How Diego Roshardt grew an AI SaaS to $17K MRR using only Reddit

Executive overview

Most founders assume audience-building on X, YouTube, or TikTok is a prerequisite for growth. Diego Roshardt reached $17K MRR in four months with 70 followers on X and no other social presence.

Reddit gave him 1 million impressions and 20K signups at zero ad spend. The key is structuring posts to provide value first — the product plug comes after.

Treat Reddit as a precision distribution channel, not a launch announcement board.

The app and how it started

• Appokimai generates mobile app UI designs using AI — described as "Cursor for mobile app design"
• Idea came from a personal pain: paying an Upwork designer hundreds of dollars per iteration
• MVP built in two weeks using Next.js, React, Firebase, and Cursor
• Started Reddit marketing immediately after launch; hit first $1K MRR from Reddit alone

Tech stack and margins

• Stack: Cursor (dev), Next.js + React, Firebase (auth + DB), Vercel (hosting)
• Monthly costs: ~$2.6K (AI API backends ~$2.5K, Vercel ~$40, Cursor ~$20)
• Overall margins: ~70%
• 1K+ paying customers; 20K+ signups; ~20K monthly site visitors

The Reddit marketing playbook

1. Become an active user first. Use Reddit daily before posting. Learn what performs well. A new or cold account gets auto-filtered — warm it up.

2. Build a large subreddit list. Volume matters. Use the Reddit Ads targeting tool (no spend required) — create a draft campaign, go to community targeting, search your niche, and collect recommendations. Go both broad and narrow.

3. Write value-first posts. Most Reddit marketing fails because posts feel like ads. Structure: catchy headline (no product mention) → value content (e.g. a case study or insight) → product plug embedded or linked at the end. Direct links drive more traffic than mentions; many subreddits allow them if value is provided first. For stricter subreddits, plug a complementary product alongside yours to reduce removal risk.

4. Cross-post to multiple subreddits. Post the same content across all relevant communities. Even 10 subreddits averaging 10K views each = 100K total views. One post hitting the front page can be a step-change.

5. Repeat and iterate. Test post formats: case studies, videos, tutorials. Post 2–3 times per week — more risks account bans.

What not to do on Reddit

• Mentioning the product in the headline signals self-promotion immediately
• Leading with features, benefits, and Discord links kills engagement
• People scroll Reddit for value, not product announcements

Lessons from building

• Solve problems in growing markets — not declining ones (newspapers) but expanding ones (AI coding tools)
• Spend meaningful time on marketing from day one — don't keep adding features no one asked for
• Speed is a solo founder's core advantage; use it
• Ship an MVP fast; validate before optimising
• Use established libraries and UI component libraries (e.g. Chakra UI) — AI tooling performs better on widely-used frameworks