhere
But
what
about
the
other
10
Well
that's
who
you're
going
to
meet
today
This
is
Joe
He's
never
shared
his
story
before
and
he
DMed
me
and
said
I'm
a
solo
founder
and
I
make
over
40
000
a
month
with
this
app
This
sounded
cool
so
I
had
to
know
more
and
what
he
shared
blew
me
away
decided
to
bring
Joe
onto
the
channel
to
share
how
he
took
a
simple
problem
and
turned
it
into
a
40
000
per
month
business
In
this
video
we'll
dive
into
how
he
found
this
idea
in
the
most
unexpected
of
places
why
he
put
his
career
in
engineering
to
build
it
and
become
a
solopreneur
and
how
simple
apps
like
his
can
compete
with
billion
dollar
competitors
I'm
really
excited
for
this
one
so
let's
get
into
it
I'm
Pat
Walls
and
this
is
Starter
Story
All
right
welcome
to
the
channel
Joe
Tell
me
about
who
you
are
what
you
built
and
what's
your
story
Yeah
hi
my
name
is
Joe
I
built
an
app
called
Waitly
I
originally
launched
it
as
a
side
project
and
now
it
makes
over
40
000
a
month
All
right
cool
Before
we
get
into
Waitly
and
what
you've
built
I'd
love
to
learn
a
little
bit
more
about
your
background
and
how
you
get
here
So
I
was
always
into
computers
growing
up
and
so
I
went
to
college
and
got
a
degree
degree
in
computer
science
came
out
of
college
and
started
a
career
as
a
software
engineer
But
in
2008
I
landed
a
job
with
Shutterfly
the
online
photo
gift
company
and
it
was
the
first
time
in
my
career
that
I
thought
I
was
building
something
fun
and
cool
I
continued
my
career
by
moving
into
management
at
Shutterfly
and
I
immediately
missed
the
coding
aspects
or
building
aspects
of
my
job
I
was
building
teams
rather
than
apps
So
I
started
looking
for
a
side
project
where
I
could
learn
how
to
build
iOS
apps
It's
something
I
hadn't
done
in
the
past
and
I
was
interested
in
learning
That's
cool
I'd
love
to
learn
more
about
how
you
came
across
the
idea
for
Waitly
How
did
that
happen
In
2017
I
went
to
brunch
and
it
was
a
busy
Saturday
morning
and
we
got
put
on
the
waitlist
I
got
a
text
that
I
was
on
the
waitlist
and
there
was
a
link
that
said
click
here
to
see
your
wait
time
I
tapped
the
link
on
my
phone
and
it
immediately
wanted
me
to
download
Yelp
and
sign
up
for
an
account
just
to
see
my
wait
time
By
the
time
that
I
signed
up
for
an
account
and
everything
I
got
a
text
that
my
table
was
ready
So
I
thought
to
myself
this
link
should
just
take
me
to
a
page
where
I
could
see
my
wait
time
I
shouldn't
have
to
sign
up
for
an
account
account
That's
when
my
wife
suggested
maybe
you
could
build
a
waitlist
app
So
six
months
in
I
was
really
fired
up
had
a
working
prototype
I
could
add
people
to
the
list
I
couldn't
text
anyone
yet
And
about
a
year
and
a
half
in
I
really
dug
deep
and
said
all
right
I'm
going
to
get
to
the
point
where
I
can
launch
this
in
the
app
store
Finally
launched
it
and
within
the
first
week
I
had
10
downloads
And
then
about
two
years
in
is
when
I
finally
launched
in
app
purchases
in
the
app
store
and
really
started
growing
the
business
Okay
quick
pause
Let's
talk
about
something
that
is
secretly
killing
so
many
new
founders
not
getting
your
business
foundations
right
I'm
talking
missed
deadlines
messy
vendors
tax
confusion
compliance
drama
This
kind
of
stuff
builds
up
fast
and
then
suddenly
you're
buried
in
admin
work
instead
of
building
stuff
and
generating
revenue
That's
why
I'm
a
huge
fan
of
today's
sponsor
Doola
Doola
will
help
you
set
up
your
LLC
handle
your
bookkeeping
stay
tax
compliant
all
in
one
place
It's
basically
like
having
an
ops
team
without
all
the
overhead
And
what
I
really
like
is
they
don't
just
hand
you
a
checklist
and
leave
you
to
figure
it
out
They
actually
stick
with
you
and
make
sure
you're
set
up
for
success
from
day
one
Thousands
of
entrepreneurs
in
over
175
countries
use
Doola
because
it
actually
works
Stop
burning
time
on
admin
work
let
Doola
handle
the
boring
stuff
so
you
can
focus
on
what
actually
matters
building
your
business
If
you're
starting
something
right
now
then
head
to
the
first
link
in
the
description
and
use
the
code
starter
story
for
10
off
Thanks
to
Doola
for
supporting
the
channel
Now
let's
get
back
into
it
Now
this
business
is
