Making Over $10K per Month Using a No-Code AI Tool

Hey Dan, Tell us more about what you are working on

We’re working on FounderPal, which is an AI marketing platform for solopreneurs, founders, and digital creators. It’s a collection of simple and more complex AI marketing tools that help with various aspects of marketing.

Our main product is a marketing strategy generator. It’s designed for people who don’t have a lot of money, time, or knowledge, but still need to do marketing. This includes solopreneurs, small bootstrapped founders, SaaS owners, digital creators, and sometimes service providers.

The marketing strategy generator is our flagship tool. It’s been around for almost a year now. The idea behind it is to give the right marketing directions in under five minutes. Users can understand who they want to target, how to communicate their products, how to acquire and convert users, and get specific marketing funnel assets like email sequences, funnels, or pricing ideas.

What makes FounderPal unique:

1. We focus on founders and solopreneurs, not huge venture-backed companies or corporations.
2. We provide insights that are relevant to day-to-day operations, not abstract theoretical concepts.
3. We put a lot of effort into handcrafting our prompts to get the best results.
4. We use good AI models and a lot of personalization.
5. We focus on the quality of our tools rather than quantity.

Besides the marketing strategy generator, we have about 10 free tools that help with various marketing tasks. These include a user persona generator, a marketing problem solver, and more recently, a blog post generator.

Our goal is to help solopreneurs and founders create profitable businesses by fixing their marketing, even if they already have a good product.

Tell us More about your background, and how you came up with the idea of FounderPal

I’m Dan Kulkov, known on Twitter as @DanKulkov. My background is primarily in the indie-hacker space. I am a co-founder of Makerbox, which was a website selling different digital products for marketing, like collections of actionable marketing ideas or services to get your landing page roasted.

The idea for FounderPal came from our experience with Makerbox. When ChatGPT became popular, we created a collection of ChatGPT prompts for marketing. We noticed that these prompts were returning amazing results, something an actual marketer could say. But we also realized that using these prompts required a lot of work – finding the right prompt, copying it, personalizing it with product data, and so on.

We thought, “What if we could do this for a person? What if they didn’t need to describe their product every time? What if we collected the best prompts and made it super easy in terms of UI?” That was the genesis of FounderPal, specifically the marketing strategy generator.

The main premise was to help solopreneurs who suck at marketing but don’t have the time or inclination to hire someone. We wanted to create a tool that they could use guilt-free, on their own terms, without being dependent on someone else’s opinion or paying monthly fees.

My experience with marketing from Makerbox and previous startups was really helpful. I’ve always been interested in strategy, and I think people often underestimate its importance, prioritizing tactics instead. But if your strategy is wrong, it doesn’t matter what tactics you use.

How did you get your first Customers for FounderPal?

Our journey to get our first customers for FounderPal was quite interesting. Before launching the main product (the marketing strategy generator), we actually launched two free tools: a marketing problem solver (initially called Virtual CMO) and a user persona generator.

These free tools went viral because at that time, not many people were doing AI marketing tools, especially not offering them for free without sign-up. This helped us create a waitlist of about 2,000 signups for our main product.

When we finally launched the marketing strategy generator on Product Hunt, it wasn’t our most viral launch (it got about 600 upvotes), but it validated our idea and gave us a starting point. In the first two days, we made about $1,000 in revenue.

A few key things we did for the launch:

1. We gave our tool for free to 5-10 people and asked for testimonials for our landing page.
2. We created a nice video demo of the tool, showing my face and explaining how it works.
3. We launched with two plans initially, but quickly added an unlimited plan based on user feedback. This unlimited plan, offered as a one-time payment, became our most popular option.

We also leveraged our existing audience on Twitter and our email list. While the launch itself wasn’t the most viral, it provided validation and a foundation for us to build upon.

What Marketing Channels are working for you now?

The main marketing channel that’s working for us now is what I call “side project marketing.” We create free tools that deliver value without requiring a sign-up. These tools are keyword-optimized, and some of them rank well in Google searches.

For example, if you Google “business ideas generator,” our tool is the first result. Some keywords are more challenging, like “slogan generator,” where we’re on the second page competing with big names like Shopify and Canva.

These free tools serve as user acquisition channels. Users can get free value, and if they leave their email, they get even more value. We then nurture these leads through email marketing, offering free demos and moving them through our marketing funnel.

In terms of traffic, according to our Plausible analytics, we’ve had about 520,000 unique visitors in slightly more than a year. Most of this traffic comes from Google searches for our tools.

We also get traffic spikes when influencers talk about FounderPal. For instance, we had an Instagram reel about our user persona generator that got around 800,000 views (possibly crossing 1 million).

We don’t do much active promotion. I post a bit on Twitter, but it’s not our main acquisition channel. We’re planning to try ads in the future, but that’s still in the planning stage.

How is your business doing now?

FounderPal’s business performance has been quite solid:

• In the first 10 months, we made about $100k, averaging $10k per month.
• We peaked at $15k in May for FounderPal alone.
• We have about 1,300 paying customers for the marketing strategy generator (one-time payment).
• In total, 22,000 marketing strategies have been created.

Profitability:

• AI costs are insignificant, about 2-3% of monthly revenue.
• Other costs (Bubble, backend, emails, etc.) are around $1k per month, but this supports multiple businesses.

Key Achievements:

1. Sustainability: The business has been running for almost 12 months with stable revenue, even with a one-time payment model.
2. Survival through seasonal drops: We experienced a three-month summer drop but survived it without significant issues.
3. Low refund rate: Initially, refunds were 5-10% of revenue. Now, they’re almost zero.
4. Organic growth: We get a lot of organic shoutouts from users and influencers on various platforms.

