My website makes $34K/month (built in 3 hours)

Quick Overview

The Cursor Directory, built by Pontus Abrahamsson and Viktor in just three hours, achieved $35,000 in monthly recurring revenue with a 99.8% gross margin by capitalizing on the high demand for AI-assisted coding tools and focusing on a simple, unique design.

Key Points: The Cursor Directory generated $35,000 in monthly recurring revenue. The entire MVP was built in just three hours. The project achieved a massive 99.8% gross profit margin. The launch strategy heavily involved building in public on X (Twitter) and posting detailed explanations on forums like Hacker News. Key to success was identifying a high-demand topic (AI coding assistance) and maintaining a simple, unique design. The tech stack included v0 for design, Next.js for the front end, and Vercel for hosting, keeping costs extremely low ($500/month operational cost).

Context: This video features an interview between the host of Starter Story and Pontus Abrahamsson, the creator of Cursor Directory, a platform designed to aggregate and organize custom rules (MCPs) for the Cursor AI code editor. Pontus recounts the rapid development and immediate viral success of the directory, which solved the problem of discovering and sharing these specialized AI coding rules.

Detailed Analysis

Pontus Abrahamsson discusses the creation and success of the Cursor Directory, a platform that organizes community-contributed rules (MCPs) for the Cursor AI code editor. He emphasizes the rapid development, stating they built the MVP in just three hours while on a flight to France, and launched it immediately upon landing. The Directory achieved massive traction, gathering over 1.1 million views in 48 hours and generating $35,000 in monthly recurring revenue with an exceptional 99.8% gross margin. The low operational cost was only about $500 per month, supplemented by $270 for emails and $60 for analytics. Pontus attributes this success to three main factors: finding the right audience fit (Cursor users needing better rule discovery), good market timing (as AI-assisted coding was rapidly growing), and providing a high-demand topic (a centralized rule repository). Their launch strategy involved building in public on X (sharing the tech stack and progress), posting on forums like Hacker News, and actively sharing knowledge. Pontus stresses the importance of a simple, unique design over perfection, noting that many AI-generated sites look the same. He advises aspiring builders to start quickly, iterate based on feedback, and not overthink the initial launch.