Summary — #283: Making $8k/mo Targeting $100M/yr with Lukas and Liz Hermann (StageTimer.io)

Overview

This episode interviews Lukas and Liz Hermann, co‑founders (and married partners) behind StageTimer.io — a simple, browser-based, remotely controllable presentation/event timer. The product began as a weekend prototype and grew into a profitable SaaS (~$8k+/month at the time referenced) through targeted community validation, SEO, documentation, and word-of-mouth inside a tight niche (event/video production). Lukas is ambitious about scaling, publicly sharing a multi-stage plan that goes from making a living to building larger ventures.

Key points & main takeaways

• Product idea and value

  • StageTimer.io is a minimal, focused product: a remotely controlled countdown/timer for speakers, producers, and live/video events.
  • Customers pay for convenience and reliability; non‑technical users treat simple solutions as “magic.”

• How they found/validated the idea

  • Idea came from observing a real-world pain (someone sprinting to control a timer).
  • Early validation and first users came through niche Reddit communities (r/CommercialAV) by asking for advice rather than advertising.
  • Built a free/fast prototype, iterated with community feedback, then launched a paid tier months later.

• Growth channels that worked

  • Descriptive product name (Stage Timer) delivered immediate SEO advantage.
  • Technical documentation (e.g., “how to use a countdown timer with OBS”) brought high‑intent traffic and converted well.
  • Strong word-of-mouth inside a tightly‑knit industry; enthusiastic users (many creators/YouTubers) made organic videos about the tool.
  • Twitter and public building helped with visibility, but Reddit/community + SEO + videos were most effective early on.

• Product/market approach

  • Start with a focused product that solves a clear operational pain in a niche industry (especially non‑tech industries where low-hanging automation exists).
  • Listen to users: early adopters teach the domain; hop on calls, collect feature requests and feature-priority signals.
  • Begin self-service, then add higher‑ARPU enterprise/team plans to scale revenue per customer and pursue larger deals.

• Business & scaling considerations

  • Current revenue (reported around $8k+/mo) shows a profitable indie SaaS approach can out‑earn a salaried engineering job.
  • They use projections (growth rates applied forward) to plan; consider churn limits and move into enterprise add‑ons to raise LTV.
  • Enterprise deals require legal/compliance and product features — these are blockers they’re addressing.

• Team dynamics & personal notes

  • Lukas and Liz have worked together for years (volunteering/humanitarian work), which provided low‑risk practice collaborating.
  • They emphasize aligning motivations — don’t coerce a partner into entrepreneurship; prior experience and mutual desire matters.
  • They view running this as a “game” of learning rules, testing channels and side projects to try new growth/marketing experiments.

Notable quotes / insights

• Lukas (Twitter thread): “I’m gonna get rich and this is how I’m gonna do it.” — an audacious, structured plan to stop selling time, bootstrap, learn business, then scale.
• “Call it Stage Timer — SEO came by default.” — descriptive naming gives huge early discoverability wins.
• “Scratch somebody else’s itch.” — building for other people’s pain (especially in underserved industries) can be a smart route.
• “Make the community feel smart.” (Their Reddit launch strategy: ask for advice, short post, link to the prototype) — disarming approach to get feedback and users.
• “Documentation about how to use a countdown timer with OBS” was one of their best converting pieces of content — technical how‑tos bring high intent traffic.

Topics discussed

• Idea discovery and prototyping
• Reddit/community-driven validation vs. advertising
• Naming and SEO advantages for niche products
• User research and learning domain knowledge from early customers
• Growth channels: SEO, docs, creator videos, word-of-mouth, limited use of Twitter
• Pricing and monetization (self-service subscriptions, pricing tiers)
• Scaling strategy: enterprise/team plans to increase ARPU and pursue larger deals
• Churn, LTV and growth forecasting (using spreadsheets/modeling)
• Working with a spouse/cofounder: dynamics, prior testing, division of labor, lifestyle tradeoffs
• Side projects & experimentation (social growth, other businesses)
• Ambition and long-term planning (Lukas’s multi‑stage plan toward larger exits)

Action items & recommendations (for makers who want similar results)

1. Find low‑hanging problems in non‑tech industries

   • Look for obvious manual workflows (e.g., physical control of timers, teleprompters, event production tasks).

2. Validate in niche communities (do this, not spam):

   • Join the relevant subreddit or forum.
   • Ask for advice/requirements (short, sincere post) and include a link to a prototype — engage, don’t advertise.

3. Name your product plainly if it helps SEO

   • Descriptive names can yield early organic discoverability with little competition.

4. Invest in technical documentation/how‑tos

   • Create targeted, high‑intent content (setup guides, integration with common tools like OBS) — these convert better than generic top‑of‑funnel articles for niche tools.

5. Leverage early users as domain‑experts

   • Hop on calls, build the features they actually need, and use their content (videos/reviews) for word-of-mouth.

6. Start self‑serve, then plan enterprise extensions

   • Use self-service to learn demand and product‑market fit; add team/enterprise options to raise ARPU once you can handle legal/compliance needs.

7. Treat growth as experiments

   • Use simple projections, track churn vs acquisition, and continuously test channels (docs, creators, ads) to find scalable levers.

8. If working with a partner/spouse:

   • Have prior low‑risk collaboration experiences first.
   • Align motivations and expectations; don’t coerce someone into joining.

Where to follow

• Lukas: @underscorelherman (Twitter handle referenced)
• Liz: @lizherman (Twitter handle referenced)
• Product: StageTimer.io

Concise bottom line: StageTimer.io is a textbook example of a high-leverage, narrowly focused SaaS built from observing a real pain in a non‑tech industry — validated via community, amplified through SEO and creator word‑of‑mouth, and being scaled with mindful moves toward enterprise pricing and deliberate growth experiments.