How I Grew My Mac App to $150K ARR Without Paid Ads

Quick Stats

Elephas is an AI-powered Mac app that lets users index local files, PDFs, and Apple Notes to create personal knowledge bases they can chat with and use for content creation.

• Revenue: $150K ARR (~$12K MRR)
• Founded: 2022, fully bootstrapped
• Team: 2-person team (Ayush Chaturvedi – Marketing, Kamban – Development)
• Business Model: Subscriptions + Lifetime deals via Gumroad, Setapp, Mac App Store, and iOS App Store

Origin Story

Elephas started when Kamban, hired Ayush as a part-time marketing consultant back in June 2022.

Ayush had just quit his corporate job of 11 years and was consulting for early-stage startups on product and marketing.

Within the first 5-6 months, Ayush delivered strong results.

The traction was enough for Kamban to invite him as co-founder and ask him to go all-in on Elephas. Together, as a lean two-person team, they've grown the product from zero to $150K ARR over three years.

Growth Strategy Highlight: The Reddit Playbook

Reddit became Elephas's launchpad. Kamban & Ayush identified 15+ niche subreddits where potential customers hung out using the Map of Reddit tool. Instead of blatant self-promotion, they posted video demos wrapped in problem-solution stories.

The formula that worked:

"Me or my friend was facing this problem. So I built this feature to solve it. Here's how it works. Try it free for 30 days—I'm just looking for feedback."

Posting on one subreddit per day (never multiple in one day to avoid looking spammy), they took Elephas from $0 to $3K MRR in 6 months.

But the real value wasn't just revenue—it was the raw, honest feedback from real users that shaped the product's direction. The "Super Brain" feature, now their primary offering, was born from Reddit feedback.

Core Business Principles

Show, don't tell.

Video demos consistently outperformed text posts. Reddit users are smart and hate being sold to—but they appreciate seeing a product in action with honest reasoning behind it.

Develop thick skin.

Some posts got hate. Some got banned. Ayush learned to expect negativity, create backup accounts, and keep posting. The qualitative feedback from comments was worth far more than the occasional harsh critic.

Lifetime deals work for Mac apps.

Customers downloading Mac apps expect one-time payment options. Elephas embraced this mindset from day one and gradually raised prices as the product improved.

Long-term Growth Strategy: SEO

SEO was discovered by accident. Kamban & Ayush wrote support articles for early customers—one explaining how to create OpenAI API keys ranked #1 on Google for 6-8 months, driving significant traffic.

This "aha moment" led to deliberate keyword research using Ahrefs.

The winning formula: Keyword Difficulty under 20 + Search Volume over 500.

Instead of chasing high-competition terms, Elephas targeted underserved niches.

A listicle titled "18 Best ChatGPT Mac Apps (Free & Paid)" became a major traffic driver.

In 2023 alone, SEO generated $70,000 in revenue.

Today, the website attracts 180,000 visits per year, with AI answer engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity now sending high-intent traffic that converts even faster.

The SEO philosophy:

Add net new information to the internet.

Don't regurgitate what's already out there—bring personal insights, user data, and market intelligence that only you have.

Top Lessons & Takeaways

• Put more buy buttons on the internet. Stop hiding behind waitlists. Real learning only happens when someone decides to swipe their card or walk away.
• Reddit first, SEO second. Reddit gives fast feedback and early traction. SEO builds sustainable, scalable traffic over time.
• Target low competition keywords. New websites shouldn't chase high-volume terms. Find underserved queries with high intent.
• Fail fast, fail often. Ayush and Kamban have 30+ failed projects between them. Get failure out of the way quickly.
• Video demos beat text posts. Show your product working—don't just describe it.
• AI tools are research assistants. Use AI for outlines and scaffolding, but add your own insights to humanize content.

The Tech Stack

Further Reading

• Starter Story Interview: Full Video – Complete breakdown of the Reddit + SEO playbook
• Elephas App – Try the AI Mac assistant
• Map of Reddit – Free tool for subreddit research

Connect with Ayush

• Twitter/X: @ayushtweetshere
• LinkedIn: Ayush Chaturvedi

This case study is a bit different—it's my own story. After being featured on Starter Story, I wanted to share the complete playbook that took Elephas from zero to $150K ARR. If you're building a bootstrapped SaaS, the Reddit + SEO combination still works in 2026. Start with Reddit for fast feedback and early revenue, then scale with SEO for sustainable growth.

— Ayush