5 ms·

Ask HN: Who has started something in 2017 which is already profitable?

48 points by joshdance 10y ago

It is inspiring and interesting to learn newly profitable businesses. 2012 edition : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4088538 2013 edition: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7983631

herbst 10y ago
Me! I launched https://ForwardMX.io https://ForwardMX.io early this year. And recently hit profitability. It is low maintenance and 2 small servers are not expensive ether, but i still am happy to hit that point after a month other than half a year as i thought it would take. (I obviously don't count my working time)
- bbcbasic 10y ago
  Sure I've seen you on reddit
- jjeaff 10y ago
  I really like the site and the simplicity of your offering. What has been your main strategy for customer acquisition? I am always interested with a general use product like that what the best approach is. And how do you like drift? I ended up going with intercom with my site, but I like drift as well.
  - herbst 10y ago
    Drift is nice for me so far. Honestly my approach right now is to get it in front of it people as much as possible. I havent figured out how to target my audience yet
- zepolen 10y ago
  How does this compare to mailgun?
  - herbst 10y ago
    Mailgun is a fully featured email solution for all your transactional email needs. They offer a nice free plan which allows similar functionality to my service for i think 3 domains. However as soon as you go over that it can get expensive very fast as they offer much more than just receiving emails. Next to that i am not always happy with the transaction speed as well as the privacy policy of them.
gnicholas 10y ago
This January, I launched Read Across The Aisle [1] as a Kickstarter and we pulled in 120% of our goal. Because this is software, there is no marginal cost of manufacturing — so we're basically profitable already. I think we got lucky with the timing, which led to a lot of free press. Just today we got a mention in a front-page article in the New York Times [2]. We'll build for Android and Chrome (desktop) next. Might raise money to do so, or might bootstrap. 1: www.readacrosstheaisle.com 2: http://nyti.ms/2mmJ4XD http://nyti.ms/2mmJ4XD
- aakriti1215 10y ago
  One of my favorite apps, thanks for creating it!
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
- ckerpel 10y ago
  It is just awesome! Tks for doing it.
Mz 10y ago
Maybe my resume editing service qualifies? Someone asked for my help, I gave them a lowball figure and then set up a page with info. It hasn't really cost me anything and I have made a few bucks already, which is basically all profit. It isn't, like, exciting tech, but it is a profitable business. So, if that isn't what you want to hear, maybe clarify. (We aren't all brilliant programmers. They let some of us low life non programmers in here for the same price as the spiffy programmers. :-P)

48 points by joshdance 10y ago

It is inspiring and interesting to learn newly profitable businesses. 2012 edition : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4088538 2013 edition: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7983631

herbst 10y ago

Me! I launched https://ForwardMX.io https://ForwardMX.io early this year. And recently hit profitability. It is low maintenance and 2 small servers are not expensive ether, but i still am happy to hit that point after a month other than half a year as i thought it would take. (I obviously don't count my working time)

bbcbasic 10y ago
Sure I've seen you on reddit
jjeaff 10y ago
I really like the site and the simplicity of your offering. What has been your main strategy for customer acquisition? I am always interested with a general use product like that what the best approach is. And how do you like drift? I ended up going with intercom with my site, but I like drift as well.
- herbst 10y ago
  Drift is nice for me so far. Honestly my approach right now is to get it in front of it people as much as possible. I havent figured out how to target my audience yet
zepolen 10y ago
How does this compare to mailgun?
- herbst 10y ago
  Mailgun is a fully featured email solution for all your transactional email needs. They offer a nice free plan which allows similar functionality to my service for i think 3 domains. However as soon as you go over that it can get expensive very fast as they offer much more than just receiving emails. Next to that i am not always happy with the transaction speed as well as the privacy policy of them.

gnicholas 10y ago

This January, I launched Read Across The Aisle [1] as a Kickstarter and we pulled in 120% of our goal. Because this is software, there is no marginal cost of manufacturing — so we're basically profitable already. I think we got lucky with the timing, which led to a lot of free press. Just today we got a mention in a front-page article in the New York Times [2]. We'll build for Android and Chrome (desktop) next. Might raise money to do so, or might bootstrap. 1: www.readacrosstheaisle.com 2: http://nyti.ms/2mmJ4XD http://nyti.ms/2mmJ4XD

aakriti1215 10y ago
One of my favorite apps, thanks for creating it!
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
ckerpel 10y ago
It is just awesome! Tks for doing it.

Mz 10y ago

Maybe my resume editing service qualifies? Someone asked for my help, I gave them a lowball figure and then set up a page with info. It hasn't really cost me anything and I have made a few bucks already, which is basically all profit. It isn't, like, exciting tech, but it is a profitable business. So, if that isn't what you want to hear, maybe clarify. (We aren't all brilliant programmers. They let some of us low life non programmers in here for the same price as the spiffy programmers. :-P)