This app replaced my 9-5 ($150K/year)

I'm Chris and I turned a really simple wish list app into a 150k a year business and now 2 months ago I quit my job.

>> Meet Chris. He built a simple app that pays him six figures a year.

>> I didn't do any marketing the standard way.

>> But what's even crazier is that he did it all without having to quit his full-time job. So what did he build?

full-time job. So what did he build?

Well, I brought him onto the channel to share everything. How he found an idea

share everything. How he found an idea worth building on the side. How he

structured his days so he could manage it all. and why the app he built was

it all. and why the app he built was perfect for building a profitable side project. If you're looking to build

project. If you're looking to build something on the side while you have a 9 to-ive job, this is the video to watch.

All right, let's get into it. I'm Pat

Walls and this is Starter Story. All

right, Chris, welcome to the channel.

Tell me about who you are, what you built, and what's your story.

>> Hi. Uh, I'm Chris and I turned a really simple wishless app into a 150k a year business without a team, without funding, with zero marketing. I just

built it as a side project and it grew slowly over time and now two months ago I quit my job.

>> I mean I love that you did this as a side project. It's something that I did

side project. It's something that I did as well. I started Starter Story while I

as well. I started Starter Story while I had a full-time job and we're going to get all into that. But I just want to understand a little bit more about your background. How did you even get into

background. How did you even get into this idea of building a side project?

>> Okay, so it all started in I think 2019 back in university and I wanted to work for this cool bike brand. It was quite a cool company. I thought getting into

cool company. I thought getting into apps was the way to get into these cool startups and they had this job offer as working student for app developer. So I

just applied for it even though I couldn't develop apps. Obviously they

declined but that just motivated me because they said they like my enthusiasm and that just gave me the boost. That's when I decided to get into

boost. That's when I decided to get into app development because I wanted to have these kind of jobs.

>> Okay, cool. I like that. Rejection is

the ultimate motivation. How do you go from rejection to actually finding this idea for your app that eventually becomes hugely successful?

>> I wanted to start app development and the number one project is a to-do list app, but there are 2 million to-do list apps out there. So, I thought I'd do something similar and that was a wish

list app because back then I was still using an Excel sheet for my own wish list because I thought there was no nice and pretty wish list app out there. So,

a wish list app is basically a nicer version of your notes app for for Christmas. You store all of your wishes

Christmas. You store all of your wishes and then you can share them with your family.

>> Okay. Well, we're going to dive all into wish list apps in a second and exactly how your app works, but again, what I think is super cool about your story is you built this while you're in university, full-time student, and then

while you had a full-time job. So, can

you just break down what that kind of whole journey looked like? How long had you been building this? And how was that whole process? I've been building wish

whole process? I've been building wish list for almost six years now. It was 3 years in university and then two and a half years in my full-time job. My usual

schedule was getting up at 8:00 and working on my side project for about an hour, but not development but smaller stuff. For example, answering support

stuff. For example, answering support emails or checking in analytics. And

then from 9 to 6, usually I just did my real job. Then from 6:00 to 8, I was

real job. Then from 6:00 to 8, I was doing my personal stuff, sometimes sport. and from 8 to 11 sometimes later

sport. and from 8 to 11 sometimes later I would work again on my side project that worked specifically well in the colder months but in the summer I couldn't really motivate myself to keep

developing after a full day of developing so the start of 2025 I negotiated to have a 4 day week to have another full day for wish list >> all right so you did this successfully

you were able to quit your full-time job and work for yourself now in this 5-year journey that you went through what were your biggest learnings on how to actually to do this. How to build a side project and take it all the way.

>> First, I would say be honest with your employee. Be upfront about your side

employee. Be upfront about your side project cuz that's mutual beneficial.

You learn so much at your work and your specific fears. But having a side

specific fears. But having a side project means you have to do everything and that's also super beneficial for your work. Uh next thing I would say is

your work. Uh next thing I would say is use every free time you get. Car rides,

train rides. But by using every free time, you should also make sure to prioritize. Never forget your friends,

prioritize. Never forget your friends, family, your girlfriend. They are key to everything. Third, I would say um use

everything. Third, I would say um use the winter time wisely. In winter, no one's going to say, "Oh, look how nice the weather is outside. How can you be inside coding?" And that will not happen

inside coding?" And that will not happen in winter. So, use the winter time

in winter. So, use the winter time wisely. Last, I really started to like

wisely. Last, I really started to like uh working holidays because that just combines being social and being productive. Find a small group of of

productive. Find a small group of of friends or or colleagues or anyone basically anyone who's in your field as well. It just helps a lot being around

well. It just helps a lot being around other motivated people and it also keeps your mental health in a good shape.

