Alex Isora’s Journey to Launching a Profitable SaaS, Unicorn Platform

Alex Isora founded Unicorn Platform in 2018, a landing page builder for entrepreneurs. He earned $9k in lifetime licenses and has since progressed to $4k in MRR. The team consists of Asad, Artem, and Alex, who work in marketing, business development, UI/UX design, and coding. The narrative starts in July 2018, when Alex developed and released an MVP. The most important details are that following your heart is the only surefire approach to choosing an idea that you can stick with for years, and that it takes luck and dedication to pursue your dreams.

A landing page builder for entrepreneurs, Unicorn Platform was founded by Alex. In 2018, when he constructed and launched the MVP in 160 hours, he began the project. He gained a lot of attention thanks to that and earned $9k in lifetime licenses. Since then, in a market dominated by powerful competitors like WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace, Alex has progressed to $4k in MRR.

What are you currently working on and who are you?

Salut! Alex Isora is who I am. I’m 27 y.o. Unicorn Platform, a landing page creator for entrepreneurs, was founded by a lone individual. The bootstrapped project presently supports more than 5,000 websites and is profitable.

Welcome to this interview if you are interested in learning how I launched my SaaS with an estimated $4,000+ MRR.

I’m from Russia. Because living expenses are low, this nation is fantastic for launching a tech firm.

I reside in Saint Petersburg, which is a lovely city. I’m fortunate to see breathtaking buildings every day.

Constant inspiration is crucial to me. I am motivated to spread more beauty by the beauty I see around me.

The unit I rent for $114 a month is in this building. Imagination by @malyushev.

Today’s Unicorn Platform team consists of three ardent individuals:

1. The CEO is Asad. An individual with enormous potential. His sharpness frequently astounded me and our clients.

2. The front-end developer, Artem. Artem works diligently like a soldier.

3. The CEO is me. I work in marketing, business development, UI/UX design, and coding.

The narrative starts in July 2018, when I developed and released an MVP.

What is your background, and where did the concept come from?

The hardest part is choosing an idea since you don’t want to spend time and money on a useless endeavor. I can relate to this anxiety.

I think that following your heart is the only surefire approach to choose a concept that you can stick with for years. What actually enchants you? bicycles, kittens, websites, databases, and music? Decide on a sector initially.

If you are unsure, perhaps you might start developing a broader range of interests. Establish new contacts, attend nearby events, and try something novel.

As long as you are interested, you will discover actual issues that need to be resolved. Simply do some customer development to verify your theories.

I just did this: I developed an interest in coding and developed a love for websites.

In 2014, I began working as a web developer. Every web developer begins to consider creating their own website builder once 100 websites have been developed. Finding this concept has no romantic appeal.

The challenge is finding the confidence to leave your career and pursue your dreams.

I had to work as an entrepreneur for 2 years and 2 years as a web developer before I could finally declare, “I can do it!”.

I made the decision to leave my current employment and work on the product after accumulating sufficient experience, knowledge, and confidence.

I well recall that feeling of knowing exactly what to do and how to accomplish it.

I apologize for sounding like this is a simple question. This most certainly is not.

Picking ideas is difficult and takes luck as well as dedication.

If you run into issues with concepts, please let me know. I might be able to assist you or at the very least inspire you with my list of suggestions.

How did you go about creating your product?

In under 160 hours, the Unicorn Platform’s MVP was created. I described the entire trip in this well-read essay.

The hardest challenge in creating an MVP was figuring out when to stop.

We picture our future product as being enormous, grandiose, scalable, powerful, etc.

However, in practice, a simpler MVP is superior. Although it might be difficult, you must control your inner Steve Jobs if you want to achieve tangible results rather than just rhetoric.

I had a positive market experience. And I was perfectly aware of the number of features needed to begin selling. As a result, developing the initial version of Unicorn Platform was simple ( ).

The project’s debut was the next stage. Unicorn Platform was posted on Product Hunt by me. Although I was confident in the product’s quality and its market demand, I was unsure of how well sales would do. I would have to return to a desk job in the event of zero or minimal cash flow.

So I hit “publish” while crossing my fingers.

The Unicorn Platform MVP’s high quality left the audience in awe.

I made $9,271 in lifetime deal license sales and $5,892 in subscription sales from that launch.

