We bootstrapped our open source Google Analytics alternative to $500k ARR
Published in 2021, this chronicle by @tacon details the mechanics of building a profitable, self-funded business without venture backing. Key verified financial milestone: $500k ARR.
The community focused on B2B customer acquisition channels, cold email vs SEO distribution, and balancing full-time employment with side-project development.
Saying it's a Google analytics alternative is quite far stretched.
It doesn't have any user journey but only entry and exit, no A/B testing, no heatmap for click and scrolls.
If it doesn't provide any actionable intels, you don't call that analytics but just a counter.
Check Countly's intro video on what analytics is. Though the base is open source, most of its analytics features are behind enterprise edition.
https://youtu.be/sQCUNSzfEW8 ↗
For an open source solution, you might want to look at PostHog instead. (But paid plans exist for some features.)
"To anonymize these datapoints, we run them through a hash function with a rotating salt.
`hash(daily_salt + website_domain + ip_address + user_agent)`"
Isn't this just PII with extra steps? OK it's at least better then the traditional approach. Keep in mind though that anonymizing is also a use of personal data in it self and requires a legal basis. https://www.insideprivacy.com/data-privacy/german-federal-commissioner-for-data-protection-and-freedom-of-information-launched-public-consultation-on-anonymization/ ↗
Besides resources like Indie Hackers, I highly recommend everyone here read Small Giants (https://www.amazon.com/Small-Giants-Companies-Instead-10th-Anniversary/dp/014310960X ↗) which focuses on companies that have outsized impact feeling the pressure to grow.
They profile companies that have 2 to 2,000 (or so?) people, but most focus on having an opinionated take (over growth for its own sake).
This is such an inspiring story: building a business on an open source competitor to Google Analytics with a tiny team and no funding is one heck of an achievement.
I'm a very happy (paying) user of the product, too.
I LOVE that the script is less then 2KB of JavaScript, and that their privacy design is aligned with my values.
I find their dashboard UI solves my needs just fine, whereas I still can't find things easily in the GA interface despite using it for over fifteen years!
We do miss out on getting featured in the tech media. TechCrunch published a story about our growth once (thanks to the VCs who were sharing a list of fastest growing open source startup) but otherwise, we get no coverage that VC-funded startups get.
This isn't because you're bootstrapped, it's likely because you don't have a PR team pitching on your behalf. That's how stories get placed.
Congrats!
This is very impressive, but I am not sure it generalizes to the average bootstrapped startup.