How I Built a Profitable SaaS Product by Cherry-Picking the Right Tech Stack and Mindset

Let me tell you how I accidentally built a profitable SaaS. No funding. No team. Just one developer (me) and a stubborn focus on doing less work—but smarter.

After years of over-engineering side projects into oblivion, I finally cracked the code: success in SaaS isn’t about building more—it’s about choosing what *not* to build.

In building my last product, I made 57 tech decisions. Only 12 stuck. But those dozen? They compounded into a product that went from idea to $5K MRR in three months. Here’s what actually worked.

Why Your Tech Stack Should Be a “Toolbox”—Not a Religion

Most founders pick tech like they’re collecting merit badges. “We use Next.js!” “We’re Serverless First!” That’s not strategy. That’s fanboyism.

When you’re bootstrapping, your stack isn’t about bragging rights. It’s about survival.

Lesson 1: Code Faster, Not “Better”

I spent my first failed attempt building everything in-house. Custom auth. Self-hosted Redis. Even my own analytics. Six months later? Zero revenue and a burnout.

The fix? I stopped coding like an architect and started coding like a thief—stealing the best parts from wherever I could. No originality. Just speed.

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• Supabase: Had auth, real-time DB, and storage ready before I finished my morning coffee. No AWS certifications needed.

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• Next.js + Vercel: SSR, ISR, and edge functions built-in. Deployed globally with two clicks. Still haven’t touched a config file.

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• Stripe + Paddle: Stripe for US customers. Paddle for the rest. One handles payments, the other handles tax headaches I didn’t want.

Here’s how simple auth got with Supabase:

// app/login/page.tsx
import { createClient } from '@/utils/supabase/server'
import { redirect } from 'next/navigation'

export default async function LoginPage() {
  const supabase = createClient()
  const { data: { user } } = await supabase.auth.getUser()

  if (user) redirect('/dashboard')

  return (
     {
      const { error } = await supabase.auth.signInWithOAuth({
        provider: 'google',
        options: { redirectTo: '/dashboard' },
      })
    }}>Continue with Google
  )
}

No JWT worries. No session tables. Just Google login that just…works.

Lesson 2: The Best Tools Are the Ones Nobody’s Using

While everyone was adding AI chatbots to their landing pages, I found Trigger.dev. It’s like Zapier for background jobs—but built for Next.js.

Instead of setting up Celery on EC2 (goodbye, sleep), I added this:

// jobs/sync-users.ts
import { Job } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";

new Job({
  id: "sync-users",
  name: "Sync Users to CRM",
  version: "1.0.0",
  trigger: eventTrigger({
    name: "user.created",
  }),
  run: async (payload, io) => {
    await io.runTask("sync-to-crm", async () => {
      await fetch("https://crm.example.com/api/users", {
        method: "POST",
        body: JSON.stringify(payload.user),
      });
    });
    return { success: true };
  },
});

Result? 60% less backend code. All async tasks (emails, CRM syncs, cleanup) run without a single cron job. I now handle 10K events/day with $0 DevOps overhead.

How I Ship Features Without Burning Out

Roadmaps are where ideas go to die. Excel files full of “Phase 3” features that never ship. I scrapped mine and switched to 90-day sprints.

Step 1: Track the One Number That Predicts Success

I ignored signups. Ignored session duration. Focused relentlessly on activation: Did a user do *one* valuable thing within 48 hours?

My MVP path became:

• Day 1: Import data (simple, instant win)

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• Day 3: Save their first automation rule
• Day 7: Export to their CRM

Everything else got cut. No “settings” page. No profile photos. Just the core action. Hit 70% activation? Then—and only then—did I add more.

Step 2: Test Features with Real Users (Before Building Them)

No more “build it and hope they come.” I used PostHog to show new UI to 10% of users. Metrics don’t lie.

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• New button increased clicks? Ship it.

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• New workflow confused users? Nuke it.

One “smart tagging” feature tested for 3 weeks. Only 8% engaged. Saved 200+ hours of polishing something nobody wanted.

3 Months to Launch: My Bootstrapper Cheat Sheet

You don’t need investors. You need speed. Here’s how I launched spending $1,200 and working nights/weekends.

Build in Public (But Skip the Fluff)

No pitch deck. No 50-page business plan. Just:

• 1-page landing page (Carrd + Gumroad template)

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• 1 viral LinkedIn post showing a 30-second win

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• 3 cold emails to real users (from Crunchbase)

One post got 12 signups. One became a paying customer in two days. I redesigned the entire UI based on their first 10 minutes using the product.

Stop Building Components. Start Assembling Them.

My dashboard? 90% pre-built:

• ShadCN UI for buttons, tables, modals
• Tailwind for spacing, colors
• Next.js Server Actions for all logic

// components/Dashboard.tsx
export default function Dashboard() {
  async function handleAction(formData: FormData) {
    'use server'
    await db.updateUser({ ... })
  }

  return (
    

      
      Save
    
  )
}

No Redux. No Zustand. All server-side. Loads instantly. Zero runtime errors. SEO just works.

Infrastructure That Doesn’t Waste Your Time

I didn’t touch Docker until month 7. For the first 200 users, my stack was:

• Supabase (DB + Auth)
• Vercel (Hosting)
• Figma + Vercel AI (Design prompts)
• Lemon Squeezy (Payments, taxes, compliance)

$38/month. Zero ops work. Every dollar saved went into onboarding emails—the real growth engine.

Mindset: Be a Hunter, Not a Hacker

The best SaaS founders aren’t the best coders. They’re the best choosers.

My Cherry-Picking Rules

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• Hype is a distraction: No AI features unless users *asked* for them. No blockchain. No “future-proofing”.

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• Steal like an artist: Use Wappalyzer to see what competitors use. Clone what’s proven.

<

• Audit quarterly: Every tool has an expiration date. If it’s not saving me 10+ hours/week? Delete it.

Automate the Grind, Humanize the Moments

Make.com handles:

• Onboarding emails
• Billing alerts
• Support triage

But every first reply to a paid customer? Handwritten. No templates. No AI. Just “Hey, saw you tried X—here’s how to get more value”. That personal touch converts 12% of users to paid.

The Real “Aha” Moment

This year’s best decision wasn’t a tool. It was a question I now ask constantly:

“What’s the simplest path to value for my user?”

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• Tech stack? Pick what accelerates that path.
• Roadmap? Focus only on what drives activation.

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• Billing? Outsource compliance so you focus on users.

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• Support? Automate the routine, personalize the first contact.

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• Marketing? Build it into the product (“Invite teammates” after a success)

You don’t need a team. You need judgment. The discipline to say “no” to shiny things. The guts to ship before it’s “perfect”.

My first profitable SaaS wasn’t built with magic. Just one developer, a ruthless focus on user value, and the courage to use a toolbox—not build one.

Now go find what *you* can steal. The best tools are already there. You just have to pick the right ones.

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