Revealing Everything About My 2 $500/Month SaaS Side Hustles (Marketing, Tech Stack, Costs, etc.)

The video reveals insights into two SaaS apps generating $500/month each. The creator shares the strategies, tech stack, costs, and monetization methods for 'Nexus Research,' an AI-powered reading and note-taking tool, and 'Perfect Interview,' an AI mock interviewing tool. Both apps use Next.js and Vercel for hosting, with Planet Scale as the database. The growth was primarily through social media marketing, with a focus on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. The creator plans to let these apps run passively as they work on a third, more promising product idea.

Takeaways

• 🚀 The creator has built two SaaS apps, each generating $500/month in recurring revenue.
• 💡 One of the apps, Nexus Research, is an AI-powered reading and note-taking tool that allows users to chat with uploaded PDFs to extract information.
• 🔍 The inspiration for Nexus Research came from observing successful, similar products in the market, emphasizing the importance of market validation for new ideas.
• 📈 The creator shares real revenue numbers and metrics like user count and retention costs for transparency and to demonstrate profit, not just revenue.
• 🛠️ The tech stack for Nexus Research includes Next.js for the frontend, PlanetScale as the database, and Vercel for hosting, with Stripe as the payment processor.
• 📱 The growth strategy for Nexus Research relied heavily on social media marketing, particularly through Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts.
• 🎓 A viral video series titled 'If Colleges Were Honest' helped grow the Instagram account and attract attention to the product.
• 📊 Analytics showed a significant drop-off in user retention after the first week, leading to the introduction of a weekly subscription plan.
• 💰 The costs for running Nexus Research include fees for OpenAI, Pinecone, and hosting on Vercel, with a total cost of around $80/month.
• 🤖 The second app, Perfect Interview, is an AI-powered mock interviewing tool that generates practice questions from job descriptions.
• 📊 Perfect Interview saw higher conversion rates with a one-time purchase model compared to a subscription model, leading to a shift in monetization strategy.

Q & A

What are the two SaaS apps mentioned in the video?

The two SaaS apps mentioned are Nexus Research and Perfect Interview AI.

What is the primary function of Nexus Research?

Nexus Research is an AI-powered reading and note-taking tool that allows users to upload a PDF and chat with it to extract information.

How does the user interact with the AI in Nexus Research?

Users can interact with the AI by asking questions about the content of the uploaded PDFs, and the AI helps extract the relevant information.

What unique feature does Nexus Research offer compared to similar tools?

Nexus Research allows users to chat with multiple papers at once, extracting information from several documents simultaneously.

What is the revenue status of Nexus Research as of the video?

Nexus Research has around $450 of monthly recurring revenue.

What marketing strategy was primarily used to grow Nexus Research?

The primary marketing strategy used to grow Nexus Research was social media marketing, specifically through Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube shorts.

How does Perfect Interview AI assist users in preparing for job interviews?

Perfect Interview AI generates unlimited practice interview questions based on a user-uploaded job description and helps users craft answers.

What type of purchase model did Perfect Interview AI initially use?

Perfect Interview AI initially used a subscription-based model.

What was the reason for shifting from a subscription model to a one-time purchase model for Perfect Interview AI?

The shift was made because the one-time purchase model had a significantly higher conversion rate compared to the subscription model.

What is the current revenue status of Perfect Interview AI?

Perfect Interview AI has generated roughly $22,000 of gross volume and $1,500 of net volume from sales.

What are the main costs associated with running Nexus Research?

The main costs for Nexus Research are Open AI for AI services, Pinecone for the vector database, and Vercel for hosting.

What is the current revenue and profit for Perfect Interview AI?

Perfect Interview AI makes around $500 a month in revenue, with a profit of approximately $400 to $430 after costs.

What is the future plan for both Nexus Research and Perfect Interview AI according to the video?

The plan is to let both products coast and generate passive income, as the focus is shifting to a third product idea with higher potential.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Introduction to SAS Apps and Revenue Sharing

The speaker introduces two SAS (Software as a Service) applications they've developed, which generate $500 a month in recurring revenue. They promise to reveal their strategies, including real revenue numbers from Stripe, user metrics, and costs. The speaker warns that the video will be information-dense, consisting mainly of screen recordings. The first app, Nexus Research, is an AI-powered reading and note-taking tool that allows users to interact with PDFs to extract information. The speaker admits to being inspired by existing tools in the market and making slight modifications to create their own version. The app is hosted on Vercel and uses Next.js for the tech stack, with a unique feature of being able to chat with multiple documents simultaneously. The speaker shares that despite not updating the app for over 70 days, it continues to generate revenue, highlighting the 'passive income' potential.

05:01

📈 Growth Strategy and Financials of Nexus Research

The speaker details the growth strategy for Nexus Research, which was entirely based on social media marketing, specifically on Instagram. They discuss two video series that helped grow the app's social media presence and user base. The first series, 'If colleges were honest,' garnered significant impressions but did not directly showcase the product. The second series more organically demonstrated the product's features by summarizing articles using Nexus Research. The speaker also discusses the pricing strategy, emphasizing the introduction of a weekly subscription plan that increased conversions and revenue. They share analytics data showing user engagement and retention, which informed the decision to offer a weekly plan. The costs associated with running Nexus Research are outlined, including expenses for OpenAI, Pinecone, and Versel hosting, resulting in a healthy profit margin.

