#028 Quitting the Traditional Path to 30k MRR with Ali Salah

In this podcast, Ali Salah, the founder of Instatus—a service that helps companies communicate outages to their customers—shares his journey as an indie hacker from Egypt. He opens up about the tough first three years when he struggled to earn a significant income, but eventually found success, reaching nearly $30,000 in monthly recurring revenue with 800 customers. Ali explains his flat-rate pricing strategy and highlights the importance of careful early hiring. He also discusses his experience with Comfund, a funding source for profitable businesses, and his marketing tactics, which include leveraging Product Hunt, SEO with agency support, and a strategic, less frequent approach to social media. Throughout the conversation, he stresses the value of having a long-term vision, starting small, and prioritizing the creation of a genuinely valuable product over just a minimum viable product.