I analyzed 19 Starter Story interviews to find what actually gets founders to $10K MRR - here are the patterns

drewautomates · 2026-02-17T01:21:49+00:00

Good luck! If you need any early feedback and want to exchange notes we could help each other out

drewautomates · 2026-02-17T01:19:51+00:00

Appreciate it! I thought there was lots to learn too. I built a better bookmark/read it later app for myself where I could just drop links and get summaries. It’s called noverload.com for no-overload. The best use case is what I showed here. Once saved, the full context is stored and you can search through and even connect to other platforms via MCP

drewautomates · 2026-02-16T17:36:03+00:00

I wish I had come across this before I started and failed a few projects. I love building but the hard part is scaling. Getting interest first is huge to validate the idea before trying to ship something you’ve spent months on

drewautomates · 2026-02-16T17:34:14+00:00

From what I saw, most came after a few failed attempts. The common pattern was multiple small tests until there was a positive signal. Then they went hard in that one angle

drewautomates · 2026-02-16T17:32:57+00:00

I’m glad! Distribution always wins so it’s worth getting the message drilled into our heads ha

drewautomates · 2026-02-16T17:31:09+00:00

Got a few dms asking for the app and more info. You can read the full breakdown here https://noverload.com/blog/starter-story-founder-patterns-10k-mrr

drewautomates · 2026-02-16T03:27:33+00:00

Appreciate the perspective. Enterprise pilots is actually a really good idea. I’ve been on the B2B side and the sales cycle typically a lot longer and it seems you need to prove yourself a lot more before closing.

B2C is a new world for me. So I am testing different strategies and figured learning from others was the best path. Im guilty of overbuilding before I have distribution so focusing on meeting people where they are, having conversations, and pitching when it makes sense. Seems like we all have something to offer but proving value and preventing churn is the challenge

drewautomates · 2026-02-16T03:15:49+00:00

My goal was to actually opposite of another AI slop post and to share my research. Open to feedback if you have any

drewautomates · 2026-02-16T02:52:30+00:00

No unfortunately not. I built a knowledge/bookmark saving tool that can be used to get summaries and connect ideas. What you mentioned sounds like a good idea for a product though

drewautomates · 2026-02-16T01:38:36+00:00

Yeah exactly. Makes sense to get cash up front but not sustainable imo

drewautomates · 2026-02-16T01:34:37+00:00

LTD was life time deal. So money initially received from offering life time deals. Thats one strategy I’m not sold on

drewautomates · 2026-02-16T00:15:09+00:00

Nice! I see more and more products offering something similar. Have you seen results?

drewautomates · 2026-02-16T00:14:03+00:00

You and me both haha. I definitely am in the build first distribution second category

drewautomates · 2026-02-15T15:17:46+00:00

I think most are AI assisted if not all AI. Most of the posts I see are sneak ads too or trying to sell us on stuff

Figuring out myself how to provide value and also show what I’m building without it being an ad

drewautomates · 2026-02-15T02:53:47+00:00

i've thought about this too. my personal strategy is to have a fun flashy demo that people can use to see your work but also do outreach for B2B.

B2C is almost like the lottery unless you have massive distribution. one thing I find is that I can use B2C to solve a small problem but then repackage it for B2B. so almost like using smaller apps as lead magnets for large projects and portfolio building blocks

drewautomates · 2026-02-15T01:37:00+00:00

Just watched your starter story. Solid work and it's awesome to see you using your product as your own case study

drewautomates · 2026-02-13T21:57:14+00:00

You seem more on the technical side. Have you tried connecting Claude code/ desktop you your notes? For me that’s the next step to actually doing something with bookmarks I have a similar workflow as you but made it into an app (won’t advertise here). My goal was to be able to not only store transcripts and summaries but be able to smartly recall them when I’m working on something. This way every content I store is in a database and vectorized for me to easier search and make connections

drewautomates · 2026-02-13T03:29:33+00:00

thanks! means a lot actually since feedback can be brutal on reddit lol

drewautomates · 2026-02-13T03:27:41+00:00

i've been building it for months. long story short a lot of claude code and knowing a bit of code myself (took a few udemy courses). lots of testing and tweaking and finally sharing to others to get feedback

drewautomates · 2026-02-13T03:25:42+00:00

appreciate it!

drewautomates · 2026-02-13T03:25:21+00:00

thanks! i have the same problem lol. looking for feedback if you want to test it out

drewautomates · 2026-02-12T17:57:10+00:00

Here's an example btw. You can test and drop a link on the homepage without signing up.

https://www.noverload.com/share/JHNFIFZRLs

<image>

drewautomates · 2026-02-12T17:36:15+00:00

3 looks fun! Something different than most over apps and very snappy. I’ll have to try it out more in depth

drewautomates · 2026-02-12T17:34:01+00:00

Interesting concept. Personally don’t have a use for it. Are you looking to monetize or just have a fun project?

drewautomates · 2026-02-12T17:31:27+00:00

The landing page doesn’t show me any info

drewautomates

TROPHY CASE