Building a browser extension empire

[Tau Ceti]

Are there any influencers or gurus in your space?

Does the extension solve a problem that gurus solve or people search for?

YouTube how to videos and influencers could be a good promo method

The only paid extension I’ve ever paid for was recommended by a YouTube guru as part of his course

Nice work on sticking with it, I agree, extensions are an under served and overlooked opportunity

Sorry for the delayed response.

I honestly haven't looked into this so far.
I think the product is not quite ready for this type of marketing and it's not the kind of product that I think would interest Gurus.

Its a very simple and a very useful product but it's not sexy or hype like AI products nowadays for example.
Maybe in the future I will give it a shot but for now its growing slowly but growing nicely.

Once I have reached PMF, I will look into doing more marketing partnerships/outreach with influencers.

 

[Vasudev Soni]

Current status

After posting my introduction post, I thought it was time to create an execution thread.

I have two browser extensions currently live.

Extension #1

This extension is dormant, as in I haven't updated it in a while and it is very niche browser extension. I have looked at monetizing/selling it but I don't think there is way to currently do that. It sits at around 150 installs and does not grow much as the market it is serving is relatively small. Nonetheless I consider it a success and used it to build the foundation of extension #2. At this stage I am going to focus on extension #2 exclusively and leave this extension to be. It doesn't require any maintenance fortunately.

Extension #2

This is the focus of this thread. This extension has potential to become a source of income. It is growing steadily and my SEO efforts are starting to payoff. It has about 300 users currently and gets about 30 to 50 new users every week.

At this stage the extension is free and voluntarily limited and could do a lot more. But so far I have not been providing more value to my users because I wanted to keep some functionality hidden to be able to release a paid plan with these extra functionalities.

Before spending more time on this project, I validated the idea in several ways bay asking myself the following questions:

1. Is this a problem that people are willing to pay for?
   
   Yes, because there are other competing extensions that are quite popular ( around the 5000 users mark) and charging users around $30 per month to use the full extension's functionality.
   
2. Can I provide a better experience than the competition?
   
   Absolutely. I currently receive emails from my users every few days, and exchange with them regularly. I understand their problems and what they are trying to accomplish. I can build what they need. I do things that don't scale and treat every user very well by responding to each and every question they have in timely manner and spending as long as it takes with them until their issue is resolved.
   
   
   
3. Can I outrank the competition in Google search results?
   
   Yes, I am currently in the process of ranking many articles and blog posts above the competition's results which leads me to having a steady flow of users visiting my landing page every day (currently I have 10 to 15 organic clicks on the website).
   
   
   
4. Can this business be scaled?
   
   Yes, this business can be scaled. The plan is to have the extension as a middle of the road solution. User's get all the benefits of the extension but they still have to do some of the work themselves.
   
   The fully automated solution to their problem can be created via SaaS platform that will do everything on their behalf. This solution is not hard to build, I already have a prototype working.

Whats is the expected conversion rate between free users and paid users?

After reading a few articles on this issue, I have come to the conclusion that the conversion rate is between 5% to 10% usually. I follow this guy who has an extension whose made up of 30% paying users. This is the exception and not the rule but one can dream.

Current goals for the next 30 days

• release the paid plan for the extension
• convert at least 5 users to the paid plan
• finish the MVP the SaaS platform and find at least 2 beta users

All the best for your endeavours.

What tech stack do you use to build browser extensions?

 

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[Vasudev Soni]

Thanks

React + Jquery + tailwind CSS

That’s cool

 

[Tiago]

Middle of the month update.

I am now closing in on the first big milestone $1000 MRR with 93% profit margin.

The churn has really gone down in the last 2 weeks and I got a bunch of new customers.
I hope to finish the month between $1100 and $1200 MRR.

It's not a lot compared to some of you who are making 10K or 20K a month and still a far cry from reaching the fastlane levels of $50K to $100K per month but to me it is awesome.

Now that I am back at work full time, progress has been slower but I won't let that get in my way.
My goal is/was to reach $10K MRR at the end of the year.

If progress continues at the same pace, I am actually on track to reach $2.5K to $3K MRR but I am not giving up, I will keep going until I am free.

That is my motivation.

That's huge, great progress!

From $800MRR to $1100-1200 is a big step.

Keep going forward.

 

[Deleted115974]

Middle of the month update.

I am now closing in on the first big milestone $1000 MRR with 93% profit margin.

The churn has really gone down in the last 2 weeks and I got a bunch of new customers.
I hope to finish the month between $1100 and $1200 MRR.

