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Kourosh built an app in a very crowded market... and yet still managed to grow it to over $18K/month. His secret is insanely simple: everyone else is chasing tech-savvy power users, but Kourosh built this app for a type of custer everyone is ignoring (his dad). This video is the story of how to build a successful product in a "saturated" market. *50+ AI app ideas making millions:* https://clickhubspot.com/q8ij Say hi to Kourash: https://x.com/BuildingWaves Check out Voicy: https://usevoicy.com/ 🔔 Follow the Second Channel: @StarterStoryBuild 🏁 We're hiring: starterstory.com/jobs Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 He built this for his dad! 00:01:09 What's your story? 00:01:59 What's the app? 00:03:24 Founder background 00:04:14 More AI app ideas 00:04:56 Finding the idea for Voicy 00:05:50 Build process 00:07:28 Tech stack 00:08:21 Growth story 00:09:51 Unique customers 00:11:22 Building in a crowded market 00:13:06 Final advice 00:14:28 Reflections 00:15:17 FREE app ideas This video is an educational case study of this founder’s experience. It is not financial advice and does not guarantee any income or results. Every business is different and your results may vary.

Vadim is 19 years old and, before this year, had never shipped an app in his life. In March, he quit his marketing job to build apps… 5 months later, he hit $10K/month with over 20K users. His process has been 100% building with AI and posting content on IG shamelessly. This video is proof that you do NOT need to be technical or have a clever growth hack to build an app business that makes real money. *Get HubSpot's free CRM, the one that updates itself:* https://clickhubspot.com/qy9n Say hi to Vadim: https://x.com/VadimStrizheus Check out Vugola: https://www.vugolaai.com/ 🔔 Follow the Second Channel: @StarterStoryBuild 🏁 We're hiring: starterstory.com/jobs Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Zero to $10K in 5 months 00:00:56 What’s your story? 00:01:22 What’s the app? 00:02:10 Know your customers! 00:02:52 Founder background 00:03:27 Finding the app idea 00:04:13 How he built it 00:05:05 Building the MVP 00:05:23 Tech stack and tools 00:05:51 Zero to $1K MRR 00:06:45 Hitting $10K per month 00:09:02 Time vs money with content 00:09:55 App demo 00:10:46 Final advice 00:11:45 Reflections: anyone can be a builder! This video is an educational case study of this founder’s experience. It is not financial advice and does not guarantee any income or results. Every business is different and your results may vary.

Max built a simple iOS app to solve his own problem at the gym. But here’s the thing… before this app, he had never shipped a single line of code in his life. In fact, he was going down the traditional route: college, internships, everything. But he found apps and decided to go all-in. Today, his app makes $14K/month and is growing. This is his app story for anyone looking to get started with apps in 2026. *Get HubSpot's free CRM, the one that updates itself:* https://clickhubspot.com/2b1y Say hi to Max: https://x.com/MaxHirsch13 Check out Maxed AI: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/maxed-ai-smart-fitness-app/id6759180029 🔔 Follow the Second Channel: @StarterStoryBuild 🏁 We're hiring: starterstory.com/jobs Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Zero to $14K in 6 months 00:00:49 What’s your story? 00:01:19 What’s the app? 00:02:29 What makes your app different? 00:03:03 How to keep track of your customers 00:03:45 Founder background 00:04:49 Finding the idea 00:05:32 Tech stack 00:06:04 Growth and marketing 00:07:38 What’s working for growing apps right now 00:08:23 Building a personal brand 00:09:15 App demo 00:10:14 Final advice 00:11:15 Pat and Gus reflections This video is an educational case study of this founder’s experience. It is not financial advice and does not guarantee any income or results. Every business is different and your results may vary.

6 months ago, Lino had never built an app in his life. Then he stumbled upon the app community on X, made some connections, and started building. Just 6 months later, he's grown his first app to over $50K per month and changed his life forever. In this video, he will break down his unbelievable app idea and how he grew it so fast. *iOS App Ideas Database:* https://clickhubspot.com/a68v Say hi to Lino: https://x.com/LinoLeighton Check out AbMaxx: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/abmaxx-become-shredded/id6757769125 🔔 Follow the Second Channel: @StarterStoryBuild 🏁 We're hiring: starterstory.com/jobs Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Can you change your life in 6 months? 00:01:08 What’s your story? 00:01:34 What’s the app? 00:02:15 Finding the idea 00:02:49 More iOS app ideas! 00:03:27 an old idea, remixed 00:04:03 Building process 00:05:22 Tech stack 00:06:01 Zero to $10K/month 00:07:24 $10K to $60K/month 00:08:34 Lino’s app playbook 00:12:05 App demo 00:13:20 Final advice 00:14:45 Pat and Gus reflections This video is an educational case study of this founder’s experience. It is not financial advice and does not guarantee any income or results. Every business is different and your results may vary.

