How I Built It: $37K/Month Notion App

Julien Nahum

• Left a 9-to-5 software engineering job and built Notion Forms, a form builder for Notion users, into a micro-SaaS generating close to $37,000/month in recurring revenue
• Started the project while still employed, spending 3 hours a day commuting and using that time to work on side projects
• Built the initial MVP in just 6 days, launched it for free, and grew it to nearly 100,000 registered users before monetizing
• Now works as a solopreneur managing multiple passion projects while earning a doctor-level salary

Products and Offerings

• Notion Forms: A form builder that lets Notion users create and embed forms, with responses stored directly in Notion databases
• Built as a micro-SaaS on top of Notion’s existing ecosystem, leveraging its large, active user base

Metrics and Financials

• Close to $37,000/month in monthly recurring revenue
• Nearly 100,000 registered users
• Team includes 3 full-time and 1 part-time employee, with total salaries of $5,000/month (excluding Julien)
• Monthly operating costs: ~$1,000 for servers and SaaS tools, ~$3,000 on Google Ads, ~$2,000 on freelancers (designers, copywriters, developers)

Strategy and Growth

• Focused on solving his own problem as a long-time Notion user, which helped him deeply understand user needs
• Validated the idea by building a minimal MVP quickly and sharing it in Notion-focused communities
• Primary growth engine was a viral loop: users built forms with Notion Forms and shared them (e.g., embedded on websites), exposing new users to the product
• Launched in Notion-related subreddits and Facebook groups—communities full of passionate, early-adopter users
• Used Twitter strategically by engaging with relatable founders and builders to grow an audience over time
• Avoided over-investing in Product Hunt launches, noting they drove traffic but no direct sales

Tech Stack and Infrastructure

• Backend: PHP with Laravel framework (used consistently for 10 years for rapid development)
• Frontend: Vue.js with Next.js for fast page loads
• Database: PostgreSQL
• Hosting: AWS (familiar from prior work experience)
• Billing: Stripe for subscription management
• Analytics: Amplitude for tracking user behavior
• Support: Crisp for live chat; AI chatbot trained on docs and past conversations
• Error monitoring: Sentry
• Public roadmap & feedback: Featurebase
• AI tools: Recently adopted Cursor (AI-powered IDE) to accelerate development

Lessons and Advice

• Ship fast and get real user feedback early—don’t wait for perfection
• Solve your own problems first; if you’re the user, you’ll build a better product
• Talk to people outside your field to uncover automation opportunities
• Use existing platforms (like Notion) to tap into ready-made communities and reduce go-to-market friction
• Build virality into your product by making it valuable for users to share outputs (e.g., forms, widgets)
• Monetize gradually: add “Pro” labels early, then flip to paid with loyalty discounts for early users
• Subscription models are superior to one-time payments for predictable revenue
• Don’t be shy—share your work widely and often to validate demand
• Bias for action: start before you feel ready; momentum comes from doing, not planning
• Taking 6 months off to build a project is low-risk, especially for software engineers who can easily return to employment