Pete Codes · 2024-10-01

Over $10k a month from a timer app

Pete interviews Lukas Hermann, solo bootstrapped founder of StageTimer (remote-controlled countdown timer for live events), at $10-20k/month. Covers his 3-peak goal ($1M ARR SaaS, $100M company, moonshot), going full-time after a layoff, declining VC, freemium plan with logo on the displayed timer as the growth engine (word of mouth 40%+), SEO as the strongest channel, many failed channels (YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, podcast sponsorship, print, trade shows), a second product Rundown Studio, and doing business in Germany.

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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

“My angle is like we have this free version that allows you basically to get started.”

Workedproduct-viralitypricing

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

“It's strong. It's very strong. It's, yeah. The much Yeah. Stronger than any other marketing channel. Yes, is SEO.”

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

“Right now, Google works, but maybe Facebook also works, maybe YouTube also works.”

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

“we have tried YouTube, and it didn't work, but I'm suspecting maybe our video wasn't kind of hitting the the the tooth”

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

“We're trying Facebook right now, but seems not to work. We're not getting purchases from it. Instagram, we've tried. Same thing.”

Failedpaid-social

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

“We have tried like reaching out to podcasts and stuff, and we have found that nobody wants to get sponsored.”

Failedpodcast-sponsorship

Pete Codes · 2024-10-01

StageTimer · B2B · countdown timer for stage speakers

Look into print magazine ads in trade publications

Too expensive; dropped

“We have tried print magazines, which are ridiculously expensive, so we left that.”

Failedoffline-ads

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

“We went to We went to one, we didn't have a booth.”

Failedevents

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

“And we said, "Well, people really want to plan their shows, and the software that is available is really expensive."”

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

“I want to put a series of countdowns, cuz I know like that my opening, you know, is like 5 minutes”

Unknownfeature-development

Pete Codes · 2024-10-01

Numbers mentioned

Subject	Metric	Value	Quote
StageTimer	revenue Not purely recurring revenue, so given as a range; currency not stated	USD 10K–20K/month approximate	“but I would say we are we are kind of in between the 10 and the 20k”
StageTimer	revenue Income 'foundation' when he went full-time after the layoff; phrased generically, attribution to StageTimer inferred	USD 500–1,000/month approximate	“I have my $500, a thousand per month, that just allow me to get by. Let me take the jump.”
StageTimer	revenue First 'peak' in Lukas's pinned-tweet plan: $1M annual revenue SaaS; later peaks $100M/year then a moonshot	USD 1M/year goal	“1 million. It's 1 million annual.”
StageTimer	market size Lukas's own best-case estimate of what the niche could yield for StageTimer	USD 2M/year estimate	“even at my best calculations, my Stagetimer niche is maybe 2 million a year”
StageTimer	share acquisition share; Share of acquisition from recommendations / word of mouth ('at least 40%'); attributed partly to the logo on free-plan displays	40% estimate	“with recommendation and kind of word word of mouth being at least 40% of our marketing, I think it paid off”
StageTimer	count Signups that explicitly cited the viral Trump-rally Reddit photo ('somebody')	1 signups/one-time approximate	“we got somebody who signed up, who specifically said, you know, "I saw this I saw your product used with with with the Trump rally."”
expensive incumbent show-planning (rundown) software	price What prospects said they pay for incumbent show-planning software; motivated building Rundown Studio	USD 6,000per customer /year approximate	“If you're talking $6,000 per year that people told us they they pay for it.”
benchmarkYear-over-year growth that even generous private VC investors expect	growth rate	+200–300%/year approximate	“300% year-over-year should be should be there, like 200 at least”
Danny Postma's SEO course	revenue Course sales in 'a few days' after launch	USD 80K estimate	“I think maybe something like $80,000 in like a few days or something”
MentorCruise	revenue 'Over a million dollars' in roughly 5-6 years	USD 1M estimate	“MentorCruise which like has made over a million dollars in I think roughly, maybe like 5 or 6 years”