10:02

🎯 Perfect Interview AI: A One-Time Purchase Model

The speaker introduces the second app, Perfect Interview AI, an AI-powered mock interviewing tool that generates practice interview questions from job descriptions. Unlike Nexus Research, Perfect Interview AI is based on one-time purchases rather than subscriptions. The speaker shares revenue numbers and explains that one-time purchases significantly increased conversion rates. They discuss the importance of one-time purchase options for certain SaaS products and how it fits the user behavior of Perfect Interview AI. The growth strategy for Perfect Interview AI also relies on social media, with a co-founder handling the marketing. The speaker mentions various content formats, including street interviews and product feature showcases, that have been successful in attracting users. The costs for Perfect Interview AI include OpenAI, Planet Scale, and Versel hosting, with a focus on optimizing AI usage to reduce expenses.

15:03

📊 Analytics and Future Plans for Both Apps

The speaker reviews the analytics for Perfect Interview AI, noting the significant drop in user retention after the first week, which supported the decision to focus on one-time purchases. They discuss the monthly revenue and costs, leading to a substantial profit. The speaker then shares their future plans for both apps, indicating a shift in focus to a third, more promising product idea. They express their intention to let the current apps continue to generate passive income without significant further development. The speaker also touches on the challenges of increasing prices for B2C products and the decision to focus on a B2B product that aligns better with their interests and expertise.

20:04

🌟 Conclusion and Invitation for Further Questions

The speaker concludes the video by summarizing the revenue and growth strategies of the two SAS products. They invite viewers to ask questions in the comments if there are any aspects of the products or strategies not covered in the video. The speaker expresses gratitude for watching and anticipates meeting the audience in the next video.

Keywords

SaaS

SaaS stands for Software as a Service, which is a software delivery model in which a software application is hosted by a provider and made available to customers over the internet. In the context of the video, the presenter has built two SaaS applications, which generate recurring revenue through subscriptions. The video discusses the strategies and technologies used to create and grow these applications.

Recurring Revenue

Recurring revenue refers to income that a business receives on a regular basis, typically from subscriptions or other recurring payments. In the video, the creator reveals that both of his SaaS applications have reached a monthly recurring revenue of $500 each, indicating a steady and predictable income stream.

Stripe

Stripe is a technology company that provides a suite of APIs for businesses to accept payments and manage transactions online. The video mentions Stripe as the payment processor used for the SaaS applications, which allows the creator to receive payments from customers and track revenue.

Next.js

Next.js is a JavaScript framework for building user interfaces and web applications. It is mentioned in the video as the technology stack used for the front-end development of the SaaS applications. Next.js allows for server-side rendering and efficient rendering of React components.

AI-powered

AI-powered refers to software or tools that utilize artificial intelligence to perform tasks or enhance functionality. The video describes two AI-powered applications: one for reading and note-taking, and another for mock interviews. These applications use AI to process information and generate content, providing value to the users.

Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing involves promoting products or services through social media platforms. The video script details how the creator used social media marketing strategies, such as creating video series and collaborating with influencers, to grow the user base and increase revenue for the SaaS applications.

Monetization

Monetization is the process of generating revenue from a product or service. The video discusses the creator's approach to monetizing the SaaS applications, including the use of subscription plans and one-time purchases, which are key to the recurring revenue model.

Retention

Retention in a business context refers to the ability of a company to retain its customers over time. The video mentions retention metrics, such as the number of users who continue to use the applications over weeks, indicating the stickiness and value provided by the SaaS products.

PostHog

PostHog is an open-source product analytics tool that helps businesses understand user behavior. The video mentions using PostHog for analytics tracking, which allows the creator to analyze user engagement, retention, and other key metrics to make informed decisions about product development.

Weekly Subscription Plan

A weekly subscription plan is a type of pricing model where customers pay for a service on a weekly basis. The video highlights the introduction of a weekly subscription plan for one of the SaaS applications, which increased conversions and provided flexibility for users with short-term needs.

Cost Optimization

Cost optimization involves improving the efficiency of resource use or minimizing costs without affecting the quality of the product or service. The video discusses cost optimization strategies, such as reducing unnecessary API calls to OpenAI, to lower expenses and maintain healthy profit margins.

Highlights

Creator reveals insights on two SaaS apps generating $500/month each.

Nexus Research app is an AI-powered reading and note-taking tool.

Nexus Research allows chatting with multiple papers for information extraction.

The app has been untouched for over 70 days, yet continues to generate revenue.

Nexus Research's monthly recurring revenue is approximately $450.

Tech stack for Nexus Research includes Next.js, Vercel, and PlanetScale.

Growth strategy for Nexus Research involved social media marketing on Instagram.

Two video series on Instagram significantly contributed to app growth.

Perfect Interview is an AI-powered mock interviewing tool.

Perfect Interview generates unlimited practice interview questions from job descriptions.

The app saw higher conversion rates with one-time purchases over subscriptions.

Revenue numbers for Perfect Interview show $22,000 gross and $1,500 net.

Social media marketing for Perfect Interview involved collaboration with a co-founder.

Analytics show low retention and usage, supporting the shift to one-time purchases.

Both apps have similar costs including OpenAI, PlanetScale, and Vercel hosting.

Plans for the future involve letting both apps generate passive income while focusing on a third product.

The third product idea is believed to have a higher earning potential and better fit for the creators.