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Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by trungdq88 on Tuesday January 04, 2022 @08:39PM (#29803819)
Hello HN,

I see another post sharing their success micro startups today on HN so I thought I should share mine.

I started working on this browser extension for Twitter 8 months ago.

It took 3 months to reach $60/mo, 3 more to reach $400/mo, and 2 more to reach $3K/mo – where I am now.

When I start, I had 0 followers on Twitter. When it reaches $400/mo, I quit my job. I now live freely from corporate drama and travel as much as I can while building products I love.

I share my entire journey publicly on Twitter and my newsletter, including revenue, stats, product launch process, and marketing strategies, etc.

I just want to say that opportunities are everywhere, and it's never easier to start a profitable micro startup to sustain yourself and live an independent life.

Cheers!

Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by ignoramous on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @01:17AM (#29805789)
Some browser extensions turned into paid products have morphed into $B dollar companies: (postman.com) https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/mQkDX9-zvcI

Good luck!

Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by trungdq88 on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @01:21AM (#29805809)
Thanks! :)
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by elpakal on Tuesday January 04, 2022 @10:31PM (#29804754)
Your products all look very well done - just curious, do you build them all yourself (including your awesome landing page)?

Congrats on the early growth and best of luck. What a great product - I’ll be looking out for your post on how you built your 13.9k audience!

Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by trungdq88 on Tuesday January 04, 2022 @11:09PM (#29805023)
Yes, I'm a 1-man army :)

I used to work on frontend/backend/mobile/devops, so I have the advantage of doing everything on my own.

Thanks for the kind words! I'll write another piece about my audience building journey soon!

Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by n_cusan on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @08:31AM (#29808636)
Impressive output for a single person. How do you organize yourself to get so much done and prioritize the areas you focus on? I work mostly on frontend stuff so when I work on personal projects I tend to focus on that area and neglect other ones. What backend stack are you using?

Overall I think the aesthetic is very polished. Very well done!!!

Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by laurent123456 on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @03:36AM (#29806582)
Being familiar with every aspects of software development definitely gives an edge when creating your own product. Well done on your success, and I'm also looking forward to read your post about building your Twitter audience.
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by trungdq88 on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @03:42AM (#29806616)
Thank you! I'll definitely write about it soon in my newsletter :)
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by Rastonbury on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @01:50AM (#29805967)
I second this, your landing page is very well done
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by trungdq88 on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @02:11AM (#29806068)
Thank you! I spent a lot of time on that :)
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by thelittleone on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @04:33AM (#29806954)
Your profile page is nice and notiony. I'm kinda new to Notion and curious if that custom desing / layout is defined within notion?
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by trungdq88 on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @04:43AM (#29807026)
Nope, it's just CSS. https://github.com/trungdq88/tonydinh-com

I like Notion style too!

Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by xwdv on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @08:41AM (#29808736)
Isn’t quitting at $400/month a bit premature? That’s $4800 a year, which isn’t even more than one paycheck from a software engineering job.
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by czottmann on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @04:01PM (#29814883)
Depends on where on Earth you live, I guess.
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by suigetsusake on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @03:02AM (#29806365)
Being able to see a quick video of each feature in the pricing page is a genius idea !

How do you generate those and keep them up to date though ?

Congrats for your success

Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by globalise83 on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @05:56AM (#29807526)
Good question!! - there is definitely a market for a product for automatically capturing UI screenshots and demos on every UI release, with a permalink usable in documentation that will always show the latest image / video. Could be driven by an existing automated test framework. I know this as a web UI product owner with several years experience in enterprise software doing documentation updates after new features are added.
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by trungdq88 on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @03:20AM (#29806485)
Thanks!

I recorded every single feature with LICECap and update them manually.

More details here: https://tdinh.notion.site/Every-pricing-page-should-have-GIF...

Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by santiagobasulto on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @02:57AM (#29806336)
How do you source the data to provide such analytics? Do you have to be constantly scraping Twitter?
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by trungdq88 on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @03:19AM (#29806476)
Yes :)

On average, I send 3 requests/minute/user to Twitter API.

Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by kubami on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @07:18AM (#29808059)
So you're not really "scraping" Twitter, just using their API (but carefully not to go over rate-limiter/flagger)?
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by trungdq88 on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @08:00PM (#29817656)
Yes, I only use the official API.
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by kubami on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @07:20AM (#29808072)
How did you build the follower base in such a short time?
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by trungdq88 on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @10:08PM (#29818797)
I spent 3 hours/day everyday for a few months straight. I'll write about it in more details in my next newsletter issue :)
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by kubami on Sunday January 09, 2022 @01:26PM (#29865945)
...writing on twitter? wow! It seems hard work is paying off, congrats!
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by longsangstan on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @04:24AM (#29806890)
How did u grow the twitter followers at the start?
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by trungdq88 on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @04:39AM (#29807002)
I'll write about that soon in my newsletter.
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by skinnymuch on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @04:46AM (#29807062)
You’ve got a sign up!
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by trungdq88 on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @05:08AM (#29807220)
thank you!!
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by billconan on Tuesday January 04, 2022 @08:43PM (#29803840)
which payment service do you use?
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by trungdq88 on Tuesday January 04, 2022 @08:44PM (#29803854)
I use Paddle.com
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by karimf on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @01:58AM (#29806013)
Is there any reason for using Paddle instead of Stripe or something else?
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by trungdq88 on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @02:12AM (#29806073)
The only reason I use Paddle is because it handles VAT tax for me as the merchant of record. Stripe doesn't.
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by markdown on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @02:12AM (#29806071)
Good question. I can't seem to find out anything about them on their website. It's just buzzword after buzzword. WTF is "revenue delivery"?

I figure a pricing page would tell me what they do, but they don't even have one of those.

Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by halilduygulu on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @05:05AM (#29807193)
For those who wonder Paddle pricing like I was, it is in their privacy page :)

Paddle Checkout: 5% of SRP plus $0.50 https://paddle.com/legal/

Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by aembleton on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @03:19AM (#29806470)
They have a comparison here: https://paddle.com/compare/stripe/

Frustrating that I can't find a price.

Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by beingflo on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @03:24AM (#29806501)
I agree, I tend to avoid products without pricing page out of principle, but in this case I think the tax liability will force me to go with paddle for a product I'm working on.
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by wila on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @06:43AM (#29807834)
They take about 5%
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by deathemperor on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @02:29AM (#29806169)
congratz on the success of new launch, Trung.
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by trungdq88 on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @02:31AM (#29806181)
Thanks! Do we know each other? :)
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by abhishekjha on Tuesday January 04, 2022 @11:48PM (#29805237)
How long have you been programming professionally? YOE?
Re:Show HN: I make $3K/mo from a browser extension by trungdq88 on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @12:24AM (#29805469)
7 years