Papermark · B2B · open-source DocSend alternative
Tweet the idea first; build it over a weekend only if people engage
Tweet got 450 likes and 95K+ views; the launch went viral and users asked to pay
Workedvalidationfounder-brandpr-launch
What they did
Instead of building first, the founder (at his wife's suggestion) wrote a single tweet pitching an open-source DocSend alternative. The bar: if people like, share and comment, build it over the weekend. The tweet got traction immediately (450 likes, 95,000+ views per host), so he built the first version that weekend and shipped it, then posted the launch, which went viral again. He kept building on nights and weekends until the first customers asked if they could pay. He had only ~1,000 X followers at the time.
What happened
Instant traction on the tweet; the launch post went viral; first ~1,000 GitHub stars within 1-2 months; first customers asked to pay
- Stage
- Pre-launch (Pre-launch and launch, 2023)
- Effort
- One tweet, one weekend of building
“Um but, you know, test it on Twitter first. Just write a tweet. If it like people like it, if they they they, you know, share it, comment, etc. Then you can build it over the weekend.”
“We send out that tweet, um instantly got like a bunch of traction. Um and then I built it over the weekend, shipped it. It went uh viral again.”
“And um you know, then the first customers started saying, "Hey, can we pay you money?"”
Related topics
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More from this episode
- Papermark: Build an open-source alternative to a well-known tool people dislikeNow ~$3M ARR; founder credits timing and a known, disliked incumbent
- Papermark: Share your wins and losses publicly every monthFirst ~1,000 GitHub stars in 1-2 months; 8,900 stars now
- Papermark: Post where your customers are, even if your following is elsewhereOne LinkedIn post reached ~250K views; helps but can't be tracked to revenue
- Papermark: Match the incumbent's must-have features before you expect people to switchUnder $1M for ~2 years; then $1M to $2M in four months once parity hit
- Papermark: Let customers put their own domain and brand on everything they shareFounder calls it a differentiator; no numbers
- Papermark: Keep a free plan forever when the big competitor drops theirs~100 signups a day and ~100 new paying customers a month
- Papermark: Make shared links use your domain unless users add their ownFounder says most growth is organic and word of mouth; 60K+ teams
- Papermark: Save a year of personal runway first, then bootstrap with a co-founderBootstrapped and profitable at ~$3M ARR; never considered quitting