$1M ARR with single page site builder

Carrd is such an incredible business.

• $1M+ ARR with 2 person team.
• Running 4M sites now
• Bootstrapped for the first 5 years

All built without the founder revealing his real name on the internet.

Just a pseudonym - AJ on Twitter.

This is from an AMA he did 2 years ago -

Constraints as Superpowers

Carrd is a great example of the power of constraints.

While every other website builder is trying to do it all, Carrd is intensely focused on a single use case - 1 page websites.

It solves just 1 problem, but does it very well!

AJ’s existing audience and expertise was around responsive HTML5 templates, with his previous projects like HTML5UP and Pixelariy.

One of the most popular templates on html5up was the "one page site" template.

So it made sense for AJ to build a single-page website builder. He knew there would be a market for that product.

Constraints he set for himself in the early days-

• Only 1 page sites
• Only focus on features he can build himself
• Simple no brainer price - $19/ year for a website

What resulted was a powerful product like Carrd - A sharp spicy Catana in a world full of Swiss army knives!

(Fun fact - The Indie Masterminds landing page is also built on Carrd. I love the simplicity of the product!)

Growth Strategy

Product Hunt Launch

Carrd’s initial success came on the back of a successful Product Hunt campaign. With 6000+ upvotes, it was number 1 product of the day and week.

And even won the golden kitty award in 2016.

But a PH launch can only take you so far.

Your product has to provide actual value for people to stick around and actually pay for it.

Product Led Growth

AJ made it very easy for people to try out Carrd. If you go to the landing page, the hero section just has 2 buttons -

• Choose a starting point
• Login

This means, you can just start building a website on Carrd without even logging in or paying.

You can also publish websites without paying. You only pay when you want to use a custom domain on a site.

By default, everyone gets a .carrd subdomain website for free.

This helps with product led growth, because whenever someone shares a free website, they end up promoting Carrd because of the subdomain.

So it works as free marketing!

Going Viral

By May 2020, 4 years into the journey, AJ had reached a solid $30K MRR with Carrd.

But the inflexion point in Carrd’s journey came when Kim Kardashian tweeted a Carrd website during the BlackLivesMatter movement.

This tweet and website went viral as the movement gained momentum.

And with it, Carrd became mainstream.

Google searches for the word “Carrd” found a new high after this tweet -

Since then Carrd has grown to $1M ARR and now runs more than 4 Million sites on the internet.

Top Lessons

Top Lessons from Carrd -

• Constraints are superpowers, lean into them. Do 1 thing, do it well.
• Single feature products are easier to build AND simpler to market, especially for solo founders.
• Be a Catana, not a Swiss Army Knife 🤷‍♂️
• Launch platforms like ProductHunt and Betalist can be powerful to get initial traction.
• Leverage Product Led Growth - the mere act of using the product can market the product. That’s how you get free marketing.
• Offer a generous free plan and no-brainer pricing. Traditional advice is “charge more”, but not necessarily applicable to all products. (Pinboard and Liinks are also good examples of this)

Further Reading -

• How to reach $1M ARR with a 1-page site builder 📈| AJ of Carrd - from me
• AJ’s AMA on Indie Hackers
• Carrd: Bootstrapping a SaaS Side-Project to $1M+ ARR – with AJ - SaaSClub podcast

7 Deadly Sins

Good gut check for any landing page -

Must address at least 1 of the 7 deadly sins

Otherwise it won't convert well

For SaaS it's sloth and/or greed -

• Save time/effort or make money for customers

For consumer startups its 1 or more of gluttony, pride, envy, lust, wrath.

More in this tweet.

From the vault -

3 random post from the Superframeworks archives -

• $19K MRR selling peace of mind
• Money Making Ideas - Where to find them?
• Landing Page Essentials

🔗 Super Links

Useful links you don't want to miss -

• Marketing approaches based on ACV - From Rob Walling’s SaaS Playbook
• Deep dive into “unlimited” services - Dru Riley
• How To Build a Defensible A.I. Startup - Dharmesh
• How Social Media Destroying Your Focus - Dr Andrew Huberman - YouTube
• Hormozi’s Millionaire Blueprint - YouTube

Last week’s top link -

• Hot take on AI and SEO by Jordan O’Connor

🤗 How can I help?

"You are the average of the 5 people you surround yourself with"

Surround yourself with better people 🤷🏻

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The goal of this newsletter is to inspire and motivate you, but the goal of the community is to help you take action and go to the next level in your journey.

So if you’re at that stage where you don’t need more inspiration, but you do need to take the right action, then come join us!

We’re here to help 🫂