Starter Story

Yoni built one of the most popular iOS apps in recent years: Brainrot. In this video, we break down the story behind how he took it from a simple idea to an app that is making an astonishing $400K/month. And, most importantly, we get his thoughts on what’s working right now for building and growing apps in 2026.

*120+ Businesses you can start with less than $500:* https://clickhubspot.com/1tva

Say hi to Yoni: https://twitter.com/YoniSmolyar
Check out Brainrot: https://thebrainrotapp.com/

🔔 Follow the Second Channel: @StarterStoryBuild
🏁 We're hiring: starterstory.com/jobs

Chapters:

Chapters

• 00:00:00 the $400K/month app
• 00:00:58 Meet Yoni
• 00:01:27 Brainrot
• 00:02:00 Yoni’s background
• 00:02:30 Start your own business
• 00:03:07 Building a personal brand
• 00:03:38 Idea behind Brainrot
• 00:04:11 Launch and early traction
• 00:04:41 More growth strategies
• 00:05:47 When to go all-in?
• 00:06:29 Building apps in 2026
• 00:09:04 Yoni’s advice for finding app ideas
• 00:10:04 Tech stack and tools
• 00:10:29 Brainrot demo
• 00:11:18 Final advice

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.

Jake built a simple, boring website called Excel Exercises. The main goal of the site? Help people learn Excel… that’s it! In this episode, we’ll dive into how this website makes $30K/month, how he built and grew it with very little effort, and his advice for people looking for dead-simple app ideas in 2026.

*Simple apps making millions:* https://clickhubspot.com/guvq

Say hi to Jake: https://x.com/shimota_tweets
Check out Excel Exercises: https://excelexercises.com/

🔔 Follow the Second Channel: @StarterStoryBuild
🏁 We're hiring: starterstory.com/jobs

Chapters:

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Simplest website I've ever seen
• 00:00:51 What's your story?
• 00:01:26 What is Excel Exercises?
• 00:02:15 Numbers behind the business
• 00:02:55 Simple ideas win!
• 00:03:35 Background
• 00:04:19 Finding the idea
• 00:05:42 Building Excel Exercises
• 00:06:17 Tech stack and tools
• 00:07:03 Zero to $10K/month
• 00:08:01 Growth to $30K/month
• 00:08:55 How Jake finds simple ideas
• 00:10:10 App demo
• 00:11:07 Final advice
• 00:12:22 Reflections: the simplest website ever

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.

Frederick is an indie app builder who went from $0 to $10,000 a month with a health and fitness app. He believes the specific app barely matters… what actually moves the needle is the repeatable marketing playbook behind it. This video breaks down his end-to-end journey and the exact methods he used to grow his app to $10K/month.

*iOS App Ideas Database:* https://clickhubspot.com/obng

Say hi to Frederick: https://x.com/frederickjames
Check out channel: https://www.youtube.com/@frederickjaames

🔔 Follow the Second Channel: @StarterStoryBuild
🏁 We're hiring: starterstory.com/jobs

Chapters:

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Simple $10K/month app
• 00:00:50 What’s your story?
• 00:01:20 App metrics
• 00:02:09 App category
• 00:02:28 Founder background
• 00:03:12 Finding the app idea
• 00:03:52 iOS apps ideas
• 00:04:21 Building the app
• 00:06:14 Tech stack
• 00:07:28 Zero to $5K/month
• 00:09:23 $5K to $10K/month
• 00:12:35 Is this profitable?
• 00:13:16 Why choose paid ads?
• 00:14:57 Final advice
• 00:16:38 Reflections and takeaways

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.

Charlie bootstrapped his micro-saas, Links, to over $30K/month, which allowed him to quit his job... twice! In this episode, he shares exactly how he grew Liinks to $30K/month (even in a saturated market), and his advice for building a side project that might help you quit your full-time job, right now in 2026

*Side project ideas you can build with your 9-5:* https://clickhubspot.com/xls2

Say hi to Charlie: https://x.com/charliie
Check out Liinks: https://www.liinks.co/

🔔 Follow the Second Channel: @StarterStoryBuild
🏁 We're hiring: starterstory.com/jobs

Chapters:

Chapters

• 00:00:00 zero to $30K/month
• 00:01:03 What’s your story?
• 00:01:32 What’s the app?
• 00:02:34 Building side projects
• 00:03:30 Business metrics
• 00:04:15 Founder background
• 00:05:47 Finding the app idea
• 00:06:59 Liinks growth strategies
• 00:08:23 Pricing strategy and breakdown
• 00:09:40 Leaving the 9-5
• 00:10:53 Mindset behind quitting your job
• 00:12:45 Tech stack and tools
• 00:13:32 App demo
• 00:15:01 Final advice

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.

Rasty built and launched his first iOS app in 3 weeks. And today, that simple idea makes $41,000 per month. The secret? Well, he didn't dance on TikTok or spam Instagram. No, his old school approach is much simpler than that. This episode is about how a founder built something absurdly simple, out-marketed much bigger players, and built a successful app.

*Free database: simple apps making millions:* https://clickhubspot.com/b4qr

Say hi to Rasty: https://x.com/synopsi
Check out Vaultaire: https://vaultaire.app/

🔔 Follow the Second Channel: @StarterStoryBuild
🏁 We're hiring: starterstory.com/jobs

Chapters:

Chapters

• 00:00:00 $41K in a single month
• 00:01:08 What's your story?
• 00:01:44 What's the app?
• 00:02:51 More simple iOS app ideas
• 00:03:34 App statistics
• 00:04:45 Founder background
• 00:06:26 App growth strategy
• 00:07:44 AI agent marketing and content team
• 00:09:52 Tech stack
• 00:10:47 App demo
• 00:11:10 the FBI story!!
• 00:11:48 Final advice
• 00:12:47 Pat and Gus reflections: this dude is awesome!
• 00:14:36 Download simple iOS 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.

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