How I Built A $1M Business in 117 Days

Key Concepts

Bootstrapping
Build in Public
Product-Led Growth (PLG)
AI Agents
Viral Marketing
MVP (Minimum Viable Product)
ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue)

Yaser's Journey: From 0 to $6.8M ARR with Chatbase

Introduction

The video features an interview with Yaser, the founder of Chatbase, who shares his journey of building the company from zero to $6.8 million ARR in just two and a half years, starting with only 16 followers on Twitter. He discusses his strategies for achieving rapid growth, leveraging AI, and building in public.

Origin Story and Inspiration

Yaser was inspired by the bootstrapping movement on X (formerly Twitter), observing figures like Peter Levels and Danny Postma.
He realized that while many were demonstrating the capabilities of building a "chat GPT for your data," no one was productizing it.
He launched Chatbase as a side project during his final year of university, initially with no validation, driven by the fear of someone else executing the idea first.
The initial viral moment and subsequent sales convinced him to drop out of university and focus on Chatbase full-time.

The Viral Tweet Breakdown

Yaser attributes his initial success to a viral tweet, dissecting its key elements:

Familiar Interface: Mimicking the streaming text interface of chat GPT, which was trending at the time, made the demo instantly recognizable and engaging.
Minimized Time to "Aha" Moment: The demo quickly showcased the core functionality of Chatbase within the first 20 seconds.
Strategic Tool Mentions: By mentioning the AI tools he used (Langchain, Pinecone), he incentivized those companies to promote his product, creating a viral loop. These companies were eager to showcase real-world applications of their new AI technologies.

Build in Public Playbook

Yaser shares his insights on building in public:

Consistency: Share your progress daily. Initial months may yield little engagement, but it's crucial for building a brand and story.
Video Content: Creating and posting videos on X helps stand out due to lower competition.
Framing: Position your updates as a journey of building and learning.
Personality: Be personal, share your story, and express controversial opinions (if genuine) to attract attention.

Scaling to $1 Million ARR in 117 Days

Yaser details how Chatbase reached $1 million ARR in under four months:

Consistent Launches: Frame every new feature release as a new launch to capture the attention of new audiences.
Creative Viral Marketing: He created free chat GPT versions for books in relevant subreddits to increase domain authority and attract potential customers. He also did this for influencers like Paul Graham and Naval Ravikant.
Sponsored Posts: Utilize sponsored posts on platforms like LinkedIn to reach a wider audience. One sponsored post generated $4,000 in revenue.

Business Metrics and Product-Led Growth

Chatbase currently stands at $6.8 million ARR.
The company has over 10,000 paying customers, with subscriptions ranging from $40 to $500 per month.
Registered users are around 600,000.
Product-Led Growth (PLG): Chatbase employs a PLG strategy, relying on a simple landing page with a Stripe payment button. Marketing efforts are focused outside the website. The core feature is uploading a PDF and interacting with it.
MVP Focus: Emphasizes the importance of a good UI, minimal bugs, and a high-quality MVP.

Building with AI Agents

Yaser provides guidance on building with AI agents:

Leverage Official Resources: Study OpenAI's cookbooks and documentation, as well as Versel's AI SDK.
Identify Bottlenecks: Focus on projects where the primary limitation is the AI model's intelligence. Bet on future advancements in AI capabilities (e.g., GPT-5) to gain a head start.
First-Mover Advantage: Yaser highlights how being early to the market with Chatbase, before the chat GPT API was widely available, allowed him to capitalize on the API's launch and gain significant traction.

Tech Stack

Hosting: Versel
AI Infrastructure: Versel AI SDK
Database: Supabase
AI Models: OpenAI, Anthropic, Coher, Google Gemini, Groq (users can select their preferred model)
Billing: Stripe
Affiliates: Dub
Documentation: Mentlify

Key Learnings and Advice

No Blueprint: There's no single formula for building a successful business. Experiment with different approaches to company culture, performance reviews, and work arrangements.
Trust Your Gut: While advice from experienced individuals is valuable, ultimately, you know your situation best.
Think Bigger: Yaser advises his younger self to aim higher and be more aggressive in pursuing ambitious goals. He initially limited his vision due to concerns about Chatbase being perceived as "just a chat GPT wrapper."

Conclusion

Yaser's story demonstrates that significant success is achievable even without a large initial audience. By focusing on building a valuable product, leveraging viral marketing, and continuously iterating, Chatbase grew rapidly to become a multi-million dollar business. His emphasis on building in public, experimenting with AI technologies, and trusting one's own judgment provides valuable insights for aspiring entrepreneurs.