Hey!

Big day for us. Sendkit.dev is officially live on Product Hunt today!

We’ve been working hard to build an email platform that developers actually enjoy using. Simple APIs, fair pricing, and no unnecessary complexity. And today we’re putting it out there for the world to see.

If Sendkit has been useful to you, it would mean the world if you could show us some love on Product Hunt with an upvote. It really helps us get more visibility and keeps us going. 🙏

Support us on Product Hunt 🐱

It takes less than a minute, just click the button and drop an upvote. If you want to leave a comment too, even better!

Thank you so much for being part of this journey with us. Your support truly means everything to us ❤️

Cheers,

Paulo Castellano
Founder, Sendkit

Eu rodo alguns SaaS. O principal é o Changelogfy!

Por um bom tempo eu pagava uns $300/mês em duas ferramentas diferentes, uma pra email transacional, outra pra marketing e sequences.

O ponto de virada foi uma conversa com o Pedro Campos, founder da templated.io. Ele me contou que tinha desistido de contratar uma ferramenta de email porque não tinha suporte a MCP. O Pedro é igual a mim: dev que não quer sentar e montar drip campaign na mão. Quando ele falou isso eu pensei "se nem a gente quer fazer isso, ninguém quer." Esse foi meu ponto de partida. Pesquisei o mercado, olhei as soluções existentes e não achei nada parecido. Foi aí que eu codei a primeira linha de código do SendKit.

O que eu aprendi no caminho:

1. O momento AHA é tudo 🙌

Usei o PostHog pra rastrear onde os usuários travavam. O AHA moment do SendKit: mandar o primeiro email. Então eu reconstruí o onboarding inteiro em volta disso. Você pega sua API key, a gente mostra o SDK, e você tá enviando em literalmente um minuto.

2. Ninguém quer montar sequência de email

Por isso o SendKit é MCP-native. Você fala pro seu AI agent criar uma sequência de onboarding pro seu SaaS e ele monta tudo: templates e automação. Pronto em 3 minutos.

Eu gravei uma demo mostrando exatamente isso. No vídeo, eu crio um onboarding de 14 dias pro changelogfy 7 emails. O MCP foi no site, entendeu as cores, pegou o logo, entendeu o produto e montou todos os templates sozinho. Veja o resultado 👇

Anos atrás, eu demoraria alguns dias para criar esse template, responsivo, sem quebrar no gmail, yahoo e etc.

Assista o video completo aqui:

3. Ninguém limpa lista. Então a lista tem que se limpar sozinha

Fazemos a suppression list automaticamente. Deu bounce, foi pra lista de supressão. Marcou como spam, mesma coisa. Você não precisa lembrar de limpar nada, o sistema protege sua reputação de envio sozinho.
Mas além disso, temos webhook para todos os eventos se você precisar.

4. Validação de email de verdade

A gente também tem uma API de validação separada. Você manda um endereço e a gente responde se é real, se é descartável, se é catch-all, se é email de função tipo admin@ ou info@. Dá pra usar no signup do seu produto pra barrar fake antes de entrar na base.

Após o nosso beta fechado, onde mandamos mais de 5 milhões de emails, finalmente abrimos o produto para todo mundo. Já batemos o marco de mais de 100 clientes até agora.

Muito obrigado, sem vocês no beta fechado o produto não teria chego nesse estágio ❤️

Se você está cansado de pagar diversas ferramentas, e elas não fazem o trabalho pra você, conheca o sendkit.dev.

Grátis para começar, 3.000 emails/mês, sem cartão de crédito.

Conheça

Abra sua empresa nos Estados Unidos com a globalfy.com. Abertura de empresa, contabilidade americana e conta bancária, tudo num lugar só.

Microsoft lançou o Copilot Cowork, feito com a Anthropic, dentro do novo pacote E7 a US$ 99/mês: o Cowork não responde perguntas, ele executa tarefas inteiras dentro do Office. Você delega um processo (”analisa esses dados, monta apresentação e manda por email”) e ele vai fazendo enquanto você faz outra coisa. A tecnologia por trás é a mesma do Claude Cowork da Anthropic, agora embutida no Microsoft 365. O pacote E7 inclui tudo do E5 mais o Copilot e o Agent 365. Disponível em preview pra clientes selecionados, acesso geral no final de março. As informações são do site Fortune e Microsoft Blog.

A OpenAI lançou o GPT-5.4 e agora também tem computer use nativo: o modelo opera o computador sozinho. Preenche formulários, navega sites, executa workflows entre aplicativos. Até agora isso era exclusividade do Claude. Janela de 1 milhão de tokens e 33% menos erros factuais que o GPT-5.2. Junto veio o Codex desktop pra Windows, que roda múltiplos agentes de código em paralelo. Tinha 500 mil devs na fila de espera. As informações são do site TechCrunch e OpenAI.

O Claude Opus 4.6 hackeou o próprio benchmark: a Anthropic rodou o Claude num teste de pesquisa na web. Numa pergunta, gastou 40 milhões de tokens sem achar a resposta. Percebeu que estava sendo testado. Buscou qual era o benchmark, encontrou no GitHub, achou a chave de resposta criptografada com XOR e escreveu código pra descriptografar. Dezoito execuções independentes chegaram na mesma estratégia. Ninguém programou isso. A Anthropic trata como alerta sério de que modelos vão longe demais pra cumprir um objetivo. As informações são do site Anthropic e The Decoder.

Jack Dorsey demitiu metade da Block e disse que toda empresa vai fazer o mesmo em 1 ano: cortou 4.000 pessoas. A ação subiu 25%. A Bloomberg investigou e chamou de “AI-washing” porque a Block triplicou de tamanho entre 2019 e 2022 e o corte parece mais correção de inchaço. Mas o efeito já começou: agora todo CEO tem a narrativa perfeita pra reestruturar. “AI substitui gente” virou o novo “precisamos cortar custos”. As informações são do site CNN e Bloomberg.

A Amazon lançou Canvas de AI no Seller Central, grátis, e vendedores aceitam 90% das recomendações: você pergunta “como estão minhas vendas?” e o Canvas gera gráficos, analisa campanhas e sugere estratégias em tempo real. Roda em Amazon Bedrock com Claude e Amazon Nova. Disponível pra sellers nos EUA e UK sem custo extra. Quando AI é aplicada num contexto específico, funciona de verdade. As informações são do site About Amazon e GeekWire.

A Anthropic processou o governo americano e quase 900 pessoas da indústria apoiaram: dois processos federais alegando que a classificação de “risco na cadeia de suprimentos” foi retaliação ilegal. Jeff Dean, cientista-chefe do Google DeepMind, assinou amicus brief. Sam Altman admitiu que o acordo da OpenAI com o Pentágono foi “oportunista” e renegociou com restrições parecidas com as que a Anthropic pedia desde o início. As informações são do site Axios e TechCrunch.

