Welcome to Money Making Story,

oday, we’re thrilled to share the story of Sebastian, who went from stalled side projects to a full-time indie developer living on his own terms.

In this discussion, we’ll discuss his:

• Kew Takeaway

• The Dream: Quitting Without a Plan

• Finding the Right Idea

• Building in Public, Growing in Silence

• ChatGPT Cheat Sheet

• From Side Project to $15K MRR

• Lessons from Failure

• Advice to aspiring builders

• Story worth reading

Key Takeaway:

"Ask users for feedback when they’re happiest, not when they’re annoyed or distracted."

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“Quitting my job was terrifying, but staying would’ve been worse.”

That’s how Sebastian Ro, a 32-year-old developer from Germany, described the first step in a journey that would reshape his life.

He walked away from a stable corporate job with no business plan, no app idea—just a self-imposed 12-month deadline to figure it out.

Six months later, all he had to show for it were a handful of downloads.

But by betting on himself and pivoting at the right moment, Sebastian went from a few hundred dollars in side income to a thriving solo app business making $15,000 per month in under two years.

This is the story of Habit Kit—a clean, user-friendly habit tracker that grew to over 300,000 downloads—and the lessons behind its quiet rise.

The Dream: Quitting Without a Plan

Sebastian always had the itch to create his own apps. So in 2022, he quit his corporate programming job in Germany and gave himself a year to figure it out.

No co-founders. No roadmap. Just a dream and 12 months of runway.

The first six months? Brutal. His early projects barely got any downloads. At one point, he seriously considered going back to his old job—and he actually did return after a year, feeling like a mix of failure and small-time success.

But that short detour didn’t last. By late 2023, his app revenue hit $3,000/month. In early 2024, it soared to $15,000/month—and this time, he quit his job for good.

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Finding the Right Idea

The winning idea came in the form of a simple habit tracker.

Sebastian noticed a gap in the App Store—a lack of clean, beautiful habit apps with strong privacy. He didn’t want logins or cloud sync. He wanted local data storage and simplicity.

He built Habit Kit using Flutter, a cross-platform framework that allowed him to ship for both iOS and Android with one codebase.

He kept the interface clean. The features were minimal. No signup. No data harvesting. Just a tile-based grid that visualized habit progress.

Once he posted a few early screenshots online and saw positive responses, he knew he had something.

Building in Public, Growing in Silence

Instead of chasing virality, Sebastian shared his journey slowly and steadily across platforms—X, LinkedIn, Threads, and even Blue Sky.

That transparency created unexpected benefits.

• It attracted podcast invites and indie features.

• It built community support.

• It gave him accountability to keep going.

One of the most effective growth levers he used, however, was App Store Optimization (ASO).

ChatGPT Cheat Sheet

From Side Project to $15K MRR

App Store Optimization: The Quiet Growth Engine

While most devs focus on paid ads, Sebastian leaned heavily into ASO.

He edited every piece of app metadata—title, subtitle, keywords, screenshots—to rank for top terms like habit tracker.

He even used Apple's built-in review prompts right after a user's first habit completion—a small but impactful move.

He ran minimal Apple Search Ads, only about $100 per month, just to boost rankings. But it was the ASO that did the heavy lifting, getting him into top 5 spots for key search terms in multiple countries.

The MVP Philosophy

Sebastian didn’t wait to perfect the product.

He followed a “build fast, launch early” mindset—focusing on the core habit-tracking function and letting users guide future improvements.

This iterative approach allowed him to move quickly, test ideas, and avoid overbuilding features no one needed.

He was always the first user. If it didn’t work for him, it wasn’t going out.

Staying Lean and Sustainable

As a solo founder, Sebastian keeps his monthly costs under $300.

The most expensive tool he uses is RevenueCat, which takes a small cut from his app’s subscription revenue, but automates all his in-app purchases.

Other tools in his tech stack include:

• Flutter for development

• Cursor for AI-powered coding help

• Astro for keyword research

• App Figures for tracking growth and ASO

• Waycast, 1Password, and Habit Kit itself for productivity

Lessons from Failure

Sebastian didn’t strike gold with his first app.

He built several products before Habit Kit, and most flopped.

What changed?

He stopped guessing what users wanted and started solving his own problems.

That insight turned his side projects from experiments into a focused product with real traction.

What He’d Tell His Past Self

If Sebastian could go back in time, he wouldn’t warn himself against quitting.

Instead, he’d tell himself to save money ahead of time and treat it like a sabbatical.

And when things didn’t work right away? He reminded himself he could always go back to his old job.

Sebastian Ro didn’t raise capital or go viral overnight. He built quietly, iterated fast, and played the long game with app store visibility and honest community building.

Today, Habit Kit is a top app in its category. And Sebastian? He’s living the indie developer dream—working on projects he loves, with complete freedom over his time.

Advice to aspiring builders

• Start building, even if your idea isn’t perfect

• Don’t overthink validation, use your own problems as inspiration

• Build in public, it creates momentum and support

• ASO > ads. Visibility wins over ad spend.

Learn More About Sebastian Röhl

Sebastian’s story isn’t about flashy tactics or million-dollar funding rounds. It’s about betting on your skills, staying consistent, and building products that quietly win over time.

Today, he wakes up every day to work on his own app, on his own schedule, earning more than he did in his corporate job.

And all of it started with a decision to quit—even when he didn’t know where it would lead.

Story worth reading

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