How I Built It: $30K/Month Micro-SaaS

Charlie Clark, a software engineer, built Links, a LinkedIn bio tool and simple website builder, as a side project. He initially quit his job to develop a print-on-demand marketplace called Visual, but struggled to find market fit. While building Visual, he noticed artists using Linktree and decided to give himself two weeks to build a Linktree alternative. That became Links.

He grew Links alongside his full-time job at Squarespace, returning to them during COVID when his side projects weren't generating enough income. By summer 2024, Links was making roughly his salary in revenue, and he quit to become a full-time solo operator. The product now generates about $31,500 in monthly recurring revenue, with growth driven primarily by Google search ads over the last four years.

Links differentiates from competitors like Linktree by offering more customization, multiple pages, and a mobile-first design. Pricing starts at $5 per month for the basic plan and $12 per month for a pro plan with custom domains and multiple pages, with some customers paying upwards of a hundred a month for managing many pages.

• What if you gave yourself a hard two-week deadline to build a minimal, simpler alternative to a dominant player in a validated niche?

  • Move: Pick a category where a competitor already has millions of users (as Linktree did), identify a specific design or UX weakness, and scope a two-week build that addresses only that weakness. Charlie's Links started exactly this way: "I decided to like give myself two weeks to build a Linktree alternative".
  • Why Now?: The validated demand means you skip the riskiest question (will anyone pay?) and focus on differentiation. Charlie noted the pages "don't look very good" was enough of a gap to act on.
  • Expected Upside: A working MVP in two weeks lets you test willingness to pay with real users before investing months of development. This is a proposal, not a guarantee, but it mirrors the path that produced $31,500 MRR.

• What if you acquired your first ten customers by building the product manually for people you already know?

  • Move: Reach out to personal connections, build their page or profile for them, and grandfather them into a free plan. Charlie described "reaching out to people being like, hey, I built this thing" and setting up artist friends for free.
  • Why Now?: Before any ad spend or launch, manual outreach gives you unfiltered feedback and a small base of users who will advocate for you. It is "not scalable, but like a good way to just gauge interest".
  • Expected Upside: You validate the core value proposition and collect testimonials or referrals at zero acquisition cost. This is a practical first step, not a long-term growth strategy.

• What if you set a concrete MRR target equal to your current salary before making the full-time jump?

  • Move: Define a specific revenue number (e.g., matching your monthly salary) and commit to staying employed until you hit it. Charlie used "this like somewhat arbitrary goal of like matching my salary with the MRR" as his trigger to quit in summer 2024.
  • Why Now?: A numeric threshold removes emotional decision-making and gives you a clear exit criterion. Charlie's first quit lacked this guardrail and led to a return to employment during COVID.
  • Expected Upside: You reduce financial risk and build a revenue cushion before losing your salary. This is a proposed framework, not a universal rule, but it aligns with the source's emphasis on gradual, life-aware transitions.

• Scope your build to two weeks: pick a validated category with a dominant competitor, identify one specific UX or design weakness, and ship a minimal alternative that fixes only that gap.
• Acquire your first users by building the product manually for people in your personal network and grandfathering them into free plans before spending a dollar on ads.
• Price to undercut your biggest competitor and structure a higher-tier plan (e.g., custom domains, multiple pages) to capture a smaller segment of higher-paying customers without inflating the base price.
• Once you have validated willingness to pay, shift growth to Google search ads targeting high-intent keywords (e.g., "LinkedIn bio tool") rather than relying on social-media ad algorithms that can change without notice.
• Set a numeric MRR target equal to your current salary and commit to staying employed until you hit it, so the full-time transition is triggered by revenue rather than motivation.