Frank had never built software in his life. Until one weekend, he got a crazy idea and decided to just build it with Claude. Today, the app he built in just a few hours, makes over $40K per month. In this video, we break down the growth story and how anyone can build and launch their idea all thanks to coding with AI. *Find your business idea with our free database (over 3k+ ideas):* https://clickhubspot.com/von4 Say hi to Frank: https://x.com/frankmikesmith Check out GeoSports: https://geosports.app/ 🔔 Follow the Second Channel: @StarterStoryBuild 🏁 We're hiring: starterstory.com/jobs Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Built in a few hours 00:00:46 What's your story? 00:01:24 Business breakdown 00:02:58 Build your own app! 00:04:06 Founder background 00:05:11 But you had an audience? 00:06:43 Finding the idea 00:07:27 Building the app 00:08:10 Tools and tech stack 00:08:43 Advice for building apps 00:10:35 Growth timeline 00:11:42 Zero to $40K/month 00:12:44 Final advice 00:13:58 Gus reflections This video is an educational case study of this founder’s experience. It is not financial advice and does not guarantee any income or results. Every business is different and your results may vary.

Tom built a tiny widget that solves one painful problem. He launched it about 1 year ago, and today it makes $55K per month – 100% bootstrapped. This video is the story of how spotting one real problem and building the simplest possible solution turned into a real business. *90+ Million-dollar problems (business ideas):* https://clickhubspot.com/tu8n Say hi to Tom: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-holliday-505469161/ Check out Avenue: https://www.avenue2.au/ Follow Avenue on IG: https://www.instagram.com/avenue2.au 🔔 Follow the Second Channel: @StarterStoryBuild 🏁 We're hiring: starterstory.com/jobs Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 The simple app I found on X 00:01:03 What's your story? 00:01:28 What's the app? 00:01:59 Solving an age old problem 00:02:29 Revenue breakdown 00:02:50 Problems worth solving 00:03:29 Founder background 00:04:13 Finding the idea 00:04:51 Build timeline 00:05:45 Hiring without revenue? 00:06:18 Growth and marketing 00:07:29 Building for the trades 00:08:29 Tom's advice for building apps 00:09:10 Tools and tech stack 00:09:51 App demo 00:10:29 Final advice 00:11:19 Gus reflections This video is an educational case study of this founder’s experience. It is not financial advice and does not guarantee any income or results. Every business is different and your results may vary.

Jay built nomadtable, a mobile app that makes $140K/month. Before that he was a software engineer, until one trip changed his life forever. This episode is a day in the life of a solo app builder in 2026. *iOS App ideas:* https://clickhubspot.com/qy55 Follow Jay: https://twitter.com/jayvraavi Check out NomadTable: https://nomadtable.app/ 🔔 Follow the Second Channel: @StarterStoryBuild 🏁 We're hiring: starterstory.com/jobs Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Meet Jay 00:00:53 Morning routine 00:01:33 The story behind nomad table 00:02:43 iOS app ideas 00:03:14 Afternoon routine 00:04:17 Building apps in 2026 00:05:10 Building apps while traveling 00:05:46 Evening routine 00:06:38 Lessons from building 00:07:40 Advice for builders

Ken spent nearly his entire career in big tech before to build a mobile app. In his first year since he launched, he hit his $10K/month goal, and grew the game to $155K in revenue with zero paid marketing. This video is the story of why he left a comfortable job to build a game, and how he grew it on his own. *Free database: 100+ Solopreneurs making $1M/year* https://clickhubspot.com/1k92 Say hi to Ken: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennethylaw/ Check out Harpagia: https://kayelleapps.com/ 🔔 Follow the Second Channel: @StarterStoryBuild 🏁 We're hiring: starterstory.com/jobs Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 the $10K game 00:00:54 Gus is hosting! 00:01:10 What’s your story? 00:01:48 Business breakdown 00:02:24 Revenue overview 00:03:39 Founder background 00:04:34 Successful solo devs 00:05:23 Quitting tech backstory 00:06:33 App timeline 00:07:38 Growth and marketing 00:09:27 The opportunity in games 00:10:45 App demo 00:11:41 Tech stack 00:12:28 Final advice 00:13:25 Gus reflections This video is an educational case study of this founder’s experience. It is not financial advice and does not guarantee any income or results. Every business is different and your results may vary.

