How StageTimer grows

Building for an industry he wasn't part of (video production), he searched for where those people hang out and found small, hidden niche subreddits. Posted a link: 'Hey, try it out. Give me some feedback. What do you think? Is this useful to you?' No price on the website, so it didn't read as a sales pitch. Only one post per subreddit, no spamming.

MVP had one feature: click a button and a timer starts counting on another screen. Used only familiar tech (JavaScript, Vue.js, Node.js) and skipped new tools to avoid learning curves and surprise limitations. Then built on it slowly for about 1 hour each evening alongside his job.

Finds workflows people in the niche already use and combines the tool with them. Example: for 'countdown timer Stream Deck companion' they wrote a documentation page showing precisely how to use Stagetimer with that physical device's integration, plus a YouTube video. Process: publish docs and articles, watch which ones people actually click on, then double down on those keywords.

Inspired by Dropbox's share-for-space loop. Every link users share (the timer views shown to speakers and crew) carries the Stagetimer logo, and the logo spells out the domain 'stagetimer.io'. The name was chosen to be easy to remember from a glance.

Freemium model. Freelancers in event production use the free tier and bring it to events they're hired for; when someone there needs a timer they pull up Stagetimer, others see it work, and for their next event they hit a limit of the free tier and buy.

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.

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.

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.

After the first customers arrived, marketing and support emails needed an owner. His wife, a teacher who wanted to leave her job, joined and learned marketing. She now runs Google Ads (~$1,400/month in paid ads), all sales emails and all customer support; Lukas does product, development, finances and overall direction. Airtable serves as the CRM with automations; Postmark sends emails.

The idea came from a friend's studio: the friend ran an old Flash timer on an old laptop and had to get up, walk to another room and press a button to start it. Lukas's approach: go into other businesses, observe people doing their job, and look for hours wasted on awkward processes you'd have automated long ago, especially outside the developer bubble where tools have '1999' interfaces. Target niches small enough that big companies won't bother.

Reached out to live-event industry podcasts offering sponsorship.

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

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

Running Google ads; no details on budget or keywords.

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

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

Looked into print magazine advertising in the industry.