Abra sua empresa nos Estados Unidos com a globalfy.com. Abertura de empresa, contabilidade americana e conta bancária, tudo num lugar só.

Trump proibiu todas as agências federais de usar a Anthropic: o Secretário de Defesa classificou a empresa como “risco na cadeia de suprimentos”, uma designação que normalmente é reservada pra empresas ligadas a adversários estrangeiros. A Anthropic se recusa a liberar o Claude pra vigilância em massa e armas autônomas. Dario Amodei, CEO da Anthropic respondeu: “Ameaças não mudam nossa posição.” O público apoiou e o Claude disparou para o top #1 da App Store. As informações são do site CNN e TechCrunch.

A Perplexity lançou um “funcionário digital” por US$ 200/mês: o “Computer” coordena 19 modelos de AI ao mesmo tempo e executa projetos inteiros sozinho. Você fala “pesquisa meus concorrentes e monta um relatório” e ele faz. Roda na nuvem com navegador real e conectores de apps. Se você é empresário e não tem equipe grande, são R$ 1.000/mês por um assistente que nunca dorme. As informações são do site VentureBeat e Perplexity Blog.

A Anthropic lançou o Remote Control pro Claude Code: você começa uma sessão no terminal e acompanha pelo celular. Roda tudo local na máquina, o telefone vira controle remoto. Tipo: você pede pro Claude montar uma automação, vai almoçar e fica de olho pelo celular. Nos planos Max e Pro. Saiba mais em Claude Docs.

Horas após a Anthropic ser banida, a OpenAI fechou acordo com o Pentágono: Sam Altman anunciou o deal e chamou de “Departamento de Guerra”. Depois voltou atrás dizendo que foi “apressado” e que “a óptica não ficou boa”. A OpenAI até colocou restrições (nada de vigilância em massa ou armas autônomas), mas a velocidade do movimento fez parecer oportunismo puro. As informações são do site CNBC e TechCrunch.

Mais de 200 funcionários de Google e OpenAI assinaram carta apoiando a Anthropic: pediram que suas empresas rejeitem contratos militares de uso irrestrito de AI. Os engenheiros que constroem o GPT querendo limites éticos para as ferramentas que eles mesmos criam. Nunca aconteceu nessa escala. As informações são do site TechCrunch e Axios.

O COO da OpenAI admitiu que AI ainda não penetrou de verdade nos processos das empresas: 900 milhões de usuários e a maioria usa pra reescrever email. Pra tentar mudar isso, a OpenAI fechou com McKinsey, Accenture, BCG e Capgemini. Se até a OpenAI precisa de consultoria para fazer empresa usar AI direito, o mercado de implementação tá aberto. As informações são do site TechCrunch.

O Claude agora trabalha dentro do Excel, Google Drive e Gmail: a Anthropic atualizou o Claude Cowork com plugins que deixam ele agir direto nas ferramentas que sua equipe já usa. Não é mais copiar e colar do chat, ele executa tarefas dentro do app. Se sua equipe vive no Google Drive e planilhas, vale testar. As informações são do site CNBC.

Abra sua empresa nos Estados Unidos com a globalfy.com. Abertura de empresa, contabilidade americana e conta bancária, tudo num lugar só.

Conheça o Zequel, uma interface moderna e open-source para gerenciar seus bancos de dados. Conecta em PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Redis, SQLite, DuckDB entre outros.

Anthropic recusa liberar Claude pro Pentágono: o Departamento de Defesa ameaçou cortar o contrato de US$ 200 milhões. OpenAI, Google e xAI já aceitaram remover restrições pra uso militar. As informações são do Axios e da CNBC.

OpenAI demite executiva de segurança e mete anúncio no ChatGPT: Ryan Beiermeister foi demitida após se opor ao “modo adulto” e a versão gratuita começou a exibir propaganda. A Anthropic fez comercial no Super Bowl como alternativa “sem anúncios” e viu 11% de aumento nos usuários. As informações são do TechRadar e do The Register.

Claude Opus 4.6 e GPT-5.3 lançados com 20 minutos de diferença: o Opus 4.6 processa o equivalente a 1.500 páginas de texto de uma vez. O Codex é 25% mais rápido e é o primeiro modelo que ajudou a debugar o próprio treinamento. As informações são do TechCrunch.

Anthropic levanta US$ 30 bilhões e agora vale US$ 380 bilhões: a receita anualizada é de US$ 14 bilhões, com crescimento de 10x por ano nos últimos 3 anos. Goldman Sachs e BlackRock lideram a rodada Série G. As informações são do TechCrunch.

Índia recebe US$ 210 bilhões em compromissos de AI num único evento: o maior summit de AI do mundo reuniu mais de 20 chefes de estado em Nova Delhi. OpenAI fechou parceria com o Tata Group e a Anthropic com a Infosys. As informações são da Al Jazeera.

Apple desenvolve três wearables com AI pra 2027: óculos inteligentes, um pingente com câmera do tamanho de um AirTag e AirPods com câmeras. Todos com “Visual Intelligence”, a AI da Apple que usa a câmera pra entender o que você tá vendo. As informações são do TechCrunch.

Abra sua empresa nos Estados Unidos com a Globalfy.com. Abertura de empresa, contabilidade americana e conta bancária, tudo num lugar só.

Hey folks,

At last two weeks, I’ve been working on a open source client databases on my free time, around 2~3 hours daily.

I started this project to learn about Electron, but it start be great, so i decide continue and make it up.

I called it Zequel, a tribute to Sequel Pro, the legendary Mac SQL client, that i used for years.

Right now it supports:

• PostgreSQL

• MySQL

• MariaDB

• SQLite

• SQL Server

• MongoDB

• Redis

• ClickHouse

• DuckDB

• SQL Server.

I have plans to add more drivers. It runs on Mac, Windows and Linux.

If you work with databases, give it a try. I’d love to hear your feedback.

GitHub: https://github.com/zequel-labs/zequel

Site: https://zequel.dev

I returned from Lisbon a few days ago and I’m still processing everything that happened at Web Summit 2025. You know that feeling that you just accelerated your company’s growth by years, all in just 4 days? That’s exactly how I’m feeling.

Many people asked me before I went: “Paulo, is it really worth spending tens of thousands of reais to exhibit at a fair like that? Wouldn’t it be better to invest that money in ads or product development?”

Let me tell you in detail why this was one of the best decisions I made for Pipeback this year.

In-person sales in a digital world

First, let’s talk about the obvious, which isn’t always so obvious: we made deals at the event.

And look, the deals happened in every possible way. Some companies wanted to close deals right there after seeing the product live. Most preferred to schedule more detailed demos after the event – ​​we left with a full schedule for the next few weeks. And then there were those happy hour conversations where you know they’ll turn into clients, it’s just a matter of time.

That’s what many people don’t understand about in-person events: the booth is crucial – we qualified hundreds of leads there, demonstrated the product dozens of times, scheduled meetings. But the real power lies in the combination of everything: booth + happy hours + dinners + hallway encounters.

