Here are the key strategies and lessons from the Starter Story interview, “This App Makes $25,000/Month,” featuring StageTimer.io founder Lukas Hermann.
TL;DR:
- Idea Generation: The idea came from observing an inefficient, real-world workflow outside the tech bubble. Lukas saw a friend having to physically walk to another room just to start a clunky, old timer software.
- Validation: He used a single, non-spammy post in a niche subreddit, offering a free tool for feedback, not for sale. This genuine request for help generated incredibly valuable, detailed responses.
- The Growth Engine: Success is driven by a combination of hyper-niche SEO (targeting high-intent, long-tail keywords) and a clever freemium model that turns free users (freelancers) into a powerful word-of-mouth marketing channel at events.
- The Biggest Lesson: “Boring” niches with ugly, outdated software are goldmines for solopreneurs. There are countless million-dollar opportunities waiting for a simple, modern solution.
Lukas Hermann, a German software developer, turned a “stupidly simple” idea into a $25,000/month SaaS business, allowing him to quit his job and control his own life. The story of StageTimer.io is a masterclass in how you don’t need a complex idea to build a successful business.
1. The ‘Stupidly Simple’ Idea (And How to Find More Like It)
The idea for StageTimer.io came by accident. Lukas was visiting a friend’s video production studio and noticed something odd: to start a countdown timer for a speaker, his friend had to get up, walk into another room, and hit a button on an old laptop running outdated Flash software.
The web developer in Lukas immediately thought, “There has to be a better way.”
And so, StageTimer.io was born: a web-based countdown timer that can be controlled remotely by one person and displayed on multiple screens for speakers and production crews. It solves a tiny, specific, but critical problem within the live event and video production industry.
The Lesson: Step outside the developer bubble. Observe how people in other industries do their jobs. You’ll find countless clunky, manual processes just waiting to be automated by a simple app.
2. The Playbook: From 3-Day MVP to the First Dollar in 224 Days
a. The 3-Day MVP
Lukas’s first MVP was incredibly basic: it was just one button that started a timer. He built it in three days.
- The Secret: He only used technologies he was already an expert in (JavaScript, Vue.js, Node.js). He didn’t chase shiny new frameworks. This eliminated the learning curve and allowed him to ship as fast as possible.
b. The Perfect Reddit Validation Post
To test his idea, Lukas found a small, niche subreddit for video production professionals. He made a single post, shared his free tool, and genuinely asked, “Is this useful? Please give me feedback.”
Because the post wasn’t a sales pitch, he received incredibly detailed and enthusiastic feedback. People told him they had been waiting for a tool like this for years.
c. The 224-Day Grind
As a side project, it took Lukas 224 days to earn his first dollar. He worked on it for an hour each evening, slowly and consistently. This proves that it’s perfectly okay to grow slowly.
3. The Growth Engine: Scaling to $25k/Month
50% of StageTimer’s traffic comes from Google, and 33% comes from word-of-mouth. Here’s how they engineered that.
a. Hyper-Niche SEO
They don’t compete for broad keywords. Instead, they create documentation and tutorial videos for extremely long-tail, high-intent keywords like “Countdown Timer Stream Deck Companion.” The search volume for this is low, but anyone searching for it has a very specific problem and is much more likely to convert.
b. The Freemium Flywheel for Product-Led Growth
The freemium model is the key to their word-of-mouth marketing.
- Freelancers in the event industry use the free version of StageTimer for their gigs.
- Others at the event (the freelancers’ clients, organizers) see the timer on screen, complete with the clear stagetimer.io logo.
- They are impressed by its professionalism and convenience.
- For their next event, they go to the website to use it themselves, eventually hitting a free-tier limit. At this point, they are happy to pay because they have already seen its value in a real-world setting.
The Solopreneur’s Philosophy: Goldmines in “Boring” Markets
Lukas believes there are countless overlooked opportunities outside of the flashy tech world.
“There are so many solutions out there that still have interfaces from 1999, ugly as heck to use. People complain about it all the time. I believe there’s so many like $1 million niches with little apps that you can build.”
The hardest part is just finding them.