I think that can be inspiring and interesting to learn about the early journey of already profitable businesses.<p>I enjoyed the 2012 edition : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4088538<p>Impatient to learn about the accomplishments of the community.
I launched Invoiced [1] as a private beta in June of 2013 while in college. In November I took it out of private beta and have since been fortunate enough to be able to focus on it full time.<p>Invoiced provides simple invoicing for the small business/freelance crowd. It is bootstrapped, profitable, and currently producing 4-figures of MRR. I learn something new every day and get to work with awesome people (customers).<p>[1] <a href="http://invoiced.com" rel="nofollow">http://invoiced.com</a>
I launched my first app in March 2013 and it's basically paying off my school tuition.
<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spinme-alarm-clock-guaranteed/id607979227?mt=8&uo=4&at=10ld6x" rel="nofollow">https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spinme-alarm-clock-guarantee...</a>
We launched Geocodio [1] in January 2014. It's a side project, so the definition of "profitable" is a bit different, but it's paying for itself and then some -- servers, Basecamp, LLC filing fees, etc. We're making enough that it covers costs for other, less serious projects [2][3] and our "fun" server (for testing out new projects/ideas/etc) with some to spare.<p>This was our first time launching a serious product as a side project and it's been a blast. I actually wrote up a few thoughts on launching side projects last week [4], largely based on our experience with Geocodio.<p>[1] <a href="http://geocod.io" rel="nofollow">http://geocod.io</a>
[2] <a href="http://opennear.by" rel="nofollow">http://opennear.by</a>
[3] <a href="http://happykitchen.dotsqua.re" rel="nofollow">http://happykitchen.dotsqua.re</a>
[4] <a href="https://medium.com/@mjwhansen/things-ive-learned-launching-a-side-project-2968c3becd17" rel="nofollow">https://medium.com/@mjwhansen/things-ive-learned-launching-a...</a>
I launched Duet (<a href="http://duetapp.com" rel="nofollow">http://duetapp.com</a>) in May 2013 and it's been profitable since day 1. I'm going to start focusing on it more so it can hopefully grow into something I can live off of.<p>*edit: I'm very curious to know, what about this comment is worthy of downvotes.
I launched <a href="http://ipinfo.io" rel="nofollow">http://ipinfo.io</a> back in 2013 and when it hit 50M API requests a day early this year I decided to launch the paid plans, and it's been profitable ever since. It's now hosted across 2 providers in 3 different cities, and handles almost 100M requests per day with a p99 of less than 1s and p50 of less than 100ms. Expect more services and features later this year!
Our mobile games startup started in Dec 2013 is profitable. Our monthly revenues are 3-4X our monthly expenses (which includes market salary for Co-Founders.) In fact in the last 2-3 months, we have been able to save up almost 18 months worth of runway for our team of 8.<p>Bear in mind that the team is based in India, so our salary and other expenses cannot be compared to Silicon Valley, but in India we pay market rates.
Started a UK postcode and addressing API in the midst of developing another (eventually failed) project - partly to scratch my own itch and partly because the existing offering was in a bit of a sorry state.<p>Was profitable within 2 months despite some idealistic pricing on my part. The feedback and kind words from my users over the past year has been incredibly humbling.
My partner finally decided to give it a try to her idea for her own fashion brand[1] (instead of regular career in journaling), designing and hand crafting clothes in small quantities made of self designed and produced specially for us materials and we're just starting being profitable, even tho we're at the moment not very active when it comes to advertising via any channels. The profit varies heavily so far, having very good months and a bit worse ones, but overall, we're positive.<p>[1] <a href="http://facebook.com/kropeczki" rel="nofollow">http://facebook.com/kropeczki</a>
My co-founder Dan and I launched WP Curve (24/7 WordPress support) in June 2013. At the time of writing, we're generating $24,166 in MRR.<p>We share a monthly report every month, here's our last report: <a href="http://wpcurve.com/june-wp-curve-monthly-report-people-product-and-process/" rel="nofollow">http://wpcurve.com/june-wp-curve-monthly-report-people-produ...</a> if you're interested.
