$0-$2K MRR in 6 months writing about software
Hey IH,
When I first started working on Architecture Notes, I didn't expect it to hit the 2K monthly recurring revenue (MRR) ever; let alone in 6 months.
How it started?
There were few explainers available when I first started programming software; instead, most information could be found in books or on obscure message boards. I was fortunate that StackOverflow began to emerge, but there needed to be in-depth explanations of services written by the actual engineers who created them.
I also wanted to give back and help the next generation. There is so much to learn nowadays.
I kept seeing post after post about if there is a site that discusses certain technologies deeply, higher level discussions about distributed systems, and breakdowns by engineers building popular systems.
The concept was to explain things and couple them with detailed infographics that illustrate them.
I didn't start to do a business per se, but writing and sharing what I have learned in concise explainers was something I was passionate about, but damn, it takes so much time.
The growth
I started with a small seed with the community I had on Twitter and managed to collect couple of hundred emails before launch.
I was lucky enough to reach number 1 on my first post on HN covering the engineering behind Datasette. That got me close to 1K emails and then I got to work. These posts require a fair bit of planning and research to get it right and strike the right balance on where to cut off the discussion. I like to take the problem from base principles and build up people's understanding.
I found the Ghost community quite helpful and motivating much like the community on IH but for authors. I learned a few techniques around repurposing content on different platforms for growth which helped a ton.
Which eventually lead me to writing paid content behind a paywall for subscribers. Its always a balance act of growing the community and ensuring subscribers are getting extra value.
Currently I have just under 25K subscribers to the newsletter and just over 11K on the Twitter account.
Over the past six months, I've learnt a ton, and I'd be pleased to impart any knowledge I can to be useful. You are welcome to inquire about the launch, the statistics, etc.
Congrats Mahdi :-) over the moon for you!!
Thank you!
Congrats, Mahdi! Super cool!
I'm actually really impressed with the creativity behind this project. A problem so big has been solved with just a few diagrams. :)
It always makes me happy to read these kind of article about becoming success with time with focus. i'm also focusing on my simileto website development. i hope it goes the way i'm hoping for.
what is your monetization model?
Currently it’s subscriptions. I am hoping to write a book once I have all the topics I want to cover posted! I haven’t moved into newsletter sponsorships just yet.
thanks, your website UI is awesome⭐️
Congrats and great work!
I would be featuring your story on my site: MarktStash.com
When you said $2k MRR, is this all from newsletter sponsorships?
Thanks so much! It’s entirely from subscribers. I am currently looking into sponsorships for the newsletter as well.
interesting project, @yun_b2bleads...it's like The Bootstrapped Way but on Notion. :-)
Love the sketches. What app are you using to make the sketches?
Sold - subscribed to support your efforts! Congrats for the hard work so far!
What do you use to create the visuals and make them look like drawings?
Great contribution to the engineering community, @myusuf3. I've bookmarked the site. Keep it up!
Very impressive and great product! 💪
I'm a subscriber of Architecture notes ! I love it !
What tool de you use to make your diagrams ?
I can help you create a "MongoDB Explained" post if you wish
Hey Mahdi! Amazing product! I absolutely love it. Being in CS, this is what I've been looking for, for ages. Will definitely share this with my friends.
This is awesome. Definitely helpful for software engineers like me.
congratulations, keep going!
Congrats!
And the website looks really great. Will sub for sure
This is my friend's story
After six months of implementing and utilizing our software, we have seen a decrease in our monthly recurring revenue (MRR) of $0-$2K.
While this may be disheartening, it is important to note that the decrease in MRR does not necessarily reflect the overall effectiveness or value of our software. There are many factors that could have contributed to this decrease, such as changes in the market, shifts in customer needs and preferences, or changes in the competitive landscape.
Additionally, it is important to keep in mind that MRR is only one metric for measuring success. Other metrics, such as customer satisfaction, retention rates, and overall revenue, may still be strong and indicate the continued value of our software.
Moving forward, it will be crucial for us to closely monitor and analyze our MRR and other key metrics in order to identify any trends or changes that may be impacting our revenue. We will also need to continually assess and adjust our strategy and offerings in order to meet the evolving needs of our customers and maintain a strong and sustainable business.
Thanks for doing this bro. and congratulations on the newsletter's success.
Congrats! What is your biggest acquisition channel now?
This is a great achievement, congratulations! Yet you make a huge commitment to the dev community, helping people to grow and progress. Being a dev myself, I know how the learning materials spread over the internet and can be challenging to gather them. Especially knowledge from experts, they are often too busy to share their minds.
Congrats on this! $2000 as a indiehacker is a great start. More to go :)
Thank you!
Immediate subscribed! Love the content and drawing!
Congrats on achieving $2k MRR!
Thanks so much!
this is helpful! we are building an open-source low-code tool for developers as well. Currently, our clients are big firms, the problem is that the ACV is pretty good but we have to provide a lot of engineers to do customized services. I hope one day we can sell our standard Saas product soon.
That’s cool. Any questions for me?
I got so inspired by your writing that I thought I start a newsletter by myself. Do you have any tips for newcomers?
Write about something you are passionate about and seek your audience.
congratulations. infographics look awesome. I wish i had the expertise to make them too ;-) looks like a lot of work.
Thank you! tons of work planning and putting them together.
Hey Mahdi, the site looks really cool! The content is good also, btw. I wish something like this existed back in college. Have you tried promoting your site to tech schools and such?
(The images are awesome, what software did you use? Did you make them yourself?)
Thanks so much. I haven’t really. Do you mean boot camp style schools or traditional ones? It’s mostly and IPad and some fonts that look hand written.
Students, or pre-interview grads -- it would attract those who want to learn more by themselves.
Congratulations mate!
Just took a look at Architecture Notes and what an amazing concept!
-Did you use any specific platform for your launch?
-How did you grow your audience on Twitter?
-Are you planning to use any other social media?
Thanks so much. I write the blog on Ghost. I mostly focused on LinkedIn and Twitter for reaching out to people.
I was really skeptical with tweet threads but they really do work if you put the effort in and customize the media for the platform you are on.
I am hoping to grow more on LinkedIn ideally for next big part of it.
You have any suggestions?
For LinkedIn the most important thing is to have a complete profile as it builds credibility. As far as the content is considered since it's a professional platform, inspiring or educational content works really well so you're already sorted on that part.
You can explore LinkedIn groups and engage, I'm sure you can find your target audience there.
Consistency is the key!
Also, since your content is quite visual maybe later on give Instagram a chance too.
Congrats, big milestone!
What led to the big jump in mid November?
What's the next milestone and the plan to get there?
People love sales for things they enjoy. It was a massive jump. I think trick here is discounting the yearly and see how things go. Next milestone is more around the offering and less about the money. I won’t share that just yet.