6 ms·

Ask HN: Solo developer successful startups examples?

29 points by grigio 11y ago

Maybe a solo developer can't do everything but with a bit good taste, social skills and a small niche, he/she can invent a sustanaible project at least to earn enough for himself.. or not?

stephengillie 11y ago
One popular inspiration is the user @patio11 - his BingoCardCreator site unexpectedly took off, going from side project to lifestyle to sold product.
- madchops1 11y ago
  Ya, the BingoCardCreator was a good niche he nailed it.
- patio11 11y ago
  I worry about describing BCC as "taking off" -- it was a tomato plant, not a rocket ship. Put in water; get juicy fruit, turn into canned sauce; sell for money; repeat.
benologist 11y ago
Plenty Of Fish: $575 million exit just a couple weeks ago http://betakit.com/plentyoffish-acquired-by-match-group-for-575-million-usd/ http://betakit.com/plentyoffish-acquired-by-match-group-for-...
madchops1 11y ago
I build GoReturnMe.com as a solo developer. It needs an update though. My last update of the framework caused some issues, now trying to find the time :(
camillomiller 11y ago
If I recall correctly Marco Arment started Instapaper all by himself and kept working on it all by himself until it was not feasible anymore, and that's when he sold it. I think the solo-programmer startups are usually something among these kind of projects: - a webapp for simple or largely automated service - smartphone/tablet app - smartphone/tablet game ...
louisswiss 11y ago
Facebook? It's so obvious and I'm not sure if it counts... I started a simple paid monthly platform for meeting new people a few months ago - if I would put even a little bit of effort into marketing then I'm pretty sure it would be a liveable monthly wage on 5h/week within 2-3months...
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- vision-chart 11y ago
  Yeah but Facebook wasn't sustainable at the beginning
  - louisswiss 11y ago
    true (I'm assuming)... I guess it depends whether we're talking about start-ups or small businesses/hobby projects. I don't think I've heard of any start-ups which were sustainable at the beginning, whereas many small businesses/hobby projects are. Drew Houston from Dropbox was also a solo dev at the very beginning of Dropbox, but I guess the very fact that by definition start-ups are destined to grow quickly means that new people need to be brought on board at some point...
kelukelugames 11y ago
Minecraft. Braid. Flappy Bird. Rudy Hyunh
S4M 11y ago
Patio11 seems to be the perfect example of what you describe - he's on HN and that's his handle.
Oatseller 11y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craigslist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craigslist
christinamltn 11y ago
Rob Walling did this and write/talks a lot about how to do it: http://www.softwarebyrob.com http://www.softwarebyrob.com
dangrossman 11y ago
Lots of examples in the recurring threads about passive income and side projects: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9423592 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9423592 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7094402 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7094402
SyneRyder 11y ago
Absolutely. You'll find folks doing that over at the Bootstrapped forums or on the Chasing Product podcast: http://discuss.bootstrapped.fm/ http://discuss.bootstrapped.fm/ http://www.chasingproduct.com/ http://www.chasingproduct.com/ A better bet is to have multiple products that you sell to the same audience, not just one product. One product alone may only have small success, but if you have several small products all bringing in revenue it will add up over time. And while you're working on building them, it's safest to keep multiple revenue streams to fund yourself while doing it - be open to doing freelancing / consulting, or keep a part-time job. Patio11 worked at his day job for a long time while doing Bingo Card Creator.
purpleparakeet 11y ago
@levelsio built 12 startups in 12 months as a one-man show AFAIK. Here is his website: https://levels.io https://levels.io
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
tabulatouch 11y ago
I did http://www.facadesignage.com http://www.facadesignage.com ,solo developer, quite happy :)
priitmaxx 11y ago
How is success defined? Profitable? X dollars in Rev?
bosky101 11y ago
errorception, by rakesh pai (@rakesh314) he has a bunch of big name customers as well on the home page http://errorception.com http://errorception.com

29 points by grigio 11y ago

Maybe a solo developer can't do everything but with a bit good taste, social skills and a small niche, he/she can invent a sustanaible project at least to earn enough for himself.. or not?

stephengillie 11y ago

One popular inspiration is the user @patio11 - his BingoCardCreator site unexpectedly took off, going from side project to lifestyle to sold product.

madchops1 11y ago
Ya, the BingoCardCreator was a good niche he nailed it.
patio11 11y ago
I worry about describing BCC as "taking off" -- it was a tomato plant, not a rocket ship. Put in water; get juicy fruit, turn into canned sauce; sell for money; repeat.

benologist 11y ago

Plenty Of Fish: $575 million exit just a couple weeks ago http://betakit.com/plentyoffish-acquired-by-match-group-for-575-million-usd/ http://betakit.com/plentyoffish-acquired-by-match-group-for-...

madchops1 11y ago

I build GoReturnMe.com as a solo developer. It needs an update though. My last update of the framework caused some issues, now trying to find the time :(

camillomiller 11y ago

If I recall correctly Marco Arment started Instapaper all by himself and kept working on it all by himself until it was not feasible anymore, and that's when he sold it. I think the solo-programmer startups are usually something among these kind of projects: - a webapp for simple or largely automated service - smartphone/tablet app - smartphone/tablet game ...

louisswiss 11y ago

Facebook? It's so obvious and I'm not sure if it counts... I started a simple paid monthly platform for meeting new people a few months ago - if I would put even a little bit of effort into marketing then I'm pretty sure it would be a liveable monthly wage on 5h/week within 2-3months...

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
vision-chart 11y ago
Yeah but Facebook wasn't sustainable at the beginning
- louisswiss 11y ago
  true (I'm assuming)... I guess it depends whether we're talking about start-ups or small businesses/hobby projects. I don't think I've heard of any start-ups which were sustainable at the beginning, whereas many small businesses/hobby projects are. Drew Houston from Dropbox was also a solo dev at the very beginning of Dropbox, but I guess the very fact that by definition start-ups are destined to grow quickly means that new people need to be brought on board at some point...

kelukelugames 11y ago

Minecraft. Braid. Flappy Bird. Rudy Hyunh

S4M 11y ago

Patio11 seems to be the perfect example of what you describe - he's on HN and that's his handle.

Oatseller 11y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craigslist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craigslist

christinamltn 11y ago

Rob Walling did this and write/talks a lot about how to do it: http://www.softwarebyrob.com http://www.softwarebyrob.com

dangrossman 11y ago

Lots of examples in the recurring threads about passive income and side projects: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9423592 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9423592 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7094402 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7094402

SyneRyder 11y ago

Absolutely. You'll find folks doing that over at the Bootstrapped forums or on the Chasing Product podcast: http://discuss.bootstrapped.fm/ http://discuss.bootstrapped.fm/ http://www.chasingproduct.com/ http://www.chasingproduct.com/ A better bet is to have multiple products that you sell to the same audience, not just one product. One product alone may only have small success, but if you have several small products all bringing in revenue it will add up over time. And while you're working on building them, it's safest to keep multiple revenue streams to fund yourself while doing it - be open to doing freelancing / consulting, or keep a part-time job. Patio11 worked at his day job for a long time while doing Bingo Card Creator.

purpleparakeet 11y ago

@levelsio built 12 startups in 12 months as a one-man show AFAIK. Here is his website: https://levels.io https://levels.io

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

tabulatouch 11y ago

I did http://www.facadesignage.com http://www.facadesignage.com ,solo developer, quite happy :)

priitmaxx 11y ago

How is success defined? Profitable? X dollars in Rev?

bosky101 11y ago

errorception, by rakesh pai (@rakesh314) he has a bunch of big name customers as well on the home page http://errorception.com http://errorception.com