Bootstrapping Testimonial to $13k MRR after many failed products - Damon Chen, Testimonial

I speak with Damon Chen about repeatedly failing to make any money, then hitting big when he quit his job and started Testimonial.
Damon Chen, who is the founder of Testimonial, a product that collects video testimonials that he launched back in December 2020, and has grown it to $13k MRR since then. Damon quit his stable job of 8 years at Cisco to pursue his dream of building a better life for himself as an indie hacker. This didn’t come easily for Damon, as he launched several products which made 0 revenue before hitting big with Testimonial. He’s also built some other fantastic products, such as embed.so and channel.so, as well as acquiring Supportman off fellow Indie Hacker Noah Bragg.

What we covered in this episode:
  • Damon's failed startup attempts
  • Why he builds for fun
  • Quitting his job and pivoting to Testimonial
  • Using code from other projects
  • How he went from 0 to 3k in 3 days
  • Damon's approach to validation
  • Growth tactics used to get to $13k MRR
  • Having other projects for fun (Embed and Channel)
  • Acquiring Supportman
  • Growing his Twitter to 30k
Recommendations
Follow Damon
Sponsor - PodQueue

This podcast is brought to you by PodQueue. Don't you hate when you find something you just want to bookmark and listen to later as a podcast, but there's no easy way to do it? Try PodQueue, and you can save audio from anywhere around the web and easily listen to it later in the podcast app you already use. PodQueue works with links from YouTube, Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, NPR, the BBC, and more! There’s a 15-day free trial, and it’s just $5 per month afterwards, with no credit card required at signup. Use promo code “INDIEBITES” at signup to get an extra month free!

👉 Try it here

Creators and Guests

Bootstrapping Testimonial to $13k MRR after many failed products - Damon Chen, Testimonial
Broadcast by