SUMMARY

Josef Büttgen, co-founder of Setter AI, recounts bootstrapping an AI appointment booking tool from a simple landing page to $120K annual recurring revenue, sharing validation hacks, co-founder strategies, and AI-driven growth.

STATEMENTS

• Setter AI is an AI appointment setter that qualifies leads and books them into meetings via personalized chatbots integrated with calendars like Calendarly.
• The product idea originated from a co-founder's scrappy landing page demo that attracted 20-30 bookings over months without any actual product.
• Josef found his co-founder in a Bali co-working space while pursuing full-time indie hacking after quitting freelancing with zero revenue.
• After a year of minimal traction on one project, Josef launched a 12 startups in 12 months challenge to build momentum and iterate rapidly.
• The duo pre-sold an MVP for $500 using a YC company's AI voice API before developing their own product, confirming demand.
• AI tools assist in strategic brainstorming and operational tasks like generating pull requests, acting as a "million junior devs" to accelerate development.
• Early customers came from organic Google and YouTube SEO, building trust through long-form content on lead qualification challenges.
• The tech stack includes Next.js with TypeScript, Postgres on Supabase, serverless Netlify functions, and UI tools like Tailwind and Daisy UI.
• Operational costs remain under 10% of revenue, emphasizing lean scaling with tools like Plausible for analytics and Beehiiv for email marketing.
• Promising SaaS ideas involve AI layers above tools like N8N to help non-technical users automate flows into products.

IDEAS

• Landing pages with fake demos can validate demand by attracting real bookings without coding a single line.
• Co-working hubs in places like Bali serve as cheat codes for discovering co-founders amid ambitious indie hackers.
• Committing to 12 startups in 12 months forces rapid shipping and iteration, breaking the paralysis of perfectionism.
• Pre-selling unbuilt products via third-party APIs creates instant validation and funds actual development.
• AI transforms solo founders into teams by handling coding grunt work, equivalent to endless junior developers.
• Organic SEO and YouTube content generate high-intent leads because viewers perceive speakers as instant experts.
• Serverless stacks like Netlify and Supabase prioritize speed over cheap VPS, enabling focus on growth.
• Non-technical users crave AI wrappers around open tools like N8N, turning raw automations into sellable SaaS.
• Charging customers early injects urgency, motivating both buyers and builders to commit fully.
• Surrounding yourself with high-energy environments accelerates exposure and idea collision for breakthroughs.
• Long-form content on specific pain points like lead follow-up naturally draws inbound traffic without gimmicks.
• Reviewing AI-generated pull requests allows founders to multitask, merging code while strategizing.

INSIGHTS

• Rapid iteration through short project cycles uncovers viable ideas faster than prolonged building on unproven concepts.
• Organic content marketing builds authentic trust, outperforming paid ads by aligning expertise with searcher intent.
• AI democratizes development, empowering solo creators to scale like teams without hiring overhead.
• Pre-revenue validation via sales commits resources efficiently, turning speculation into tangible momentum.
• Lean operations below 10% costs amplify profits, freeing capital for innovation over maintenance.
• Targeting non-technical automation needs with AI layers unlocks scalable SaaS by simplifying complex tools.

QUOTES

• "We essentially developed an AI chatbot that in a very personalized manner talks to the leads instantly and books them into meetings directly to Calendarly or other calendar integrations."
• "AI assisted coding is such a blessing. You can create whole like pull requests, build features... So you have basically a million junior devs supporting you building this."
• "The trust and the intent from people coming about inbound organic traffic is just insane and has worked wonders for us."
• "If I was uh myself to start over and start new ideas, I would build anything that helps nontechnical people build with AI."
• "Just start. Really don't overthink it. Try to go for the value. Always be a valuable person. Create the value and don't be afraid to charge early on."

HABITS

• Attend co-working spaces in entrepreneurial hubs like Bali to network and find co-founders organically.
• Launch and abandon projects every 30 days to maintain momentum and force rapid iteration.
• Research keywords and publish regular YouTube videos or blog posts on audience pain points for SEO.
• Use AI coding tools like Cursor daily to generate and review pull requests for feature development.
• Pre-sell ideas to potential customers before building, ensuring validation through early commitments.