There’s something magical about in-person events that digital can’t replicate. People see you demonstrating the product live, ask questions on the spot, but they also meet you at the coffee break, continue the conversation at the evening event, and advance the deal at lunch the next day.

In-person and digital complement each other perfectly. The leads we capture will enter our automated workflows, but with a crucial difference: they’ve already seen the product in action, and have already established a connection with our team.

The pipeline we built in these 4 days will fuel our next few quarters. And that’s without even mentioning the long-term relationships that will bear fruit for years to come.

Strategic partnerships that change everything.

But direct sales were just the tip of the iceberg. What will truly impact our growth in the coming years are the strategic partnerships we’ve identified.

We spoke with dozens of potential partners from different segments – integrators, consultancies, other startups. And the most valuable thing was discovering which distribution channel could be a game changer for Pipeback. I won’t reveal which one it is yet, but I can say that we are already structuring the entire operation to open this channel in the coming months.

It was the kind of discovery you only make in person, talking to different players, understanding how they operate, where the opportunities are. That insight alone was worth the trip.

In addition, we closed important technological partnerships. Partners in telephony, infrastructure, integrations that will greatly elevate the level of Pipeback’s product.

Global Validation: Our thesis was correct.

I personally spoke with over 100 SaaS founders and executives during the event. And you know what became crystal clear? Our thesis of creating an all-in-one software solution for SaaS, integrating support, sales, and marketing, is not just a necessity – it’s a market urgency.

Founder after founder told me the same story: “We’re using 15 different tools, spending a fortune, and yet things don’t communicate with each other.”

Our ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) became even clearer: SaaS companies with between 10 and 50 employees, which have already passed product-market fit but still lack the structure to develop internal tools. It’s a gigantic and extremely underserved market.

Announcing Partnership with Globalfy.com

One of the most special moments was taking advantage of the Web Summit to officially announce my partnership as an ambassador for Globalfy. We recorded a video directly from Lisbon and posted it on social media – the timing couldn’t have been better.

To give some context: Globalfy helps Brazilian entrepreneurs open companies in the United States, taking care of all the bureaucratic and accounting aspects. It’s something I’ve always informally recommended, but now the partnership is official.

Why does this matter? Because a large part of the Brazilian founders who follow me on Instagram, who participate in Indies.club (my community), and even those I met at the event, all have the same goal: to expand globally. And the first barrier is always the legal structure.

Now I can help them not only with Pipeback, but also with this fundamental part of international growth. It’s a partnership that makes perfect sense for my audience.

It’s the kind of partnership where everyone wins: I add value to my audience, Globalfy gains qualified clients, and Brazilian entrepreneurs have a clearer path to scale globally.

Talk with Globalfy

The Investor Who Crossed the Atlantic

My main investor flew from the United States to attend Web Summit. And look, that was crucial – not only for the day he spent with me at the booth helping with presentations, but mainly for the four days we spent together in Lisbon.

We shared the same hotel, had breakfast together every day, and discussed strategies late into the night. It was a total immersion in the Pipeback universe. He saw firsthand people’s reactions to the product, heard the feedback, and witnessed the genuine market interest.

Most importantly, it became crystal clear to him that our all-in-one product thesis isn’t just an idea – it’s a real market need. He saw with his own eyes dozens of companies asking for exactly what we’re building.

This deeper connection, this quality time together, is worth more than a thousand Zoom calls. Now he not only invests in Pipeback – he lived Pipeback during those days. He understood our pain points, our opportunities, our potential in a way that reports and metrics could never convey.

Network with the portfolio

Another incredible benefit was meeting in person with other companies in my investor’s portfolio. The Tintim.app team had a booth near ours, and the exchanges were fantastic.

We shared metrics, growth strategies, mistakes we made, what worked, what didn’t. It’s a type of knowledge you don’t find in any course or book – insights from those in the trenches, facing the same challenges.

The Nintendo Switch 2 Giveaway

Now, let me tell you about the most insane moment of Web Summit: the Nintendo Switch 2 giveaway.

The idea was simple: people scanned a QR code and filled in their information. Based on the questions in the form, we were already doing an initial qualification of the leads.

What we didn’t expect was the scale it would reach.

At the scheduled time for the draw, our booth was PACKED. There were over 100 people there, all waiting for the result. It was surreal.

But the most brilliant thing was what happened: while waiting for the draw, people started asking about Pipeback. Several scheduled demos for the following week. There was even a private equity fund from Lisbon that has exactly the problem Pipeback solves – they left super interested.

Final result: we captured hundreds of qualified leads. The CPL (Cost Per Lead) was a fraction of what we pay for online ads, and the quality is incomparable – these are people who had real contact with our product and team. The Nintendo Switch was an investment that paid for itself many times over.

Demos and Follow-ups

We left Lisbon with a completely full schedule for the next few weeks. These are companies from various countries, ranging from early-stage startups to scale-ups with hundreds of employees.

Most importantly: we’ve learned to be selective. There’s no point in scheduling demos with everyone who walks through the booth. We focus only on companies that truly fit our ideal profile – SaaS companies that already have traction but still struggle with the mess of using a thousand different tools.

This more rigorous qualification means fewer demos, but of much higher quality. These are conversations that have real potential to turn into business, not just “let’s see what you do.” Each company we schedule has a specific pain point that we know how to solve.

It’s the difference between quantity and quality.

European Expansion 🇪🇺

Perhaps the most important discovery of the event: we urgently need a data center in the European Union.

We spoke with at least 20 large European companies that loved our solution, but can’t use a product with data hosted only in the US. GDPR is no joke there.

This is the kind of feedback that changes the roadmap. We are already accelerating our infrastructure expansion plans. By the end of this year, we will have a presence in Europe. This single insight could mean millions in additional revenue.

Lessons learned and improvements for 2026

Of course, not everything was perfect. We made mistakes that we won’t repeat:

Our giveaway could have been MUCH bigger. We collected hundreds of leads, but we could easily have reached thousands if we had been more aggressive in our promotion. We raffled off the most anticipated video game of the year, and even then we were timid. Next year, the strategy will be completely different – ​​we will dominate the event with our activation.

We need a bigger booth. The space we had couldn’t handle the volume of interest. There were times when there were lines of people waiting to talk to us. It’s a good problem, but still a problem.

We should have organized our own parallel events. I saw competitors doing exclusive happy hours, private meetups, VIP dinners. They captured the attention of the best leads outside of the official event hours. This is a missed opportunity that we won’t repeat.

But these are good problems to have. They mean that demand was higher than expected and that we have a lot of room to grow.

We're back in 2026 🇵🇹

It’s already decided: we’ll be there again next year.

Web Summit 2025 wasn’t an expense – it was an investment that’s already paying dividends. Between closed sales, generated pipeline, strategic partnerships, and market insights, the ROI is impossible to fully calculate, but it was certainly worth every penny.

