AI Summary
5 min readMatt, a senior software engineer on Meta’s AI team, built a golf tournament management app called Live Tourney Golf that reached $30,000–$40,000 in monthly revenue (roughly $350k ARR, trending toward an $800k run rate). The episode follows his decision about whether to leave a stable, high-paying job to go all in on his business. The conversation covers how he found the idea, how he built it while employed, the tradeoffs of dual-career life, and the eventual choice to quit.
The Idea Came From a Real, Personal Frustration
Matt played in tournaments at his local golf course and noticed the scoring software they used, Golf Genius, was both too complicated and too expensive for the course staff. He asked the pro why they weren’t using it and heard exactly that complaint. That gap—a product that was overbuilt and overpriced for the actual customer—was his opportunity. He built a simpler, cheaper alternative for his own course’s first event about four years ago. The tech stack is straightforward: a web app built with Next.js on the front end and Google Firebase for the back end. Players scan a QR code on their scorecard, land on a live leaderboard, enter scores by hole, and see real-time updates as other groups finish. It’s a narrow, focused solution to a concrete problem Matt understood firsthand.
Building While at a Full-Time Job Requires Obsession and Time Management
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:29) **The Setup: A $30K/Month SaaS vs. a Meta Job** - Pat introduces Matt, a senior software engineer at Meta who built Live Tourney, a golf tournament SaaS making ~$30K/month. The central question of the episode: should he stay or quit?
- 2 (02:54) **How the Idea Was Born: Pain Points at a Local Golf Course** - Matt explains the origin story: playing in local tournaments, seeing the existing solution (Golf Genius) was too expensive and complex for the pro shop.
- 3 (03:22) **Tech Stack & Live Demo of the App** - Matt gives a quick tour of the web app (Next.js frontend, Google Firebase backend). Pat asks for a live demo showing the QR code, scorecard entry, and real-time leaderboard.
- 4 (04:14) **The Hard Decision: Financial Security vs. Chasing the Dream** - Pat asks about the emotional conflict. Matt’s AI team role at Meta is lucrative, but he feels the pull to go all-in on his own company.
- 5 (05:45) **The Tipping Point: Why Both Jobs Are No Longer Sustainable** - Matt’s strategy was always to do both, but the workload is now unsustainable. He wakes up at 6 AM and works late nights, and it’s taking a toll.
- 6 (08:23) **Advice for Building a SaaS While Working Full-Time** - Matt shares his key tactic: dedicated time blocks, specifically waking up early (6-9 AM) to get work done before his Meta day starts.
- 7 (09:41) **The Fulfillment of Seeing Your Product in the Wild** - Matt reflects on the emotional reward of seeing strangers use his software at a golf course, calling it a “complete brain shift” compared to his corporate work.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
I traveled to Los Angeles to meet a guy who built a $30K/month golf app while he had a full-time job at a big tech company.
But now he's facing a big decision: should he stay at his full-time job and keep building on the side? Or is it finally time to go all-in on his business?
In this video, you will learn the incredible story behind how he built this successful business and by the end... you'll find out whether he stayed or quit!
*190+ Micro-SaaS Ideas Making Millions:* https://clickhubspot.com/58ys
Follow Matt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-robinson-543b2678/
Check out Live Tourney: https://www.livetourney.com/
🔔 Follow the Second Channel: @StarterStoryBuild
🏁 We're hiring: starterstory.com/jobs
Chapters:
Chapters
- 00:00:00 Stay or quit?
- 00:00:43 Arrival!
- 00:01:02 Meet Matt
- 00:01:25 Business breakdown
- 00:01:43 Career life
- 00:02:13 Improve Pat’s swing!
- 00:02:47 Idea and build
- 00:03:32 How the app works
- 00:04:12 Is this a dumb decision?
- 00:04:40 Go build something!
- 00:05:44 What’s the plan?
- 00:06:55 The inflection point
- 00:07:40 Back against the wall
- 00:08:28 How to build with a full-time job
- 00:09:42 What it feels to build a successful app
- 00:10:30 Takeaways and reflections
- 00:11:31 The final decision!
- 00:12:08 Leaving the job
- 00:12:43 A family decision
- 00:13:18 What’s next?
- 00:14:42 Wrap up
This video is an educational case study of this founder’s experience. It is not financial advice and does not guarantee any income or results. Every business is different and your results may vary.
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