Like I stated, my city has affordable living expenses. Because of this, the money was sufficient to create a more potent version of the website builder, which is currently accessible worldwide and used by thousands of people.

Let’s discuss it further.

How do you propose to compete with the current website builders?

Even before I started learning to code, Wix added its shares on the NASDAQ.

SquareSpace purchased a Super Bowl advertisement (costing $5 million for a 30-second spot).

Goddamn, WordPress powers 50% of the Internet!

Additionally, there are additional rivals. a large number of rivals. Please believe me; I’ve evaluated every website builder now in use. It is absurd.

So how is there room for a brand-new, independently wealthy Russian website builder that was started by one person?

Oh my buddy, that area out there is HUGE! 😌

Please allow me to clarify.

Certainly, the goods produced by large, well-known corporations are of high quality. They have a strong community and infrastructure, and they are trustworthy and steady.

But there are drawbacks to complexity. You will drown in help articles, plugins, and themes, and your feature requests and suggestions won’t be taken seriously. You will be responsible for any issues with the merchandise or the payment.

People begin to search about when they have had enough of misinformation, misunderstanding, and negative experiences. Numerous people start looking, and occasionally they come across fresh projects like Unicorn Platform.

Two years old is us. To try it out, just enough initial trust needs to be established. We need to make a solid first impression and demonstrate that you are in capable hands at this point.

Three primary factors influence people’s decision to utilize Unicorn Platform:

1. Concentrate on a little audience.

The website builder we use is specialized. It’s designed for entrepreneurs and marketers from SaaS businesses, desktop and mobile applications, and other digital firms.

Our ability to produce a product that perfectly meets the demands of this limited audience is made possible by our narrow focus. You might, for instance, frame a snapshot from one of your apps as a 3D object:

To see it in action, click here.

Since the huge businesses’ objective is to rule the entire planet, none of the giants will give the proprietors of mobile applications such a great deal of consideration. We want to please a small set of individuals, but they need to cater to 1,000 diverse audiences.

2. Simplicity.

We don’t have all the features that the large website builders provide because our product is modest. The answer to a successful user experience is to cut out the unnecessary and make things straightforward.

Our support staff will give a free piece of custom code if someone requires additional power or a feature that we do not have.

3. Support.

It leaves a lasting impression on our users that we have an A+ blazingly quick, dedicated support staff made up exclusively of engineers.

Later in our interview, we shall discuss this section.

Which marketing techniques did you use to expand your business?

We work on the product the majority of the time.  Although I’m interested in increasing our MRR and user base, the product will always come first.

I’m a diehard. The product is what I love most. And I want to keep sculpting it.

I don’t think I want to devote a lot of effort to advancing Unicorn Platform. I think a solid service can expand on its own. In the following portion of this interview, I will discuss it.

Nevertheless, I frequently come across brand-new marketing avenues.

I’m betting on side-project marketing right now. By creating something valuable for startup people, I think I can add value and promote Unicorn Platform.

Broadwise.org is a side project I’m working on right now. An antiquated online community for debating tech, design, marketing, and other startup-related subjects is called Broadwise.org. I support the use of subforums for dialogue and have high hopes for the undertaking. Welcome! 😁

How are you doing right now, and what are your future objectives?

As of September 2020, there are 5,091 users, and that number is rising.

Visit Twitter to view the report.

Making these 5,000 individuals as satisfied as possible is my aim, key performance indicator, and primary motivation for getting out of bed in the mornings.

Making a user happy is as easy as providing more value than the asking price.

We make our customers happy by sculpting our goods. People feel taken care of and listened to when they receive desired features. It creates a strong connection and a profound sense of warmth.

Next, users have a lottery-winning feeling thanks to innovative product improvements. Imagine that you have already committed to pay X for Y features. Then there’s a surprise: a new feature is released that you can utilize at no extra charge. Cool!

Every month, we attempt to deliver such things.

Good user support is the last but not the least. Not simply good, but outstanding, astounding, very quick, and considerate. similar to having a capable engineer on your team.

Our support procedure was significantly improved as a result of the COO Asad. Users send us odes because it is kept up so beautifully.

3m 18s! This guy is insane.

We devote an infinite amount of effort to making their experience easy and enjoyable. I estimate that support makes up at least half of Unicorn Platform.

