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Angus Chang Built a $40K/Month Business from a One-Page Website
From a frustrated coder to a 40K per month solopreneur who turned a personal problem into a global success
Welcome to Money Making Story
In today’s story, we’re diving into the incredible journey of Angus Chang, a solo founder from Hong Kong who built one of the simplest SaaS products ever — a website that converts PDF bank statements into spreadsheets — and scaled it to $40,000/month with zero employees and no funding.
In this story, you’ll discover:
Top Advice
From Developer to Solopreneur
The Problem That Sparked the Idea
How He Built Bank Statement Converter in a Week
From Google Ads to Organic Growth
What Happens When You Stop Over-Optimizing
The Reality of Building Alone
The Tech Stack & Simplicity Philosophy
Lessons for Indie Founderss
Top Advice:
“You don’t need a team, investors, or a 10-year plan. You just need one idea that actually helps people.”
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“I built a website that literally does one thing.”
That single line captures the understated genius of Angus Chang, a quiet developer from Hong Kong who turned a simple pain point into a $40,000/month online business — all without a team, ads, or even a social media strategy.
This isn’t just a story about coding.
It’s about restraint, focus, and the realization that the internet still rewards useful simplicity — one idea, one script, and one upload at a time.
From Developer to Solopreneur
Angus spent most of his career as a developer — working jobs in investment banking, crypto, and even indie games.
But in 2021, he quit his job. He wanted independence, not another corporate sprint.
“I knew I was going to build something, but I had no idea what.”
One afternoon, while reviewing his personal finances, he faced a problem almost everyone with a bank account knows too well — all his transaction data was locked inside PDF statements.
He needed a spreadsheet.
He needed a way to see how long his savings could last.
That pain point became the seed of his next big idea.
The Problem That Sparked the Idea
Angus wrote a small program to extract data from his own bank statements — a quick personal fix.
But as he built it, he realized something important:
“If this is annoying for me, it’s probably annoying for thousands of other people too.”
That thought turned a private frustration into a public product.
He teamed up with a friend for a week, built a basic web interface, and launched Bank Statement Converter — a one-page website that does exactly what the name says.
No login system.
No branding.
No pitch deck.
Just a clean upload form and a Convert button.
How He Built It in a Week
Angus’s process was as lean as it gets:
Backend: Kotlin
Frontend: Next.js
Hosting: AWS EC2 + Netlify
Payments: Stripe
The first version worked for his own bank, then he generalized it to support other formats.
He didn’t spend time on frameworks, design systems, or scalability.
“I just wanted to see if strangers would use it.
From Google Ads to Organic Growth
When Angus first launched, he bought Google search ads. It got traffic, but not profit.
“I’d spend $1,000 and make $300. It just didn’t work.”
After six months, he gave up on ads.
And that’s when things took off.
His site began ranking organically. Users started finding it through search.
Every day, two or three new people signed up — without him spending a cent.
“That’s when I realized: I don’t need to advertise. I just need to keep improving it.”
So he did.
He fixed bugs, simplified the interface, and replied to every customer email personally.
Gradually, $200 a month turned into $2,000.
Then $10,000.
Then $40,000.
All from a single page that solves a single problem.
What Happens When You Stop Over-Optimizing
While many founders obsess over A/B tests, funnels, and SEO hacks, Angus did the opposite.
He focused on one thing only: does the product solve the problem better this week than it did last week?
No new features unless they were requested.
No blog.
No social media grind.
“I tried blogging and cold emailing. None of it worked. So I stopped. And the business grew faster.”
The Reality of Building Alone
Being a solopreneur isn’t always easy. Angus admits it can be isolating.
“I went from having coworkers to sitting alone at home every day. It’s a big change.”
Friends didn’t understand what he was doing — especially in the early days when the app made almost no money.
But as revenue grew, the same people who doubted him called it “brilliant.”
He laughs about it now.
“It’s funny. People think it’s great once it works. But no one thought it was smart when it didn’t.”
The Tech Stack & Simplicity Philosophy
Tech Stack:
Backend: Kotlin (JVM)
Frontend: Next.js
Hosting: AWS EC2 + Netlify
Payments: Stripe
Emails: Brevo
Profit Margin: ~97%
No employees. No support team. Just one developer, one laptop, and a quiet routine.
“When you work for yourself, you stop caring about clean code. You care about what makes money.”
Lessons for Indie Founders
💡 1. Simplicity wins.
Solve one problem. Do it well. Ignore the rest.
💡 2. Don’t rely on ads.
If people really need your product, they’ll find it.
💡 3. Be patient.
The work you do in years one and two pays off in years four and five.
💡 4. Ignore social media.
Followers don’t equal users. Focus on the product, not attention.
💡 5. Profit is freedom.
A small, boring SaaS with real users beats a “cool” startup that burns cash.
Final Takeaway: The Power of One Simple Idea
Angus Chang’s story isn’t about luck — it’s about leverage.
He found a real problem, solved it simply, and ignored everything that didn’t matter.
He didn’t chase hype. He didn’t raise funding. He didn’t even tweet about it.
He just built quietly — and kept improving.
“I didn’t make $40K a month by being smart. I made it by sticking with something simple that worked.”
From a one-week project to a $40,000/month business, Angus proved that the simplest idea can change your entire life — if you keep showing up for it.
You don’t need investors, employees, or a grand business plan to build something that lasts. What you do need is patience, simplicity, and the courage to keep improving a small idea that solves a real problem.
Angus Chang’s story proves that even without funding, followers, or a co-founder, you can create lasting success by focusing on usefulness over hype. With one page, one tool, and relentless consistency, he turned a quiet weekend project into a $40,000/month business—no buzzwords, no growth hacks, just clarity, craftsmanship, and time..
$35K/Month From 3 Cloned Apps (No “Learning to Code”)
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