Mauro built a gym app that last month made $160,000. What sets him apart is not the product or marketing... but his app development approach. He treats the product like a science experiment: A/B testing, validating features, and only building stuff that moves the needled.This video breaks down how to think like a product management expert, stop guessing, and start building what actually moves the needle. *FREE iOS App Ideas:* https://clickhubspot.com/l6tq Say hi to Mauro: https://x.com/Mauro_Botanes Check out Symmetry: https://symmetry.club/ 🔔 Follow the Second Channel: @StarterStoryBuild 🏁 We're hiring: starterstory.com/jobs This video is an educational case study of this founder’s experience. It is not financial advice and does not guarantee any income or results. Every business is different and your results may vary.

Meet Roman. He built Career Hound, a simple job board website that makes around $25K/month. It's a saturated idea, but the reason he's successful is NOT about the product. It's all about the marketing. This video is the story of how a "boring" product wins entirely on distribution. *One-page websites making $10K/month:* https://clickhubspot.com/m8ed Say hi to Roman: https://x.com/rlakhnyuk Check out Career Hound: https://www.careerhound.io/ 🔔 Follow the Second Channel: @StarterStoryBuild 🏁 We're hiring: starterstory.com/jobs Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Dead simple websites win 00:01:11 What’s your story? 00:01:37 What’s the website? 00:02:50 Founder background 00:03:30 Coming up with the idea 00:04:09 Simple, one-page websites 00:04:59 What makes your website different? 00:05:53 Marketing: timely vs timeless content 00:07:24 Marketing examples 00:08:58 Working with ‘older’ creators 00:10:23 The marketing system secret 00:10:47 Advice to builders 00:12:13 Tech stack 00:12:43 Final advice 00:13:35 Gus reflections: it’s all about the marketing This video is an educational case study of this founder’s experience. It is not financial advice and does not guarantee any income or results. Every business is different and your results may vary.

Piotr built Visualizee, an AI rendering tool that lets architects and designers generate realistic home renders in seconds. This might sound like a success story... but Piotr was stuck at $150 per month for YEARS. Then, one single product pivot changed his entire business and grew it to $10K per month. *The AI Playbook: 50+ AI app ideas making millions:* https://clickhubspot.com/qs4m Say hi to Piotr: https://x.com/pobidowski Check out Visualizee: https://visualizee.ai/ 🔔 Follow the Second Channel: @StarterStoryBuild 🏁 We're hiring: starterstory.com/jobs Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 2 years to hit $10K 00:00:57 What’s your story? 00:01:33 Business breakdown 00:03:40 App idea 00:04:04 Build process and timeline 00:04:50 AI app ideas 00:05:51 The pivot 00:07:02 Takeaways and learnings from the pivot 00:07:26 Results and data 00:07:53 What would you do differently next time? 00:09:09 Tech stack and tools 00:09:51 Advice 00:10:31 Pat and Gus reflections: stay in the game! This video is an educational case study of this founder’s experience. It is not financial advice and does not guarantee any income or results. Every business is different and your results may vary.

