Shipper · B2C · AI app builder
Build a small version of a booming product and aim for 1% of it
$25.6K MRR (~$307K ARR) bootstrapped, with no paid ads
Workedmarket-selection
What they did
In summer 2025, seeing AI app builders explode (Base44 $3M ARR in 6 months, Lovable $1M ARR in a week), entered the category with a small team (the brothers plus one developer), aiming for 1% of the market by triple-downing on one common pain point. Watched competitors closely to copy what worked and avoid their mistakes: working product by month 3, caught up by month 4, ahead on features by months 5-6.
What happened
$25.6K MRR, $307K ARR, ~690 paying users
- Stage
- Pre-launch (idea)
“We figured owning even 1% of the market would be life-changing for us. So, the plan was really simple: find one common pain point and triple down on it.”
“We also kept a close eye on other players in the space, looking at what worked for them, what didn't, so we could move faster and avoid making the same mistakes that they did.”
Related topics
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More from this episode
- Shipper: Launch a rough first version on Product Hunt in week oneFirst $50 MRR
- Shipper: Post on Reddit regularly to get the first paying usersPosts regularly hit ~400 upvotes; MRR grew from $50 to $1K
- Shipper: Write pages for 'alternatives to [rival]' and 'how much does [rival] cost'Named as an early user source; no numbers
- Shipper: Build in public on X every day, showing apps made with your own toolTook ~50 days to kick in, then ~$20K MRR added in 1-2 weeks
- Shipper: Put your product link in the second tweet, not the firstSaid to bring extra attention and site traffic; no numbers
- Shipper: Skip the free plan and spend that money on paying users~690 paying users, zero free users
- Shipper: Sell monthly credit plans from $25, plus one-off credit top-upsTop-ups are ~10% of revenue; gross volume ~$71K vs $25.6K MRR
- Shipper: Read rivals' Trustpilot reviews, roadmaps and Discords to find what users missLed to mobile apps, Chrome extensions and bots rivals lacked; no separate numbers
- Shipper: Remove every technical term and pitch 'your idea becomes a business'Founder says it set them apart from Lovable and Base44; no numbers