Diego came up with the idea for App Alchemy when he wanted to build his mobile app and realized how expensive and time-consuming it was to hire a designer. He saw an opportunity to create an AI tool that could save people time and money in designing mobile apps.

To validate the idea, Diego built the simplest MVP in just two weeks and started marketing on Reddit right away. He received positive feedback and his first KMR purely from Reddit, which confirmed there was a demand for his product.

Diego's key lesson learned was the importance of solving a problem in a growing market and focusing on marketing and distribution early on. He emphasized the advantage of being a solo founder or a small company by leveraging speed to stay ahead in the competitive landscape.

Diego Roshardt built his AI app, App Alchemy, in just 2 weeks by using AI libraries that are widely used on the web, such as Nex.js and React, along with Firebase for databases. He utilized UI component libraries like Chakra UI and Ant Design to prototype quickly and improve the design of his website. The initial prototype was a simple MVP that allowed users to build mobile app designs using AI, solving a problem he had experienced himself. Diego focused on marketing the product on Reddit, leveraging the platform's reach and precise targeting to gain over 1 million eyes on his product. Despite challenges, such as high costs for AI API backends, he achieved a monthly recurring revenue of $17K with zero audience.

Reddit

Diego from AppAlchemy used Reddit as their primary marketing channel to grow their business from scratch to $17K monthly recurring revenue (MRR) with no existing audience. By leveraging Reddit, Diego was able to get over 1 million eyes on his product while spending $0 in marketing. The key to their success on Reddit was utilizing the platform's precise targeting capabilities by engaging with various subreddits related to their product. Diego's Reddit marketing playbook consisted of becoming an active Reddit user, creating a list of relevant subreddits, crafting organic and valuable posts, and posting consistently across multiple subreddits to drive traffic and generate interest in AppAlchemy.

Why it worked: Reddit provided a cost-effective and highly targeted platform for reaching potential customers interested in AppAlchemy's AI mobile app design tool. By creating engaging and valuable content, Diego was able to capture the attention of Reddit users and drive significant traffic to his product, ultimately leading to impressive revenue growth.

YouTube (Sidebar)

Although not mentioned in the main content, Diego also used YouTube as a secondary channel for marketing AppAlchemy. By creating engaging and informative videos about their AI app, Diego was able to showcase the product's features and benefits to a wider audience. This approach likely helped increase brand visibility and attract potential customers who prefer video content over text-based marketing.

Why it worked: YouTube served as a complementary channel to Reddit, allowing Diego to diversify his marketing efforts and reach users who prefer video content. By showcasing the capabilities of AppAlchemy through videos, Diego was able to provide a more visual and interactive experience for potential customers, driving further interest and engagement with the product.

Intentional internet use platform with DNS filtering for adults.

Ben Bozzay capitalized on the remote work boom during COVID-19, launching Tech Lockdown to offer DNS filtering services for adults. His YouTube content on avoiding compulsive internet habits went viral, drawing 50,000 website visitors a month and achieving a monthly recurring revenue of $7,500.

The founder began by creating a headless content management system using Strapi CMS to manage both free and paid content, integrated with a custom-gated content system and Stripe for payments. The static site and web app were developed using Nuxt.JS, with UI built quickly via TailwindCSS and TailwindUI, and initial payment flows handled through Stripe-hosted checkout pages to simplify compliance and tax. The first prototype offered basic functionality: users could link their home network to the DNS filtering service, with the integration built atop an enterprise DNS Filtering API; at this point, users couldn't set custom filtering rules or device-level controls. Testing and iteration involved close communication with early users and rapid feature updates, such as adding customization options and DNS logs. Building the first workable version took a few months of part-time work, with progress constrained by the founder’s full-time job. Early challenges included limited free time, customer feature requests that outpaced resources, and the need to maintain security and error monitoring, solved by using Sentry and staying lean with minimal infrastructure.

SEO The founder focused on publishing comprehensive, helpful content targeting specific problems and search terms around content blocking and digital wellbeing. This resulted in a steady increase in organic search traffic, now reaching 50,000 monthly visitors. Why it worked: High-quality, actionable content led to top rankings and captured users already seeking solutions, driving nearly all customer acquisition at near-zero cost.

