Public revenue case library

Revenue signals from founders building in public on X

Browse curated posts with revenue numbers, cost clues, channel notes, credibility labels, and original-source records. Use it to compare what revenue screenshots do and do not prove.

Signals

110

High-trust originals

105

Updated

2026-09-08

Revenue signal table

110 signals, 105 high-trust original records, source updated 2026-09-08

Entry	Revenue / cost / profit	Product / channel	Credibility	Summary
At $90K MRR, this is how much it costs to run my solo AI startup @ericsmith1302 High-priority cases	AutoShorts reached $90K MRR and disclosed cost structure.	AutoShorts. The long thread focuses on the cost side: marketing was the largest expense, followed by AI video-generation model costs. A commenter flagged a cost-totaling issue, and the author acknowledged the calculation problem.	Historical entry: high-priority case. First-party cost-side disclosure; arithmetic should be treated carefully.	This is more valuable than a pure MRR post because it exposes AI SaaS gross-margin pressure. Marketing and model costs can consume a large share of revenue.
AutoShorts May update @ericsmith1302 High-priority cases	AutoShorts made $138K revenue in May 2025, with $97K MRR, solo and bootstrapped.	AutoShorts. The author said he spends only 3-4 hours per day on support and features. Public revenue attracts competitors, but it also attracts affiliates and influencers, which became an important sales channel.	Historical entry: high-priority case. First-party monthly update with strategic channel notes.	This is useful for studying whether public revenue sharing is worth it: the risk is competition, while the upside is high-quality distribution partners.
$3K MRR on Project X @ericsmith1302 High-priority cases	Project X reached $3K MRR about one month after launch, $7.5K revenue over 30 days, and about $523 profit.	Project X. Costs were listed as Stripe fees, Facebook Ads, AI models, and miscellaneous expenses. The author planned to scale ads, work on SEO and organic growth, and reduce model costs.	Historical entry: high-priority case. First-party financial breakdown with clear cost categories.	A strong 'revenue is not profit' AI product case. It is useful for COGS, ad payback, and channel-structure analysis.
$10K rev/month ProjectX expense breakdown @ericsmith1302 High-priority cases	Project X made $10,362 monthly revenue, with $7,907.5 expenses and about $1,480 profit.	Project X. Expense details included Replicate, Facebook Ads, Stripe/refunds, server/CDN, Gemini, OpenAI, Fal, email, and ElevenLabs. The author said 90% of the product was built with Codex and Claude.	Historical entry: high-priority case. First-party detailed cost breakdown.	This is a practical vibe-coding business case: AI tools can help ship revenue-generating products, but cost control and codebase ownership remain key risks.
$16K/month but 12% margin @ericsmith1302 High-priority cases	Project X reached about $16K/month, with $5.5K marketing, $6K GPU/AI models, $2K other costs, and roughly $2K profit, or about 12% margin.	Project X. The author joked that a course seller could only mention '$16K/mo', but the real business had low margins. A reply mentioned churn around 30%, partly driven by heavy Meta ads.	Historical entry: high-priority case. First-party post with margin warning.	One of the best counterexamples to revenue-title hype. It is useful for judging the commercial quality of AI video and generation products.
Outrank just hit $200k MRR @tibo_maker High-priority cases	Outrank reached $200K MRR.	Outrank. A GEO/AI search visibility SaaS milestone. The author frames growth around the idea that web presence gets brands into LLMs, emphasizing web real estate, backlink marketplaces, and AI recommendation visibility.	Historical entry: high-priority case. First-party milestone with clear category, but limited cost and screenshot detail.	A useful signal for the revenue ceiling and narrative shift in GEO SaaS and AI search visibility tools.
Louc built three SaaS products to $900K MRR @chuhaiqu Chinese and retold long-form threads	Three SaaS products reportedly reached $900K MRR combined. The founder reportedly rejected a $20M acquisition, and Minea later reached $750K MRR.	Louc's SaaS portfolio, including Minea. The Chinese long-form post retells Louc's path: 11 failed products before the 12th worked, distribution before coding, equity for a French ecommerce YouTuber, high-ticket plans and 1:1 coaching to break a $120K MRR plateau, and AI agents for parts of CTO/CFO/CMO work.	Historical entry: Chinese/retold long-form case. Treat as a lead until the original quoted tweet or interview is verified.	This is useful as a lead for distribution-first SaaS and high-ticket growth, but it should not be treated as primary evidence without original-source follow-up.
A solo founder sold one SaaS and grew another to $13K/month @igasparens Chinese and retold long-form threads	The first SaaS reached $6K MRR and sold for $250K. A second AI tool reached $13K/month.	Unnamed solo-founder SaaS and AI tool. The post describes a one-person company stack: Ahrefs keyword research, free tools for traffic, DataFast/PostHog/session recording for behavior analysis, Bento email, Featurebase feedback, Mintlify docs, and ChartMogul subscription analytics.	Historical entry: Chinese/retold long-form case. The tooling breakdown is useful, but the original founder and products need verification.	This is a narrative case lead for free-tool SEO and solo SaaS operations. Use it for workflow ideas, not as verified financial evidence yet.
From $0 to $70K MRR, then back to $0 @notmiramurati Chinese and retold long-form threads	The author says X took a company from zero to $70K MRR, then back to zero.	Unnamed company. The X acquisition method: focus on one channel, catch early narratives, maintain 15-20 supporters in the niche, enter 20-50 relevant conversations after publishing, and track profile visits, DMs, calls, signups, and revenue. The rough funnel is 100K views to 1-5 customers, with strong posts adding $1K-$5K MRR.	Historical entry: Chinese/retold long-form case. Low engagement and limited evidence; useful as an acquisition hypothesis.	The value is the explicit X-channel funnel and distribution workflow. It needs follow-up before being used as a verified revenue case.
My rollercoaster journey from $0 to $30k/mo, then back to $0 @vikingmute Chinese and retold long-form threads	Ziappo grew from $0 to $30K/month and then shut down.	Ziappo, a Twitter analytics and automation tool. The Chinese post retells an Indie Hackers article. Ziappo depended on Twitter, then Twitter API pricing moved to $42K/month and made the business unsustainable.	Historical entry: Chinese/retold long-form case. The original Indie Hackers article is linked and should be used as the primary source.	A failure case that is more important than many success stories. It belongs in any section on platform dependency and API risk.

Showing 101-110 of 110 cases