TeardownHQ, teardowns/playbooks of how indie startups grew
Launching TeardownHQ: a directory of indie startups with revenue pulled from real signals (and labeled where it is an estimate), plus deep teardowns/playbooks of exactly how each one grew. The channels, the pricing, the GTM, all sourced, instead of the usual self-reported screenshots. Why I am building it: Starter Story proved people want "how they actually did it," but it skews ecommerce and general business, and because it is human-interviewed it is slow and broad. I am going narrow and current: indie SaaS, micro-SaaS, dev and AI tools, and no-code wins. The teardowns come out of a…
What it does
In the maker’s words, at launch
Launching TeardownHQ: a directory of indie startups with revenue pulled from real signals (and labeled where it is an estimate), plus deep teardowns/playbooks of exactly how each one grew. The channels, the pricing, the GTM, all sourced, instead of the usual self-reported screenshots. Why I am building it: Starter Story proved people want "how they actually did it," but it skews ecommerce and general business, and because it is human-interviewed it is slow and broad. I am going narrow and current: indie SaaS, micro-SaaS, dev and AI tools, and no-code wins. The teardowns come out of a research pipeline with a verification layer that cuts anything it cannot source, so I can go deep and stay current without it becoming a content farm. How it works: the directory and a teardown teaser are free, which is also my SEO and sharing layer. The full teardowns are the paid product. Founders can verify they run a startup, write their own teardown, and earn a cut when it sells. The GTM I am running, since this community likes the mechanics: - Skipped AppSumo and the LTD marketplaces on purpose (30 to 70 percent cut, and deal hunters are not my ICP). - Building the list. Contemplating releasing 1 free playbook a week to the list pre-launch - A capped founding-member lifetime deal at launch, then it moves to monthly. I believe the AI-research angle is the biggest risk, mainly due to trust. I hand verify everything and have a strong hand in writing all of the reports. I have been working on this workflow for over a year and found it to be tremendously helpful but I expect skepticism from people due to the influx of AI slop that exists right now. First teardown is live: Puff Count, the $40K/month no-code quit-vaping app that won on organic TikTok and then exited. Get the teardown at TeardownHQ.io. I would love feedback on the teardown and to know which SaaS/micro-Saas startups I should target next!
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