How a Side Project Built Entirely on Mobile Got 167 Users in 30 Days (Without Spending a Dollar)

Most indie hackers will tell you that you need a proper development setup to build a real product. A laptop, an IDE, maybe a second monitor. Time blocked off in your calendar. A dedicated workspace.

Abhilash KB threw all of that out the window.

Working a full-time corporate job, he built and launched a VCard QR code generator—entirely on his mobile phone. No laptop. No office. Just his phone, late nights in bed after his family went to sleep, and AI coding tools.

In 30 days, his side project has attracted 167 users, gets 3 daily active users consistently, and is pulling in organic traffic from ChatGPT, Bing, and DuckDuckGo.

Total cost? Less than $10 for the domain.

Here's how he did it—and why this matters for every time-strapped founder reading this.

The "I Have No Time" Problem Every Side Project Founder Faces

If you're building a side project while working full-time, you know the struggle. Your day job takes 8-10 hours. Commute eats another 2. Family time, meals, basic life maintenance—and suddenly it's 11 PM and you haven't written a single line of code.

The traditional advice is to "wake up early" or "optimize your calendar."

But Abhilash found a different solution: meet yourself where you already are.

Your phone is always with you. On the train. In bed. During lunch breaks. Waiting for a meeting to start.

What if that was enough?

The Mobile-First Development Stack (Yes, It's Real)

Here's Abhilash's complete tech stack:

Development:

ChatGPT with Codex plan (accessed via Brave browser in desktop mode)
GitHub mobile app for version control
Built the entire product using AI-assisted coding

Hosting:

GitHub Pages (completely free)
Custom domain (~$10/year)

Content Creation:

ChatGPT for content generation
Gemini for additional research
Perplexity for competitor analysis

Analytics:

Google Analytics mobile app

The entire workflow runs on his phone. When his laptop is closed for the night, his side project is still alive on his device.

The Keyword Strategy That Brought Organic Traffic

Getting traffic was remarkably straightforward. Abhilash used a simple but effective approach:

Step 1: Keyword Research

Used Google's free Keyword Planner
Seed keyword: "VCard QR code generator"
Filtered for: Low competition + 500+ monthly searches
Result: ~70 relevant keywords

He first got the spark from this post in the Superframeworks newsletter.

Step 2: Content Clustering

Exported keywords to a text file
Uploaded to multiple AI tools (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity)
Asked them to cluster keywords into logical groups
Had AI research competitor content for each cluster

Step 3: Automated Publishing

AI generated blog posts for each keyword cluster
Published directly to GitHub Pages
Added proper sitemap.xml for indexing

Total time spent on content creation: A few hours spread across several nights.

The Results: Real Traffic in 30 Days

Here's what happened with a brand-new domain, no backlinks, and AI-generated content:

167 users in the first 30 days
3 daily active users consistently
Traffic sources: Direct, ChatGPT (yes, ChatGPT), Bing, DuckDuckGo
Homepage getting the most engagement
Multiple blog pages indexed and ranking

The most surprising part? ChatGPT is sending traffic.

As AI search becomes more prevalent, new domains with relevant, helpful content are getting discovered faster than ever before.

No aged domain required. No complicated SEO tactics. Just relevant content solving a specific problem.

Why Mobile Development Actually Makes Sense

Initially, building on mobile seems like a constraint. But it comes with unexpected advantages:

1. You Build in Small Chunks Limited screen space forces you to focus on one thing at a time. No context-switching between 47 browser tabs. One function, one feature, one file at a time.

2. AI Tools Handle the Complexity ChatGPT Codex doesn't care whether you're on a laptop or a phone. You describe what you need, it generates the code, you implement it. The AI handles the complex parts—you handle the direction.

3. Dead Time Becomes Productive Time Can't sleep? Build. Waiting for someone? Build. Commuting? Build. The 15-minute gaps throughout your day add up faster than you think.

4. Lower Barrier to Starting When you only need to pull out your phone, there's no "setting up your workspace" excuse. The friction to begin is near zero.

The $10 Validation Lesson

Here's the most important part of Abhilash's story: he validated demand before overbuilding.

The product is simple—it generates VCard QR codes. That's it. No fancy features. No complex dashboards. Just one thing done well.

And people are using it daily.

Now he's adding his first paid feature: the ability to add a custom logo to your QR code. Price point? Just $1.

Why so low? It's not about the revenue yet. It's about answering one question: "Will people pay for this?"