Reddit Relevant guides and YouTube videos were regularly shared in targeted Reddit communities, where posts and comments referencing Tech Lockdown sparked significant referral traffic. Why it worked: Reddit’s engaged communities provided credibility and direct word-of-mouth exposure among self-motivated internet users.

YouTube Although not updated frequently, a small library of videos showcasing how to set up content filters ranked on YouTube and continued to drive signups and website visits over time. Why it worked: Demonstration videos matched the DIY needs of early adopters and funneled motivated users to the main product.

Email List Visitors were encouraged to join an email list, which was used to promote new content, features, and videos, maintaining engagement and driving purchases. Why it worked: Email allowed direct, recurring communication with high-intent prospects and supported growth without dependency on third-party platforms.

Subscription service for automating email and document data extraction.

Sylvestre Dupont, the co-founder of Parseur, came up with the idea for the data extraction tool during his sabbatical break year in 2013. While building a travel map website, he realized the tedious task of manually entering travel confirmation emails into the app and thought it would be great if the app could automatically extract the relevant information. This sparked the idea of building an email parsing tool, which eventually became Parseur.

The founders began by meeting in person in late 2015 to collaborate on market research, competing products, and feature design for their initial data extraction tool. They started with a test landing page ('Captain Parser') to validate market interest, using Google Ads and collecting emails instead of building the product right away. Once validated, they created mockups and iterations of the application interface and moved on to developing the MVP, focusing solely on email parsing for launch. Development took nearly a year—much longer than expected—because building a point-and-click data extraction engine required complex iterations and some full rewrites of core functionality. Technical challenges included making the extraction tool flexible yet simple for users, and getting payment processing (with Stripe) and VAT compliance (using Octobat) functioning, both of which added significant development time.

SEO Publishing detailed articles and use case content targeting specific queries around "email parsing," "PDF data extraction," and automation, they increased their organic traffic steadily. Over time, Google became their main source of new signups. Why it worked: Addressing high-intent, niche search terms drew in users actively searching for solutions, resulting in steady conversion to trials and paid plans.

Quora Answers The founders answered targeted questions about data extraction and email parsing on Quora, which quickly started bringing both site visitors and signups. Why it worked: Quora audiences were actively seeking solutions, and answers established expertise while linking directly to Parseur.

Zapier/Integration Directories Parseur invested in building integrations with workflow automation platforms like Zapier and ensuring listings in integration marketplaces. Over time, Zapier became a significant referral source, sending highly qualified users. Why it worked: Users found Parseur when searching for automation workflows, and integrations made onboarding straightforward for business customers.

Affiliate Program They launched an affiliate program offering 20% lifetime commissions, enabling partners and agencies to promote Parseur in relevant verticals—sometimes even running their own ads. Why it worked: It incentivized third parties to drive qualified leads without upfront costs, expanding reach efficiently.

PDF-to-CSV tool for bank statement data extraction.

The idea for Bank Statement Converter was born out of a personal need and frustration. The founder wanted to analyze his own finances but was stuck with PDF bank statements that were difficult to work with. This led him to write a script to extract transaction data, and he realized that if he had this problem, others might too.

He decided to turn this script into a web app and collaborated with a friend to handle the front end while he focused on the back end. Inspired by the principles of launching a Minimal Viable Product (MVP), they initially created a simple tool for uploading PDFs and converting them to CSV downloads. Through this process, they faced various challenges, such as refining their API to handle real-world use cases like multiple file uploads and password-protected PDFs.

Early user interaction helped them validate the need for their product, as people started using it immediately. There was also a lesson they learned along the way: avoid building features based on assumptions rather than actual user demand. This realization saved them time and resources, allowing them to focus on what's truly needed by their users.

