cholmax

I look at things carefully. Mostly businesses and money.

[cholmax @cholmax9]

I pulled every startup in the TrustMRR database using their API.

All 7,360 of them. Verified Stripe revenue. Real numbers.
81% have never made more than $50. Ever.

Here's what the data actually shows:

[cholmax @cholmax9]

@pierreeliottlal 20k

[Pierre-Eliott Lallemant @pierreeliottlal]

We're on track to hit $4M ARR in under a year. 🚀

Getting from $0 to $20k MRR was by far the hardest part.

So we documented everything that got us there:

• Every traffic channel we used
• Our daily growth playbook
• The exact outreach scripts and messages
• The systems we repeated every single day
No fluff. Just the playbook that got us our first $20k MRR.

Want it?
Repost ♻️ so more founders can see it.

Comment "20k" and I'll DM it to you.

[cholmax @cholmax9]

I'm looking for good designers to build a brand identity for a SAAS business. Any suggestions?

[cholmax @cholmax9]

@vitaliidodonov PDF

[cholmax @cholmax9]

@felixhhaas is this in an airport, or where is it

[cholmax @cholmax9]

@birdabo @synthwavedd where can i get that API proxy access 👀

[cholmax @cholmax9]

@jakeottiger looks very cool

[cholmax @cholmax9]

@jack surely thats not real haha

[cholmax @cholmax9]

@jsgrrchg keep us updated, genuinely curious how far this goes

[cholmax @cholmax9]

@FT Alphabet grew cash flow $40bn last year. SpaceX barely moved. draw your own conclusions

[cholmax @cholmax9]

@marclou UI is taste. taste takes years of absorbing what feels wrong before you can articulate why. that's not a prompt problem

[cholmax @cholmax9]

@adxtyahq what was his previous ones

[K. @NotOnKetamine]

Polsia raised $30M for "AI that runs your company."

We did the diligence — on their own data:
- Fake ARR (real ≈ $0)
- Fake customers (94% dead)
- A human-graded Claude wrapper, not autonomous
- A god-mode kill-switch on every company you build
🧵👇

[cholmax @cholmax9]

went down a rabbit hole after the TrustMRR thing..

scraped 200 Starter Story interviews to see how the winners actually found customers

Product Hunt, the one everyone obsesses over at launch: $10k median MRR
word of mouth: $125k Hacker News: $90k

the channels that work aren't the ones that feel like marketing

[cholmax @cholmax9]

The uncomfortable summary:

4 in 5 indie products never made $50. Ever. Median MRR for ones that did: $9/month. $1k MRR is top 1.1%.
And remember, this is the self-selected, motivated end of the market.

Data: @marclou's TrustMRR. All revenue Stripe-verified.

[cholmax @cholmax9]

I pulled every startup in the TrustMRR database using their API.

All 7,360 of them. Verified Stripe revenue. Real numbers.
81% have never made more than $50. Ever.

Here's what the data actually shows:

[cholmax @cholmax9]

The single most common failure pattern.

Productivity tools. Generic audience. Competing with free alternatives.
The data shows zero customers - not just zero revenue.

It's not a pricing failure. Nobody ever tried the product.