The insider's guide to making your first $10k
We launched Anything on August 7th, 2025. Two weeks later: $2M ARR. Eight weeks later: $11M raised at $100M valuation. By month two: 700k+ users.
Not because we're special. Because software crossed a capability threshold in mid-2024 that changes everything.
This is our entire playbook—broken into 6 actionable modules.
Table of Contents
Start here:
The 6 modules:
- Module 1: How to Decide What to Build (1-2 weeks)
- Module 2: How to Build It Without Code (1-3 weeks)
- Module 3: Price It Like You Mean It (1 day)
- Module 4: Get Your First 100 Customers (4-8 weeks)
- Module 5: Launch Strategy (2 weeks + 24 hours)
- Module 6: Scale to $50K+ (Ongoing)
Who this is for
- Domain experts who can't code but understand a problem worth solving
- "Tech-adjacent" entrepreneurs (PMs, designers, marketers) who know software but aren't developers
- Industry specialists (real estate, medical, finance) who see software opportunities
- Anyone building their first profitable app
Module 1: How to Decide What to Build
The 5-question filter that prevents wasted months
What you'll learn:
- The validation framework that works
- How to assess your unfair advantage
- What NOT to build (avoid these traps)
- Real examples: finance pro making $34k/month, medical student charging $85/month
📍 Time investment: 1-2 weeks
🎯 Key outcome: Validated idea with 10+ beta testers identified
Module 2: How to Build It (Without Code)
The prompting playbook that actually works
What you'll learn:
- The 200-word prompt framework
- 4-element structure for reliable builds
- 50 proven prompts you can copy/paste
- Why reliability beats features
- Common mistakes and how to avoid them
📍 Time investment: 1-3 weeks
🎯 Key outcome: Working MVP in users' hands
Module 3: Price It Like You Mean It
Why you're undercharging by 50-70%
What you'll learn:
- Value-based pricing framework
- How to calculate economic value
- Pricing benchmarks by category
- The 2-week payment rule
- When to raise prices
📍 Time investment: 1 day
🎯 Key outcome: Pricing strategy that filters for right customers
Module 4: Get Your First 100 Customers
Week-by-week playbook from 0 to $10K MRR
What you'll learn:
- Week 1: Your network (0-5 customers)
- Channel 1: Community marketing
- Channel 2: Direct outreach strategies
- Channel 3: Content that compounds
- DM templates with 40% response rates
📍 Time investment: 4-8 weeks
🎯 Key outcome: First $10K MRR
Module 5: Launch Strategy (Product Hunt + Viral Content)
How we hit #2 on Product Hunt and got 3.2M views
What you'll learn:
- 2-week prep checklist
- Hour-by-hour Product Hunt execution
- Viral content formulas that work
- The screenshot moment strategy
- Why customer stories beat feature announcements
📍 Time investment: 2 weeks prep + 24 hours execution
🎯 Key outcome: Momentum, credibility, and press attention
Module 6: Scale to $50K+ (Paid Ads + Systems) {#module-6}
When and how to start paid advertising
What you'll learn:
- When you're actually ready for ads (hint: not at $0)
- Minimum viable budgets that work
- Google vs Meta: Which first?
- The profitability threshold (3:1 LTV:CAC)
- Common scaling mistakes to avoid
📍 Time investment: Ongoing after $10K
🎯 Key outcome: Repeatable, profitable acquisition
Our Unfair Advantage
We built the most reliable agent for shipping production apps. Everything in this guide only works if your product actually delivers.
Most vibe coding companies will fail. Not because they can't get users to try their product. Because their product leaves users with broken prototypes.
Ready to build? Try Anything →
This guide wouldn't exist without the expertise and real-world experience of the people who helped shape it.
Claire Fleming is a paid advertising consultant who has helped dozens of early-stage companies navigate their first paid campaigns. She contributed the entire paid ads framework in Module 3, including the "minimal viable data" approach and platform selection strategy. Her insights come from watching founders waste thousands on ads that were set up to fail—and helping others build profitable acquisition channels from day one. The section on when NOT to optimize and the 90-day timeline are both directly from her work with bootstrapped founders.
ASOGency provided all the App Store optimization expertise and benchmarks. Their team has optimized hundreds of indie apps and helped builders go from zero organic downloads to sustainable acquisition channels. The insight about repeating keywords through long-tail variations and the 95% stat about screenshot visibility both come from their internal data. If you're launching a mobile app, their guidance on the 3 critical spots (title, subtitle, keyword field) is what actually moves the needle.
Our customers deserve the biggest credit. Every tactic, timeline, and number in this guide comes from watching real builders—the finance professional in Japan, the medical student, the real estate agent, the salon owner, the dental hygienist—go from zero to revenue in weeks. They proved this works. We just wrote it down.
If this guide helps you build something, tag us. We want to see what you make.
