Four SaaS apps to $100K MRR: Tibo's 12-step playbook

Executive overview

Most builders fail because they keep adding features instead of talking to users. Tibo (Thibaut) built four separate SaaS products each exceeding $100K MRR by doing the uncomfortable work: daily conversations with real users until retention is proven, then scaling distribution.

The playbook runs in two phases — build stickiness first (steps 1–8), then go broad on acquisition (steps 9–12).

The core insight: shipping fast is worthless without daily user conversation to find the real pain.

The 12-step playbook

1. Build the MVP in days or weeks — use no-code tools, skip non-essentials, expect a 90% failure rate and compress it.
2. Find 5–10 people who are your exact target audience and reach out directly.
3. Build a real relationship with each — understand their workflow and core pain deeply.
4. Talk to them every single day; route your support link to your Twitter DMs until $10K MRR.
5. Understand the user's ultimate goal — how far can you go in helping them achieve it?
6. Fix users' problems, not yours — use your own product so you feel the pain firsthand.
7. Iterate and maintain the constant relationship; social media keeps you visible to daily feature requests.
8. Repeat until users cannot live without the product — do not go broad with acquisition until retention and stickiness are solid.
9. Go broad: try every acquisition channel (Product Hunt, socials, build-in-public) to find what works.
10. Become a media company — build a content engine: case studies, testimonials, industry commentary.
11. Scale sustainable channels — SEO, paid ads, and affiliate programs can compound indefinitely once working.
12. Scale what works, kill what doesn't — each product ultimately grows from one or two channels; go all-in on those.

Tibo's current portfolio

• Revid.ai — AI video creation tool; ~$400K/month, growing 10% month-over-month.
• Outrank — SEO and blog content SaaS; grew from $0 to $200K/month, now all-in-one SEO tool.
• SuperX — audience growth tool for X; ~$13K/month.
• Postsyncher — cross-platform social posting tool; ~$1.5K/month.
• Feather — Notion-to-blog publishing tool; acquired for $250K, ~$10K/month.
• Combined: ~$700K/month, ~50K paying customers, growing ~20% per month for six consecutive months.

Why a portfolio instead of one product

• Fear of platform risk: Elon's Twitter takeover nearly killed Tweet Hunter at $200K/month.
• Multiple products create resilience — if one is disrupted by AI or platform changes, the business survives.
• Driven by family responsibilities, not growth ideology.

The one thing most builders get wrong

• Developers are naturally shy; they default to building features instead of talking to people.
• Talking to users every day is the uncomfortable thing that separates those who succeed from those who don't.
• Being a user of your own product makes you dramatically more accurate in diagnosing the real problem.