I started cardforcoin.com [1] in January. After great launch numbers [2] and some legal concerns [3] we're back up, and on track to pay founders salaries next month. We're still deciding how much of that should be in bitcoin :)<p>When we had to put cardforcoin.com on hold, we built coinforcoffee.com [4], which lets you spend bitcoin at Starbucks. It's also "profitable", and I think we're going to see some big numbers when we expand to other merchants in a couple months.<p>[1] <a href="https://cardforcoin.com" rel="nofollow">https://cardforcoin.com</a>
[2] <a href="http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/card-for-coin-trade-starbucks-gift-cards-bitcoin/" rel="nofollow">http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/card-for-coin-trade-s...</a>
[2] <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7157180" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7157180</a>
[4] <a href="https://coinforcoffee.com" rel="nofollow">https://coinforcoffee.com</a>
I launched WiseCash (<a href="https://www.wisecashhq.com" rel="nofollow">https://www.wisecashhq.com</a>), a cash flow forecasting app for freelancers and small businesses publicly in July 2013.<p>This is bootstrapped using freelancing. We are currently at $800 MRR and growing.<p>I'm having a lot of fun helping people get more freedom of choice in their lives!
I wrote and self-published a book in 2013 that definitely fits some definitions of success[1]. Sales to date total a little over $30,000, plus some consulting gigs.<p>[1]: <a href="https://www.petekeen.net/mastering-modern-payments" rel="nofollow">https://www.petekeen.net/mastering-modern-payments</a>
I made FiveStar [0], which was covered on TechCrunch [1] and it made ~$600 last month. Doesn't cost any money to run, so it just sits there. Not a fabulous success story, and traffic is decreasing, but $10 a day as passive income isn't awful.<p>[0] <a href="http://fivestar.io" rel="nofollow">http://fivestar.io</a>
[1] <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/03/fivestar-finds-the-best-products-on-amazon-from-any-category-on-any-budget/" rel="nofollow">http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/03/fivestar-finds-the-best-pro...</a>
I started an advertising agency in February with another friend who also used to work in tech. We're Ramen profitable (2 founders make below market, but livable, wages). We were fortunate enough to find some clients in the marijuana industry out here in Colorado who have been largely overlooked by other agencies due to the stigma attached to it. Our strength is solidly in the digital space (particularly social advertising).
I launched product1 of my publishing startup on Jan 1st 2013 on HN[1] and now I'm officially living, frugally, from the sales. It was a side-project, but the interest was so great that I've spent the last 1.5 years building the company. So far so good. More titles and more authors coming soon. Bootstrap funding all the way!<p>The self-publishing route for authors is a very interesting development. I believe it is going to be one of the more interesting strategies for monetizing content on the web. Take the best of modern web technology (version control, bug reports, quick iterations) and apply it to producing books---meaningful information products that can be sold at 60%--95% margins. What's not to like?<p>[1] <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4994367" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4994367</a>
I built this eCommerce site using Magento for my wife and it was profitable from day 1<p><a href="http://flovery.com/" rel="nofollow">http://flovery.com/</a><p>It's basically a more modern / contemporary artificial flower arrangements. Stuffs you see in Neiman Marcus selling for $400. She sells for $200 or less.
We launched ConferenceBadge.com January 2013 (team of 4). We are now profitable and fully pay ourselves with it.<p>We have no outside funding (we were invited to the YC interview, but weren't selected).<p>We now invest our time between this and one other unannounced project.<p>Life is good.
I launched <a href="http://BeatsImporter.com" rel="nofollow">http://BeatsImporter.com</a> a few weeks ago.. like some others it's a side project so profitable is a bit different for me. in a month of "operation" it's paying for itself using Adsense. really not sure how else to monetize something like this (maybe a 99 cent app kind of thing?) At any rate I have done a few small sites that scratched an itch for me and none ever went any further than scratching my own itch. this one (BeatsImporter) is the first to go beyond that.. so pretty excited.. :-)
We (friends and I) launched SAO Launcher [1] as an Android app in 2013. It lets you make phone calls, launch apps, and a few more things by swiping down from a small hitbox.<p>Got to build a lot of cool things because of it (Themes and Extensions installed via separate apks, Overlays, Animations). And it's profitable.<p>[1] <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.xlythe.saolauncher" rel="nofollow">https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.xlythe.sao...</a>
We launched the LinkRisk suite in April last year <a href="http://www.linkrisk.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.linkrisk.com</a> and we are profitable (and hiring!)
