I went from $0 to $61000 MRR in 2.5 years

Mac Martine, a man who created a product that generates $61k a month in revenue through failure after leaving Adobe.

Here’s the deal: Mac worked as an engineer at Adobe for years, and after leaving, he dove headfirst into the world of independent hacking. But guess what? It didn’t go as planned. He hit some roadblocks, and after struggling for a bit, he decided to join a startup to learn the ropes.

Once he got a better understanding, he went solo again. This time, he freelanced, helping startups build MVPs to make ends meet. And once he had enough cash, he jumped back into creating his own product.

Fast forward — he built something that earned him a solid $61,000 a month, only to eventually sell it. Not a bad turn of events, huh?

Now, let’s focus on Mac and the twists and turns that led him to this point. You’re going to want to hear this one — trust me!

Here is his story：

I went from $0 to $61k MRR in 2.5 years

But the path leading there was long.

Here’s how I got there:

2000–2007:

Got a job at a big tech company (was lucky, didn’t know much, was the end of the dot com boom).

Started to teach myself to code.

Fumbled and flailed with attempts at making money online.

Online revenue earned: $0

2008–2011:

Started noticing more solopreneurs doing cool things online.

(I’m looking at you, peldi, and patio11)

Knew I found my calling. Started looking for a SaaS idea.

Online revenue earned: < $1k

2011–2012:

Quit my job, went all in on my 1st SaaS, an appt scheduling app.

I knew nothing about this market / don’t know why I chose it other than I felt there was an opportunity.

Poor product choice, but I learned a lot from the experience.

Online revenue earned: < $1k

2012–2014:

Finally admitted my appt. scheduling app wasn’t going anywhere.

Opted for a stair step approach, making money again while continuing to try things on the side.

Started to immerse myself in the local (Portland) startup scene to learn from others.

Joined a 2-person startup in an incubator w/ a small amount of funding.

I was making much less than my previous job, but I was in it to learn from others and meet like-minded people.

Online revenue earned: < $1k

2014–2015:

Our startup got acquired.

I got a little money out of it but still didn’t make up for the low startup pay.

But the experience and friendships were priceless.

Worked at the new company for a bit.

Knew I had to try again on my own.

Got laid off. Good timing!

2015–2018:

Went all in on freelancing, positioning myself in various ways, experimenting a lot with services and apps.

As a freelancer ended up building SaaS MVP’s for individuals or startups that had a small amount of funding.

I was making decent money while getting an inside view to how others went about growing a startup/SaaS from scratch.

And while they had a little money, it was never much, and they were all scrappy. Like me.

2018–2021:

Up to here, my side projects were often trying to scratch my own itch. This has obviously worked for a lot of people like nathanbarry — but never really worked out for me.

And the apps that didn’t scratch an itch were targeting businesses with low margins (restaurants, salons).

In 2018 I decided to change course.

I decided to reach out to any biz owners, and higher-ups I knew.

I ended up in sales circles — which makes sense. Sales people have no problem spending money on tools that will help them make money.

I reached out to about 5 people at a time.

I’d take them to coffee and ask them tons of questions. Then I asked them who else I should talk to. Get intros, book more meetings.

I’d go home, review my notes, look for patterns, and recurring pain points.

And I kept repeating that. I’d build small proofs of concept, show them in my next meeting, iterate, repeat.

Then I had it.

I went deep into coding land for 4 weeks.

The app had a long way to go, and plenty of bugs. But it worked.

Almost 4 weeks to the day from writing the first line of code, I emailed all the people that I had met with to let them know we were live.

I swiped a card that day and had my first customer.

2021:

Fast forward 30 months.

By this time I was bringing in about $61k MRR, solo, with about $3k in expenses.

I then sold for a life-changing sum.

TL;DR

• Surround yourself w/ people doing what you want to do. Learn all you can from them. Help those coming up behind you.
• Take the stair step approach instead of going all in.
• Don’t stop. The common thread among all successful entrepreneurs is never giving up.

You think the story ends here? Not even close，there’s even more to come!

Let’s be real. Sometimes we think we’re the next Steve Jobs, Sundar Pichai, or Elon Musk. We dream of building something that can take on Google, Facebook, and Apple. We go ALL in.