When building Bank Statement Converter, Angus Cheng began by writing Kotlin code to extract transaction data from PDF bank statements—a process that initially took over 10 hours. Recognizing potential wider utility, Angus partnered with a friend to transform this script into a web app. They had a single-page application ready quickly, focusing initially on functionality with an API stack that included three endpoints to handle PDF uploads, password setting, and conversion requests. The backend was powered by a tech stack of PDFBox for reading PDFs, AWS Lightsail for hosting, Ansible for deployment, and Kotlin with Ktor for the HTTP server. Within a week, they had a working version live online, though initial challenges included missing vital features like registration or a payment system, and limitations in handling diverse bank statement formats. Despite the simplicity at launch, it was a testament to agile development and user-driven iterations that relied heavily on feedback and ongoing adjustments.

Word of Mouth

Bank Statement Converter experienced steady growth primarily through word of mouth. As users found the service effective for converting bank statements, they likely recommended it to peers, fostering organic growth.

Why it worked: People tend to trust and act on recommendations from those they know. Since the product effectively solved a common problem, users shared their positive experiences, leading to new customer acquisitions without the need for aggressive marketing.

Google Search Ads

In the initial six months, Bank Statement Converter invested about $1,000 USD monthly in Google Search Ads to boost visibility and attract customers.

Why it worked: Initially, Google Ads brought awareness and some customer inflow. However, the cost exceeded returns, prompting them to cease this expense. While it didn't generate immediate profits, it validated interest in the product, guiding future marketing strategies.

Supporting More Banks

The strategy involved enhancing the software to support more bank statement formats. They engaged in customizing configurations for specific banks to ensure higher conversion accuracy.

Why it worked: By continuously improving the system to support a wide range of bank statements, Bank Statement Converter increased the likelihood of successful conversions for potential users. This adaptability led to higher subscriptions as users received reliable outcomes, encouraging repeat usage and subscriptions.

Customer Retention through Quality Service

Their approach to retaining customers focused on maintaining software reliability. Customers with ongoing needs, such as accountants, continued their subscriptions as long as the service remained effective.

Why it worked: High retention rates were achieved by ensuring the software consistently met user expectations. For recurring needs, reliability was key, prompting ongoing subscriptions without any additional marketing efforts.

AI tool turning text instructions into Excel formulas.

David Bressler, the founder of Excelformulabot.com, came up with the idea while on paternity leave. After discovering the power of AI and its potential in Excel formulas, he realized there was a need for an AI-based Excel formula generator. With 1 billion Excel users worldwide, Bressler saw a big enough market and quickly built a barebone application that went viral and gained traction through Reddit, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter. Since the launch in September 2022, the website has generated over $14K in monthly recurring revenue.

Excelformulabot was developed quickly to capitalize on the growing AI industry, with a minimalistic MVP built using the no-code platform Bubble.io. The initial version had basic functionality: an input field for user instructions, a button for generating formulas, an output field displaying the results, and a copy button. This barebone MVP took just a few weeks to build, reflecting David's urgency to harness the first mover's advantage in the AI space. He faced challenges related to unexpected high API costs due to viral exposure and immediately had to create a business model to manage costs efficiently. Feedback from the Excel subreddit was crucial for iterating on the initial version, which transitioned into a subscription-based platform with paywalls and logins over several months, demonstrating the effectiveness of user feedback in refining product offerings.

Viral Marketing on Social Media

Excelformulabot experienced significant growth through viral marketing, particularly on TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, and Reddit. The platform gained traction when users began sharing it as a "website that feels illegal to know." The ripple effect from influencers and micro-influencers posting about Excelformulabot amplified the brand's reach substantially. The virality continued across different social platforms, leading to widespread recognition and traffic.

Why it worked: Viral marketing tapped into the power of social proof. When influencers shared their experiences, their followers were intrigued and inclined to check out the service themselves. The portrayal of the site as a secretive hack added a compelling element that spurred curiosity and shareability.

Influencer Collaborations

Direct engagement with influencers has been a crucial part of Excelformulabot’s marketing strategy. David Bressler reached out to influencers whose audiences aligned with the product's use case in areas like finance, data, and accounting. Collaborations were either based on free promotions or paid partnerships, typically ranging from $200 to $3K per engagement.