>> Okay, now I want to understand a little bit more about how to find an idea, how to find the right side project to work on. Now that you've been successful with

on. Now that you've been successful with yours, what do you think is the playbook for anyone watching this? What would be your recommendation on what to build and kind of how to build it?

>> Start small. I start with an actual problem either you or someone else experienced because I guarantee you if you have this problem there's at least one more person on this earth with the

same problem and that should be enough to start this project. Um also super important for me was setting I would say the correct goals. If I had set my goal

6 years ago to have 150k a year or I would thrown away that project. So my

first goal was not to get the million dollars but to have a random person who I don't know download the app at least for me since since it was a side project monetization can come afterwards working

anyway. So monetization should be not

anyway. So monetization should be not your priority. Users first monetization

your priority. Users first monetization later most importantly just have fun.

It's a side project. So worst case it fails. You still have your full-time job

fails. You still have your full-time job and at least you had a good time and most certainly you learned quite a lot.

>> All right. Well, before we get back to how Chris grew his side project to $150,000 a year, I need to point out something important. Chris's app changed

something important. Chris's app changed his life, but he didn't overthink it. He

found a simple idea and simply launched it into the real world. And that's

exactly why we created Starter Story Build. It's our program where you will

Build. It's our program where you will learn how to use AI tools to take your idea and launch a real working app in just a couple weeks, even if you've never coded before. If you're ready to

stop sitting on the sidelines and actually build something, just head to the first link in the description and check out Starter Story Build. All

right, let's get back to the video. All

right, so my next question is around realistic timelines. You've been doing

realistic timelines. You've been doing this for 5 years. That's subjectively a long time. Can you break down what a

long time. Can you break down what a real journey looks like for a side project to become a full-time income? If

you can break down when you started and how this thing kind of grew, that'd be great.

>> So 2019, I started building wish lists.

It was 2020 when I first released the first version of the app. And in 2021, I got my first job as app developer, which I only got because I developed this wish

list that before. So that was also when I had the idea of relaunching wish lists because I couldn't even ship updates because the code base was all over the

place. So in 23 I finished university in

place. So in 23 I finished university in July and I already got a full-time job as app developer secured for October. So

that meant I had 2 months free time. So

end of October I at the launch of wish list 2.0 I also hit the 100k registered users. And in 24 I had my full-time job

users. And in 24 I had my full-time job as app developer plus my side project wish list. And in 25 in July, I quit the

wish list. And in 25 in July, I quit the job and now I'm full-time wish list.

Nowadays, everyone would just vibe coded on a weekend, but for me, it took 6 years. So, for me, it was uh I guess a

years. So, for me, it was uh I guess a marathon and not just a vip coding weekend.

>> I mean, that's awesome. It is a marathon, not a sprint. That reminds me of my story, too, and how long it took to build starter story while I had a full-time job. Let's switch topics a

full-time job. Let's switch topics a little bit here. I want to understand a little bit about the growth. Look, a lot of people can build stuff, especially while they have a full-time job, but the growth and the marketing and the getting the users. How did you do that for Wish

the users. How did you do that for Wish List?

>> Being a developer also means that I'm naturally bad at marketing. So, I just didn't do any marketing the standard way. Also, I simply didn't have the

way. Also, I simply didn't have the money for it. And my goal was also not to make money. But what was crucial were my friends and family, especially at the beginning, because I just asked everyone

I know for reviews. That was super awkward at first, but that's what has helped me a lot. Reviews are super important for an app on the app store to to get ranked at the top. So, I also

made sure that my users would give me good reviews and that's why I show these inapp reviews at an appropriate timing.

