How I Made My First $1,300 from a SaaS While Finishing High School

#programming #saas #startup #webdev

I'm 17. I made $1,300 from my SaaS in the first 30 days while juggling AP exams and college apps.

Not life-changing money. But it's proof that you don't need:

A tech accelerator
Months of planning
A perfect product
Even to be out of high school

You just need to move fast.

The Problem Most Founders Have

I see this constantly:

"I've been building my SaaS for 8 months"
"Just need a few more features before launch"
"Building in stealth mode"

These people are building the wrong thing. They just don't know it yet because they haven't talked to a customer.

Here's What Actually Works

Week 1: Validate BEFORE Building

I DMed 50+ people before writing a single line of code.

The script:

Hey [name],

Saw you're working on [their project].

Built [tool name] - basically [one sentence value prop].

Solves [specific pain point].

Interested in trying it when ready? Takes 2 min to set up.

Results: 50 DMs → 12 responses → 8 said yes → 5 became paying customers (from there rinse and repeat)

The key: Personal + specific + clear value + low commitment

Week 2-3: Build the Absolute Minimum

My SaaS v1:
YES - Basic memory storage (worked)
YES - Simple API (worked)

YES - Docs (existed)
NO - Dashboard (built manually first)
NO - Analytics (didn't exist for 2 weeks)
NO - Teams features (came way later)

Rule: If you can fake it or do it manually for the first 10 customers, fake it.

Week 4: Launch and Get Paid

Pre-launch (3 days before):

Posted tease on Twitter
DMed 15 interested people
Prepared Product Hunt assets

Launch day:

Posted on Product Hunt at 12:01am PT
Shared everywhere (Twitter, IH, relevant communities)
Responded to every comment in <15min

Results:

120 signups in first 3 days
15 converted to paid in first week
$225 MRR by Day 7
Hit $1.3k MRR by Day 30

What Didn't Work

1. Building features users didn't ask for
Spent 2 weeks on a dashboard. Only 3 people used it.

2. Underpricing
Started at $10/mo. Should've been $25/mo. When I raised it, nobody complained.

3. Trying to please everyone
Added niche features that bloated the product. Should've said no more.

The Full Playbook

I documented everything: the validation framework, DM scripts, MVP breakdown, pricing strategy, launch playbook, tools I use (~$100/mo total), and what to avoid.

Free download: https://1kfounderplaybook.framer.website/