With 167 users in 30 days and consistent daily active users, even a 3-4% conversion rate means he'll see his first paying customers within 48 hours of launching the paid feature.

That's validation you can build on.

What This Means for You

If you've been telling yourself you need:

More time
A better laptop
A proper office setup
More technical skills
An aged domain
A complex tech stack

Abhilash's story proves you don't.

You need:

A problem worth solving
A phone (which you already have)
AI tools (which are mostly free or cheap)
Willingness to ship something imperfect
Consistency (even in 15-minute chunks)

The barriers to building in 2025 are lower than they've ever been. Mobile development isn't a compromise—it's a legitimate strategy for time-strapped founders.

The Real Secret: Community and Accountability

Here's the part that doesn't show up in analytics dashboards: Abhilash shared his progress in our Indie Masterminds community during our monthly Marketing Office Hours.

He came in just wanting to listen and learn. Instead, he shared his screen, showed his analytics, walked through his entire workflow, and got real-time feedback on his monetization strategy.

By the end of that 41-minute session, he had:

Clarity on which paid features to build first
A recommended payment integration (Razorpay)
A pricing strategy ($1 to start)
A public accountability goal: Launch monetization in 3 weeks
A check-in date at our next community call

That's the difference between building alone and building with others. Alone, you might keep tinkering. With accountability, you ship.

What Was Actually Covered in That Office Hours Session

The mobile development story was just one part of our October Marketing Office Hours. In the full 41-minute session, members also learned:

Complete analytics breakdown: We looked at every traffic source, page performance, and user behavior pattern
Monetization roadmap: Step-by-step plan for adding payments, including specific tools and pricing psychology
Another founder's strategic pivot: How Rakesh is repositioning his newsletter research tool into a social listening platform for brands (painkiller vs. vitamin product discussion)
The multi-launch strategy: Why you should launch your product as many times as you want, on as many platforms as you want
Directory submission tactics: The free traffic channel everyone ignores

Plus, members got:

Full screen-share recording of the analytics walkthrough
Written summary with all action items
Direct access to ask follow-up questions
Accountability check-ins at the next monthly call

Join Us for the Next Office Hours

Marketing Office Hours happens monthly in the Indie Masterminds community. It's a direct feedback session where you can:

Share your screen and get real-time feedback on your product
Ask specific questions about growth, marketing, and monetization
Set public accountability goals with check-in dates
Learn from other founders solving similar problems
Get strategic guidance on positioning and pricing

Next session is happening in the last week of this month at our End of Month Community Call (October 30 or 31), where members will:

Share monthly updates and wins
Demo new products and features
Set goals for the next 30 days
Celebrate progress together

This is just one of the monthly events members get access to. We also run:

Topic-focused masterminds (SEO, Social Media, Video Creation, Coding)
Weekly coworking sessions for accountability
Expert office hours on specific topics
Demo days where members show what they've built
An active community of indie founders helping each other daily

What Members Are Saying

"Indie Masterminds is 100% worth the price. I was skeptical going in, because I don't know the people that are in the mastermind. So I didn't think I would get anything out of it. But because Ayush created this, I wanted to give it a shot and it is 100% worth it." — Bhanu, Founder of Feather

"The whole package is worth many folds its price. You'll get to learn from Ayush and other indies in your group. Getting the extra push and help needed to move forward in your project." — Khaled, Founder of Data To Page

"Just finished a great 4-week cycle of Indie Masterminds led by Ayush. Intensely insight-rich and actionable advice. Recommended to any indie founder looking for signal in the noise." — Andrew, Founder of Rollama

Ready to Build Your Side Project (Even on Your Phone)?

The next time someone tells you that you can't build a real business from your phone, you can point them to Abhilash's story. 167 users. 30 days. $10 investment. Built entirely on mobile.

The question isn't whether it's possible. The question is: what's stopping you from starting tonight?

If you want to be in the room where these conversations happen, where founders share real numbers, real strategies, and real accountability—join Indie Masterminds.

Your next step:

Join the Indie Masterminds community
Attend the next Marketing Office Hours
Share your product and get real-time feedback
Set your accountability goals
Ship your first dollar of revenue

Join Indie Masterminds →

The barriers are lower than you think. The community is ready to help. And your side project is waiting for you to take it seriously.

See you at the next office hours.

P.S. — Want to see Abhilash's complete GitHub structure, analytics breakdown, and monetization plan? Members have access to the full 41-minute recording with screen-share, plus a detailed written summary with all action items. Join here to get access.

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