I quit my job at Google to become full-time indie hacker 6 months ago.
When I quit, I had $500 MRR from https://t.co/HdPMTm4vtn, an app for nerds who play Pathfinder (a game like Dungeons & Dragons).
It took 3 years to get that far. π
B2B sales are lucrative. They can generate 1000x as much revenue as B2C sales. π€
But for most indie hackers, sales is scary. Selling to businesses is SUPER scary.
This thread shows you exactly how I closed my first $10k of B2B sales as an indie dev.
π₯ FIVE SIMPLE LESSONS. π
I quit my job at Google to become full-time indie hacker 6 months ago.
When I quit, I had $500 MRR from https://t.co/HdPMTm4vtn, an app for nerds who play Pathfinder (a game like Dungeons & Dragons).
It took 3 years to get that far. π
But in January, I closed my first $10k ARR of B2B revenue from https://t.co/crGFxRCt0g! π
And I'm not slowing down. I'm on a rocket ship, and it looks like I'll hit ramen profitability before the end of March. π
When I worked at Google I was a partner engineer who advised businesses on YouTube's rights management system.
4 months after I quit, I got calls from businesses I'd advised. They asked me to do some consulting.
I had no deadlines, so why not?
Within 3 weeks, my new product was born.
Meet https://t.co/crGFxRCt0g, a system to find, prioritize, and recover missed revenue opportunities for YouTube content owners.
Observant solves a problem that businesses were paying me crazy hourly rates to solve for them.
It solves a problem Google paid me to solve for years.
Instant validation!
Don't start with ideas. Start with burning problems. π₯
I'd wager that my elevator pitch just now didn't mean anything to you. Good!
If your customers get the value proposition, it doesn't matter if nobody else knows WTF it means.
Get it right for customers, then start sending emails. π¨
Hopefully you do (or did) great work at your job. Hopefully there are already business people who already know you're smart, capable, & effective.
Make your first sales easy. Pitch to those people first.
I have no landing page. I still have to explain my product every time I mention it on Twitter. I still only get sales from warm email outreach.
I expect this to be true until I hit $250k ARR. π
1st question I got asked when pitching: why shouldn't our devs built it instead?
2nd question: what's going to stop Google doing the same thing?
Anticipate questions about why an indie dev is the right person to solve this.
1) Because I did this for 7 years at YouTube, so I can do it faster & more effectively than anyone (except people still inside FAANG).
2) Because Google is preoccupied with billion dollar opportunities. This is only a multi-million dollar opportunity. π
Every time I book a demo, I ask prospects to share confidential data beforehand, process it, and load it into my product.
The first thing they see in a demo is how much cash they're leaving on the table.
For example...
π π€ β¬οΈ
Find a way to put numbers on your value, and put it front and center.
"Hmm, should I spend $5k to make $20k?"
Easy question.
Make it easy for demos to be followed by a sale. π°
OKAY, time to recap!
1οΈβ£ Make something people already want
2οΈβ£ Niche down & talk their language
3οΈβ£ Make use of existing professional relationships
4οΈβ£ Know your USP & leverage career capital
5οΈβ£ Show value in hard numbers
I did it as a solo dev. So can you. π
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Once upon a time there was a Raja named UttΔnapΔda born of Svayambhuva Manu,1st man on earth.He had 2 beautiful wives - Suniti & Suruchi & two sons were born of them Dhruva & Uttama respectively.
#talesofkrishna https://t.co/E85MTPkF9W
Now Suniti was the daughter of a tribal chief while Suruchi was the daughter of a rich king. Hence Suruchi was always favored the most by Raja while Suniti was ignored. But while Suniti was gentle & kind hearted by nature Suruchi was venomous inside.
#KrishnaLeela
The story is of a time when ideally the eldest son of the king becomes the heir to the throne. Hence the sinhasan of the Raja belonged to Dhruva.This is why Suruchi who was the 2nd wife nourished poison in her heart for Dhruva as she knew her son will never get the throne.
One day when Dhruva was just 5 years old he went on to sit on his father's lap. Suruchi, the jealous queen, got enraged and shoved him away from Raja as she never wanted Raja to shower Dhruva with his fatherly affection.
Dhruva protested questioning his step mother "why can't i sit on my own father's lap?" A furious Suruchi berated him saying "only God can allow him that privilege. Go ask him"
Once upon a time there was a Raja named UttΔnapΔda born of Svayambhuva Manu,1st man on earth.He had 2 beautiful wives - Suniti & Suruchi & two sons were born of them Dhruva & Uttama respectively.
#talesofkrishna https://t.co/E85MTPkF9W
Prabhu says i reside in the heart of my bhakt.
— Right Singh (@rightwingchora) December 21, 2020
Guess the event. pic.twitter.com/yFUmbfe5KL
Now Suniti was the daughter of a tribal chief while Suruchi was the daughter of a rich king. Hence Suruchi was always favored the most by Raja while Suniti was ignored. But while Suniti was gentle & kind hearted by nature Suruchi was venomous inside.
#KrishnaLeela
The story is of a time when ideally the eldest son of the king becomes the heir to the throne. Hence the sinhasan of the Raja belonged to Dhruva.This is why Suruchi who was the 2nd wife nourished poison in her heart for Dhruva as she knew her son will never get the throne.
One day when Dhruva was just 5 years old he went on to sit on his father's lap. Suruchi, the jealous queen, got enraged and shoved him away from Raja as she never wanted Raja to shower Dhruva with his fatherly affection.
Dhruva protested questioning his step mother "why can't i sit on my own father's lap?" A furious Suruchi berated him saying "only God can allow him that privilege. Go ask him"