Recent Developments:

• This month, we introduced a new paid tool: a blog post generator.
• We’re seeing decent sales for this new tool, even with minimal marketing effort (just two emails and one tweet).

Future Plans:

• Continue building more free and paid tools.
• Solve as many marketing problems as people have.
• No specific 5-year plans, but aiming to increase revenue while decreasing stress each month.
• Potentially looking to exit in 2-3 years, but currently focused on exploring how far we can push the product.

Overall, the business is doing great. It’s sustainable, enjoyable, and has potential for further growth. The fact that it’s still going strong almost a year after launch, especially in the era of many short-lived ChatGPT wrappers, is a good sign for its long-term viability.

What has been your biggest achievement in business thus far?

I think my biggest achievements in business so far are:

1. Getting organic shoutouts from users and influencers. It feels amazing when people tag me on Twitter or post about FounderPal on Instagram or TikTok without me paying for it. They do it because they genuinely think it’s a great deal for their audience.
2. Significantly reducing our refund rate. In the beginning, about 5-10% of our revenue was going to refunds. Now, it’s almost zero. In the era of many ChatGPT wrappers building subpar products, I’m really enjoying that people are not refunding, but instead having a blast and upgrading.
3. Building a sustainable business. Almost twelve months in, FounderPal is working very stably in terms of revenue, even with a one-time payment model. The fact that it didn’t die after three months like many ChatGPT wrappers is a good sign that the business has potential.

What were the worst mistakes you’ve made since launching?

Some of the worst mistakes I’ve made since launching FounderPal include:

1. Losing focus: At one point, I got bored with FounderPal and started working on a different SaaS. This lack of focus during the good months (winter) was a mistake. It’s okay to add a second product during slower seasons, but I needed to be more focused during the peak season.
2. Delaying marketing experiments: Not trying Facebook ads earlier was a mistake. There’s often inertia in trying new marketing channels, and I’ve been guilty of this multiple times. It’s important to overcome this and experiment with new channels.
3. Not talking enough to the audience: I constantly feel like I don’t talk enough to our audience and customers. While I get signals from the audience and understand where to go, I always feel I could do more communication. It’s challenging when managing multiple products and being a digital nomad, but it’s crucial to stay connected with your users.
4. Underestimating the importance of continuous iteration: While not a specific mistake, I’ve learned that it’s crucial to iterate every week. Reading books or watching videos doesn’t matter as much as trying something different regularly and improving based on feedback.

What Tech Stack are you currently using?

FounderPal is built entirely with no-code tools:

1. Frontend: We use Bubble, a famous platform for building tools without coding.
2. Backend: We recently switched to Xano, an excellent no-code backend solution. We moved from Bubble’s backend about six months ago due to pricing changes and the need for more power.
3. AI: We use OpenAI for the marketing strategy generator and Claude from Anthropic for the blog post generator.
4. Other tools: We use ConvertKit for email marketing, Plausible for analytics, and various other tools for different functions.

I chose this no-code stack because I needed to bring results quickly without spending months learning to code. Bubble costs $32 per month, and I paid about $400 for a year of hosting. The cost of learning coding and potentially procrastinating on building FounderPal would have been much higher.

While Bubble is great for quickly designing and launching frontend pages, its backend isn’t as strong. That’s why we moved to Xano for the backend, which, despite a learning curve, feels much more powerful.

What advice would you give to new entrepreneurs?

Here’s my advice for new entrepreneurs:

1. Build what you can sell, not just what you can build. If your goal is to become profitable and be a full-time entrepreneur, focus on ideas that can be monetized quickly and effortlessly.
2. Have a plan. It doesn’t need to be a 50-page document, but you should know who you’re targeting, what your pricing strategy is, how you’ll get traffic every week, and what your top 5 marketing experiments will be.
3. Do email marketing. Many people, especially in the younger generation, think nobody reads emails. But you’d be surprised how many people need to read multiple emails before buying your product. If you’re only selling from a landing page, you’re missing out on a lot of potential revenue.
4. Get feedback on your ideas, landing pages, and copy. One downside of being a solopreneur is that no one gives you feedback, and you can do any crazy, stupid thing you can think of. Get opinions, especially on crucial elements like your landing page and product ideas.
5. Focus on iterating every week. It doesn’t matter as much what books you read or videos you watch. What matters is if you can do something different every week, learn from it, and improve.
6. Start without overthinking. Don’t wait to buy courses or get coaches before you start. Begin, understand what’s not working, identify problems you can’t fix yourself, and then get paid help if needed.

What resources do you recommend for entrepreneurs?

I recommend focusing on iterating every week rather than consuming a lot of resources. It matters more what you do differently each week than how many books you read or videos you watch.

That said, here are a few resources I find useful:

1. My Google document on “How to Do Marketing” – You can find it pinned on my Twitter (@DanKulkov). It’s a simple guide to help get your marketing brain straight.
2. Twitter – Follow entrepreneurs and marketers who share practical advice and experiences.
3. Your own experiments – The best resource is your own experience. Try things, measure results, and learn from them.

Remember, most successful solopreneurs and bootstrapped founders started by just starting. They might have hired consultants or bought courses later, but they didn’t wait for these things to begin. To start, you just need to start.

Lastly, Where can we learn more about you?

You can learn more about me on my Twitter

. I’m not very serious there, but I think it’s fun sometimes.

I also have a newsletter. If you leave your email on any of our tools, I’ll send you three thought-provoking ideas every Friday.

You can also check out our website, FounderPal.com, to see our tools and learn more about what we’re doing.