Uku Taht
Uku Taht: How Plausible Analytics Hit $1M ARR by Selling Privacy, Not Data
Dec 2018: first line of code · May 2019: paid launch, $64 first-month MRR · Sep 2019: fully open source · Mar 2020: Marko Saric joins as co-founder · Jan 2021: $10K MRR · 2 Jun 2022: $1M ARR, 7,000+ paying subscribers, 50,000+ websites · 2026: 21,000+ paying subscribers, team of about 10
Uku Taht built Plausible Analytics because he disliked Google Analytics — then charged for the privacy Google gives away free. Three years after a $64 first month, it passed $1M ARR with zero ads and zero investors.
Hugh Howey
Hugh Howey: How a $0.99 Story Written on Lunch Breaks Became $150,000 a Month
July 2011: Wool published as a $0.99 KDP novella · Jan–Mar 2012: $19K → $50K → $70K a month · Summer 2012: 20,000–30,000 copies a month, $150,000 a month · Turned down two seven-figure advances · Print-only deal with Simon & Schuster · Wool became Apple TV+'s Silo (2023)
Hugh Howey wrote Wool on his lunch breaks at a bookstore and sold it for $0.99 on Amazon. Within a year it was earning $150,000 a month — and he turned down seven-figure book deals to keep his rights.
Pat Flynn
Pat Flynn: How a Laid-Off Architect Turned $19.95 Study Notes into a $2M-a-Year Business
Laid off June 2008 · LEED guide Oct 2008: 309 copies, $7,906.55 in month one · Peak month $321,642 (Jul 2017) · 2017 revenue $2.17M · Sold SPI to Liz Wilcox Apr 2026
Pat Flynn was laid off in June 2008. Four months later, his $19.95 LEED study guide earned $7,906.55 — and the public income reports that followed built Smart Passive Income into a $2.17M-a-year business he sold in 2026.