Gaurav built Fastlane, a marketing SaaS for indie developers. He’s grown it to $1M ARR and thousands of users, but the real story is about what he did to build it. In a few months, he had thousands of customer calls where he learned what worked, what didn’t, and exactly how to build the product for his ideal customer. This video breaks down why talking to customers is the most important thing you can do if you want to build a successful SaaS. *90+ Business Ideas ($1M+ problems worth solving):* https://clickhubspot.com/mod5 Say hi to Gaurav: https://twitter.com/gauravsbuilding Check out Fastlane: https://www.usefastlane.ai/ 🔔 Follow the Second Channel: @StarterStoryBuild 🏁 We're hiring: starterstory.com/jobs Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Don't skip this! 00:00:57 What's your story? 00:01:44 Business breakdown 00:02:29 Finding the idea 00:03:26 Background and build timeline 00:04:40 Tech stack and tools 00:05:14 Solve painful problems 00:06:09 The secret behind his success 00:07:45 The system that helped him win 00:09:32 Go talk to customers! 00:10:12 Customer calls breakdown 00:12:54 App demo 00:13:50 How customer calls influenced the product 00:14:07 Final advice 00:15:09 Pat and Gus reflections: face the fear of rejection This video is an educational case study of this founder’s experience. It is not financial advice and does not guarantee any income or results. Every business is different and your results may vary.

Rashid built three simple websites that make over $32,000 per month. But what's actually interesting is that he built essentially three identical websites. They all solve a very similar problem for a slightly different user. This is the story of how a guy built a few simple, boring websites and scaled them to where they are today. *90+ Business Ideas ($1M+ problems worth solving):* http://go.starterstory.com/lp-test-4-million-dollar-problems-description Follow Rashid: https://twitter.com/Rashidkhasanov Check out his websites: - https://angelmatch.io/ - https://investorhunt.co/ - https://journalisthunt.com/ 🔔 Follow the Second Channel: @StarterStoryBuild 🏁 We're hiring: starterstory.com/jobs Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Making money with simple websites 00:01:00 What’s your story? 00:01:33 Business overview 00:02:14 Revenue and numbers 00:03:23 Painful problems win! 00:04:34 Founder background 00:05:48 Finding the business idea 00:06:33 Growth and marketing 00:07:33 Secret behind the websites 00:08:15 Ideas to start in 2026 00:08:57 Database product playbook 00:10:12 Tech stack and tools 00:10:57 Final advice 00:11:57 Pat and Gus reflections: solve a painful problem! This video is an educational case study of this founder’s experience. It is not financial advice and does not guarantee any income or results. Every business is different and your results may vary.

Meet Gaurabh. He built almost 100 apps in 60 days. But... he had a problem. Despite shipping all these projects, he has made exactly ZERO dollars. What happened? What was going on? Why hadn't he made any money? In this first episode of the Starter Story challenge, we challenge him to finally monetize his app. Can he actually do it? *Side project ideas you can build with your 9-5:* https://clickhubspot.com/jzxl Apply for the challenge → https://forms.gle/eFqR1QdT4N5tBWyo9 Follow Gaurabh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaurabhmathure/ Check out his projects: - https://attn.design/ - https://vuemagnet.com/ - https://mastersofattention.com/ 🔔 Follow the Second Channel:  @StarterStoryBuild  🏁 We're hiring: starterstory.com/jobs Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 $1K in 30 days 00:00:42 Welcome to the challenge 00:01:05 100 apps... zero revenue 00:01:34 What's the problem? 00:02:21 The Challenge 00:03:05 Do you accept the challenge? 00:03:23 It begins! 00:03:50 100 side project ideas 00:04:48 Update 00:05:02 The first 30 days 00:06:11 Making $100 00:06:53 The next 30 days 00:08:08 Numbers behind the content 00:08:58 Talking to customers 00:09:42 Revenue and results 00:10:35 Congrats on the challenge!! 00:11:09 Lessons learned and advice 00:12:57 What's next? 00:13:29 Join the challenge 00:13:36 Wrap up This video is an educational case study of this founder’s experience. It is not financial advice and does not guarantee any income or results. Every business is different and your results may vary.

Rob builds apps, travels the world, and is an inspiration to all indie builders in the game. Over the past few years, he has been documenting his journey of building a $20K/month SaaS on X, sharing what it really looks like to be an indie developer in this day and age. *Free $1M Solopreneur MVP Guide:* https://clickhubspot.com/66mr Follow Rob: https://twitter.com/robj3d3 Check out his projects: http://robhallam.com/ 🔔 Follow the Second Channel: @StarterStoryBuild 🏁 We're hiring: starterstory.com/jobs Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Meet Rob 00:00:58 Morning routine 00:01:38 Building while traveling 00:03:00 Start your solopreneur journey 00:03:28 Afternoon routine 00:04:19 Prioritizing work 00:05:53 Biggest lessons learned 00:07:40 Advice to builders