Thomas launched Uneed initially as a simple directory for front-end tools. He grew it organically by building in public and posting consistently on Twitter, leveraging his growing Twitter audience as the primary distribution channel. This steady presence on Twitter helped him build name recognition and momentum within the indie hacker community over time, eventually reaching around $200/month in its early directory form. The real inflection point for early user acquisition came when Thomas deliberately timed a pivot from a tool directory to a Product Hunt alternative launch platform. He spotted genuine frustration among indie hackers complaining on social media that Product Hunt only featured big products or founders with large audiences. Thomas capitalized on this "drama" and community discontent to position Uneed as the accessible alternative, which drove an initial wave of relevant users who already felt underserved.
Uneed
Product launch platform and directory for showcasing tech products
6 moves, in order
- Pre pivot (Directory phase)Organic search and directory listing
Launched Uneed as a simple front-end tools directory, generating some organic traffic and early sign-ups from developers searching for tools.
~$200/month revenue at peak in this phaseMRR $200 - Twitter audience buildingTwitter buildinpublic
Consistently posted about Uneed and his journey on Twitter, building in public. Each post reinforced name and product recognition in the indie hacker community feed, compounding over time.
Built a meaningful Twitter following that became his primary distribution channel - Pivot to launch platformCommunity timing product hunt backlash
Timed the pivot from directory to Product Hunt alternative by capitalizing on visible indie hacker complaints on social media that Product Hunt ignored small founders. Positioned Uneed explicitly as the accessible alternative for anyone to launch.
Initial revenue drop, but began recovering within a few months after the pivot - Post pivot growthTwitter organic buildinpublic
Continued marketing consistently via Twitter and social media after the pivot, using his built-up audience and community credibility to drive product launches and paying customers onto the platform.
Revenue grew step by step from near zero post-pivot back up through $8K–$10K/month rangeMRR $10k Users 40k users - Monetization — pay to skip the lineProduct upsell
Introduced a paid feature allowing founders to pay to skip the listing queue or advertise their product on the platform, converting platform users into paying customers.
2,000 paying customers; revenue oscillating between $8K–$10K/monthMRR $10k Users 40k users - Ongoing — traffic and referral proofProduct value referral traffic
Demonstrated clear ROI to listed founders by generating 10,000 outbound clicks to listed products in a single month, reinforcing the platform's value and supporting word-of-mouth and repeat paying launches.
10,000 referral clicks in one month; 30,000 unique visitors/month to UneedMRR $10k
Thomas had an established Twitter following within the indie hacker / developer community, which he explicitly named as his primary distribution channel. He also had deep personal familiarity with the Product Hunt ecosystem and indie hacker culture, giving him market insight and credibility that his earlier failed projects lacked.
twitter_organic_buildinpublic
Early version of Uneed as a tool directory plateaued at ~$200/month and never broke out. The initial pivot to a launch platform caused a short-term revenue drop and felt like a failure before eventually recovering. Previous projects (Gum Affiliates, Frisbee, Gidley, a Twitter feed tool, a plan manager, a bookmark manager) all failed — largely attributed to giving up too early, lack of marketing, unclear positioning, and not knowing how to sell into those markets.
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