Bootstrapping a aspect undertaking right into a worthwhile seven-figure enterprise in 4 years.
We actually did it! We bootstrapped ProjectionLab to $1,000,000 in annual recurring income.
And I’m nonetheless processing that that is actual. 🥹
Again in 2021, I used to be impressed by the monetary independence motion and needed a greater solution to plan my very own life. I couldn’t discover the suitable instrument, so I began constructing.
I had no concept that aspect undertaking would someday assist over 100,000 households plan for his or her monetary future too.
How we obtained right here
If that is your first time listening to about ProjectionLab, right here’s a fast recap:
Once you look past the recurring income chart, this journey had ups, downs, and moments I needed to stop.
The feelings behind the numbers
Need to know what constructing in public from zero to 1,000,000 {dollars} a yr actually felt like? NOT like serenely progressing up-and-to-the-right…
Extra like using a dopamine rollercoaster whereas getting attacked by a bear.
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The flat months within the early years? The dips in earnings? The occasions I woke as much as a dozen canceled subscriptions?
Every one had me questioning every thing, questioning if I ought to simply give attention to the company ladder, or possibly attempt to get into large tech as an alternative.
The monetary independence motion is what set me on this path. So on high of worrying about regular enterprise dangers, I used to be primed to suppose by way of my time and alternative price, and the way failure would damage my very own timeline to FI.
However regularly, I discovered that emotional peaks and valleys are at all times part of entrepreneurship. And that “not giving up” is definitely a superpower.
Not giving up
There are a great deal of individuals on the market smarter than me.
However fortunately, success indexes much less on IQ and extra on consistency. The willingness to doggedly present up each single day can take you to some actually suprising and superb locations.
And you understand what makes it simpler and extra rewarding to be that persistent?
Working alongside individuals you want.
From solo dev to actual group
For the primary two years, I burned the candle at each ends working solo. 4-6 hours each night time after work, complete weekends, holidays, you identify it.
404 Day Off Not Discovered.
That was the one manner I may construct one thing this advanced in a crowded market as a risk-averse engineer with a day job. And I used to be lucky sufficient to aim this at a stage in life after I had a number of vitality and few household tasks.
Plus my trusty sidekick, BB the fowl:
However long-term, I knew there can be a option to face:
Maintain doing every thing myself and watch development plateau, or…Discover somebody with a complementary skillset and begin constructing a group.
I used to be simply an unusual engineer with zero advertising and marketing expertise. So I figured I ought to attempt to group up with somebody good at development & advertising and marketing.
Discovering a development & advertising and marketing companion
Through the first few years, I used to be approached by dozens of potential “companions.” A number of needed an outsize fairness stake to basically simply make options. Others had the improper skillset or didn’t really feel like an entire match.
However Jon Kuipers jumped proper into the trenches and labored to show himself earlier than asking for something. He spent a yr contributing actual worth, and when the time got here to deliver on a development companion full-time, I didn’t look wherever else.
Now I keep targeted on constructing, whereas he handles development, advertising and marketing, partnerships, and a few ops stuff.
Constructing a group
We’ve additionally added a couple of contractors to the group.
And these guys are legends. 💪
They arrive straight from the ProjectionLab person neighborhood, and they’re doing a fantastic job fielding the arcane finance questions our clients like to ask. Plus internet hosting 1-on-1 periods, creating tutorial movies, and extra.
Might we’ve got offshored buyer success for pennies on the greenback as an alternative? You guess. However having a cheerful and engaged person neighborhood of product evangelists means rather a lot to us, and I would like all of them to have the most effective expertise attainable.
For a number of years, I used to be up in any respect hours answering assist questions myself. It interrupted my dev work (and my sleep) continually. I really like the PL neighborhood – it’s a giant a part of what motivated me to maintain going again then.
And it blows my thoughts that the empty discord server I created a couple of years in the past now has over 8,500 fellow private finance fanatics.
However at this level, I serve the neighborhood greatest by specializing in the world the place my contributions have the best marginal worth: constructing.
And with our group now enabling that, what we’ve shipped this yr speaks for itself.
What’s subsequent?
Hitting $1M ARR is just the start.
And that solely counts recurring income. With non-recurring revenue sources like Lifetime subscriptions and 1-on-1 coaching periods, month-to-month income has persistently been 20 to 50 p.c larger.
With that momentum, we’re doubling down on what obtained us right here:
Making a superb product that individuals truly like to make use of (together with us)Staying lean, bootstrapped, and aligned with the pursuits of our customersBuilding thoughtfully and sustainably, not chasing AI hype or growth-at-all-costs
In the event you’re constructing one thing your self…
Right here’s one small piece of recommendation:
When you’ve validated your thought, preserve displaying as much as make it slightly higher day-after-day. Even when there are distractions. Even when development is flat. Even when it feels pointless.
And even when that voice in your head says you’re not a “actual entrepreneur.”
It stated that to me too. Lots.
So you understand what? Do what most individuals can’t: truly present up day-after-day. And show it improper.
You by no means know which day would be the one which modifications every thing.
Whether or not you’re constructing a enterprise, simply getting began with investing, or working towards monetary independence, it’s typically the small, constant actions that compound over time. Identical to dollar-cost averaging into index funds, displaying up persistently to enhance your craft can produce surprisingly highly effective outcomes in your path towards a greater future.
Due to everybody who’s supported ProjectionLab through the years. You’ve actually modified my life, and I get up day-after-day excited to maintain constructing for you ❤️
–Kyle
