AI Summary
5 min readAndre Hacker Jr. built a cold email SaaS called Litskit from zero to $1 million in annual recurring revenue in 87 days, and to $200,000 in monthly recurring revenue within about a year. The critical detail is that he did not start by writing code. Instead, he launched a "productized service" — a manual, human-fulfilled version of the software — to generate revenue, prove demand, and fund actual product development. That initial phase nearly bankrupt him, and the project was on the verge of collapse until a new co-founder stepped in to build the real product. The result is a business with 1,500 paying customers and a team of roughly 40 people, operating on a lean cost structure that depends on international talent and a co-founder team with complementary skills.
The Productized Service Bridge
Hacker's central strategic insight is that building a SaaS with no capital is nearly impossible unless you start with a productized service. This is a business that looks like a SaaS to the customer — they visit a website, place an order, and pay a monthly fee — but behind the scenes, the work is done manually by humans. For Litskit, that meant manually building lead lists for customers within 24 hours, using the same process Hacker's agency already used for its own clients.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (01:26) **The 87-Day Million-Dollar SaaS Launch** - Andre Hacker Jr. introduces his company, Listskit, a cold-email lead generation SaaS that went from zero to $1M ARR in 87 days.
- 2 (02:55) **The Numbers Breakdown: MRR, Pricing, and Team Cost** - Andre shares the current financial metrics of Listskit, which is approaching $200k in MRR with over 1,500 paying customers.
- 3 (04:27) **The Entrepreneurial Journey: From Agency to SaaS** - Andre traces his path from starting a lead-gen agency at 16 to building a coaching program, which ultimately funded his failed first attempt at building Listskit.
- 4 (05:18) **The "Productized Service" Strategy** - Andre explains the core model of starting with a manual service that looks like a SaaS on the front end, which is the key to bootstrapping without venture capital.
- 5 (08:56) **The Low Point and the Relaunch** - After the failed first build, Andre was ready to quit until a student from his coaching program, Oliver, stepped in as a new co-founder and CTO to rebuild the software from scratch.
- 6 (09:58) **The Launch: Zero to $1M ARR in 87 Days** - The successful launch was fueled by an existing, engaged audience that had been following the company's rollercoaster story from day one.
- 7 (11:14) **Growth Engines: Cold Email, Ads, and Content** - Andre details the three primary channels that scaled Listskit from zero to over $2M in revenue.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
I Built A $1M SaaS In 87 Days
This is the breakdown of how Andre Haykal Jr. Built and grew a software app to over $1M/year in just 87 days.
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---------- Keywords: online business, tech business, startup journey, entrepreneur stories, startup founder
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