Why it worked: Engaging influencers allowed Excelformulabot to tap into established communities that trusted their recommendations. This strategy effectively positioned the product in front of targeted users who found immediate value in the tool, especially amidst audiences who frequently use Excel.

Organic SEO and Branding

Excelformulabot benefitted from organic search traffic, largely driven by people searching for terms like "Excel formula bot." The brand's presence as both the category creator and the main solution provider resulted in high exposure on search engines. The site also garnered backlinks from reputable sites, enhancing its organic search appeal.

Why it worked: The brand's dominance in its niche and the creation of targeted content helped capture users actively searching for AI solutions for Excel. Having a name that directly matched user intent searches significantly enhanced discoverability and credibility.

Email Marketing and User Engagement

For customer retention and reengagement, Excelformulabot deployed email marketing strategies. Personalized messaging was developed based on user interactions, such as the type of formulas searched and user engagement levels. These tailored emails helped retain paying customers as well as encourage trial users to convert.

Why it worked: Personalized email campaigns aligned closely with user behavior, increasing the relevance and impact of each communication. This approach fostered a sense of connection and ensured users saw continued value in maintaining their subscriptions.

Stripo's founder, Dmytro Kudrenko, a seasoned programmer-turned-entrepreneur, identified a major gap in the email marketing industry when he realized HTML email design required coding skills that marketers usually lack. Launching in 2017, Stripo rapidly grew to one million users worldwide, generating approximately $400,000 in monthly recurring revenue by offering an intuitive, coding-free email template builder with seamless one-click exports to over 80 platforms.

The initial build of Stripo was handled by a small, resource-constrained team, consisting of at least three developers, a QA, a BA, a CEO, and a designer. For the frontend, they used the Angular framework, while the backend was based on a Java microservices architecture, both deployed on Amazon AWS, leveraging the team’s extensive experience with the Java tech stack. The team focused on building an email editor that separated design from data, enabling marketers to easily create and manage professional emails without coding. Early development involved collaborating closely through healthy debates to make user-focused decisions. Reaching a working product took several months of iterative prototyping and testing; after about nine months, the product was stable enough to introduce paid plans. A core challenge was differentiating their editor from existing email service providers by providing unique solutions like modules and seamless integrations with email marketing tools—efforts enabled by prioritizing integration capabilities and direct export functionality.

SEO & Organic Content They produced comprehensive blog articles, eBooks, and educational webinars addressing key email marketing topics and new technologies, which became the main driver of organic traffic and customer acquisition. Their blog served as a resource hub, sharing use cases, expert interviews, and in-depth industry insights. Why it worked: High-value content positioned Stripo as a trusted authority, attracting both individual users and agencies searching for reliable information and tools.

Partnerships & Integrations Stripo invested heavily in direct integrations with over 80 major ESPs and email platforms, making it easier for users to export emails directly to their preferred tools. They also offered a plugin version to embed the editor into other platforms like CRMs. Why it worked: Seamless integrations removed technical barriers, expanded their reach, and made Stripo attractive for large teams and agency workflows.

PR & Industry Thought Leadership Stripo's team engaged in industry interviews, case studies (e.g., FC Chelsea, Forbes), and participated as panelists at relevant events. They shared product improvements and innovations openly within the community. Why it worked: Thought leadership and association with high-profile clients bolstered trust, credibility, and word-of-mouth growth among email marketers.

Product-led Innovations They were early adopters of technologies like AMP for Email and offered interactive content generators, establishing a reputation as an innovator. Key product advancements were communicated through content and community involvement. Why it worked: Introducing new features ahead of competitors attracted forward-thinking customers and kept retention high by continuously providing value.

When Joe graduated from high school, he began working on a use case for GPT3, focusing on how AI integration into business models could be improved.

In 2022, he decided to use his pre-existing skills to build his own business.

In July of that year, he met with a publishing company that inspired him. He came up with an innovative idea of creating books using AI.

Joe realized that using AI for product creation gave him a competitive edge. It allowed him to respond to market trends more quickly than anyone else.

