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Igor Benić Profile picture
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Jan 17,, 73 tweets, 95 min read
I investigated a bit the success of Potion.so. Mostly because I am thinking of building in public. So let’s see how @noahwbragg is building in public and after only 10 months of opening the product to public, he went full-time. #buildinpublic
@noahwbragg This thread is really long, so if you want to see all his tweets on Potion, you can use this in the Twitter search (and replace YEAR-MONTH-DAY): (Potion OR SaaS OR Notion OR saas) (from:noahwbragg) until:YEAR-MONTH-DAYsince:YEAR-MONTH-DAY -filter:replies
@noahwbragg TL;DR (1 / 2) In short, here is what @noahwbragg does:

- Share ups and downs while building the product
- Uses YouTube to showcase features or talks about behind the scenes
- Showcasing how others are using Potion or what can be built with it
@noahwbragg TL;DR (2 / 2) If you’re interested in numbers, here they are:
- March: $100 MRR, 10 customers
- April: $300 MRR, 50 customers
- May: $500 MRR
- June: $1k MRR
- July: $2k MRR
- September: $3k MRR
- Last Known: $4,3k MRR
@noahwbragg On November 29th, 2020 he announced that he will start a new #SaaS business. In 24 hours, this tweet will get him 1,400 new followers!

@noahwbragg @noahwbragg and @digitaltrouble have a podcast. This made it perfect to share how both of them progress with their products. Podcasting is also an interesting channel to use when building in public. So, the idea of Potion was discussed there.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble On December 2nd, 2020, the product was named Potion. Noah created a short video on buying the domain for his new SaaS.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble Noah shares how he will get the data from Notion and which API he decided to use. This is also shared in a short video where you can see him thinking of the infrastructure.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble 3 days after he showed the infrastructure, he finally picked up the Potion Logo! He used shapefactory.co @shapefactoryco

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco On December 14th, 2020 he created a waitlist. The interesting thing here is that the page was built using Potion so people can already see that in action and working.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco A day after, he is already showing the login and signup screens working!

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco Then, he is also showing how he uses Typescript for Potion and talks about issues with it.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco Right before Christmas, he is showing his first Notion site hosted on Potion :)

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco At the start of 2021, he is showing how we created the waitlist on Notion and Potion. Again, showing how his product is working on a real use case.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco Throughout January of 2021 he shared several short videos on how some of the features worked. All of those tweets have at least 1 reply and a few likes. Some even have retweets. It shows the product progressing and it is building trust in the product.
@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco He even shared that he was in contact with Notion just to be clear his product Potion is not in conflict with some of their policies.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco Want to check all his videos in January? I had to cut it off as the thread is already long and we are just starting. Inside of twitter search bar enter this: (Potion OR SaaS OR Notion OR saas) (from:noahwbragg) until:2021-01-31 since:2021-01-01 -filter:replies
@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco Let’s move to February, the month when the early access was launched! That was shared on the @IndieHackers Potion page: indiehackers.com/product/potion…
@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers In February, he shared how he was able to update the Potion site as soon as you change the content in Notion. I actually asked him how he did that. So clever!

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers He asks the public what he should focus on when writing copy for the Potion landing page.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers Once more, showing how he is using Potion to build the landing page of the product :)

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers After the launch, he explains his thoughts behind the copy and layout. This is really interesting to see. I always have a hard time working on copy when it’s for my own products.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers Did you know what Potion uses for rendering Notion pages? Well, no need to think too much. He shared that as well! It’s the react-notion-x package from @transitive_bs

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs We are moving to March 2020. In this month Potion got its first 10 customers and reached $100 MRR. You can read that on @IndieHackers Potion page: indiehackers.com/product/potion
@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs Marketing is really important and really hard to do when you’re the only one working on it. He shares some of his ideas.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs A first custom template was introduced for Potion built by @digitaltrouble.
The demo is still live on skyblog.potion.so

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs As first customers are coming in March, Noah was focused on promoting the sites of their customers and showcasing how Potion is used. Example:

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs He also shows commitment! A work retreat just for Potion where he takes 2 days off from work and family and focus on a big feature. This is big in building trust!