Whether a person joins on a free or premium plan, we consider them a member of the family. And when a user feels that they are treated like a true member of a family, they become devoted and spread the Unicorn Platform around the world. We gain through giving, and that’s how we control growth.

What have you learned the most since founding Unicorn Platform?

Don’t pay attention to those who advise you on how to start a business (not even to me!).

The tale of each entrepreneur is distinct. Similar to creating music, you can study the notes at a music academy, but you still need to arrange them properly to write a symphony.

In business, it’s the same way: you can learn how to run a Google ad, but you also need to have experience knowing when and how to launch one. Nobody knows when your specific project will require this.

And unless you invest a few thousand dollars, neither will you.

For this reason, I advise you to attempt and fail repeatedly.

Even while watching clever videos may seem like progress, doing so is nothing more than procrastination.

What were the most difficult challenges you overcame? What were your biggest errors?

There is something I have struggled with for years. I work too much, which is a very basic, apparent, and rather common issue.

I can do a lot of tasks when I work hard. In theory, this makes sense, but in practice, it is untrue. It came out that the less labor I put in, the better the outcomes and the longer I can continue. See why, will we?

First off, I have low energy from working too much and eventually burn out. I seriously burn out twice a year!

Burnout prevents me from performing any other task than responding to support chats. There was no planning of the approach, no recruiting, no creative positions, no updates, no updates, and no new relationships. My life loses 20 to 25 days of productivity with each burnout.

We’ll now perform some basic math. Imagine if I work 10 hours every day as opposed to 8.

I can be much more extreme, urgh! Let’s include Saturday as an additional working day.

It will increase the number of working days by 104 each year.

Yay! I am capable of doing additional design, coding, and other tasks. This is very amazing, isn’t it? 😁

However, this way of living will result in 50 lost days of burnout and recovery. Additionally, every rigorous 10-hour day concludes with a collapse in bed and a depleted battery. I won’t be able to spend meaningful time with my family, therefore. Additionally, I am unable to contribute to my interests, which enrich my life and eventually enable me to work more effectively, concentrate better, and be more creative.

So I attempt to adhere to this straightforward principle: work as little as possible.

Here are some pointers to consider:

1. I leave my laptop at my desk. I can borrow my spouse’s laptop if something is essential (there haven’t been any emergencies since 2018).

2. Tick-tack. It is currently 7 o’clock. You get to your feet and leave the working area. Just turn off the Mac and leave. There are no questions. Do it now.

3. 2 holidays each year. Unfortunately, right now I am unable to afford a trip. But I want to reintroduce this into my life.

4. Weekends were created so people could relax. So take a nap!

What would you change if you were given the chance to?

A companion is the one thing I am lacking and it cannot be replaced.

If I could turn time around, go back in time, and communicate with the person I was before, I would spend some time looking for a fiddy-fiddy co-founder who would share responsibilities and support me through difficult times.

Due to my solitude, I must continually work on myself, strengthen my discipline, and acquire new, extremely important abilities (like managing a team). I must also handle the tricky business development aspects by myself, such legal and financial.

It’s difficult. I often feel worn out. It would be fantastic to have a companion.

However, traveling alone helps me make decisions really quickly. Wow, I move five times as quickly as when I worked in pairs.

What instruments and sources do you suggest?

I want to suggest one book, one resource, and one tool.

Mozilla Thunderbird is the tool. It is the greatest tool available for managing email inboxes. I experimented with Polymail and the fanciful Javascript Spark. Mozilla Thunderbird, a sleek, native browser, triumphs over them all.

YC SUS, also known as Y-Combinator Startup School. It is a free online college that instructs you on how to carry out tasks properly.  You may also find friends, followers, clients, partners, discounts (it helped me save hundreds of dollars), inspiration, and other things in addition to good material.

Robert Cialdini’s book Influence. You will learn about marketing, relationships, and psychology from this book. After reading this book, my knowledge of myself and those around me substantially enhanced. You get true strength from this book. Therefore, kindly refrain from using the methods indicated to persuade individuals to purchase items they do not need.

For further information:

I appreciate your interest in my modest character.

My personal blog is on hold until we release our own posh blogging solution (scheduled for November 2020), at which point I will be able to finally move away from sinister WordPress.

Today, I provide the most interesting information about starting lucrative enterprises from scratch on my Telegram channel.

I tweet on Twitter as well.

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