So, for me, I'm just showing it after the user has accomplished something. For

example, has added a wish or fulfilled a wish. So when the user feels good, the

wish. So when the user feels good, the number one thing for me was I always build for users cuz if they like it, they will share it and they will also

leave good reviews. How I did this was I integrated an easy support system from very early on. I I saved all these emails and all these feature requests from my users from the very beginning.

And every time I shipped a feature or just I fixed a bug for someone specific user, I would text these users, "Hi John, I just fixed your issue." or hi John I just implemented implemented the

feature you requested could you let me know how you feel about it do you like it or not I always write questions in these support emails so they would get back to me and once they get back to me

with a positive answer only then I would ask them to review my app that turned out to be super fun till this day >> okay let's uh I want to have you break down some of the numbers behind wish

list how's this business doing can you break down some of the numbers >> so the monthly revenue average is around 6k K now in the low season and total

registered users are currently at 1.1 million and paying customers they are around 4K plus all of the people who buy

the products through the app and 110k monthly active users you can multiply these values by five during the high season >> okay and on another note I want to understand a little bit more about how

you built this what's the tech stack behind wish list >> flatter is crossplatform kit as free cursor as my IDE. Um I use chat GVt as well. Firebase as my as my back end also

well. Firebase as my as my back end also for or analytics revenue kit for inner purchase thrill as user feedback. One

link for deep links and selfesk for accounting. I would say 99% margin

accounting. I would say 99% margin because I don't really have the costs beside my server costs.

>> All right. So now I want to like understand actually what you built. You

have this wishlist app. I'm not really sure exactly what wish lists are. Can

you show us your app and just how it works and what it does?

>> As I said, it's a super simple app. So,

we start by creating a wish list. So,

let's just create a wish list for Christmas. And we can also add a couple

Christmas. And we can also add a couple of notes and change the visibility. But

for now, we're just making it public.

So, now we have created our first wish list. And now it's time to add some

list. And now it's time to add some actual wishes. We can do this manually.

actual wishes. We can do this manually.

Just say okay, for example, a year is enter. How make money is through in

enter. How make money is through in purchases. For example, if you want to

purchases. For example, if you want to have a custom wish list image, you get into this pay wall, then you can get a premium membership. More important, um,

premium membership. More important, um, I get money through affiliate links. So,

if I were to add a wish from, let's say, Amazon, um, I can simply autoimp import it. Once I open this link from within

it. Once I open this link from within wish lists, I get money because it's I I'm changing it to an affiliate link for me. And yeah, that's how I make money.

me. And yeah, that's how I make money.

>> All right. Well, I love how the app is quite simple. I know behind the scenes

quite simple. I know behind the scenes it's probably more complicated than that, but it's cool to see that an app like this can, you know, make a living for you. That's awesome. The last

for you. That's awesome. The last

question that we have for all founders who come on Starter Story, what would be your advice to anyone watching this who has a full-time job, who is a full-time student that wants to do this or not ready to quit and go allin yet? What

would be your advice to someone who's watching?

>> Do not over complicate things. Not

everyone has to fly to Mars. You don't

have to build the next Facebook. You

don't need VC funding. Find a problem you can solve by yourself. find an

actual problem you or someone else has and just give it a try. Even if that just means making a prettier version of an existing app.

>> Cool. Well, thank you, Chris, for coming on to the channel. I think what you did is awesome. Building a side project,

is awesome. Building a side project, turning it into a full-time income. I

love that. Thanks for sharing with the world everything you did.

>> Thanks for being here.

>> Big thank you to Chris for coming on to the channel and sharing all that. I love

his story because it proves that all you need is a simple idea. Chris started

Wishlist as a small side project and now it makes $150,000 a year and it gave him the freedom to quit his 9to-ive job. And

that's a lesson that anyone watching this can take. Don't over complicate things. Start small, keep it simple, and

things. Start small, keep it simple, and keep going. This is exactly why we

keep going. This is exactly why we created Starter Story Build. We'll show

you how to take your idea, build it with AI, and launch it in just a couple weeks, even if you're just starting it on the side, just like Chris did. So, if

you want to finally build that side project, maybe turn it into a full-time thing, just head to the first link in the description and check out Starter Story Build. All right, that's it for

Story Build. All right, that's it for this episode. Thank you guys for

this episode. Thank you guys for watching. We'll see you in the next one.

watching. We'll see you in the next one.

Peace.