Stats
Aggregate analysis of 3554 startup case studies.
By Category
| Name | Count | Avg MRR |
|---|
| SaaS | 2191 | $397k |
| Content | 206 | $55k |
| Marketplace | 185 | $245k |
| Agency | 181 | $98k |
| Hardware | 115 | $1516k |
| Tool | 25 | $28k |
| Community | 14 | $2k |
| Plugin | 10 | $335k |
| API | 10 | $342k |
| Service | 5 | - |
| e-Commerce | 3 | $232k |
| Platform | 3 | - |
| Course | 3 | - |
| Product | 2 | - |
| E-commerce | 2 | - |
| eCommerce | 1 | - |
| Membership | 1 | - |
| Media/Marketplace | 1 | - |
| Media | 1 | - |
| Manufacturing | 1 | - |
| Healthcare | 1 | - |
| Fintech | 1 | - |
| Education | 1 | - |
| Ecommerce | 1 | - |
| E-Commerce | 1 | - |
By Traction Pattern
| Name | Count | Avg MRR |
|---|
| word-of-mouth | 632 | $300k |
| content-marketing | 385 | $290k |
| enterprise-direct-sales | 365 | $1087k |
| product-led-growth | 270 | $383k |
| partnerships | 215 | $301k |
| seo | 110 | $177k |
| cold-email | 106 | $114k |
| paid-ads | 90 | $247k |
| community | 84 | $48k |
| product-hunt-launch | 79 | $42k |
| viral | 64 | $127k |
| platform-parasitic | 46 | $246k |
| influencer-marketing | 3 | $500k |
| direct-sales | 3 | $3k |
| affiliate-marketing | 3 | $92k |
| social-media | 2 | - |
| product-launch | 2 | $10k |
| bootstrapped | 2 | $500k |
| acquisitions | 2 | - |
| trade shows | 1 | $300k |
| speaking-engagements | 1 | - |
| media-partnerships | 1 | - |
| media-driven | 1 | $7k |
| media-coverage | 1 | - |
| bootstrapped-organic | 1 | - |
| agency-to-product | 1 | - |
| account-based-marketing | 1 | - |
By Pricing Model
| Name | Count | Avg MRR |
|---|
| subscription | 1376 | $380k |
| freemium | 211 | $454k |
| usage-based | 171 | $236k |
| one-time | 168 | $689k |
| free | 89 | $117k |
| commission | 8 | $13k |
| revenue-share | 2 | - |
| commission-based | 2 | - |
| transaction | 1 | $40k |
| mixed | 1 | $2k |
| income-share-agreement | 1 | - |
| hybrid | 1 | $20k |
| consumption-based | 1 | $140k |
By Source
| Name | Count |
|---|
| Nathan Latka Podcast | 1365 |
| How I Built This | 419 |
| The SaaS Podcast | 314 |
| My First Million | 288 |
| Failory | 235 |
| Tropical MBA | 223 |
| SaaStr Podcast | 212 |
| Indie Hackers Podcast | 190 |
| Startups For the Rest of Us | 135 |
| Lennys Podcast | 109 |
| The Bootstrapped Founder | 56 |
| Indie Hackers | 8 |
By Inspiration Type
| Name | Count |
|---|
| own-pain | 1652 |
| market-gap | 445 |
| existing-tool-frustration | 318 |
| side-project | 57 |
| agency-to-product | 32 |
| trend-riding | 21 |
| pivot | 1 |
| open-source-to-product | 1 |
| community | 1 |