When he started, Joe knew nothing about books, so he researched how to build one. He knew he would leverage his AI skills to ensure the output was good enough.

Joe argues that his first book was probably the worst because he didn’t know how to structure it or what should be included.

He started purchasing competitors’ books and reading through them to know what he needed to write a good book.

Armed with this knowledge, he could write and publish books that people enjoyed reading.

Joe markets his books using Pinterest ADs and targets middle-aged moms. Besides, he posts updates on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram

As an experienced engineer who grew frustrated with the repetitiveness of software development, Miriam started brainstorming ideas for her next venture after leaving her job. She noticed a significant gap in the market: despite the growing demand for software engineers, many people found coding to be a challenging and time-consuming task. This observation sparked the idea of creating a platform that could make building software accessible to everyone, regardless of their technical skills.

Miriam initiated her exploration by joining an incubator program, where she refined her business idea through collaboration and research. She saw the potential of no-code tools during this period, identifying them as a practical solution to the global shortage of software engineers. With a co-founder facing similar challenges in the tech industry, they set out to develop a platform providing ready-to-use building blocks for software creation.

Before fully pursuing the idea, Miriam conducted market research and validated the concept by engaging with potential users and exploring existing no-code tools. Her engineering background helped her analyze the limitations and strengths of such tools. Feedback and insights from early testers guided the refinement of Softr, ensuring it addressed real-world needs while remaining user-friendly and intuitive. This iterative process was essential in overcoming initial challenges and led to the successful development of Softr, a platform that democratizes software building for non-coders.

Softr was built with a focus on simplicity and functionality, using Airtable as the initial backend. Mariam Hakobyan and her team crafted Softr to enable users to build web apps without code by employing a Lego-like approach where complex functionalities are modular building blocks. The development process spanned several months, with the first basic version launched as a website builder. The team faced challenges primarily in ensuring that the platform was intuitive yet powerful enough, which involved iterative feedback from the initial user base and continuous refinement. The product development wasn't without its hurdles, such as addressing skepticism about scalability and usability, but the focus on reducing the learning curve and addressing common developer pain points led to Softr's successful creation.

Community and Word of Mouth

Softr emphasized the power of community engagement and word of mouth to drive its growth. The founders actively participated in no-code and tech communities to share their progress, gather feedback, and iterate on their product. By fostering relationships within these communities, they built trust and generated excitement around Softr. They capitalized on inbound interest from potential users and leveraged existing customer networks to spread the word about their platform.

Why it worked: The no-code community thrives on sharing and collaboration. By immersing themselves in these circles, Softr tapped into a highly engaged audience that appreciated the straightforward approach to building software. The strong word-of-mouth marketing helped expand their reach and attract a mix of individual creators and business users who were excited about the possibilities Softr offered.

Product-Led Growth and Intuitive User Experience

Softr's growth is largely attributed to a focus on product-led growth, prioritizing an intuitive user experience that enables even non-technical users to build web applications quickly. By designing a platform that minimizes the learning curve, they encouraged more users to experiment and create, thereby expanding their user base organically.

Why it worked: An easy-to-use product lowers the barrier to entry for a greater number of users, driving adoption and retention. Softr's approach to product development reflects a clear understanding of user needs, making it simpler for individuals and businesses to see immediate results. This ease of use naturally encourages users to become advocates for the product, contributing to its growth.

Product Hunt Launches

Softr leveraged Product Hunt for several significant product launches. These launches helped generate substantial initial traction by reaching tech enthusiasts and early adopters interested in no-code solutions. Winning accolades on Product Hunt, such as becoming the number one of the month and even of the year, provided further validation and exposure.

Why it worked: Product Hunt is a platform known for its active community of tech enthusiasts who are eager to discover new and innovative products. Softr's successful launches on Product Hunt tapped into this audience, providing a boost in visibility and credibility. The recognition helped Softr capture the attention of potential users who value simplicity and innovation in software development.