And the best part: now we know exactly what to do to extract even more value from the event. 2026 will be the year Pipeback dominates Lisbon.

For those of you thinking about exhibiting

If you have a SaaS company, sell globally, and are considering exhibiting at Web Summit or similar events, my advice is straightforward: do it, but do it right.

Don’t just go to “mark your presence.” Have clear objectives:

How many leads do you want to capture?

How many demos do you want to schedule?

What kind of partners are you looking for?

What market validation do you need?

Prepare to work harder than ever during the event. These are 12-14 hour days on your feet, talking, selling, networking. It’s exhausting, but it’s the kind of exhaustion that accelerates years of growth in just a few days.

Pipeback entered Web Summit 2025 as a promising startup. We left as a globally validated player, with strategic partners, a robust pipeline, and a crystal-clear vision of how to dominate our market.

And that, my friends, is priceless. Or rather, it has a price – and it’s worth every penny invested.

If you were at Web Summit and we didn’t connect, reach out to me on LinkedIn or Instagram. I’m still processing hundreds of contacts we made and would love to continue the conversations that started in Lisbon.

For Brazilians who want to expand globally and open a company in the US, contact me and I’ll connect you with Globalfy. As an ambassador, I can get an exclusive discount for my followers.

I treated the event like a content sprint. Between sessions I recorded mini podcasts and short interviews with founders who are actually in the arena. Every conversation was tight, 15 to 20 minutes, one clear lesson, one action you can use now.

All episodes will be available on my YouTube channel, Paulo Castellano: youtube.com/@paulocastellano. For daily clips and behind the scenes, follow me on Instagram: instagram.com/paulocastellano.

Below are my field notes. What changed this year, the best conversations I had, the products that stood out, the patterns I saw, and a practical checklist to push your own product outward this month.

What felt different this year

Global first, by default. Founders scoped products for buyers outside Brazil. They chose categories where international customers are already comfortable paying in USD. Docs in English. SLAs that match North America and Europe. Billing that does not fight the sale. That single shift removes friction and widens the funnel.

Conversations with constraints. I kept every recording under 20 minutes and most hallway chats near 15. Short slots force clarity. You skip the fluff and land on the lesson, the metric, and the next step. It is also how real networking works. Less theater, more truth.

Networking with intent. I met friends, opened real paths with potential customers and partners, and left with a clean follow up list. Nothing random. I arrived with a few names I wanted to meet, two problems I wanted help with, and one useful thing I could offer in each chat. The quality of the event changes when you do this.

Mini podcasts recorded on site

Each episode runs 15 to 20 minutes with one sharp takeaway. All episodes will be on my YouTube channel, Paulo Castellano: youtube.com/@paulocastellano.

Paulo + Diego Carmona

Diego walks through the real Leadlovers story. What worked, what failed, what he would repeat, and what he would never do again. We focused on founder stamina, market timing, and how to keep shipping when things get messy. It is a straight talk about building, breaking, and rebuilding. If you are wrestling with pace and staying power, this will help.

Paulo + Inacio Nogueira

This one is about the jump itself. Inacio explains the transition from content creator to SaaS founder, the mindset shifts, how to choose the first problem, and how to protect audience trust while you change lanes. Fewer product details, more playbook for the change. If you have an audience and feel that itch to productize, start here.

Paulo + Diego + Alan Nicolas

Three founders with exits compare notes. Diego at Leadlovers, me at BoaConsulta, Alan at Neolife. We talk about what an exit changes in your head, how to avoid overbuilding afterward, and how to reset to zero with focus. Lessons we would tell our earlier selves. Clean, honest, useful.

Short interviews: what these founders are shipping

I also recorded quick interviews with founders who are delivering real outcomes right now.

Pedro — Templated.io. An API and editor for generating images and PDFs from reusable templates at scale. You design once, then render variations through API, spreadsheets, or no code automation. It turns repetitive promo and document work into a simple render call. If your team still opens design files for every banner, this is leverage.

Glauber — EasyRetro. A lightweight tool for agile retrospectives and team workshops. Create a board, collect feedback, vote, and turn insights into action items. It is intentionally simple, which is why teams adopt it and keep it. A focused product, pointed at a recurring ceremony, can compound for years.

Yuri — ValidaPix. Fraud prevention and payment control for Pix. Real time validation reduces scams and chargebacks. Clear tracking by store and collaborator. If you sell with Pix and worry about risk, this replaces spreadsheets and guesswork with guardrails.

Pedrique — Skald. Knowledge management with AI support. Skald connects scattered sources, helps teams find answers, and highlights gaps in docs. It also assists with writing and polishing internal documentation. The value is not the buzzword. It is keeping knowledge fresh and accessible where work already happens.

Elizeu and Rafa — Grit Softwares. A Brazilian software firm that turns business processes into digital products and internal tools. They ship custom software and no code accelerators with a bias toward measurable outcomes. The takeaway is how they treat execution as a repeatable process. Discover, scope, ship, measure, iterate.

I also kept fast, focused chats with other builders. One team is creating a fully automated call center SaaS to generate leads with no agents. Another is assembling the energy stack companies need to operate fleets of electric cars and trucks. Same pattern everywhere. Winners hide the mess and ship outcomes. No one wants another dashboard. People want a result with less pain and less risk.

The pattern behind the products

Same story across conversations. The best ideas bundle complexity into a clean outcome. Buyers do not wake up wanting more UI. They want something specific, done reliably and fast.

• Templated.io sells the render, not a Figma file

• EasyRetro runs the retro, not a new platform to learn

• ValidaPix cuts fraud and chargebacks, not a feed of alerts

• Skald finds answers and keeps knowledge current, not another silo

• Grit delivers a working tool, not a document

Use that as a mirror for your own product. What exact outcome does the buyer pay for. How can you hide the complexity without hiding control. Which step can you delete completely instead of improving slightly.

A go global checklist you can run this week

If you want to push outward, make a few moves now. Price in USD and keep local rails as a secondary path if needed. Write in English first for website, docs, onboarding, and even error messages, then translate to Portuguese. Choose a value metric that grows with customer value, like seats, projects, or messages. Set a support SLA that matches your target time zones and publish it. Offer two entry points, self serve for smaller deals and guided for larger ones, and put a demo calendar with slots that fit California and London. Instrument the funnel. Track trial to paid, activation inside seven days, and first value delivered. Build a tiny partner group, two or three agencies or communities that already serve your buyer, with clear incentives and fast support.

You do not need a big team for this. You need focus, a few decisions that remove friction, and the habit of shipping every week.

Networking that actually moves the needle

Do the business, and make real friends. The best deals usually start with people who like each other. Be curious, remember the small stuff, show up even when you are not selling. People buy from people. Put your face on the brand. Sign emails with your name, send a quick Loom instead of a deck, jump on key demos. Lead with something useful, then follow up with one clear next step. Simple, human, and it works.

