I built a clone of a $1B app and now make $14K/month

Dennis, a self-taught developer, seized the opportunity to create Yaphone, a browser-based international calling service, following Microsoft's announcement of Skype's closure. Within seven months, Yaphone grew to $14,000 monthly revenue with over 10,000 users. Dennis leveraged his coding skills, launching a minimum viable product over a weekend and utilizing Reddit for marketing. Yaphone's pay-as-you-go model differentiates it from subscription-based competitors, appealing to travelers and businesses. Dennis advises targeting outdated markets, rapidly building MVPs, and focusing on SEO for startup success.

• Dennis identified an opportunity following the announcement of Skype shutting down, which led him to create Yaphone.
• He quickly developed a prototype over a weekend and secured his first paying customers shortly thereafter.
• The app's rapid growth resulted in $14,000 monthly revenue within seven months.

"When I heard Skype was shutting down, I saw an opportunity."

• Dennis recognized a market gap with Skype's closure and seized the opportunity to fill it.

"In just 7 months, he went from nothing to a $14,000 per month app."

• The rapid growth of Yaphone demonstrates Dennis's ability to identify and capitalize on market opportunities swiftly.

• Yaphone experienced significant growth, achieving $4,000 in its first month and reaching $13,300 by the sixth month.
• The app accumulated over 10,000 registered users, with 4,500 paying individual customers and 20 enterprise clients.
• In September alone, Yaphone facilitated 27,000 calls, indicating consistent user engagement.

"In these 7 months, in total, we reached more than 10,000 registered users. 4,500 became paying individual customers."

• The statistics reflect Yaphone's successful user acquisition and conversion strategy.

"In September, Yadafhone users made in total 27,000 calls."

• High call volume indicates frequent usage and reliance on the service by its user base.

• Yaphone provides affordable international calls via browser using voiceover IP technology.
• Unlike competitors, Yaphone operates on a pay-as-you-go model, avoiding subscription fees and offering flexibility.
• The service targets travelers, expats, and businesses needing to make frequent international calls.

"Yaphone lets people make and receive cheap international calls right in browser."

• The primary value proposition of Yaphone is cost-effective and convenient international calling.

"We allow businesses to just purchase a certain number of credits and then all of the organization members of this business can just use this central balance to make calls."

• The credit-based system offers flexibility and cost savings for businesses compared to traditional subscription models.

• Dennis does not have a formal technical background; he trained as a diplomat before transitioning to tech.
• He self-taught programming in two months through books and courses, leading to a career in startups.
• Dennis's journey from a non-technical field to a successful startup founder underscores his adaptability and self-learning capability.

"I have no technical background whatsoever. I actually I'm a trained diplomat."

• Dennis's transition from diplomacy to tech highlights his diverse skill set and adaptability.

"I taught myself how to code in two months mainly with books and courses."

• His rapid self-education in coding exemplifies his determination and ability to learn new skills independently.

• The speaker discusses the importance of learning through various projects, which helped improve their design and coding skills.
• Each project contributed to a cumulative skill set that eventually enabled the creation of a successful product, Yataphone.

"Then slowly with each of them, with each of my projects, I learned one thing or the other. My design started to be better. My code started to be more reliable."

• The iterative learning process through projects enhanced the speaker's technical skills and reliability in coding.

• The speaker was inspired to create Yataphone after Microsoft announced the shutdown of Skype in March 2025.
• A tweet by Peter Levelvels, expressing frustration over Skype's closure and encouraging alternatives, sparked the idea.

"Then I saw a tweet by Peter Levelvels saying that he and his friends were also using Skype and he was quite pissed that Microsoft was closing it down. He encouraged people publicly to build a Skype alternative. And I thought, why not me?"

• The tweet acted as a catalyst for the speaker to consider developing a Skype alternative, realizing a shared need among users.

• The speaker utilized Nex.js as a framework due to its efficiency in building applications quickly.
• Manual design adjustments were necessary to enhance the application's appearance.

"Then Nex.js came out, and it turns out that you can build stuff pretty quickly with it. So I used Nex.js as a fullstrike framework for my application."

• Nex.js was chosen for its speed and efficiency, facilitating rapid development of the application.

• The speaker launched a prototype over a weekend on Reddit and X, achieving immediate sales, a first for their projects.
• The simple landing page and quick execution were key to the rapid launch.

"I launched it on Reddit and X and got my first sales in minutes, which never happened to me before in any of my previous projects."

• The immediate sales success was unprecedented, highlighting the effectiveness of the speaker's approach and the market need.

• Despite having a small social media presence, the speaker leveraged Reddit for launch, targeting the right subreddits and using effective communication.
• The initial post included screenshots and a concise description, aimed at travelers as the core audience.