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs Did you know that in April of 2020, Potion already had 50 customers!? Check @IndieHackers Potion page: indiehackers.com/product/potion
@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs In April, Potion already surpassed his previous SaaS product. At the beginning of April, it got to $300 MRR.
@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs Potion shipped a new feature in April, and that was the style live editor.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs Noah then creates a bit longer video than the one before where he talks how we built the style live editor.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs Testimonials are really important. Here, Noah shares what a customer of his has shared regarding Potion.
@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs Noah built a showcase of several sites that are built with Potion and then he talks how he did that using Potion as well.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs Here is a thread you can read about his strategy on launching Potion on @ProductHunt

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt At the end of April, he shared the number of 50 customers and how he thinks it can get to 100 for sure. This got lots of replies and likes.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt At the beginning of May 2021, he shared that he has reached $500 MRR.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt It’s not always perfect and sometimes bugs will happen with your product. Noah shares even that.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt Noah shared that 50% of users on trial, cancel their plan. But no problem, he has a plan and in this thread he is explaining how he thinks to solve that.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt And here is the video on how he is tackling to have better conversions from trial to paid.
@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt You should definitely leverage YouTube as a channel to showcase your product.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt And in May, along several videos on Potion features, he created 50 videos on how he grew up to $555 MRR

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt On May 24th, 2021, he launched Potion on ProductHunt. It reached as #3 Product of the month of May. And at the time of writing this, it had 1,641 upvotes.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt In the June of 2021, Potion reached $1k MRR!

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt Noah shared some ProductHunt metrics as well

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt Potion gets some new features in June. And this time it is related to indexing your Potion site for SEO.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt Podcasts are another great way to introduce your product to another audience. Here Noah talks about his launch on Product Hunt.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt Having a public roadmap can also build more trust and also get the existing customers a look at the future features.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt Another techy video on how he updates sites on Potion. A little bit of cron ;)

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt In July of 2021, Potion reached another mark. It has hit the $2k MRR.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt Getting feedback after a customer cancels their plan, can really help you make a better product for existing customers. Here Noah shares how he does that and what he gets as feedback.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt And Noah is also investing money into Potion by hiring his friend @digitaltrouble
Sometimes hiring someone, even for a short time, can really help!

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt New features built in August of 2021! He shares the plan to create menu items. Here is a sketch of it as well.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt It seems that for Potion, affiliates are not bringing too much traffic. Noah asks others how they would build their affiliate programmes.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt Another techy video on the infrastructure and how to handle domains and subdomains.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt And here is how he has done it on Potion to increase activation rates:

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt In August he even live streamed his coding of password protected sites on Potion!

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt In September of 2021, Potion has reached $3k MRR!!

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt Also, Potion raised prices of the monthly plans but the conversions haven’t slowed down. Probably because the change was not a big one. Somewhere around $2 difference if I remember correctly.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt In October of 2021, the menu builder feature was launched!

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt When building a SaaS, sometimes there will be outages as well (we are all on servers :D). Noah talks about that.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt Almost 1000 sites in October of 2021! That’s only 8 months after the early access launch!

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt And as a great site builder, Potion gives you the ability to add custom code on your site (scripts or styles).

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt Noah started a community in November of 2021 which has risen to 550 members in 2 days.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt At the end of November of 2021, he also hosted a workshop so people can follow along and build a notion site using Potion
@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt December has not started great for Noah. Has a scammer creating new accounts with new credit cards.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt Noah also announced in December that he is going full-time on Potion! A 2 weeks notice has been given. Good luck Noah! :) From a side project to a full-time gig in 10 months!

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt Potion will try to become even faster! Notion API can be slow sometimes. So caching is important!

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt Refunds will happen and when working on a product you love, it might hurt a bit more. But we as product makers, most of the time, don’t have time to battle such stuff. We need to focus on customers that use our product!

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt Noah decided to also add a yearly plan to have better churns.

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt Noah talks about adding @usefathom to Potion for analytics!

@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt @usefathom All the best @noahwbragg with @potion_so! I hope 2022 will bring you up to $10k MRR! Looking forward to seeing new features being pushed and what else is possible with Notion!
@noahwbragg @digitaltrouble @shapefactoryco @IndieHackers @transitive_bs @ProductHunt @usefathom @potion_so Dear Twitter user, did you really read the whole thread?! Thankful for that! Hope you learned something on how building in public is done.

And if you’re interested in another building in public story, follow me as I am starting to build my first SaaS product really soon :)

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More from @igorbenic

Igor Benić Profile picture
Jan 17,
In ~6 hours, I'll publish a set of 60 tweets about how @noahwbragg built @potion_so and went full-time. Before that, do know that he is also a co-host of the podcast @pjourneypod with @digitaltrouble. Here is a list of episodes that mention Potion! Chronologically. #buildinpublic
"Coming to the Idea for Potions"
share.transistor.fm/s/22e9f619

"Simplifying Goal Tracking"
share.transistor.fm/s/0cf65200

"Feeling Overwhelmed"
share.transistor.fm/s/4545914a

"Many Open Threads"
share.transistor.fm/s/6b7fb4b5

"Launching Early Access"
share.transistor.fm/s/e0fb4b85
"Dealing with Competition"
share.transistor.fm/s/79fd258f

"Getting the value of Twitter"
share.transistor.fm/s/d112b0fa

"Stair Stepping Back"
share.transistor.fm/s/400962cd

"How the last 6 months have felt"
share.transistor.fm/s/be24e6ad

"Finding Channels and Getting Coins"
share.transistor.fm/s/42afecde
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