Each session I set up at the Summit was short, around 15 minutes, fast and to the point. In that small window I met founders working on bold, unconventional ideas. Those chats beat long meetings because everyone gets to the truth quickly. That is networking with intent. It is also how you turn a conference into momentum when you get back home.

From conversations to commitments

Events only matter if they change what you do next. Here is my plan for the next 30 days. Publish the mini podcasts and interviews. Convert two promising conversations into structured pilots for Pipeback, small scope, clear success criteria, quick decision. Turn three insights into product improvements, one for onboarding clarity, one for support automation, one for how we present value to USD buyers. Keep the network warm with five useful follow ups per day. Relationships compound when you invest consistently.

All episodes will be available on my YouTube channel youtube.com/@paulocastellano. Subscribe if you want the founder stories and the short, tactical lessons as they drop. For day to day notes, behind the scenes, and quick clips, follow me on Instagram: instagram.com/paulocastellano.

Three days in Floripa made one thing obvious. Building from Brazil for the world is not only possible, it can be your edge if you do it with intention. The talent is here. The products are sharper. The mindset is global. Start with one move this week. Switch your pricing to USD, publish your docs in English, or open a calendar slot that fits a buyer in California. Small moves create momentum. Momentum compounds.

If this sparked an idea or a question, reply and tell me what you are working on. I read every message.

As an indie hacker, the dream is often about impact and leverage: creating something valuable that solves a real problem and can scale beyond your immediate surroundings. For many, that dream has a very specific, tangible target: reaching $10,000 USD in Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR). This isn't just an arbitrary number; for most indie hackers, it represents a profound shift. It's the point where you can often go full-time, achieve financial independence, and truly dedicate yourself to building your vision without the constant pressure of client work or a day job.

The beauty of SaaS, by its very nature, is its inherent scalability. But when you couple that with a global mindset from day one, you unlock an even more potent formula for sustained success and, crucially, for hitting that $10k MRR milestone faster than you might think. Many of us start these ventures as a side job, chipping away at them during evenings and weekends. And that's exactly how it should be. The goal isn't to quit your job on day one; it's to build momentum, validate your idea, and start generating revenue. However, as your MRR climbs past the $5,000 mark, it's time to start seriously considering the leap to full-time dedication. That pivot is crucial, and it’s what often propels you from a thriving side project to a sustainable business.

Gone are the days when international expansion required a massive corporate infrastructure. Today, with the right tools and a clear strategy, a solo founder or a small team can build a software product that serves customers across continents, generating recurring revenue from diverse markets. This isn't just about reaching more people; it's about building a more resilient business, diversifying your customer base, and tapping into niches that are global in their essence, making that $10k MRR target not just achievable, but sustainable.

Why Go Global From Day One?

Many founders start local, and there's nothing inherently wrong with that. However, for a digital product like SaaS, the incremental effort to cater to a global audience from the outset can be surprisingly small compared to the vast increase in your total addressable market. This expanded reach directly correlates to your ability to find enough customers to hit your revenue goals.

Consider these advantages:

• Expanded Niche Opportunity (and a Clearer Path to $10k MRR): A niche that might be too small to sustain a business in a single country could be perfectly viable when scaled globally. If you're building a highly specialized tool for, say, independent documentary filmmakers or niche artisan bakers, their numbers in any one nation might be limited. But globally, that specific niche could easily comprise thousands of potential paying customers. Even with a modest monthly fee, a few hundred or a thousand global customers can comfortably get you to, or beyond, $10k MRR. This dramatically increases your odds of reaching that crucial financial independence point.

• Reduced Market Dependency: Relying on a single market exposes you to its economic cycles, regulatory changes, and local competitive pressures. A global customer base mitigates these risks, providing a more stable and diversified revenue stream. If one region experiences a downturn, others can compensate, ensuring your MRR remains robust.

• Access to Diverse Talent & Ideas: While your initial team might be small, operating globally means you’re exposed to different perspectives, user behaviors, and market needs, which can feed back into a stronger, more adaptable product.

• Future-Proofing: The digital world is inherently borderless. Building with a global mindset from the start means your product is designed for the future, ready to adapt to a world where geographical boundaries are increasingly irrelevant for software.

The Power of Lean Development: How Frameworks Like Laravel Make it Easy

The idea of building robust, scalable software that can serve a global audience might sound daunting, especially for an indie hacker chipping away at it in their spare time. But the truth is, modern web development frameworks have dramatically simplified this process. Take Laravel, for example.

Laravel, a PHP framework, has become an absolute powerhouse for indie hackers and startups precisely because it balances ease of use with enterprise-grade capabilities. Here’s why it’s a perfect fit for building your global SaaS and accelerating your journey to $10k MRR:

• Rapid Development: Laravel's elegant syntax, extensive documentation, and vast ecosystem of pre-built components (like authentication, routing, and database migrations) allow you to develop features incredibly fast. You can go from idea to a working MVP in a fraction of the time it would take with more bare-bones approaches. This speed is critical when you’re validating a global niche – getting your product out there quickly means you can start acquiring those first few customers and begin building that recurring revenue stream sooner, even if you only have a few hours a week to dedicate.

• Scalability Out-of-the-Box: Don't let PHP's past reputation fool you; modern PHP, especially with Laravel, is highly performant and scalable. It integrates beautifully with caching systems like Redis, queue workers for background tasks, and cloud services, allowing your application to handle a growing number of global users without major re-architecture. This ensures that as you attract more international customers, your infrastructure can keep up without constant firefighting, letting you focus on growth towards that $10k mark.

• Database Agnosticism: Laravel works seamlessly with various databases like MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite. This flexibility means you can choose the right database for your specific needs, and easily manage migrations as your schema evolves.

• Robust Ecosystem & Community: Need to handle user roles and permissions? Integrate with an API? Process images? The Laravel ecosystem offers ready-made packages and a massive, supportive community that can help you solve almost any development challenge. This means less time reinventing the wheel and more time focusing on your unique value proposition – the features that will attract and retain paying customers globally.

• Built-in Security Features: Security is paramount for any global software. Laravel comes with built-in protections against common web vulnerabilities like CSRF, XSS, and SQL injection, allowing you to build secure applications even without being a security expert.

• API-First Approach: If you plan to have a mobile app or integrate with other services, Laravel makes building robust APIs straightforward, enabling you to serve diverse client applications and potentially even build a platform.

Laravel, combined with tools like Docker for easy deployment and cloud hosting providers (AWS, DigitalOcean, Vercel for frontends), puts enterprise-level development power directly into the hands of a single developer.

Stripe: Your Essential Partner for Global Commerce and Hitting Your Revenue Goals

Once you've built your product, the next crucial step is to collect money from your global customers. This is where Stripe steps in as your indispensable partner, simplifying the complexities of international finance so you can focus on building and growing towards that $10k MRR goal.

