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Comment by jmduke

2 years ago

I run Buttondown (buttondown.email) full-time now, but until this past year it was a side project for me alongside my day job as an IC (later EM).

It took...around two and a half years, I think, to hit $2k/mo MRR. It was definitely not the stereotypical "launch → iterate a bit → boom, PMF" story that you often hear, which was fine because it was 'just' a side project and I didn't have to worry about running out of money or time.

I never hear that story. But I hear the 2 year one alot. The advantage of getting older is time is at warp speed so 2 years is nothing ha ha!

  • > The advantage of getting older is time is at warp speed so 2 years is nothing ha ha!

    To be honest: Realising that time is going by so fast really scared me this week. Being mid-30s I really need to get my shit together, soon... :-D

    • Coming up on 40. A quarter feels about as long as two weeks did when I was 10, I reckon.

      If this keeps going, each year will feel like a day by the time I'm 60 or so.

      [EDIT] Incidentally, I reject the "routine & boredom are what do it" thing. High school felt like it took forever and was far more regimented and regular and boring than my life is now.

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Looks amazing, good job man :) I'm actually way more motivated by seeing a post like this where you specifically say it took effort and time to build something meaningful, than seeing "10k$ MRR in a week, no-code" crap that we get bombarded with lately. Keep up the good work!

Buttondown is great! It seems that being indie allows you to just ship a good product that does what it says on the box, instead of trying to squeeze every last bit of juice out by building a bloated product that is a jack of all trades but master of none.