Third Startup, First Dollar: How a PhD Student Made $11,000 With a File Converter

After two years and $0 on his last project, Jake built something simple in a month, posted it on Reddit, and watched Stripe notifications roll in.

Jake is a PhD student in Perth, Western Australia. His first two startups never made a single internet dollar, including one he spent two years polishing. For his third attempt he changed the rules: solve a small problem he had himself, check that people search for it, and build it in a month. The result was HowToConvert, a file converter that works locally on your device so your files never leave your computer. One post on r/macapps brought almost $1,000 in a day, and the app reached $11,000 in its first months.

Jake answered our questions in April 2025, about three months after launch.

Why it matters: → Speed of testing beat two years of polishing

Worth your time if: → You’ve failed before and are wondering whether to try again

The thing to steal: → Put a “get it added” button in your product and let users write your roadmap

Jake, a PhD student turned indie developer. What did you build?

I’m a PhD student turned indie developer. I’ve built other websites/apps in the past but none have ever had traction. That was until I made howtoconvert.co

What changed is I decided to start building simple ideas that solve a real problem I face. Then, I checked whether it was something other people are searching for online. I also decided to start building and testing these ideas fast, so I know people actually want it before I invest months or years into it.

I’m 29 years old and live in Perth, Western Australia.

Two failed startups, then a $7.50 payment. What changed the third time?

Almost three months ago, I launched an app via a simple post to Reddit. What happened next was beyond my wildest expectations.

I was sitting at my student desk when I saw a notification from Stripe: my first payment of $7.50. I’ve never had such a flood of good hormones go through my body. To whoever clicked that purchase button - thank you. And thank you to everyone who continues to purchase the app, bringing it to $1,000 in just two weeks and now $10,000 in ~8 weeks.

This is my third attempt at a startup in three years, and it’s the first time I’ve ever received an internet dollar. I spent two years on my last project (chainspy) - building tests for this, tweaking styling for that, optimising page load times. What did that get me? $0.

What Changed? I decided to make something useful, not revolutionary. Something that:

1. Solves a simple problem I encounter regularly

2. People search for regularly (checked using tools like ahrefs)

3. Could be built and tested in a month

My new philosophy became: don’t focus on features no one will use until you’ve tested whether there’s interest in the essential features that solve the problem. If no one showed interest, I would move on to the next idea.

I settled on a universal file converter that does conversions locally on your device. There are plenty of file conversion sites, but when you use them, you’re sending your private files to their servers. I didn’t like that and I wanted to create a simple drag-and-drop app that non-programmers could use, while keeping their files private and secure.

What happened next? I made sure to make user feedback highly encouraged and a core part of the app. The app’s motto written everywhere is:

“Use the secure, locally running file conversion app that strives to handle almost any file type. If you find a format that isn’t supported, get it added. I’m building in public.”

Users can then click the “get it added” button to make a request for a new feature or file type. Since launch, I have been forming all my updates to add a feature that my users need, not something that I assume they need.

I realised this user feedback to feature workflow could be really useful, after my post to reddit was full of people saying how great it was to talk directly to the developer and how they appreciated me taking in their suggestions.

After my last failure, I honestly thought that maybe I wasn’t cut out for making my own apps. However, this new mindset is working - build it fast and see whether people buy before you spend years on it.

If you’re feeling discouraged after a failure, learn from it, then build and launch your next idea quickly. The feeling of having someone actually want your product is the best feeling I’ve had in years.

One Reddit post did the heavy lifting. How did the first customers find you?

I have done 100% organic marketing to get my customers. My initial customers were from a single post to the subreddit r/SideProject, found here.

Then things really blew up when I posted to r/macapps. This post actually reached top of the month and is now in the top 10 of all time on that subreddit. It brought in almost all of my initial customers and made me almost $1000 in a day.

Since then, I’ve been trying to grow on Threads, X and Bluesky. Posting updates about my progress improving the app as I do it.

By far, the best marketing channel out of these has been threads. This post in particular.

I am unfortunately still in the low view count jail of X and Bluesky, and hope to break out of it soon.

I also tried Product hunt, Betalist and TinyLaunch. Only BetaList gave me any visibility/visitors.

And how do you keep the momentum going now?

Mostly, reddit for big updates and daily posts to Threads, X and BlueSky.

No subscription, one payment. How does HowToConvert charge?

It’s a one time payment of $15 for lifetime access to the app. I’ve had a lot of comments about how people really like the lack of a subscription. I felt this was a fair pricing and is something I would be willing to pay.

And what has it made since launch?

Currently at $4k MRR and $11k since launch.

The short version

Jake’s first two projects taught him what not to do: two years of polishing earned him nothing. The third time he built a private, local file converter in a month, launched it with a single Reddit post, charged $15 once and let users decide what came next through a “get it added” button. That loop took HowToConvert to $11,000 in its first months.

You can try HowToConvert at howtoconvert.co, see the revenue on Indie Hackers and follow Jake on Threads, X and Bluesky. His business home page is merlinsbeard.ai.

If you know any founder who would take advantage of the lessons shared in this interview, forward it to them.