Built-in Virality Through Free Plan and Branding

Softr offered a free version of their product with limited functionality, which still provided substantial value to users by allowing them to connect a custom domain. This approach not only attracted a wide range of users but also integrated a "Made with Softr" badge on free builds, creating a built-in virality loop as users shared their creations online, showcasing Softr's capabilities.

Why it worked: By offering a valuable free option, Softr removed initial cost barriers, encouraging widespread usage and experimentation. The branding element of the "Made with Softr" badge served as a subtle but effective marketing tool. As users shared their projects publicly, the badge acted as a silent promoter, helping to spread Softr's reputation and attract additional users seeking similar solutions.

Danny Postma's journey to creating HeadshotPro began with the launch of stable diffusion AI in September 2022, sparking his interest in image generation. Initially considering a stock photo venture, he faced quality issues and legal risks, leading him to pivot. Delving into AI that transforms faces, he quickly developed a similar product, capturing the potential of AI-generated images.

Encountering an initial burst of success with a related product, which saw impressive sales and shares on social media, Danny realized an opportunity for refinement. Collaborating with a developer friend, he explored AI solutions for creating professional headshots. Feedback and market reaction showed a substantial demand for this niche, prompting him to establish HeadshotPro as the focal point of his efforts. This experience underscored the value of flexibility and responsiveness to market signals in the ideation phase.

HeadshotPro's initial product was built by Danny Postma using a combination of machine learning and generative AI algorithms. Postma leveraged both open-source models like Stable Diffusion and custom-developed models to enhance the output quality beyond what many competitors offered. The development process was rapid, with the first iteration being launched within 30 hours, emphasizing agility over initial perfection. This quick launch, however, presented challenges, such as the servers going offline frequently initially and the need to consistently improve the AI's ability to generate realistic headshots. Over the next year, Postma worked extensively on deploying multiple models, including LLaVa for image quality checks and Codeformer to remove AI artifacts, which required continuous testing and iteration to refine and maintain the high standard of headshots that are comparable to real photographs.

SEO

HeadshotPro's growth heavily relied on strategic search engine optimization (SEO). The company achieved significant visibility by ranking in the top 10 for high-volume keywords such as "professional headshots," which have substantial monthly search volumes. They implemented a two-pronged SEO strategy: First, they utilized programmatic SEO by creating over 200 pages targeting long-tail keywords for various cities and counties, such as "professional headshots San Francisco." This method helped them capture location-based searches. Second, they wrote blog posts targeting popular keywords, boosting their site's visibility. The domain's strong ranking power, bolstered by numerous backlinks gained from launches on Product Hunt and social media engagement, further enhanced their search engine visibility.

Why it worked: By focusing on keywords directly linked to their service, HeadshotPro found an effective and relatively fast way to reach potential customers who were already searching for headshot services. This approach provided a steady stream of organic traffic, increasing reach without constant marketing expenses.

Product and Social Media Launches

The initial launch of similar products, such as ProfilePicture.AI, greatly impacted HeadshotPro’s growth through platforms like Twitter. The launch was heavily focused on making the product highly shareable, capitalizing on social media's viral nature. Danny Postma, the founder, leveraged his existing followers and connections on social platforms, especially during launches. This method made HeadshotPro visible to a wider audience, quickly leading to substantial initial sales.

embed:tweet

Why it worked: The product's inherent shareability and the initial buzz effectively exploited social media channels. This immediate and broad exposure created by tapping into established audiences resulted in notable sales surges when the product was first introduced.

Programmatic Pages

In addition to SEO, HeadshotPro created multiple web pages to target niche, long-tail keywords. This involved generating pages specifically optimized for different geographic locations and specific headshot needs. The strategy leveraged the concept of catering content to unique searches that potential customers might be making, allowing HeadshotPro to dominate niche searches.

Why it worked: The creation of these tailored pages meant capturing traffic that might be overlooked by competitors focusing on broader keywords. This tactic not only held potential for attracting more targeted traffic but also ensured diverse entry points for organic search visitors, effectively broadening their visible footprint across many specific search terms.

NextJS boilerplate to build your SaaS and make your first $ online fast.

