From 0 to $1.5k MRR: lessons from our first year building BlackTwist

Hey friends,

Exactly one year ago, Mattia and I started building a small idea on the side.

We didn’t have a team.

We didn’t have an audience.

Just an itch — and the belief that Threads would need its own ecosystem of tools.

Today, BlackTwist just passed $1.5k MRR.

It’s still early. But it feels real.

So I wanted to share a few things from behind the scenes — not just the wins, but the messy parts too.

🚀 The beginning

We started from scratch.

Zero followers. Zero traffic. Zero hype.

Our only “unfair advantage” was that we had been power users of Twitter/X schedulers for years.

So when Threads launched, I knew exactly what I wanted as a creator — and no one had built it yet.

So we did.

🛠 Building and balancing

I handled the tech.

Mattia handled the marketing.

At least… that’s what we tried to do.

The reality is: we both love building, and sometimes that leads to blurred roles, duplicate work, or missed communication.

Some weeks it works great.

Other weeks it creates tension.

We’re constantly learning how to work together better — how to trust, delegate, and stay in sync without losing the joy of creating.

📈 The growth (slow, then suddenly)

We launched fast.

Added scheduling, calendar view, carousels, auto-reposting, analytics.

We also launched a #Threads100 challenge — post for 100 days straight, with a leaderboard and streak tracking.

It was hard to measure the ROI directly, but it definitely brought attention.

Brand awareness matters, even when it doesn’t “convert” immediately.

Then we got our first paying users.

Then more.

Now, creators are writing about BlackTwist in their guides.

They tag us.

They share wins using our tools.

They recommend us — not because we asked, but because it actually helps them grow.

💸 The business model (and how creators help us grow)

One of the best decisions we made was launching an affiliate program.

We wanted creators to feel like real partners — not just users.

So we made it easy:

• Creators use BlackTwist to schedule content, build streaks, and stay consistent
• They include us in their growth guides, newsletters, and tool stacks
• When someone signs up through them, they get paid

No weird requirements. No gatekeeping.

Just a way for people to earn by sharing something they genuinely use.

And it’s working.

We’re seeing more creators mention BlackTwist in their:

• Growth strategy threads
• “Tools I use” posts
• YouTube videos
• Notion templates
• Even paid courses

What makes it special is: they’re not doing exclusively for the money.

They do it because the tool helps them — and then the affiliate link becomes a bonus.

This organic love has been one of the biggest drivers of momentum recently.

It’s not explosive, but it’s steady.

And it’s real.

The win-win dynamic keeps us focused on making the product genuinely valuable — not just “marketable.”

🧭 What’s next

We’re just getting started. Here’s what we’re focused on now:

Keep building what creators ask for

Double down on SEO

Release more free tools (like our Text Carousel Generator or Fake Threads Post Generator)

Listen, iterate, repeat

💬 Final thoughts

If you’re building something right now and it feels slow — keep going.

We didn’t go viral. We didn’t launch on Product Hunt.

We just showed up every week, fixed bugs, improved the product, and listened to users.

Momentum is often invisible at the start.

Thanks for reading — and for supporting our journey.

Talk soon,

Luca