"I used to have 60 followers on Twitter for years, but I knew how Reddit works. And the thing about Reddit is that you can get millions of impressions without having any followers at all."

• Understanding Reddit's dynamics allowed the speaker to reach a wide audience without a significant follower base, emphasizing strategic platform use.

• The speaker experienced immediate success with their product, Yataphone, upon posting on Reddit, despite being blocked shortly after.
• The initial Reddit post led to the first sales within minutes, indicating strong market validation.
• Entrepreneur subreddits provided a platform to showcase and promote projects without being blocked.

"The most crazy thing is that I got the first sales minutes after my first Reddit post. I've never seen anything like that before and that was a clear sign that my idea was validated."

• This quote highlights the unexpected and rapid validation of the product idea through immediate sales following the first promotional effort.

• The idea was not entirely new but was in a validated market, initially validated by a tweet from Peter Levels and subsequent sales on Reddit.
• The timing was crucial, coinciding with Microsoft's announcement of closing Skype, which drove users to seek alternatives.
• The speaker had developed sufficient skills to create a product that looked appealing, solved a real problem, and attracted paying customers.

"I think the key thing about this idea is that it's not an idea at all. It's a validated market which was first validated with the tweet by Peter Levels I saw and then by sales I got from my Reddit post."

• This quote emphasizes the importance of entering a pre-validated market and leveraging existing demand to ensure product success.

• Identify markets with slow-moving, outdated competitors to exploit validated demand and quickly improve usability and design.
• Develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) swiftly, focusing on core functionalities and engaging storytelling, particularly for platforms like Reddit.
• Utilize opportunities when major competitors exit the market to rank for high-value keywords in articles and blog posts.

"Find a market where your competitors are dinosaurs. They are old-fashioned and slow-moving."

• The quote suggests targeting markets with established but stagnant competitors to gain a competitive edge.

"Your MVP doesn't have to be perfect. Try to nail design and usability. Make sure that your core feature works well."

• This quote underscores the importance of focusing on essential features and user experience rather than perfection in the initial product development phase.

• When a major competitor leaves the market, capitalize on existing articles mentioning them to boost visibility and traffic.
• Reach out to authors of high-ranking blog posts to include or replace mentions of the competitor with your product.

"When a big competitor leaves, they have a lot of articles still mentioning them. And that's a great chance to rank on keywords that you would otherwise never have a chance to rank for without a high domain authority website."

• This quote highlights the strategic advantage of using competitor exits to improve search engine rankings and drive traffic.

• Continuously iterate on the product by actively seeking feedback from customers.
• Direct communication with users helps refine the product and ensure it meets customer needs.

"I used to text every single paying customer for 6 months asking for feedback."

• This quote illustrates the commitment to ongoing product development and the value of customer feedback in refining and improving the offering.

• Engaging with users is crucial for understanding user segments and improving app experience.
• Direct communication with users helps catch negative feedback early, allowing for timely responses and improvements.

"This is immensely helpful because it helps you figure out what are user segments and who your app is serving the best. And also it's catching the bad reviews early and you have the chance to react to bad experiences with your app before people go and give you bad reviews."

• Direct engagement aids in identifying user needs and preemptively addressing potential issues, improving overall user satisfaction.

• Creating a B2B app can be advantageous due to larger financial returns and lower customer churn.
• The transition from B2C to B2B can happen unexpectedly and may require quick adaptation.

"I created my enterprise plan totally by accident. A guy texted me in the middle of the night asking if Yafon has an enterprise plan for his organization. I said, 'Of course we do.' And to tell you a secret, we didn't."

• The founder's quick response to an unexpected opportunity highlights the importance of adaptability and readiness to capitalize on new market demands.

• The use of specific tools and platforms is essential for efficient app development and maintenance.
• Key tools mentioned include Cursor for coding, Vercel for hosting, Ahrefs for keyword research, and Stripe for payments.

"I use Cursor for coding and also sometimes writing copy. Vercel for hosting my solution. I do my keyword research with Ahrefs and I use Stripe for payments."

• The choice of tech stack is crucial for managing development and operational costs, as well as ensuring scalability and efficiency.

• SEO is a critical component for online visibility and success, requiring patience and attention to detail.
• Developers may find SEO challenging due to its delayed feedback loops compared to coding.

"I would advise to do search engine optimization from day one and you have to be very patient with it. I think SEO is pure magic to most developers because it doesn't come naturally to us."

• The founder emphasizes the necessity of SEO from the beginning of a project and the importance of meticulous detail, such as ensuring the correct site map format.

• Patience and attention to detail are crucial for success in launching and maintaining a digital product.
• Being adaptable and ready to seize opportunities can lead to unexpected success.

"You have to be very attentive to details with this show."

• The anecdote about the site map underscores the importance of thoroughness in all aspects of business operations, including technical details that may seem minor but have significant impacts.