But hey, let’s be honest. You’re just that one guy (or girl) starting out. And that’s okay.

So, what do you do when things don’t go as planned? Well, here’s the thing. If you get laid off, it’s actually the perfect opportunity to reinvent yourself. That’s exactly what he did.

He dove into freelancing as a SaaS MVP builder for startups, instead of jumping into the deep end of indie hacking. First, he got paid through contract work, then, on weekends and in his spare time, he started working on his own product.

It’s a big debate — should you go all in on your own product, or keep freelancing while you build your business? For him, balancing both was the key to success.

While freelancing, he learned how to find clients, scale products, and master the art of launching. That experience became his secret weapon for success down the line.

The Product That Took Off: Castanet

After launching a few products, one of them finally clicked — Castanet.

It’s a LinkedIn automation tool that helps boost sales productivity. It sends step-by-step automated messages to potential clients.

So, how did he come up with this product, and how did he scale it?

Here’s the deal: He didn’t start with some big “aha!” moment. Instead, he went straight to the people he knew — former bosses, executives, and high-income earners — and simply asked:

“What do you need?”

“What’s a task that drives you crazy?”

“What’s a time-consuming, repetitive task you wish you could automate?”

“What do you need help with?”

He didn’t stop at one conversation. He did interviews, asked for referrals, and repeated the process. Pretty soon, he started hearing the same thing: People were spending way too much time on LinkedIn for sales and recruiting. And, guess what? He had the perfect solution.

In just four weeks, he built Castanet. He went back to those same people, showed them the tool, and boom — he had his first five paying customers.

From there, he kept pushing, doing more interviews and refining his product. He ended up growing his customer base to 50, thanks to this ongoing cycle of feedback and sales.

Scaling with Affiliates and Resellers

By the time he had 50 paying customers, Castanet was pulling in over $8,000 in monthly recurring revenue (MRR). But he didn’t stop there. Instead of doing all the sales himself, he started working with affiliates and resellers to scale even faster.

This strategy took his revenue to $61k a month, and guess what? Only 24% of that came from direct sales. The rest was from resellers. So, yeah, outsourcing the sales process was a game-changer.

That said, he warns against outsourcing too soon. You need to fully understand your product and customers before you scale too much.

Learning from Successful Developers

Along the way, he also started a podcast where he interviews successful developers. The goal? To learn from others, build relationships, and get insights into growing his own product.

And here’s the kicker: Instead of just asking these developers for advice, he invited them onto his podcast. This opened the door to amazing conversations and connections.

He has also launched numerous other products.

His representative product is Castanet, which I have introduced so far, but he has also developed many other products.

In the following Tweet, he lists which products have become profitable and by how much.

Interestingly, he says that the apps that took less time to develop generated more revenue.

If you think that time spent on development is proportional to revenue, you are mistaken.

If you spend too much time on development, you will end up adding too many useless functions, resulting in a product that will not appeal to anyone.

It is necessary to focus on the minimum necessary functions and finish development in the shortest possible time.

Ignore the Competition

Here’s a little secret: He didn’t care about what his competition was doing. He didn’t get caught up in comparing prices or features.

When people asked him, “How is your product different from the others?” or “Why are you charging more?”, he just kept his focus on solving his customers’ problems.

By ignoring the competition, he didn’t accidentally create a “me-too” product. Instead, he created something unique with its own identity.

It’s tough, though. You can’t completely ignore your competitors, but don’t overdo it. It’s easy to get sidetracked and end up making something generic. Focus on creating something that genuinely solves problems.

The “Easy” Products Are Sometimes the Best

Now, let’s talk about how much time he spent building his products. Interestingly, the ones that took the least time to develop often ended up making the most money.

He learned that the more time you spend on development, the more likely you are to pile on unnecessary features. And that just doesn’t work.

Focus on the core features that truly matter, and get your product out as quickly as possible.

The Bottom Line

After scaling Castanet to $61k a month, he sold it. That gave him enough financial freedom to live life on his terms — traveling the world with his family, working when he wants, and building new products.

But he’s not done. He’s still developing and launching products, each one better than the last.

So, if you’re feeling stuck or uncertain, remember this: You don’t need a huge, world-changing idea. You just need to solve a simple problem, and focus on execution.

Thanks for taking the time reading this blog.