For an indie hacker with global aspirations, Stripe isn't just a payment gateway; it's a comprehensive financial infrastructure that handles everything from accepting payments to managing subscriptions, dealing with fraud, and increasingly, even navigating global tax complexities. It streamlines the most critical part of your business: getting paid.

Here's how Stripe empowers your global SaaS and directly supports your revenue targets:

1. Universal Payment Acceptance: Stripe supports over 135 currencies and dozens of local payment methods, from credit cards to SEPA Direct Debit in Europe, iDEAL in the Netherlands, Bancontact in Belgium, and even Buy Now, Pay Later options. This means you can offer your customers preferred payment options regardless of their location, significantly boosting conversion rates by reducing friction at checkout. More successful payments mean more customers contributing to your MRR. You don’t need to set up individual merchant accounts; Stripe aggregates these for you.

2. Sophisticated Subscription Management: SaaS relies on recurring revenue, and Stripe Billing is purpose-built for this. It handles everything from simple monthly plans to complex tiered pricing, usage-based billing, and automated free trial conversions. Crucially for global operations, it automates prorations for upgrades/downgrades and provides intelligent dunning management to recover failed payments—a common challenge with international cards. This directly impacts your MRR by maximizing revenue from existing subscribers.

3. Advanced Fraud Prevention (Stripe Radar): When transactions originate from diverse geographical locations, fraud becomes a real concern. Stripe Radar, powered by machine learning and vast global transaction data, analyzes every payment to detect and block fraudulent attempts. This built-in protection is invaluable for an indie hacker, safeguarding your revenue and reducing the burden of manual fraud review, ensuring more of your earned MRR actually reaches your bank account.

4. Simplified Global Tax Compliance (Stripe Tax): Navigating sales tax, VAT, and GST regulations across different countries and US states is incredibly complex. Stripe Tax automates the calculation and collection of these taxes in over 40 countries and all US states. Furthermore, it helps you understand your tax obligations, notifies you when you cross registration thresholds in new markets, and can integrate with services to simplify filing, drastically reducing your compliance burden. Less time spent on taxes means more time marketing and developing features that grow your MRR.

5. Multi-Currency Support and Payouts: You can display prices in your customers' local currencies and settle funds in your preferred currency. For advanced users, Stripe also offers multi-currency payouts, giving you flexibility if you have banking relationships in other regions or need to manage funds in specific currencies.

6. Stripe Atlas for Foundation: If you're starting from scratch, Stripe Atlas can help you incorporate a US company (typically a Delaware C-Corp or LLC), open a US bank account, and get your Stripe account set up quickly. This provides a professional legal and financial foundation that immediately facilitates global operations, getting you to market and collecting payments faster.

Beyond the Tech Stack: Strategic Global Considerations and Your $10k MRR Life Change

While Laravel and Stripe handle much of the technical heavy lifting, building a truly global SaaS and hitting that $10k MRR target requires strategic thought:

• Localization Beyond Payments: Consider localizing key parts of your product. This could mean translating your marketing website, onboarding flows, and even core UI elements into the primary languages of your target niches. Even small gestures like providing customer support in a different language or adapting your messaging to cultural nuances can build immense trust and loyalty, driving higher conversions and lower churn – both critical for sustainable MRR growth.

• Global Customer Support Strategy: With customers across time zones, real-time support might be challenging. Leverage self-service options (comprehensive FAQs, knowledge base, video tutorials) and asynchronous communication channels (email, ticketing systems) to manage expectations and provide timely assistance without burning yourself out. Efficient support contributes to customer satisfaction and retention, which directly protects your recurring revenue.

• Legal & Data Privacy: Be mindful of regional regulations like GDPR in Europe or specific data privacy laws in other regions. Ensure your terms of service and privacy policy are clear and compliant. For specific guidance as you grow, consider consulting a legal professional.

• Global Marketing & Discovery: How will your global niche find you? Focus on channels where your specific audience congregates online. This could involve niche forums, specialized online communities, targeted SEO for international keywords, or even leveraging global ad platforms with precise demographic targeting. Content marketing that addresses the unique, shared problems of your niche is particularly effective for attracting an organic global audience, building a funnel that feeds your MRR.

The $10k MRR Transformation: What It Means for You

Reaching $10,000 USD in monthly recurring revenue as an indie hacker is more than just a number; it's a profound life change. This is especially true if you've been nurturing your SaaS as a side project.

• The Full-Time Leap (at $5k+ MRR): While $10k is the dream, when your side project consistently hits $5,000+ USD in MRR, that's your cue. This level of income often provides enough financial cushion to transition away from your primary job, significantly reducing your reliance on external income. This is a critical psychological and practical inflection point. It allows you to dedicate your full energy and focus to your SaaS, which is often what's needed to break through the next growth ceiling and scale beyond that initial $5k.

• Financial Independence: For many, this level of income (especially once you're full-time) allows you to leave your job, pay off debts, and live comfortably without the stress of a traditional paycheck. It offers true financial freedom.

• Autonomy and Control: You dictate your own schedule, your own priorities, and your own product roadmap. You’re no longer building someone else’s dream; you’re building your own. This level of autonomy is incredibly liberating.

• Focus and Impact: With financial security, you can truly double down on what you love – building and improving your product. You can spend more time engaging with customers, innovating, and solving bigger problems, ultimately creating more impact.

• Reduced Stress: The constant grind and financial anxiety often associated with early-stage entrepreneurship are significantly alleviated. You can make decisions from a place of abundance, not scarcity.

• More Time for Life: Whether it's spending more time with family, pursuing hobbies, traveling, or simply having the mental space to think and create, hitting your MRR goals often translates into a richer, more balanced life.

• Proof of Concept: It's a clear validation that you've built something valuable, something that people are willing to pay for repeatedly. This psychological boost is immense and fuels further growth and ambition.

The digital age, powered by robust development frameworks like Laravel and sophisticated financial infrastructures like Stripe, has removed countless barriers to entry for global entrepreneurship. As an indie hacker, you no longer need to be geographically confined in your ambitions. You can identify a truly global, underserved niche, build a powerful product that solves their specific pain with surprising speed, and use Stripe to seamlessly accept payments and manage subscriptions from anywhere in the world.

It's about leveraging technology to democratize entrepreneurship. Focus on building an exceptional product, and let these powerful tools handle the intricate dance of global development and commerce. Start it as a side hustle, learn, iterate, and when that revenue signal hits ($5k+ MRR), be ready to commit fully. The world is your market—go capture it, and in doing so, unlock a new level of freedom and fulfillment.

This year at Changelogfy , we made one of the riskiest decisions in our history:

We removed our free plan and started requiring a credit card upfront to start the trial.

The result?

Our MRR grew by 50%.

This decision changed everything — not just our revenue, but the kind of company we are building. In this newsletter, I’ll share:

• Why we left freemium behind

• What happened when we started requiring a card

• The surprising results (beyond the numbers)

• And why I think more SaaS founders should do the same

Let’s go.

