Carrd
What they Do Best
Carrd is a responsive single-page website builder with ease of use as a priority.
Main Industry
Software
Platform
Independent/Standalone
Type of Product
Desktop/Web App
Target
B2B + B2C
Price Range
$1 - $49
Business Model
Subscription
Free Plan
Free Plan
Revenue Estimates
$1,200,000
Monthly Website Traffic
16,400,000
Revenue Per Traffic
$0.01
Idea to Money
In less than six months, Carrd.co amassed over 12,000 users, 1,100 of which paid for its services. This resulted in a monthly recurring revenue of $4,000.
Founders
Employees
10
Year Started
2016
Dedication
AJ dedicated most of his time to creating HTML5 themes for WordPress and grew Carrd on the side.
Market Insights / Trends
website builder
Industry Incumbent
WordPress ($1.5B/year)
How They Came Up With The Idea
When AJ first conceptualized Carrd, he did not have any specific problem to solve. Instead, he considered it as a side project to display his skills to potential employers. Despite this, Carrd has now become a popular platform for building simple, responsive, and single-page websites.
How They Built The First Version
Carrd's success can be attributed to the strict set of constraints that it was designed to operate within.
AJ, had a clear vision from the very beginning that he wanted the project to be a one-man show, which meant he had to make a tradeoff.
He realized that he wouldn’t be able to build something on the scale of a Wix or Squarespace, but he also knew that keeping the scope of the project manageable was key.
The constraints that AJ put around what he could and couldn't build actually turned out to be a positive thing for both him and the product. It made it possible for him to keep working on the project, and it suited Carrd's ultimate audience, who were looking for a simple solution rather than something with every imaginable bell and whistle.
Growth Channels
AJ’s success story is a perfect example of how a product can gain momentum and reach a wider audience organically.
In his case, the tipping point came with the launch of his project on Product Hunt.
Having an existing following from his previous theme days, as well as the viral growth from Product Hunt, gave his project a significant boost.
In addition, AJ's recipe for awareness and distribution is centered around an organic approach with a strong focus on the product itself.
While he didn’t invest much in traditional marketing techniques, he relied on word of mouth and subtle viral elements like a branded URL, and a "Made with Carrd" link that appears in each free website footer.
Main Growth Channel
Twitter
Product Hunt
Tech Stack
-JS
-AWS
Tools