Uneed

2019

Thomas Sanlis starts building Uneed during last year of web development school as NuxtJS framework experiment

2019-03

First version of Uneed goes live as a simple directory of frontend development tools

2019-06

Establishes daily habit of adding one new tool per day to the directory

2019-09

Graduates from 5-year web development school in Nantes, France

2020-01

Takes brief 3-month job as employee, quits due to disliking constraints

2020-04

Transitions to freelancing to fund side projects while maintaining Uneed

2020-06

Builds several side projects: Gumroad affiliate finder, feedback exchange platform, open graph image generator

2020-12

Builds NuxtJS boilerplate and no-code website builder as additional experiments

2021-01

Uneed continues growing slowly with daily tool additions; Thomas spends only 2 hours/week on it

2021-06

Sets up Zapier automations for social media posting and workflow tasks to minimize maintenance time

2022-01

Directory has accumulated substantial catalog of tools through 3+ years of daily additions

2022-06

Begins complete redesign of Uneed to modernize the platform

2022-10

Launches redesigned Uneed on Product Hunt - first major traffic spike and growth inflection point

2022-11

Starts receiving more product submissions than capacity, considers monetization

2022-12

Introduces waiting list for submissions and paid skip-the-line feature at ~$30

2023-01

Reaches approximately $2,000/month revenue running on near-autopilot

2023-06

Realizes targeting creators/founders is more effective than targeting tool seekers

2023-09

SEO begins performing well with programmatic alternatives pages ranking organically

2023-12

Observes growing indie maker frustration with Product Hunt; senses market opportunity

2024-01

Makes bold pivot from simple directory to full launch platform; commits full-time after freelance contract ends

2024-01

Revenue at $1,917/month before pivot transformation begins

2024-02

Implements daily product rotation, weekly/monthly rankings, and winner badge system

2024-03

Revenue drops to scary low of $870/month during pivot transition - mental health challenge

2024-04

Adds form submission checklist that increases conversion by 30% within one week

2024-05

Implements growth-focused prioritization strategy; begins building in public across Twitter, LinkedIn, Bluesky

2024-06

Adds product review service at $217 per review with SEO ranking benefit

2024-07

Starts newsletter growth push using Bento for email automation

2024-08

Cross-promotion partnerships established with DevHunt and similar platforms

2024-09

Hits new all-time traffic and revenue records

2024-10

Revenue reaches $6,738/month - 3x the pre-pivot baseline

2024-11

Newsletter grows to 8,000 subscribers; domain rating reaches DR 72 through badge backlinks

2024-12

Diversifies revenue: paid launches, directory submissions, premium spots, advertising, newsletter sponsorships, reviews

2025-01

Reaches ability to live entirely off project income, no longer needs freelancing

2025-03

Newsletter reaches 11,000 subscribers; platform has 43,000+ registered users

2025-06

Switches hosting from Vercel to self-hosted VPS with Coolify after $600 surprise bill

2025-07

Crosses $10,000/month revenue milestone

2025-09

Revenue plateaus around $10K/month; begins exploring new projects

2025-12

Begins development of Uneed Community (social launchpad) and Writizzy (blogging platform)

2026-01

Launches Writizzy on Product Hunt with #14Posts14Days challenge; newsletter reaches 13,000 subscribers

2026-02

Announces all-in bet on Uneed Community and Writizzy as next evolution