The Hard Reality of Freemium

Freemium feels like momentum.

You see new users signing up every day. Activation numbers go up. Usage grows. But for us, over time, freemium became a trap.

Here’s what we experienced:

• A growing segment of users who never intended to pay

• Lots of noise in our feedback and support channels

• Servers, emails, and features supporting people who weren’t invested

• And worst of all — a false sense of product-market fit

We had volume, but not commitment.

And that lack of commitment showed up everywhere: low trial conversion, weak onboarding engagement, and feedback from users who hadn’t explored the product deeply.

It became clear: we were optimizing for signups, not revenue.

Moving Beyond Free

We didn’t make the decision overnight.

But we started asking better questions:

• “Are we really helping these users with a free plan?”

• “What kind of user do we want to attract going forward?”

• “What would happen if we focused only on customers who are ready to pay?”

And then we decided: No more free.

Instead, we offered a 14-day free trial — but only for users willing to enter a credit card.

This filtered out casual users and forced us to deliver value fast.

Was it scary? Absolutely.

We worried about:

• Signups falling off a cliff

• Users complaining publicly

• Losing momentum we had built over the years

But what happened next surprised us.

The Power of Skin in the Game

When we launched the new paid-only structure, the impact wasn’t immediate fireworks — it was a gradual shift in quality.

Yes, total signups dropped. But the users who came through were different.

They:

• Activated faster

• Engaged deeper

• Gave better feedback

• Converted to paying customers at a much higher rate

We weren’t just getting more revenue — we were getting better customers.

The kind who understood the problem, valued the solution, and had buying intent from day one.

It forced us to get clearer on our messaging, smoother in our onboarding, and sharper with our product.

When people are paying — or even thinking about paying — every detail matters.

This Isn’t Just About Pricing — It’s About Philosophy

Removing your free plan isn’t just a pricing strategy. It’s a mindset shift.

Freemium optimizes for scale. But paid-first optimizes for value.

And if you’re an indie founder or small team, value is your lifeline. You don’t need 10,000 users. You need 100 who pay, stay, and grow with you.

We learned:

• The right users don’t need everything to be free

• You can deliver an amazing experience and get paid for it

• People respect a business more when they’re asked to commit

And from a business perspective — removing free aligned our product, our support, and our roadmap toward the right audience.

It’s not just easier to grow. It’s easier to breathe.

What I’d Tell Founders Thinking About This

If you’re running a SaaS with a free plan and thinking, “maybe this isn’t working” — you’re probably right.

Here’s what I’d suggest:

• Look at your free-to-paid conversion honestly. If it’s under 5%, ask yourself: is it worth it?

• Review your support load. How much of it is tied to non-paying users?

• Segment your feedback. Are your priorities being shaped by people who’ll never pay?

• Ask: “Who do I want to serve?” If the answer is serious teams and growing businesses, free might be in your way.

This is especially true for B2B tools, team-based products, and anything where usage correlates to business ROI.

You don’t need to apologize for building a paid product.

You just need to deliver value — and ask for commitment in return.

What Changed at Changelogfy (Besides Revenue)

Yes, our MRR grew 50%. That alone is worth celebrating.

But even more valuable were the qualitative shifts:

• Clearer product vision — we now build features for customers, not free users

• Less support stress — we spend time with the right people

• Better feedback loops — real users solving real problems

• Greater team focus — no more guessing who we’re building for

This change aligned our business with our ambition.

The Path Forward

Our goal is not to make Changelogfy “hard to try.”

It’s to make it easy to commit — for the right people.

You can still explore the full product during your 14-day trial. You just need to signal you’re serious.

And if that filters out people who were never going to convert anyway… good.

Because every indie SaaS needs to make this shift at some point:

From chasing attention → to building commitment.

We made that leap.

And it paid off.

Thanks for reading — and if you’re on the fence about killing your free plan, I hope this gives you the push you need.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, especially if you’ve made a similar move.

Let’s grow better, not just bigger.

Stay scrappy,

Paulo Castellano

Founder @ Changelogfy

There were three big themes that stuck with me:

• How fast AI is changing the way sales teams scale

• How undervalued strong networks still are — especially among early-stage founders

• How many talented Brazilians are doing extraordinary work on the global stage

Let’s dig in.

1. AI in Sales: From Helper to Operator

If there’s one dominant theme from SaaStr 2025, it’s this: AI is no longer just a copilot — it’s taking the controls.

I sat in on multiple sessions where AI wasn’t just part of the sales stack; it was the sales stack. AI agents were generating leads, qualifying them, scheduling demos, and even handling objection management in real time during sales calls. Not as gimmicks, but as serious workflow tools integrated into CRMs, inboxes, and voice assistants.

A few key things that stood out:

• Live AI reps on calls: Some companies are now deploying AI agents that join Zoom calls with sales reps and customers, silently monitoring the conversation and surfacing real-time insights (product info, competitor comparisons, ROI stats) — sometimes even jumping in with chat responses.

• Self-updating CRMs: Sales teams are ditching manual logging. AI tools now auto-log every call, update contact records, and even flag follow-ups based on sentiment analysis and intent detection.

• Sales enablement at scale: One fast-growing SaaS had a system where AI continuously trained new reps using transcripts of top performers, including coaching on tone, question timing, and call structure. The reps trained by AI were outperforming humans trained by humans.

It’s not just about speed; it’s about leverage. These tools don’t just make reps faster — they let startups act bigger than they are. A five-person sales team can now behave like a 25-person one.

But here’s the important nuance: the most successful teams weren’t trying to replace human reps. They were reimagining what reps should focus on — trust, storytelling, negotiation — and offloading everything else.

If you’re not already experimenting with AI in your sales funnel, you're falling behind. Not because it's trendy, but because your competitors are using it to cut CAC, expand faster, and close more efficiently.

2. The Network Arbitrage Most Founders Ignore

The second theme is something that never gets old — and still somehow gets underplayed: the power of your network.

I was reminded of this during an experimental session at SaaStr called “Who Do You Want to Meet?” — it was like speed dating for SaaS founders, powered by AI matchmaking. They used your answers to questions like “What are you struggling with most right now?” and matched you with others who could help or needed your help.

Each session lasted just 15 minutes — fast, focused, and straight to the point. In that short time, I connected with several founders working on bold, unconventional ideas. One of them is building a fully automated call center SaaS designed to generate leads without human involvement — a concept I found incredibly sharp. Conversations like these remind me how energizing it is to talk to people who think far outside the box.

None of these were superficial chats. They were the kind of honest, useful exchanges that make you rethink parts of your business.

And it made me realize: many founders spend way too much time obsessing over their product, and not enough time building their bench. I’m not talking about raising money or collecting LinkedIn connections. I mean deep, reciprocal, trusted relationships — the kind that save you months of trial and error.

