9 Things That Make Me $1.8M/Year

Pat (founder of Starter Story)

• Background and origin story
  • Built Starter Story as a side hustle while working a full-time 9-to-5 job.
  • Adopted deep work—distraction-free, focused sessions—to code, delegate, and ship progress daily.
  • Within 365 days of consistent deep work, launched a revenue-generating business and quit his job.
• Pivotal moments and turning points
  • Posted once on Reddit; the post gained traction and delivered roughly 1,000 email signups and the first customers.
  • Sent a 5-minute Loom video to a founder outlining email marketing and Klaviyo flows; the video was packaged as a paid resource and generated $220,000 in one day from pre-orders.

Products and Offerings

• Core product(s) and what each one does
  • Starter Story: a platform featuring founder stories and tools that help people build and launch businesses.
• Supporting tools, side projects, or experiments mentioned
  • Deep Work Academy: a community where members log deep work hours, share progress, and launch ideas.
  • Deep Work Checklist: a free, step-by-step guide to implementing effective deep work routines.

Metrics and Financials

• Revenue figures, user counts, and financial milestones
  • Klaviyo email and SMS list of 250,000–300,000 people.
  • Klaviyo generates an estimated $80,000–$120,000 per month on average.
  • Klaviyo costs about $4,000 per month to support email sends.
  • YouTube channel surpassed 100,000 subscribers in 2024.

Strategy and Growth

• Overall vision and positioning
  • Prioritize distribution and relationship-building over product features alone.
  • Use authentic, personal content to connect with real audiences and drive growth.
• Primary growth engine or method
  • YouTube as the central distribution channel to build trust and scale reach.
  • Reddit to acquire early customers by sharing genuinely helpful, non-spammy posts.
• Key tactics, channels, or strategic steps
  • Publish high-value Loom videos to teach, delegate, and monetize expertise quickly.
  • Implement robust email marketing flows, including welcome sequences and cart recovery, to convert and retain users.

Tech Stack and Infrastructure

• Tools, platforms, and technical approaches referenced
  • Loom for asynchronous communication, teaching, and feedback.
  • Klaviyo for email and SMS marketing automation.
  • Reddit for customer acquisition and community outreach.
  • YouTube for content distribution and brand building.
  • 16-inch MacBook Pro as the sole primary workstation for portability and power.
• Notable technical decisions, trade-offs, or architecture choices
  • Relies on a single laptop setup without external peripherals to maintain flexibility across locations.

Lessons and Advice

• Direct advice given to other founders
  • Protect focused time with deep work; block distractions and commit to daily progress.
  • Choose enjoyable, sustainable physical hobbies to maintain energy and avoid burnout.
  • Approach Reddit with empathy: avoid spam, study top posts, and iterate until you earn attention.
  • Invest in email marketing early; simple flows can yield outsized returns.
• Hard-won insights and key takeaways
  • Distribution and relationships often matter more than product polish.
  • Transparency about struggles and habits builds trust and credibility with audiences.
  • Small, consistent actions—like one Reddit post or one Loom video—can create life-changing outcomes.