doing
over
40
000
MRR
Can
you
give
me
a
little
bit
of
a
timeline
of
that
growth
How
do
you
get
there
Yeah
absolutely
So
in
year
one
made
no
money
When
it
launched
like
I
said
there
was
free
version
Year
two
we
made
14
500
three
is
when
it
really
took
off
made
about
116
000
Year
four
was
186
000
Year
five
was
307
000
Year
six
was
354
000
Year
seven
was
445
000
And
this
year
we're
on
pace
to
make
over
half
a
million
dollars
Okay
well
congrats
Your
business
is
doing
half
a
million
dollars
subscription
business
Can
you
break
down
some
of
the
growth
strategies
or
marketing
strategies
that
got
you
there
Yeah
so
one
of
the
main
drivers
for
us
is
Apple
search
ads
We
run
ads
on
certain
keywords
that
helps
drive
people
downloading
the
app
Cost
to
acquire
a
customer
for
us
is
about
130
The
lifetime
value
of
those
customers
is
between
750
and
1
000
So
as
much
money
as
we
can
put
into
those
ads
there's
definitely
ROI
there
Next
we
try
to
nurture
those
customers
with
emails
We
have
some
emails
with
tips
to
get
started
some
quick
start
videos
We
offer
onboarding
through
Zoom
staff
training
of
employees
if
necessary
And
near
the
end
of
those
trials
we
offer
promotions
to
really
try
to
get
them
to
make
that
first
purchase
I'd
love
to
see
the
app
that
you
built
What
is
Waitly
How
does
it
work
Can
you
show
it
to
the
people
watching
here
so
we
can
really
understand
what
you
built
Absolutely
So
Waitly
is
a
waitlist
and
reservations
platform
for
any
business
that
has
waiting
customers
You
go
to
a
restaurant
it's
busy
they
don't
have
a
table
for
you
quite
yet
so
they
might
add
you
to
the
waitlist
So
you
can
just
put
in
a
name
a
party
size
what
your
estimated
wait
might
be
guess
a
phone
number
and
then
any
seating
preference
you
may
have
like
inside
outside
And
now
suddenly
you're
on
the
waitlist
Within
a
few
seconds
that
customer
would
get
a
text
message
letting
them
know
they're
on
the
waitlist
There's
a
link
in
that
text
message
that
they
tap
They'll
see
their
wait
time
They
don't
need
to
download
any
app
And
then
when
I'm
ready
to
serve
that
customer
I
can
just
tap
notify
and
they'll
receive
a
second
text
message
letting
them
know
that
the
table
is
ready
Once
I've
served
that
person
I
just
simply
check
them
off
the
list
All
right
cool
My
next
question
is
why
would
any
restaurant
use
your
software
over
these
bigger
companies
How
do
you
compete
with
billion
dollar
companies
We
compete
a
couple
different
ways
One
is
on
price
Waitly
has
a
flat
fee
of
100
a
month
to
unlock
all
the
features
Where
Yelp
and
OpenTable
their
flat
fees
are
hundreds
of
dollars
a
month
And
then
for
any
reservations
that
are
booked
through
their
platform
they
charge
cover
fees
The
second
thing
we
compete
on
is
simplicity
One
of
the
benefits
of
only
doing
waitlists
and
reservations
is
it
can
work
for
other
industries
During
COVID
we
had
a
bunch
of
retail
chains
who
had
limited
capacity
in
their
stores
want
a
waitlist
so
people
could
wait
outside
for
their
turn
And
we
put
Waitly
in
over
700
locations
around
the
United
States
in
that
10X
star
business
that
year
And
the
third
thing
we
compete
on
is
customer
service
So
anytime
that
someone
calls
our
support
line
someone
answers
immediately
They're
always
surprised
that
someone
picked
up
right
away
to
answer
their
call
All
right
cool
For
anyone
watching
this
right
now
what
would
be
your
framework
for
looking
for
an
idea
today
You
don't
need
a
new
idea
There's
plenty
of
ideas
out
there
problems
that
have
been
solved
that
you
could
improve
upon
And
while
you're
improving
upon
that
you
might
find
a
niche
within
that
industry
Waitly
is
the
perfect
example
of
that
I
competed
with
the
Giants
like
OpenTable
and
found
a
little
niche
within
that
industry
industry
where
I
can
serve
the
small
restaurants
that
are
underserved
Step
two
would
be
I
would
use
AI
to
build
my
minimum
viable
product
quickly
Nowadays
you
could
do
that
in
just
a
couple
of
weeks
Get
something
out
there
quickly
Number
three
would
be
get
feedback
on
that
idea
from
your
early
customers
And
number
four
is
just
expect
the
unexpected
Get
ready
to
adapt
because
things
never
go
as
you
expect
and
