Hitting $35k MRR after struggling to make money online for four years

Jack Friks spent three years trying to earn money online before finally learning to code. Then, he spent another year trying to grow his first app. He thought he was a failure until finally, a new idea gained traction.

Now, Post Bridge is bringing in $35k MRR.

Here's Jack on how he did it. 👇

Trying everything

Six years ago, I dropped out of my last semester of college to make money online. I didn't want to work a traditional job. I wanted to be in control of my daily schedule and my work. I realized I would be a miserable employee.

So, I tried everything:

• Print-on-demand T-shirt designs

• Affiliate marketing blog posts

• YouTube videos — 2000+ videos in under two years

• Crypto — I made money and lost it all

Finally, three years ago, I decided to learn to code and build my own apps.

Most of my focus currently goes into Post Bridge, a social media scheduling tool for small teams, featuring agent-friendly workflows. I launched it one and a half years ago, and it generates $50k CAD ($35K USD) MRR. In the last six months, I doubled the MRR after an eight-month plateau.

TikTok validation

For my first app — not Post Bridge — I validated it on TikTok before building it. ChatGPT created mockup images, then I made a TikTok saying, "What if you could do X?" Three people commented, wanting an app like it. So I made it.

From there, I made videos nearly daily explaining the idea and showing my progress. By the time I was ready to launch, I had 4,000 people following me across TikTok and Instagram, ready to try the app! And on launch day, a few people bought it — even though it sucked really badly.

I kept making daily update videos on YouTube, IG, and TikTok to market it, but eventually the hype stopped because the app wasn't valuable or good enough.

Three months before Post Bridge's creation, I was on a walk with my now-fiancée and I broke down crying. I thought I was a failure. I had been trying to make money online for four years. I had spent a year learning to code. And I was still struggling to break $3k/mo.

But then, I lucked out. In an attempt to grow my first mobile app, I was posting multiple TikToks daily, then cross-posting them to four other platforms — all manually. This didn't scale, so I made an API-based scheduling solution.

I shared it on Twitter, and despite my lack of followers, it blew up — many others wanted it too!

Building the product

Knowing that people eagerly awaited its release was a huge motivation for me. It helped me work long days for a month — and it didn't feel like work. It was quite fun and exciting, even when everything was breaking.

I built Post Bridge from scratch in about a month. It only worked on a few initial platforms — a fraction of what I support now. It cost me nothing except time to build. Now that I have users, costs are between $100 and $200 per month.

I did it all alone, and I still do. The only exception is some contractors I hired a while back to clean a few things up.

My tech stack includes Next.js and a simple backend hosted separately for the API with Unkey + Supabase. I now use R2 for storage because Supabase egress costs were about $1,000 a month and growing (R2 is zero, which is nice).

Early on, I faced significant challenges: I was frequently attacked and DDoS'd because Post Bridge was public. Additionally, some people took issue with my success as a new coder.

Since then, I have learned a lot, adding rate limits, enhanced security, and monitors for these issues, plus Vercel WAF.

No free plans

I first make every app for myself, then I price it and release it.

I've learned not to offer free plans. Instead, I rely on hard paywalls or credit card-based free trials to generate revenue. One exception is a mobile app that generated significant revenue, which is freemium (Lovelee Couples App).

Charge for your product. Don't fear low sales. This filters out noise and forces you to provide real value, which is essential for success! It's a very good thing!

Building in public

For growth, I post my thoughts on X, and I make videos on TikTok and Instagram. I also created dev logs on YouTube for a year.

I post new features, but those quickly become stale and bloated, so I often find new ways to articulate core concepts or showcase existing features. For example, I created a TikTok format and reused it 300 times, modifying parts until views declined, which brought over 30,000 downloads to one of my mobile apps.

This all helped me explain what I do and its interest and value to others. People connect better with other people than with AI-generated content or ads. And it allowed me to build a Twitter following related to my SaaS niche — though the following grew mostly after the success, not before.

Just keep going

My biggest challenge was always finding daily wins during dark or hard times.

It's easy to keep going with existing momentum or routine. In fact, my daily videos became such a deep part of my routine that I even made them on vacations. But then some days, you wake up and doubt you'll ever make it.

Especially as you feel the pressure of savings running out. It's hard to stay optimistic. It's hard to believe in yourself.

Sorry, I have no golden wisdom here. Just keep going.

Looking up to others

Having others to look up to helped me a lot. It helps you to see what's possible.

Marc Lou inspired me, and Pietr Levels inspired him. It's the chain of knowing what's possible.

Books-wise, The Almanack of Naval Ravikant was a game-changer for me. I have deeply internalized this book since I was 18

Follow your curiosity

My advice? Follow your curiosity and interests instead of what is trending or the best business market to enter.

If you don't enjoy your work, your chances of success are slim. People who enjoy their work don't feel like they're working, which helps them persist and go further — even with limited resources.

Beyond that, take it one day at a time and be grateful you are alive.

And KEEP GOING!

What's next?

From here, I want to keep being myself while making more money and becoming more optimistic about the future.

You can follow along on X and my personal website. And check out Post Bridge.