B2B · countdown timer for stage speakers

How StageTimer grows

10 tactics and 6 figures from 1 interview.

An online countdown timer for live events, StageTimer grew mostly through a limited free plan that puts its logo in front of production crews, and through search traffic; the founder said word of mouth brings at least 40% of signups. Of the paid channels he tried for this B2B tool, only Google ads worked, while social ads, sponsorships, print and a trade show did not.

StageTimer's free plan is very limited and shows its logo on the countdown speakers and crews look at; the founder said recommendations are at least 40% of acquisition but can't measure logo-driven signups.StageTimer
The founder called SEO much stronger than any other channel and said Google search ads were working at the time; neither came with numbers.StageTimer (1)StageTimer (2)
Other channels fell flat: YouTube video ads didn't work, Facebook and Instagram ads brought no purchases, industry podcasts didn't want sponsors, and trade magazine ads were too expensive.StageTimer (1)StageTimer (2)StageTimer (3)StageTimer (4)
Visiting a trade show without a booth brought no business and cost a lot; the founder concluded such shows suit announcements or sales meetings.StageTimer
With a co-founder from live video production, he built Rundown Studio, a cheaper take on rundown software users said cost about $6,000 a year; it grew alongside StageTimer, with more stress.Rundown Studio
Product work followed requests, such as chains of timers to run a whole show and scheduled runs for gyms, which meant years of time zone and daylight-saving bugs.StageTimer

Summary written 2026-09-26 from the tactics below. Figures are as founders stated them.

About StageTimer

What it is: Browser-based remote-controlled countdown timer and messaging display for speakers on stage
Who it's for: Live event production crews, event organizers, independent AV technicians, also gyms/CrossFit
Business model: Freemium SaaS; free plan shows StageTimer logo on the display
Pricing: Very limited free plan with logo on the displayed timer; paid plans (not detailed)
Team: Solo founder
Funding: bootstrapped
Outcome: $10-20k/month revenue (2024)

As described in the interviews, not independently verified.

StageTimer's 10 tactics

StageTimer · B2B · countdown timer for stage speakers

Offer a limited free plan that shows your logo on the on-stage timer

Word of mouth is 40%+ of signups; logo effect not measured

Offer a very limited free plan so crews can pull StageTimer up instantly when they 'need a timer quickly'. The free version shows the StageTimer logo on the countdown display the speaker and crew look at. Inspired by Dropbox's share-for-space model. Event production crews and independent technicians who see it on stage adopt it for their next events and bring it to other gigs.

Workedproduct-viralitypricing

Pete Codes · 2024-10-01

StageTimer · B2B · countdown timer for stage speakers

Offer to sponsor niche industry podcasts

Podcasts didn't want sponsors, or the pitch was wrong

Reached out to live-event industry podcasts offering sponsorship.

Failedpodcast-sponsorship

Pete Codes · 2024-10-01

StageTimer · B2B · countdown timer for stage speakers

Visit an industry trade show without a booth

No business done; very expensive

Went to one physical trade show as visitors (no booth) to see what happens.

Failedevents

Pete Codes · 2024-10-01

StageTimer · B2B · countdown timer for stage speakers

Rely on search traffic (SEO) as the main marketing channel

Much stronger than any other channel; no numbers

Search engine optimization is the main marketing channel; Lukas prefers product-led growth and SEO over sales. No specifics on content or keywords given.

Workedseo

Pete Codes · 2024-10-01

StageTimer · B2B · countdown timer for stage speakers

Run Google search ads

Founder says Google works right now; no numbers

Running Google ads; no details on budget or keywords.

Workedpaid-search

Pete Codes · 2024-10-01

StageTimer · B2B · countdown timer for stage speakers

Run YouTube video ads for a B2B tool

Didn't work; founder blames the video

Tried YouTube (in context of ad channels) with a video; no spend or duration given.

Failedpaid-social

Pete Codes · 2024-10-01

StageTimer · B2B · countdown timer for stage speakers

Run Facebook and Instagram ads for a B2B tool

No purchases from either so far

Tried Instagram; currently trying Facebook. No spend, targeting or creative details.

Failedpaid-social

Pete Codes · 2024-10-01

StageTimer · B2B · countdown timer for stage speakers

Look into print magazine ads in trade publications

Too expensive; dropped

Looked into print magazine advertising in the industry.

Failedoffline-ads

Pete Codes · 2024-10-01

Rundown Studio · B2B · show rundown planning tool

Launch a cheaper version of a $6,000/year tool for the same customers

Growing alongside the main product; founder notes more stress

With a co-founder from live video production, built Rundown Studio, a show-planning/rundown tool for the pre-show phase, complementary to StageTimer (during-event) and aimed at the same audience. Motivated by users reporting paying ~$6,000/year for incumbent rundown software; goal was same functionality, improved, cheaper. Framed as diversification against losing the first product.

Unknownportfoliopositioning-niche

Pete Codes · 2024-10-01

StageTimer · B2B · countdown timer for stage speakers

Add chains of timers and scheduled runs that users asked for

Beyond a single countdown, added series of countdowns to program a whole show (opening, keynote, Q&A) and auto-advance/scheduled runs requested by gyms/CrossFit (sets and breaks, 20 countdowns daily); required years of handling time zones and daylight-saving bugs.

Unknownfeature-development

Pete Codes · 2024-10-01

StageTimer by the numbers

Metric	Value	Context	Said in
revenue	USD 10K–20K/month approximate	Not purely recurring revenue, so given as a range; currency not stated	Pete Codes 2024-10-01 11:01
revenue	USD 500–1,000/month approximate	Income 'foundation' when he went full-time after the layoff; phrased generically, attribution to StageTimer inferred	Pete Codes 2024-10-01 14:49
revenue	USD 1M/year goal	First 'peak' in Lukas's pinned-tweet plan: $1M annual revenue SaaS; later peaks $100M/year then a moonshot	Pete Codes 2024-10-01 33:11
market size	USD 2M/year estimate	Lukas's own best-case estimate of what the niche could yield for StageTimer	Pete Codes 2024-10-01 7:55
share	40% estimate	acquisition share; Share of acquisition from recommendations / word of mouth ('at least 40%'); attributed partly to the logo on free-plan displays	Pete Codes 2024-10-01 37:11
count	1 signups/one-time approximate	Signups that explicitly cited the viral Trump-rally Reddit photo ('somebody')	Pete Codes 2024-10-01 17:58

Topics

Pricing a subscription app2 Apple Search Ads and paid search1 SEO and content marketing1 YouTube marketing for apps1 Running a portfolio of apps1 Hard paywall vs freemium1 App virality and word of mouth1 Meta ads for apps (Facebook and Instagram)1 Ad creative and creative testing1 Picking a niche and positioning an app1

Interviews

Over $10k a month from a timer app · Pete Codes · 2024-10-01