you're
going
to
have
to
adapt
Okay
that's
all
great
advice
I'd
also
love
to
get
some
specific
ideas
you
think
might
be
worth
building
Yeah
so
one
idea
I'm
actually
playing
around
with
is
I
play
in
a
pickleball
league
The
spreadsheets
that
we
keep
to
keep
track
of
everyone's
points
is
getting
out
of
hand
So
I'm
looking
at
building
a
pickleball
league
management
app
maybe
with
a
social
aspect
for
people
to
find
games
in
their
area
to
play
in
A
second
idea
would
be
an
AI
support
chatbot
that
can
be
used
and
trained
on
specific
products
or
websites
And
one
big
idea
I
have
and
this
is
another
competing
with
Giants
moment
is
social
media
I
feel
like
social
media
today
is
run
by
corporations
and
influencers
and
everyone's
doom
scrolling
And
I
think
people
are
really
itching
to
connect
with
friends
and
family
again
like
they
did
in
the
early
days
of
social
media
So
I
think
there's
definitely
room
for
someone
to
come
in
and
mix
up
the
social
media
space
Okay
I
like
those
ideas
Switching
topics
a
little
bit
I'd
love
to
hear
some
of
the
numbers
behind
Waitly
Can
you
break
down
some
of
the
metrics
and
numbers
behind
this
business
We've
had
over
15
000
businesses
try
Waitly
We
currently
have
700
paying
customers
around
the
US
and
Canada
Since
Waitly
launched
we've
had
over
59
million
parties
waitlisted
on
waitlists
Wow
that's
crazy
Can
you
break
down
the
tech
stack
How
did
you
build
this
app
Yeah
so
Waitly
is
built
on
top
of
Google
Firebase
We
use
it
for
hosting
and
authentication
and
database
We
use
Node
js
as
language
for
our
backend
services
The
iOS
app
is
written
in
Swift
And
finally
the
web
version
of
Waitly
is
written
in
React
js
And
on
that
same
note
I'd
love
to
hear
some
of
the
costs
and
margins
of
this
business
I
understand
you're
a
solo
developer
What
do
the
costs
look
like
for
a
business
like
this
Yeah
so
Firebase
costs
us
about
700
a
month
All
the
business
text
messages
we
send
is
about
2
500
a
month
We
use
RevenueCap
for
subscriptions
in
the
iOS
app
That's
1
of
revenue
Apple
search
ads
currently
we're
spending
about
500
a
month
This
fluctuates
different
times
of
the
year
Stripe
is
3
of
revenue
for
any
payments
that
we
take
from
our
website
We
use
SurveyMonkey
to
capture
feedback
from
our
customers
That's
35
a
month
month
We
use
Hive
for
project
management
That's
about
25
a
month
Freshdesk
for
customer
support
tickets
This
is
about
40
a
month
And
now
we're
spending
about
200
a
month
on
Cloud
Code
We
use
ChatGPT
for
email
content
And
that's
about
20
a
month
And
we
use
Calendly
for
booking
demos
on
our
website
And
that's
about
12
a
month
Nice
Final
question
that
we
ask
to
everyone
who
comes
on
the
channel
If
you
could
go
back
and
stand
on
Joe's
shoulders
when
you
had
gone
into
that
management
role
you
were
looking
for
the
right
side
project
to
build
what
would
be
your
advice
for
young
Joe
Keep
going
definitely
When
that
self
doubt
creeps
in
when
you're
competing
with
giants
you're
not
sure
if
you
can
actually
go
forward
Just
keep
going
Acknowledge
that
your
doubts
have
no
basis
in
reality
because
you
cannot
predict
the
future
Launch
your
product
and
see
what
the
future
holds
Well
that's
great
advice
Thank
you
for
coming
on
the
channel
Joe
I
love
the
business
you
built
I
love
your
story
and
hope
to
see
you
on
again
soon
Thanks
Pat
Pat
Thanks
again
to
Joe
for
coming
onto
the
channel
I
love
his
story
because
it's
proof
that
you
can
solve
a
simple
problem
and
build
a
really
nice
successful
business
I'm
willing
to
bet
that
in
the
last
week
you
may
have
come
across
some
similar
problems
as
well
So
why
not
try
to
build
something
that
solves
them
Well
that's
what
we
created
with
Star
Story
Build
our
program
where
we
will
guide
you
on
how
to
use
AI
to
go
from
an
idea
to
an
app
in
just
a
few
days
Imagine
you
build
something
that
solves
a
real
problem
and
you
ship
it
to
the
world
for
real
users
to
use
and
get
value
from
That
is
a
really
cool
feeling
So
if
you're
interested
just
head
to
the
link
in
the
description
to
check
out
Star
Story
Build
Thanks
again
for
watching
I'll
see
you
guys
in
the
next
one
Peace
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