Latest / The Indie Hacker Podcast with Fexingo: Solo Developers, SaaS Side Projects, and Independent Tech / How One Solo Dev Built a SaaS on a Public Trello Board
Transcript
- Lucas: So there is a solo developer named Mike — I am not using his full name because he actually prefers to stay somewhat low-key — who decided to build his entire SaaS product on a public Trello board. Every card, every list, every checkbox visible to anyone with the link. Luna: Wait, like his entire product development process? Not just a public roadmap, but the actual behind the scenes work? Lucas: Exactly that. He had a Trello board with columns like 'Backlog', 'In Progress', 'Testing', 'Launched', and 'Failed Experiments'. And he shared it on Twitter and Reddit from day one. No landing page, no email list — just a link to a free Trello board and a note saying 'I am building this thing, watch me.' Luna: That is either incredibly brave or a little naive. Did he have any users before launch? Lucas: That is the wild part. By the time he launched his MVP — which took about six weeks — he had over 300 people following the board. Those followers had already left feedback on card comments, voted on feature priorities, and even submitted bug reports before there was a product to install. So when he finally put up a pricing page, he had a built-in audience that felt invested. Luna: So it is almost like pre-selling development itself. People felt like they were part of the creation process. Lucas: Exactly. And not only did they feel part of it, they also felt a sense of ownership. He told me that within the first month of launch, he had 15 paying customers — and 12 of them were active commenters on the Trello board. They had been watching the product evolve, they knew exactly what they were getting, and they trusted that he would keep improving it because they saw the pipeline. Luna: So transparency built trust. But did he share everything? Like revenue numbers, pricing decisions, even mistakes? Lucas: He shared a lot. He had a card called 'Revenue Tracker' that he updated every week. It was just a simple list with dates and amounts. He also had a card for 'Pricing Experiments' where he tried different price points and wrote down the conversion rate for each. And he had a card called 'Dumb Things I Did' where he logged launches that flopped or features that nobody used. Luna: That is incredibly vulnerable. I can see how that would attract a certain type of customer who appreciates honesty. But are there risks? Like competitors copying his roadmap? Lucas: Big risk. And he thought about it. His approach was to share the 'what' and the 'why', but not the implementation details. So he would post a card like 'Build a Zapier integration' with notes like 'Users want to connect to their email tool' — but he did not put the code or the API endpoints there. He also intentionally delayed sharing things that were competitive advantages until they were already built. Luna: So there is a strategy to it. It is not just broadcasting everything blindly. He curated what to share. Lucas: Right. And he also used the board to gauge demand. Before coding a feature, he would add a card and ask followers to vote with a thumbs-up. If a card got fewer than ten votes in two weeks, he would archive it. That saved him from building things nobody wanted. Luna: That is essentially free market research. And it builds anticipation too. People see a feature on the board and think 'Oh, that is coming soon, I will wait for it.' Lucas: Exactly. And the board became a source of content. He would tweet screenshots of new cards, write threads about what he learned from a failed experiment, or share a milestone like 'Revenue crossed $1,000 this month.' That content drove more people to the board, which created a flywheel. Luna: What was the product? I am curious about the niche. Lucas: It is a tool for freelance designers to manage client feedback on design files. Basically, clients leave comments on a shared canvas, and the tool organizes them into a list. Not a huge market, but very specific pain point. He charges $19 a month for the solo plan, $49 for teams. As of last month, he is at about 50K ARR, all bootstrapped, all solo. Luna: So roughly 100 to 150 customers, depending on the plan mix. That is impressive for ten months of work. And he did it without spending a dollar on ads. Lucas: Zero ad spend. All organic from Twitter, Reddit, and word of mouth from the Trello board itself. He also wrote a few guest posts for design blogs, but the board was the primary driver. People love seeing a product being built in real time. Luna: It reminds me of the whole 'build in public' movement, but most people just share on Twitter or a blog. Using Trello feels more structured and interactive. It is like an open source product management tool. Lucas: Exactly. And he told me that the board also served as his own task manager. He did not need a separate tool for his own planning — the public board was his system. He just had a private card for things like taxes and passwords that he did not share. Luna: That is meta. His SaaS is about feedback management, and he used a public board to build it. So he ate his own dog food, in a way. Lucas: He did. And I