Here’s a truth we don’t talk about enough: most of the key moments in a startup’s journey — the right hire, the right pivot, the key intro — come from someone you already know. If you don't actively build that network, you're leaving value on the table.

If you’re early-stage and think networking is a “later” thing, reconsider. The founders who invest in real connections early on compound faster. It’s not a nice-to-have. It’s infrastructure.

3. Brazilian Talent, Global Impact

The third takeaway is personal: I was blown away by how many brilliant Brazilians I saw leading, building, and investing at a global level.

From growth leads at unicorns to founders pitching at demo day events, Brazilians were everywhere — and not in a token way. They were in the rooms that matter, driving strategy, influencing product direction, closing deals.

I spoke with Nélio Batista from ElectricFish Brazilian founder who's building the energy infrastructure stack for companies transitioning to fully electric cars and trucks — especially those lacking the necessary setup. Their solution provides everything needed to deploy EV operations from scratch. They're based in Silicon Valley, living and executing the vision right at the heart of global tech.

I also had a great conversation with Diego, a sharp founder from Bridgen.ai. His company is revolutionizing how businesses hire at scale, using AI to streamline and enhance the entire recruiting process. Diego has been living in the Valley for the past eight years, and it's clear he's deeply immersed in building for global impact from the center of tech innovation.

I also caught up with Rodrigo from Gamersafer. His team is helping major gaming companies create safer, more welcoming in-game environments. It’s a powerful mission — especially as online communities grow — and it was inspiring to see a Brazilian-led startup tackling such an important global challenge.

It reminded me that being Brazilian in tech used to feel like a limitation. Now, it feels like an asset. The resilience, resourcefulness, and hustle that Brazilian entrepreneurs develop by default — because of local conditions — translate incredibly well into the global startup scene.

If you’re building in Brazil or from Brazil, the message is clear: your talent is exportable. Your story matters. Your perspective is needed.

One of the best things we can do as a community is spotlight these stories more often. The more we show what's possible, the easier it becomes for the next wave of founders to go global from day one.

Closing Thoughts

SaaStr 2025 left me with two conflicting but complementary ideas.

First: the tools are evolving faster than ever. AI is removing barriers at a shocking pace. What used to require a big team and big budget can now be done with lean, smart, AI-augmented systems.

Second: what still matters most hasn’t changed. People. Trust. Shared experience. Your network. Your story.

As founders, we can’t afford to ignore either side. It’s not about choosing between AI and human connection. It’s about getting better at both — and knowing when to lean into each.

So this week, my invitation to you is simple: try one new AI tool in your sales process. And reach out to one person you admire but haven’t spoken to yet. That blend — of smart systems and strong relationships — is where real leverage lives.

Share Paulo Castellano News

Until next time,

Paulo Castellano

In this edition of my newsletter, I want to show you the power of having one audience, even if it's small.

It's very common for people to think they need to be a BIG INFLUENCER to sell any product or service online, but it's very WRONG!

I believe the correct way of building your audience it starts selling something and I will explain the logic for it.

Big influencers who never sold any product before to their audiences have a lot of problems with defining who it's their audience, the target public, what they want, and more.

It's common to see influencers not selling things but doing influence marketing, making reviews of products, talking about the brand and etc. It's one way to make money without selling any product.

But if you start selling any product or service from day one, you have a lot of advantages like:

• Understand what your audience requires

• Understand who it's your audience, age, genre, profession, social position and etc

• You can learn through the path

• You can develop the right product for your audience

It's a very extensive list of benefits.

I'm "skin in the game", and that's what I'm doing on my Twitter Account, recently I decided to create a LaunchStack.app, a boilerplate for you to create your next SaaS application in minutes, really!

Launch Stack Website

But developing a new project takes time(more one reason to create LaunchStack), then I decided to open a pre-sales with a big DISCOUNT, from $279 to $99, it's a one-time purchase.

It's a great way to monetize your app, before launching it.

For every finished step I record one video and share it on Twitter, people comment and make suggestions, it's free marketing. Check the example below 👇

In one month LaunchStack.app pre-sales it's over $1k, I'm very happy with the result, but I believe when the product is launched, with a live demo, the sales will increase a lot because that really generates REAL VALUE for people.

Closing

People love to receive tips, daily inspiration, and techniques for self-improve, and it's what exactly I do on my Twitter, publishing daily high-value to them.

Over time, people start to trust in you, sent direct messages asking for advice, and even pay for one-on-one mentoring, I created my Consultation Session 1:1 to solve this demand. (More one product in my basket).

If people trust you, why not sell one product to them? It's the natural path.

Welcome to my first newsletter edition, maybe you are new here, then let me present before.

My name's Paulo Castellano. I'm an entrepreneur and have some done jobs in my life.

I founded doctorengage.com in November 2014, a SaaS for clinics in Brazil, and sold it to boaconsulta.com in April 2018, becoming a partner.

We merge the two products, doctor engage and boaconsulta, and in October 2020 boaconsulta.com was sold to pixeon.com, my second company sold.

I created changelogfy.com in December 2018 as a side project and today I can consider myself an Indie Hacker.

I never liked being on social media, but I realized it was starting to get in the way of my business.

In December 2022 I decided to start appearing on social networks, I decided that it would be Twitter, due to the practicality of creating content, Youtube, and Instagram is a lot of work and I don't have much time free!

I have some marketing knowledge from my previous companies, then I started creating my audience growth strategy.

A first and most important lesson for those who want to start building an audience on any social media:

You need to have a publishing frequency and high-value content.

I subscribed for one year of typefully.com, a nice Twitter tool for scheduling, publishing, and analyzing your Twitter growth. It's given me a trigger for "now I need to be consistent".

My daily agenda it's:

• 4 Tweets per day [09:00, 13:00, 16:00, 20:00][GMT-3]

• 2 Threads per week

• 20 min interacting with people

Also, I created a "Curated 131 Tool List for your Startup", it's a notion table with a lot of tools paid, free, freemium, and open projects when published on my Twitter.

People love free content, only with this tweet, I got new 194 followers, maybe you follow me through it.

Plus: I sent the link for people to download the content, but before downloading people need to insert the email, what I made was: to start building my own audience, out of Twitter.

Do connections it's important too, I made some colleagues on Twitter, people with who we can grow together, supporting each other.

Publishing high-value content, you can be retweeted by any big player, check this example when PovilasKorop retweeted me.

I got around 4K impressions only with this simple laravel tip!

Money Numbers

In addition to the Twitter numbers, I've driven over 1.000 unique visitors to changelogfy.com, for free, without paying anything.

The number of trials and conversions increased a lot, it's real money my friend.

Also, I'm building in public a new BIG product, it's a kivo.chat, an intercom, and a crisp competitor.
I got around ~30 people on the waiting list, that's fantastic!

Closing

In my first 30 days producing content for Twitter I can say, the power of social network it's fantastic.

You can make friends and money, but it can also be fun.

I see you in the next Edition 👋