I started <a href="http://mammothology.com" rel="nofollow">http://mammothology.com</a> last year and was profitable within 3 months. I create software for small businesses, mainly WordPress plugins but other things too. It's not a (comfortably) liveable wage yet but slowly increasing month on month. I'm not much of a marketer so it's difficult to figure out how to get sales up to that next level.
Launched iOS Leads [0] in May. Spent a few months testing the product before launch. Only a handful of monthly software expenses (Mailchimp and Memberful).<p>Currently at 4 digit MRR, and almost full. The program is capped at 40 customers.<p>Also went indie dev in 2013, but selling product is way harder than selling service.<p>[0] <a href="http://iosleads.com" rel="nofollow">http://iosleads.com</a>
I started <a href="http://skyul.com" rel="nofollow">http://skyul.com</a> and it's been profitable since it's first month when I released this service. The main reason why is because I'm keeping costs low and I re-invested most of the cash into advertising and more product development :)
I very recently launched an ecommerce site[1] selling shoe shine kits of all things. We just launched a few weeks ago but are already making money. It was a nice feeling to be able to pay myself yesterday, even if it was only $500!<p>[1] <a href="http://shinekits.com" rel="nofollow">http://shinekits.com</a>
I started a recruiting company in the real estate niche.<p>We're profitable technically, but I would only say "gross profitable" not "net profitable".<p>(Couldn't afford to pay minimum wage for someone to do this)<p>On the up side, its a B2B so there are opportunities to cross sell a better product if we come up with one
Off-topic, but I'm proud to have my thread mentioned in your post. :) A long time went by after I posted it, and I still haven't launched anything, just a couple of nearly-launches. I hope 2014/2015 will change that and wish everyone to not hesitate and just do it!
I launched Minimal Reader [1] last year right before Google Reader shut down. It started small, grew organically, and now I've been able to wrangle together a couple thousand customers.<p>[1] <a href="https://minimalreader.com" rel="nofollow">https://minimalreader.com</a>
I started a contracting company in 2014, <a href="http://www.motusdesign.ca" rel="nofollow">http://www.motusdesign.ca</a><p>We are already profitable, but that's not saying much since we have almost no expenses.
I launched <a href="http://namaste-lms.org" rel="nofollow">http://namaste-lms.org</a> which is profitable. But is far from the profits I was hoping for so probably will start something new again.
I started:<p><a href="http://www.thingsunder15.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.thingsunder15.com</a> and <a href="http://www.myfancysauce.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.myfancysauce.com</a><p>both slightly profitable.
My wife started <a href="http://makerjunior.com/" rel="nofollow">http://makerjunior.com/</a> to teach kids technology through workshops and kits. Profitable and growing...
My wife left corporate law firm life to start her own law practice in March of this year. By not taking on unnecessary expenses she has been profitable every single month.
in 2012 i started a loose html-only info-site. But there was sincere effort put on, and one thing lead to another- it turned out a commercial info-site being taken quite seriously by the industry- soon a business model evolved - and things came up. Good employees and a lot of online help in coding got things through. Now our portal earns revenue- i never knew the stuff would be taken so seriously.
well we have started little early but we speed things up at 2013-2014 and cleared the mile store of 1MN$ revenue we are now largest self created open source plugin marketplace <a href="https://store.webkul.com/" rel="nofollow">https://store.webkul.com/</a> .
I started a 401(k) account and put it on S&P500 index fund, it's gone up about 65% in two years. The best part of the business is that I work less than Timothy Ferris, "0-hour work week"; I let the money do the work for me, not the other way around.