think that authenticity resonated with his audience. They saw that he was using the same kind of transparent, organized process that his tool would eventually enable. Luna: What would you say is the biggest lesson for other solo developers from his story? Lucas: That you do not need a polished website or a big marketing budget to start building an audience. Just show the work. A simple, public board can be more effective than a landing page because it invites participation. People want to feel like they are part of the journey, not just a transaction. Luna: And it lowers the barrier to feedback. Users can comment without signing up for yet another beta platform. They just need a Trello account. Lucas: Right. And the feedback is contextual. When someone comments on a card about a specific feature, you know exactly what they are talking about. No vague emails. Luna: I imagine there were moments when he felt exposed or discouraged. Did he talk about that? Lucas: He did. He said the hardest part was when a feature he spent two weeks building got only three thumbs-up and zero paying users. He had to archive it publicly, which felt like admitting failure. But he said that transparency also helped him move on quickly, because his followers respected the honesty and even encouraged him to try the next thing. Luna: So the public board became a kind of accountability partner too. He could not hide failures, so he had to learn from them and show progress. Lucas: Exactly. And that kept him motivated. He knew people were watching, so he kept shipping. He told me that on days he felt like quitting, he would look at the board and see comments from users saying 'Can't wait for this feature' or 'This tool saved me hours this week.' That kept him going. Luna: It is a beautiful example of how community can sustain a solo founder. And it is replicable — anyone with a Trello board and a willingness to be open can try this. Lucas: Absolutely. And you do not even need Trello. You could use Notion, a public GitHub repo, a wiki — whatever works. The principle is the same: show the process, invite input, and build in the open. Luna: I want to ask about the downside. Has he ever had someone steal his idea or undercut him? Lucas: He said there was one instance where a developer in India launched a very similar tool with a different name, but it got no traction because the developer did not build a community around it. The tool itself was not the moat — the trust and the audience were. Luna: That is a powerful point. In a world where code can be copied, the relationship with your users is what is hard to replicate. Lucas: Exactly. And that is why I think this approach is especially valuable for solo developers. You cannot outspend competitors, but you can out-connect them by being genuinely transparent and helpful. Luna: Alright, so if someone wants to try this, what is the first step? Do they just create a public Trello board and start posting? Lucas: Pretty much. But I would add: start with a clear description of what you are building and why. Then populate the board with a few initial cards that show you have thought about the problem. Share the link on a relevant community — Reddit, Twitter, a niche forum — and ask for feedback on the board itself. Do not ask for signups yet. Just ask people to watch and comment. Luna: And then keep updating it consistently. Even if it is just one card a day. Lucas: Exactly. Consistency builds trust. And if you can, share your revenue numbers early. Even if it is just a tiny amount, showing that you are making money from the project signals that you are serious and that the product might have legs. Luna: It is interesting how this flips the traditional 'stealth mode' startup on its head. Instead of hiding until you are perfect, you start messy and let people in. Lucas: And that is more aligned with how solo developers actually work. We are not big teams with PR departments. We are just people trying to solve a problem. Showing that humanity is a strength, not a weakness. Luna: Speaking of showing humanity, a lot of listeners have told us they appreciate that we keep this show ad-free. We do not run any sponsor spots or affiliate links. Lucas: Yeah, that is a deliberate choice. We want the content to be the only thing here. If you find value in these conversations and want to support that approach, there is a simple way — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It is a small gesture that helps us keep the show independent. Luna: And it really does make a difference. Every contribution goes straight into making more episodes like this one. No middlemen. Lucas: Alright, back to building in public. One more thing Mike shared: he is now planning to open-source parts of his codebase to further deepen trust. But he is still deciding how much to share. Luna: That will be interesting to watch. Maybe he will put that decision on his Trello board too. Lucas: He probably will. And that is exactly the kind of transparency that keeps his community engaged. I would not be surprised if he hits 100K ARR by the end of the year. Luna: I hope so. It is a great story and a playbook that more indie hackers should try. Lucas: Agreed. Thanks for listening. See you next time.