Marc Lou’s Shipfast Story

In the dynamic world of tech entrepreneurship, few stories are as inspiring as that of Marc Lou, a 32-year-old French innovator who turned setbacks into stepping stones. Marc's relentless pursuit of his passion led him to create ShipFast, a NextJS boilerplate that revolutionized how startups build and deploy applications. Today, ShipFast boasts a remarkable $141,000 in monthly recurring revenue (MRR), positioning Marc as one of the highest-grossing indie hackers in the industry.

Early Life and Educational Background

Marc Lou's journey began in France, where he nurtured a fascination for technology from a young age. He pursued this interest academically at the Université de Technologie de Troyes, graduating with a degree that set the foundation for his future endeavors. His education equipped him with the technical skills required for a career as a full-stack developer, but it was his innate entrepreneurial spirit that drove him to seek more.

The Initial Ventures and Setbacks

Like many entrepreneurs, Marc's early career was a series of trials and errors. He ventured into multiple startups, each providing valuable lessons despite not achieving the desired success. A significant turning point was his experience working under Tai Lopez, from whom he was fired in November 2021. This setback could have deterred many, but for Marc, it was a catalyst for change.

Feeling the weight of repeated failures and battling depression, Marc temporarily stepped away from entrepreneurship. He had grown a SaaS product to $3,000 MRR, but after four years of hard work, he felt it wasn't the breakthrough he sought. With only $20,000 in the bank, he relocated to Bali with his Korean wife, seeking solace and a fresh perspective.

Discovering the Build-in-Public Community

In Bali, Marc stumbled upon the build-in-public community on Twitter. Influenced by role models like Pieter Levels and Danny Postma, he saw indie hackers sharing their journeys transparently, working remotely, and achieving financial freedom. This community reignited his passion, and he decided to embark on his own build-in-public journey.

Launching Multiple Projects and Gaining Momentum

Marc began by creating Mood2Movie, a movie recommendation app tailored to users' moods. While the project was simple, it was the spark that rekindled his creative drive. Over the next three years, he launched an impressive 21 products, each one a stepping stone to greater success. He grew his newsletter to over 20,000 readers and amassed a Twitter following of 95,000, leveraging social media to build an engaged audience.

One notable project was Habits Garden, a gamified habit tracker that eventually reached 10,000 users. By employing side-project marketing and creating viral launch videos, Marc honed his ability to capture public interest. However, he realized that to achieve true success, he needed to focus on products that resonated deeply with both himself and his customers.

The Birth of ShipFast

On September 1st, 2023, Marc launched ShipFast, a NextJS boilerplate designed to help developers ship startups quickly and efficiently. ShipFast was the culmination of Marc's accumulated knowledge from his previous 27 projects, effectively organizing his foundational code into a powerful tool.

At the time, there were few robust NextJS boilerplates available, and ShipFast filled a significant gap in the market. The product gained immediate traction on platforms like Product Hunt, Twitter, and Hacker News. By the end of its first month, ShipFast had generated $40,000. As of April 2024, it has reached an impressive run rate of $133,000 per month.

Why ShipFast Succeeded

Several factors contributed to ShipFast's rapid success:

• First-Mover Advantage: Being one of the first comprehensive NextJS boilerplates gave ShipFast a significant edge.
• Community Engagement: Marc built ShipFast in public, fostering a strong community around the product.
• Quality and Utility: ShipFast addressed a real need among developers for a reliable, time-saving boilerplate.

The success of ShipFast also sparked a surge in the availability of boilerplates across various tech stacks. While competitors emerged, none matched the success of ShipFast, though some, like Shipixen and Makerkit, have made notable progress.

BuilderKit - a worthy alternative

Shipfast is a great product as it allows you to build stuff on top of it but it does not have a lot of pre-built Modules or Apps. If you are looking for a NextJS Boilerplate with pre-built landing pages, auth pages, wailtist pages and 14+ pre-built AI Apps in addition to a comprehensive NextJS boilerplate. Check out BuilderKit here.