Reaching $500K building a Google Analytics alternative

[SEBASTlAN]

Not a fan of creating threads only to post a link, but this was another gem I thought would be beneficial to most here.

Hopefully this story can motivate you to stay focused and resilient on your goals. Going against the grain and charging for something that most of the digital world wouldn't pay for is pretty inspirational imo...

How we bootstrapped our Google Analytics alternative to $500k ARR

It took us a year to reach the first $400 MRR and then it took us nine months to go from $400 to $10k MRR. Now, ten months after the $10k milestone, we’re at $500,000 ARR.

plausible.io

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Great share thank you, lots of goodies. Worth the thread start.

 

[woken]

Awesome !
Shows that it could be done if you are resourceful and patient.

Great read.


Even though they put their own money, it’s what I always say:

If you want to give yourself the best possible outcome, start a business when you have money, not when you’re down to the last cent.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Bump referenced here...

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I will start sharing some of the TXTS from the network. From MJ.... I need to hire a new lawyer. Called one on Tues and left a voicemail, stressing urgency. To date, my call hasn't been returned. When (if?) I hear back, I will NOT be hiring this lawyer, despite a slick website and good...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Once again, the Productocracy is validated...

If you hear about Plausible these days, it likely comes from one of our 4,802 paying customers. People who use and enjoy using Plausible help us spread the word to even more people.

We have a $0 paid advertising budget and we don’t have an affiliate program either. We pretty much ignore all the best marketing practices.

 

[Xeon]

Beautiful product. I've always been waiting for a G-Analytics alternative to come out!

 

[Wisith]

Thanks for posting this. Our MVP just launched and the bigger competitors (within the last several months) ramped up their game plan and released exactly what we're doing...so it got us a bit down. Appreciate the story, and appreciate MJ for sending this out in the text some days back

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Thanks for posting this. Our MVP just launched and the bigger competitors (within the last several months) ramped up their game plan and released exactly what we're doing...so it got us a bit down. Appreciate the story, and appreciate MJ for sending this out in the text some days back

A note about that text... with my emphasis added.

Don't be afraid to compete against big business. If you stole $50M in revenue and $10M in profits away from Google, Apple, or some other big biz, they might not even notice. Mosquito meet elephant. In the last month, 2 stories have been posted on the forum of small companies competing in tech-giant spaces. FACT: Most people want to do business with small, responsive private companies, not nebulous non-responsive monolithic corporations.

 

[Dr Doomain]

I like how they only did marketing on sites like Indiehackers a Hacker News. I am also using these sites daily, in addition to reddit and quora. It just proves that you don't need a big marketing budget, but rather a unique product that can go sort of viral.

 

[PatrickJoseph]

Not a fan of creating threads only to post a link, but this was another gem I thought would be beneficial to most here.

Hopefully this story can motivate you to stay focused and resilient on your goals. Going against the grain and charging for something that most of the digital world wouldn't pay for is pretty inspirational imo...

How we bootstrapped our Google Analytics alternative to $500k ARR

It took us a year to reach the first $400 MRR and then it took us nine months to go from $400 to $10k MRR. Now, ten months after the $10k milestone, we’re at $500,000 ARR.

plausible.io

Thanks for sharing this article @Sebastian.

Definitely a gem of an article. A couple of things that stood out to me (amongst many others) are:

Unlike the more common startup story, we’re entirely self-funded and bootstrapped. The two of us, as co-founders, completely own Plausible Analytics. We haven’t taken anyone’s money, so we fully control where we take Plausible next.

Having control - per @MJ DeMarco's C.E.N.T.S., and savings (or a full/part-time gig) puts you in a much better place when building a business. Having no debt (VC or loans) definitely lowers the stress levels keeping you from making decisions based on paying back a loan or meeting the demands of VC's.

Resourcefulness is an advantage to us. We manage our server infrastructure, we do our marketing without paying experts or influencers, and we speak to the customers and respond to customer enquiries ourselves.

Being able to utilize your skills or figure it out (i.e. get your hands dirty) and be resourceful can carry a business a long way (they're still a lean business today with a team of 7) and help you focus on what makes it grow - your customers.

It's a great example of bootstrapping and turning it into a success. According to their Twitter account, the MRR is now $100k.

A great article to learn from as we walk this entrepreneurial path.

Patrick

 

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