Starter Story · 2025-11-14

My website makes $35K/month (built in 3 hours)

Pontus Abrahamsson and co-founder Viktor (makers of Midday) built Cursor Directory, a directory of Cursor rules, in 3 hours after spotting that the rules had no central home. Launched on X to their build-in-public developer following (1M impressions on one post), it hit the Hacker News front page and got YouTuber coverage; adding MCPs later caused a second wave. It makes ~$35K/month from paid job listings and featured placements, with 49K registered users, 2.2M unique visitors, ~$500/month costs and ~3 hours/month of maintenance thanks to open-source contributions.

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9 tactics

Cursor Directory · directory of Cursor AI rules

Build a directory for a hot new tool whose tips are scattered across the web

~$35K/month and 2.2M visitors from a 3-hour build

While watching Cursor videos on a flight, noticed the common pattern of Cursor rules and that there was no single place to find them (only obscure GitHub gists and forums). Built a directory for that audience at the moment the tool was taking off. Directories still work if built for the right audience at the right time: catch the wave and own it.

Workedpositioning-nichevalidation

Starter Story · 2025-11-14

Cursor Directory · directory of Cursor AI rules

Launch within hours: hard-code the content and buy the obvious domain

Live in 3 hours; first clickable version in ~30 minutes

Called his co-founder on landing; Viktor designed in Figma while Pontus started a Next.js project with a hard-coded JSON file of rules found online. Had a clickable version on Vercel in about half an hour, bought the exact-match domain cursor.directory, and finished the site in 3 hours, then iterated. Reused components and a design system from previous startups and stuck to a stack they already knew.

Workedfeature-developmentseo

Starter Story · 2025-11-14

Cursor Directory · directory of Cursor AI rules

Announce the launch on X to the developer following you built in public

~1M impressions on one post; instantly took off

Posted Cursor Directory on X at release, plus several follow-up posts, to the developer following they had built by sharing everything they do in public, down to the open-source code. Kept sharing knowledge along the way.

Workedfounder-brandorganic-social

Starter Story · 2025-11-14

Cursor Directory · directory of Cursor AI rules

Post the launch on Hacker News

Reached the front page; YouTubers then covered it unpaid

In the launch week, also posted Cursor Directory on Hacker News. It reached the front page, and many YouTubers then featured it in their videos.

Workedpr-launchinfluencer

Starter Story · 2025-11-14

Cursor Directory · directory of Cursor AI rules

Open-source the site and let users submit and upvote their own entries

Maintenance down to ~3 hours a month; 49K registered users

The project is open source and rules are contributed and merged via GitHub. Users can register, become community members, post their own rules and upvote others.

Workedcommunityproduct-virality

Starter Story · 2025-11-14

Cursor Directory · directory of Cursor AI rules

Keep the directory free; charge companies for job ads and featured spots

~$35K/month at ~99.8% gross margin; split not given

Content is free. Companies pay to list job ads, and listings (e.g. MCP servers) can pay to be featured on the site.

Workedpricingupsell-expansion

Starter Story · 2025-11-14

Cursor Directory · directory of Cursor AI rules

Add a searchable section for the next big trend in your niche

Second wave of huge adoption; no numbers

Some months after launch, when MCPs emerged, added a searchable MCP section so developers could find ways to extend Cursor.

Workedfeature-developmentpositioning-niche

Starter Story · 2025-11-14

Cursor Directory · directory of Cursor AI rules

Let developers upload package.json and get tailored rules back

Built a generator: upload a JavaScript package.json (which lists dependencies) and get Cursor rules tailored to that project, because developers wanted tailored setups but didn't know how to start.

Unknownfeature-developmentcontent

Starter Story · 2025-11-14

Cursor Directory · directory of Cursor AI rules

Copy the look of sites you love to make yours stand out from lookalikes

Host thinks the design drove sharing; no numbers

Has a designer co-founder and a reusable design system from previous startups. Formula: keep it simple, find sites you love and 'steal with pride', learn their patterns and tone, follow designers on X, and pick a tonality you believe in, since AI-built sites all look the same.

Unknownlanding-pageproduct-virality

Starter Story · 2025-11-14

Numbers mentioned

Who	Metric	Value	Context	When
Cursor Directory	revenue	USD 35K/month approximate		2:05
Cursor Directory	revenue	USD 34K/month approximate		0:21
Cursor Directory	users	49K users approximate	Registered users	2:39
Cursor Directory	users	2.2M visitors approximate	Unique visitors since launch	2:39
Cursor Directory	margin	99.8%	Gross margin	2:39
Cursor Directory	cost	USD 500/month approximate	Operating cost, 'just under 500'	2:39
Cursor Directory	cost	USD 525/month approximate	Total tool stack cost (Vercel, Resend, OpenPanel, Polar, Cursor, Notion, GitHub etc.)	11:55
Cursor Directory	time to milestone	3 hours/month approximate	Ongoing maintenance time per month (rules merged via GitHub)	2:39
Cursor Directory	time to milestone	3 hours approximate	Time to build the first version of the site	3:54
Cursor Directory	views	1M impressionsper post approximate	Impressions on one launch post on X	5:43