This app replaced my 9-5 ($155K/year)

Starter Story

429 views • yesterday Save 10 min 4 min read

Video Summary

After walking away from a stable career at Meta and Amazon, Ken transformed his life by building Harpegia, a text-based idle RPG that now generates over $10,000 in monthly revenue. Despite having no marketing budget and no prior game development experience, Ken leveraged AI-assisted development and a strategic approach to Reddit marketing to scale his project into a profitable, six-figure business.

Ken’s success highlights the massive, often overlooked potential of niche gaming markets. By focusing on retention and gathering early, critical feedback from real players rather than friends or family, he proved that a small, dedicated user base can sustain a high-performing business. His journey underscores the power of shipping early and embracing public criticism to refine a product.

Short Highlights

Ken's path to a $10,000 monthly income:
- Launching a simple game while working a full-time job
- Utilizing AI tools to accelerate development
- Leveraging Reddit posts to drive massive user growth
- Prioritizing user retention over early monetization
- Outsourcing non-core tasks like art and assets
- Embracing critical feedback to improve product quality
- Setting clear financial goals to trigger the transition from employee to founder

Key Details

Leaving Big Tech [02:35]

Ken spent 12 years in tech, including roles at Amazon and Meta, before deciding to leave the corporate path.
The 2022 layoffs shifted his perspective on job security, prompting him to seek control over his own future.
I realized that job security is never guaranteed, no matter how hard you work. I wanted to take control of my own future.

The First Build [03:32]

To test his skills, Ken built a simple card game, Big 2 Wild, in six weeks using AI tools.
This project served as a low-stakes learning experience for handling app store approvals and end-to-end development.
Building that game taught me a lot about AI-assisted development, building a product end-to-end, handling app store approvals, and what it actually takes to launch a product to the world.

Launching Harpegia [04:45]

Harpegia is an idle RPG where players level skills and collect loot, designed for fans of games like RuneScape.
Ken set a goal to quit his job only if the game reached $10,000 in monthly revenue organically.
It proved to me that even though my game was in an incredibly early alpha version, someone enjoyed it enough to spend $10 for something that I had built.

The Power of Reddit [06:22]

A single Reddit post acted as a catalyst, jumping revenue from $1,000 to $10,000 per month almost overnight.
Ken found that posts generating the most discussion and criticism often performed best for visibility.
My revenue jumped from roughly $1,000 a month to $10,000 a month almost overnight from that one single post.

Monetization and Metrics [01:45]

The game averages over $3 in revenue per active user through optional in-app purchases.
With 3,500 to 4,000 monthly active users, the game has generated over $150,000 in the past year.
The average monthly revenue has been around $13,000 a month, which totaled over $150,000 in the past year.

Tech Stack and Tools [08:25]

Ken maintains a lightweight stack using Cursor, React Native, Firebase, and Vercel.
He uses the Unity Asset Store and freelancers on Fiverr or Upwork to handle art and assets, allowing him to focus on core development.
You don't need a vast amount of tools to build a profitable products.

Advice for Founders [09:15]

Ken emphasizes shipping early, even if the product is embarrassing, to get feedback from real customers.
He cautions against relying on feedback from friends and family, favoring the harsh honesty of the target market.
If you're not embarrassed by your V1, V2, or maybe even your V5, you're probably not shipping early enough.