Richard Smith

Independent builder and OPC operator building SoloVault to help solo founders discover what to build from real market signals.

Recent activity

Crossing $25k MRR on a newsletter that he launched 72 hours after getting laid off

I built a website security tool after realizing how hard it is to quickly judge a site's trust setup

15 days after launching to zero audience: $0, 1 follower, 0 stars. The full numbers.

Pivoting an internal tool into a 7-figure business

I launched a project to see if people would pay for your Indie Hacker idea

Hitting $1M ARR in two years and working four hours per day

I built a tool for myself, then accidentally turned it into something people actually use

I launched Ceztrix — a simple invoicing tool for freelancers and small businesses

Analyzing markets for months before finding the right idea and building a 5-figure MRR product

We built practice for a test we can't see

From Paying £300/month for an accountant to wondering if I should build the tool myself

Making $9k/mo with a mobile app until platform risk took its toll

70% of SMBs Cancelled a SaaS Over Price This Year - 5 Products to Disrupt, 3 Demands to Build

Why not just trust the AI's top pick?

700 downloads and stuck — five months later...

I was turned down by the same company twice. Third time, I closed them for £40K. Here's what changed.

My team went too fast with AI coding, and now we're drowning in tech debt

How I got a solo project indexed on Google, Bing, and Yandex, and set up real-time notifications with IndexNow

Launching countless apps until one gained momentum and hit $3.3.k MRR

Why I'm Betting on DeepSeek V4 Pro for My Next Micro-SaaS