Table of Contents
- šŖAn Acquisition Marketplace with $3,000 MRR
- The No-Code Success Story of Stephen Campbell and Tiny Acquisitions
- š THE BREAKDOWN
- š 5 Cool Finds
- š„ Maker Story
- An internet entrepreneur is born
- The project that got everything started
- But that exit was easier said then done
- The big eye opener
- So he built it himself
- Launch Mode: On
- But what about the money
- How to Build to Sell
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šŖAn Acquisition Marketplace with $3,000 MRR
The No-Code Success Story of Stephen Campbell and Tiny Acquisitions
Ā
š THE BREAKDOWN
Ā
On to the maker story of this week. For this issue I spent hours digging in articles, podcast interviews, tweets and indiehackers content to bring you this story. InĀ 3 minutes 59 secondsĀ Stephen Campbell, founder ofĀ Tiny Acquisitions, breaks down:
Ā
šŗ Becoming an internet entrepreneurĀ š©¹ Launching a market place to solve his own problemš° His business model to grow to $3K MRRĀ šāāļø The impact of getting #1 on Hacker NewsšŖ His advice for building to sell
Enjoy it and happy building.
š 5 Cool Finds
No-Code x AI BootcampĀ (starts 4 September) for creators and operators who want to master the power of No-Code and AI to build their side project.
Million LabsĀ helps you to unearth the potential of your ideas. Validate your app concept swiftly with ourĀ smart no-code landing pageĀ before any major investment.
Flash CardsĀ helps you study and ace your exams. Made with No-Code by Twitter friend Akshay.
PricewellĀ is a No-Code solution to easily implementĀ Stripe subscriptionsĀ on your website built with Bubble.
Session PomodoroĀ is what I have been using to work again with the Pomodoro Technique. So clean and handy features.
- This section is a mix of paid sponsorships (in bold) and cool things I use, discovered or made.
š„ Maker Story
An internet entrepreneur is born
Stephen Campbell decided one dayĀ to leave his Chemical Engineering jobĀ at a process plant in JamaicaĀ to pursue his dream of making money online. After 1 year of dabbling in domain names, Wordpress site design and a 8 month stint as a remote customer care rep he eventually discovered No-Code in August 2020. WithĀ 0 coding experienceĀ he really enjoyed these logic based tools and he signed up for Bubbleās Immerse Program.
The project that got everything started
With everything he learned Stephen started to buildĀ Virtual Ghost Writer. During his Wordpress work he had a lot ofĀ challenges with writing copy for different websitesĀ so that is what inspired him to build this GPT-3 microsaas (this was in 2020). It did bring success ($2500 in revenue, $200 MRR and a list of 5,000 subscribers) but also some realisations. Stephen recognizedĀ he was not the right person to bring the product to the next level ($10K MRR) and he did need cash that time rather than later on in the productās life.
He was also not interested in partnerships, funding or employees becauseĀ he preferred the flexibility of solopreneurship. So that is when he considered an exit as a good option.
But that exit was easier said then done
By building in public Stephen hoped he would receive organically an offer but it never came. So he asked around on Twitter andĀ discoveredĀ MicroAcquire. Stephen listed Virtual Ghost Writer for $25,000 and was impressed with the onboarding. It resulted in around 60 inquiries butĀ never a meaningful offerĀ and a lot of ghosting.
The big eye opener
He started to think that Virtual Ghost Writer may be competing in a space where the buyers were looking for something in a category that it was not qualified to be in. Maybe the buyers were looking for projects that were more valuable and successful and were just not interested in acquiring an app of this small size.
Stephen thought that there was a market below that of MicroAcquire; a market for indie makers, no-coders and creators who areĀ not looking for these life-changing exits but for exits significant enough to feel that it is in line with the invested time.
So he built it himself
Stephen startedĀ building the first versionĀ ofĀ Tiny AcquisitionsĀ withĀ Bubble. He used a canvas fromĀ AirdevĀ for the webpage and started building all the workflows and automated email system for user notifications withĀ convertkitĀ andĀ sendgrid.
Of course he listed Virtual Ghost Writer on Tiny Acquisitions. Only a few days after the launchā¦ it was acquired!Ā He solved his own problem. This gave him the validation to keep working on it.
Launch Mode: On
Stephen launched Tiny Acquisitions onĀ HackerNewsĀ and itĀ reached #1 on the front page.Ā This resulted in a lot of sign-ups, 88 listed projects and he was approached by a journalist for an article inĀ Business Insider. Later he launched Tiny Acquisitions on Product Hunt. Here it becameĀ Product of the day #3Ā and again lots of visibility.
HeĀ build in public, posted a lot of articles onĀ Reddit, started a newsletter, setupĀ Google ad campaignsĀ but also started to focus onĀ SEO. He started aĀ blogĀ and did a lot ofĀ link buildingĀ through interviews & mentions.
ButĀ word of mouthĀ kept playing a vital role. Stephen says āThe thing about acquisition marketplaces is thatĀ successful acquisitions pulls both sides: sellers & buyers. We always need to prove that projects are being sold and buyers & sellers are happy. So we capture a lot of leads and then through our newsletter we target both sides through carefully crafted messaging.ā
But what about the money
The platform isĀ free to sign up, but there's aĀ premium service for buyersĀ to see project metrics, contact makers, make offers and buy projects instantly. There are three tiers:
- Premium lifetime: $997
- Premium annually: $199
- Premium bi-annualy: $149
In March 2023 Stephen reached $3,000 MRR and 10,000 subscribers on his email list.
How to Build to Sell
There is no better Build to Sell expert out there, so letās finish up with 3 tips Stephen shared:
- Use aĀ custom domain email addressĀ to setup accounts
In stead of using a personal email or an email related to other projects. Like that it is easier to transfer everything to the buyer.
- Have aĀ pre-recorded video walk-throughĀ of how everything works
If you get more detailed questions it will save you a lot of time if you can just share the link to this video
- Build in PublicĀ from the very beginning
Being transparent helps with building trust but also who knows if the potential buyer is somewhere in your audience.
Thatās it for this week. I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I did. If you did, please do reply (it helps with deliverabilityā
and motivationš¢).PS: The top classified ad last week received 130 clicks.Ā Book yours here
PPS: You should check out Stephen his book:Ā The Maker Mindset. It had me nodding YES all the time.
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Written by
Katt Risen - Author Of No-Code Exits : Building side projects in public to learn and have fun.