It's not a lot compared to some of you who are making 10K or 20K a month and still a far cry from reaching the fastlane levels of $50K to $100K per month but to me it is awesome.

Now that I am back at work full time, progress has been slower but I won't let that get in my way.
My goal is/was to reach $10K MRR at the end of the year.

If progress continues at the same pace, I am actually on track to reach $2.5K to $3K MRR but I am not giving up, I will keep going until I am free.

That is my motivation.

Congrats, is there any specific database/tool you use for cheap deployments? I am a SWE, just figuring out a proper UI/UX for my idea, probably I guess, I just need to start working on it. However, I would appreciate to know if there are good places where I can deploy things cheaply.
Thanks

 

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[Tau Ceti]

Congrats on hitting 1k MRR !!

Massive progress from your first post at 0 to now $1k per month. Love to see it.

Keep going!

Thanks for your kind words

 

[Deleted115974]

It depends on your needs.

For the marketing/web app I use vercel => $20/month
For the node app I use fly.io which cost about $5/month
I use mongodb Atlas for the DB, which is another $3-$5 per month

Hi, Lol, I am back at this message.
Ok so I was building my backend with MongoDB Serverless as well. However, I found it extremely slow after creating the initial backend in python with mongo. 1.5 seconds - 2seconds to just register a user? No way.
So I am gonna go for other alternatives.


Dunno if I am being an action faker as I do not have any users either atm, but I am gonna try some crazy combination.

 

[circleme]

@Tau Ceti

Hope you are doing well. How is the journey going?

If you hit a plateau, would you consider going back to your original strategy and stacking more extensions? I'm thinking about that one lately, as my TAM is insanely small. It was by purpose, but the possible gains are quite limited, so I have to consider an intentional iteration (II) approach.

Looking forward to you answer.

 

[Deleted8v369]

I'm very bullish on Chrome extensions as a business model. It's one of the most overlooked.

The stats speak for themselves:

Apple App Store: 1 billion iPhone users
2 million iOS apps = 500 users : 1 iOS app

Google Play Store: 2 billion Android users
3 million apps = 667 users : 1 app

Chrome Store: 2 billion users
200,000 extensions = 10,000 users : 1 extension

Bottom line: Launching a Chrome extension gives you 20 times more potential users than an iOS app. There is significantly less competition in the Chrome extension marketplace, making it a great opportunity for your app to gain traction.

1. There is an existing app store for discovery, so it is easier to find browser extensions.
2. Low barrier to install (does not require admin rights even)
2. There is relatively low competition for browser extensions.
3. You can focus on one channel (such as Chrome with 50% or more market share).
4. The natural evolution into freemium makes it easier to monetize
5. People are more likely to pay for desktop apps versus mobile
6. Browser extensions integrate seamlessly into existing workflows, making them even more convenient to use.

Notable examples:

LastPass: 25m+ users
Loom: $73m funding
Grammarly: Valued $1B+
Honey: $4B sale

My most popular Chrome extension has 13 users after I released it two or three years ago. I'm impressed.

 

[Tau Ceti]

My most popular Chrome extension has 13 users after I released it two or three years ago. I'm impressed.

Thanks. Its not easy but very rewarding. Keep trying.

The cost of development of an extension is pretty low. You could have an MVP ready in less than a week.

 

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[The-J]

My 10K goal for the MRR before the end of the year is definitely not reachable but 3K to 4K seems achievable.

Wanna bet? Lol

I've been playing a lot with ChatGPT Plus & the new plugins. Super powerful. Using a free plugin might get me to pay $100/mo for Zapier. Wonder if that makes sense with your business model.

 

[srodrigo]

Thanks. Its not easy but very rewarding. Keep trying.

The cost of development of an extension is pretty low. You could have an MVP ready in less than a week.

I imagine it depends on the extension. I'm curious now, I might do some Chrome Store research.

 

[Epynok]

Churn is up massively.

You could try to offer some incentive for staying a certain period of time. Give them something like a gift or a special deal to look forward to.

JMO.

 

[oneac]

Such a strange world we live in when people get some software for free and have the balls to whine about random stuff.

LMAO. I'm proud of your progress, you're an inspiration to me. Currently done with the idea validation process and am now about to move to learning the tech.

Can't wait for the reflection post.

 

[oneac]

Thanks man. I am rooting for you as well. Don't hesitate to reach out if you have some questions.