FACTS

• A single $5K customer dispute erased nearly 10K monthly recurring revenue overnight after four to five months of scaling.
• Setter AI reached 120K annual recurring revenue as a two-person bootstrapped operation.
• Over 2,000 signups occurred within the first year, with around 40 active paying subscribers.
• Business costs stay under 10% of revenue, achieved through serverless and lightweight tools.
• Josef built and attempted 12 startups in 12 months to build exposure and refine his process.

REFERENCES

• Cursor AI for background agent features in coding workflows.
• Supabase for Postgres database hosting in the backend stack.
• N8N as an inspiration layer for AI automation flows turned into SaaS products.

HOW TO APPLY

• Create a basic landing page with a product demo video or mockup, then promote it in relevant communities to gauge interest through demo bookings.
• Identify a co-founder by immersing in indie hacker environments like co-working spaces, sharing your work to attract aligned partners organically.
• Set a 30-day limit per project idea, building minimal versions and gathering feedback before pivoting to maintain velocity.
• Pre-sell your concept using existing APIs or tools, securing a small payment like $500 to confirm demand before full development.
• Leverage AI for daily tasks: brainstorm strategies at a high level, then use coding assistants to draft features and pull requests for quick reviews.
• Produce long-form content on YouTube or blogs targeting specific keywords related to your niche's problems, optimizing for SEO to drive inbound leads.

ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

Bootstrap AI SaaS by validating with landing pages, pre-selling, and using AI to accelerate from idea to revenue.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Validate every idea with a scrappy landing page before investing time in development.
• Seek co-founders in vibrant communities like Bali co-working spaces for synergistic partnerships.
• Commit to building multiple projects quickly to discover winners through iteration.
• Integrate AI tools early for coding and strategy to multiply solo productivity.
• Focus organic growth on SEO and YouTube to attract high-trust, intent-driven customers.

MEMO

In the sun-drenched co-working spaces of Bali, Josef Büttgen traded the stability of freelancing for the uncertainty of indie hacking. With savings for just a year and a half, he dove into building startups, eventually co-founding Setter AI—an AI-powered appointment setter that qualifies leads and books meetings in real time. What began as a co-founder's simple landing page demo, sans any functional product, drew 20 to 30 eager signups over months, proving demand for instant, personalized lead follow-up in a world where delays turn hot prospects cold.

The pivot came during Büttgen's self-imposed "12 startups in 12 months" challenge, a grueling regimen designed to shatter perfectionism. Each project lasted 30 days: build, launch, learn, abandon. This relentless pace not only built momentum but exposed him to his future partner, who had been tinkering with AI voice tech. Together, they skipped the traditional MVP grind. Instead, they pre-sold access to a third-party AI API for $500, pocketing validation—and cash—before coding a single line. "It was less than an MVP by most standards," Büttgen admits, but it lit the fire.

AI emerged as their secret weapon, not just for the product but for the build itself. Büttgen likens it to "a million junior devs" churning out pull requests via tools like Cursor, freeing him to strategize. Their stack—Next.js, Supabase, serverless Netlify—kept things agile and costs below 10% of revenue. Customers trickled in via organic channels: SEO-optimized YouTube videos and blogs dissecting lead woes. "People see you talking, and they trust you're the expert," he says. From zero to 120K in annual recurring revenue, Setter AI now boasts over 2,000 signups and 40 active users, a testament to lean, inbound growth.

Yet success wasn't linear. An early venture hit 10K monthly revenue in months, only to crater overnight from a single client's dispute. Undeterred, Büttgen advises aspiring founders: Start now, charge early, create value relentlessly. For new ideas, he eyes AI wrappers simplifying tools like N8N for non-techies—turning automations into accessible SaaS goldmines. In an era of AI abundance, his story underscores a timeless truth: Scrappy validation and persistent shipping trump overthinking every time.

As AI reshapes entrepreneurship, Büttgen's path offers a blueprint for solos. Surround yourself with doers, iterate fearlessly, and let organic trust fuel the flywheel. In the end, building isn't about perfection; it's about proving one lead, one sale, one month at a time that your idea can book the future.