Inspired by a tweet from Pieter Levels, who builds startups with just a laptop and no employees, Marc decided to start building his own products.

Over the course of two years, he successfully shipped 16 different products, ranging from AI tools to SaaS.

Throughout the building process, Marc noticed that he was doing the same things repeatedly, which was taking up a lot of his time.

He realized that creating a code boilerplate could help him build products much faster, and he was sure that others would find it useful as well.

In just one week, he built ShipFast and launched it on Product Hunt.

Marc spent a week gathering all the code he had used to build other products over the last 2 years and created a boilerplate called ShipFast.

He launched ShipFast on Product Hunt, Twitter, and Hacker News, and continued to add new features.

Within 48 hours, he had made $6,000.

Marc successfully launched ShipFast on various platforms, including Product Hunt, Twitter, and Hacker News.

The Product Hunt launch was the most fruitful of the three platforms, drawing in 3,000 visitors within 48 hours.

His Twitter audience also gave him an initial boost. Whenever he launched a product on Twitter, he:

• Makes a skit video, which helps his tweets go viral.
• Makes a catchy headline that challenges the status quo

embed:tweet

He also lists his products on Reddit, which helps drive initial customers.

AJ got the idea for Carrd out of a desire to branch out from his routine work of designing and coding website templates. This routine work had become too easy and almost monotonous, prompting him to seek a new challenge that would leverage his extensive skills in a fresh way.

He realized that while he was looking for something different to do, he still wanted to stay close to his core expertise in web design and development. He wanted to build for a simple idea that could serve a broad audience.

This drive to innovate within his domain, coupled with his recognition of users' desires for simplicity and efficiency in web building tools, spurred him to develop Carrd.

Here's how AJ likely approached building Carrd:

Static Site Generation: Carrd operates fundamentally as a static site generator, meaning that it creates websites by assembling static content files without server-side processing at the time of page loading.

Front-End Development: For the front-end, AJ used a mix of vanilla JavaScript and jQuery, which is indicative of his preference for a more hands-on approach to coding and a desire to avoid heavy frameworks that may introduce unnecessary complexity. Vanilla JavaScript and jQuery provide a solid foundation for creating interactive web elements and handling AJAX requests without the overhead of larger frameworks.

Responsive Design: Given AJ's history with HTML5 UP and responsive templates, he used responsive design principles to ensure Carrd sites would work across various devices and screen sizes. This would involve CSS media queries and potentially a framework like Bootstrap, or his own custom responsive design code.

Back-End and Infrastructure: he used a combination of server-side scripting (like Node.js, which complements his JavaScript expertise) and a lightweight database system (like MongoDB or even a relational database such as PostgreSQL or MySQL) for handling user accounts and site data.

AJ's approach to building Carrd underscores his ability to balance technical expertise with a practical, product-focused mindset, building iteratively, and responding to user feedback.

Twitter Launch

AJ began by announcing Carrd to his existing followers on Twitter, where he had built a substantial audience through his previous projects, HTML5 UP and Pixelarity. His followers were already familiar with his work and trusted his expertise in web design, making them a primed audience for Carrd.

This initial announcement helped generate immediate interest and sign-ups from his existing network, showcasing the importance of building and engaging with a dedicated follower base over time.

Product Hunt Launch

The real breakthrough in customer acquisition came from Carrd's launch on Product Hunt. Despite an early, unintended posting by a follower when Carrd was still in a "coming soon" state, AJ managed to officially launch it on the platform shortly after its public release.

This launch was meticulously planned to capitalize on Product Hunt's vast community of tech enthusiasts, early adopters, and influencers. The visibility from being featured on Product Hunt led to a significant surge in user sign-ups, site creations, and even Pro plan upgrades, far exceeding the traction generated from the Twitter announcement alone.

Even now, AJ’s recipe for awareness and distribution is very organic and very product-led. He hasn’t really done any marketing, relying instead on word of mouth and low-key viral elements within the experience like the branded URL and a “Made with Carrd” link that appears in each free website footer.