That means a lot. I'm stuck at a cross-roads and I really think you could help me out. I just sent a DM.

 

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[Edgar King]

Congrats on reaching the goal Tau! I just read the thread and it's really inspiring how you started form finding a gap in the marketplace to creating an MVP and just getting feedback to improve it from there. Here's to much more in the future *clink*.

 

[Black_Dragon43]

Look at the trend

It is better to take a step back and look at the trend of where things are going instead of focusing on the daily shenanigans. That doesn't mean you don’t need to show up everyday and do the work.

It simply means that most of the work you do will only pay off in the future:
- Write a few blog posts and see them rank in a few months.
- Get an affiliate partnership and watch the money roll in 3 months from now.
- Revamp your homepage and watch the conversions increase slightly over the next few months.

You get the gist.

Things take time and you'll need to be somewhat patient to see the results of your hard work.

Be like a monk, learn to be patient and accept that some things will take longer than you expected.

I admire your journey and your patience, but this is definitely something I could never do. If I was doing SEO / writing blog posts every day I’d wake up obsessed about doing keyword research and what topics to cover and writing and what not. I’d want to push out at least 1 great article a day. I’d be 100% obsessed and would probably be driven crazy by it and stop if I saw no results in 30-60 days.

I have no patience and I can’t stand it knowing I have more tasks to do on my plate. I just want the billions faster. Funnily enough I didn’t build all the assets I have today by being patient, I was always desperate to get it all done and over with faster. I just moved from one thing to another continuously, in the same desperate manner as I gained more and more ideas I could test. That’s why I frequently say that I couldn’t do it again, knowing all that it takes. I wouldn’t start lol — 0 patience.

Not saying my attitude is healthy, but I don’t know how to be any different. Now don’t get me wrong I’m not one of those dumb “I’ll be a trillionaire” doing nothing idiots, but I can’t say I’m one of those Michael Singer let’s chill and enjoy the journey types either.

 

[DonyaSze]

This thread is an adventure. It’s so cool to watch your growth!

 

[Wael]

Thanks, I am trying to share the good and the bad. Hopefully It will be used by someone sometime in the future, not as guideline but as inspiration.

I've been following this thread from the beginning, and it's really inspiring. Thank you for sharing your journey. I recently bought a course on HTML/CSS to learn how to code websites, and I'll be taking the JavaScript one next. However, reading the first few lines of this thread has sparked a huge desire in me to create extensions as well. Can I do that, considering that to design your extensions, you use JavaScript, React, JQuery (which are languages also used in website development), or should I focus solely on creating websites?

 

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[Absar]

Hey Tau Ceti, I've been following your thread from almost the start and your journey is truly an inspiration.

I have some decent skills in web dev and seeing your journey I want to build a web app or an chrome extension.

but I've recently become overwhelmed with WHAT TO BUILD.
I did some research and it was all find a niche/market and solve their problem.

but how do I find a market and a problem to solve?
I don't have any experience in an market apart from 'students' since I'm in highschool too.

can you please give some info on how can I find a problem to solve using my saas?
I would be grateful!
Thanks.

 

[Bekit]

I just read through your whole thread for the first time.

I'm really inspired by your relentless progress and patience. You started this thread in Oct 2022 and now you have 2500+ MRR. That's amazing.

Curious if you ever implemented the email marketing to free users that you talked about. Also, you mentioned a rebrand. Is that completed?

Wishing you all the best!

 

[circleme]

First of all, big congrats!

I am also working on adding an enterprise plan at $349/month but it wont be ready for another month at least.

At which point do you think a transition to going all-in/full-time makes sense for you? You've mentioned that you have a family to feed, so that makes decisions like that a little bit tougher I assume. At the same time, at this MRR and with your profit margins, don't you think you could make even more progress if you quit your job entirely? (getting more features done quickly, providing more value overall, etc.)

 

[ValueSystems]

- add roughly 3000 automated tests to the Saas and extension

I need the tests because I will have less time at the end of the year since I will be working at my job, therefore I won't have time to manually check that everything is working manually as I am doing now.

I need something that saves me time. So automated tests it is. I already have a couple hundred tests live but the coverage is crap so that is one of my top priorities. This will also give me the confidence to release features faster since I wont have to worry that I may have broken something unexpectedly.

Interesting, that does seem like a massive benefit indeed.

How do those tests work?

I know about puppeteer for testing websites, but doubt that works in the context of browser extensions (or does it?).

And even then, not sure how you'd structure this and what to test for.

Can you give a quick insight into that?