The Story
Ben Boz built Tech Lockdown, a platform that helps adults block websites and apps and be more intentional with their internet use. What started as a side project grew to $15K/month, allowing him to quit his 9-5 after being laid off.
As Ben explains: "Tech Lockdown is a platform that helps adults block websites and apps and just be more intentional with their internet use. It started out as a side project, but I was actually laid off in 2023, and I had to make the decision to either go full-time on my side project or accept a job offer."
Key Insights
The Origin Story
"It ultimately started back in 2020 when work from home became normalized and everyone was just getting way too much internet time. So, I decided to set up guardrails around my own internet use. I found out that it's just really hard to do that."
"I spent a ton of time researching and kind of putting together my own system that would work well for me. And then from that, I just distilled that into a YouTube video and a Reddit post. And I was shocked by how many people were messaging me and emailing me and asking me to consult."
Failed Side Projects Before Tech Lockdown
- •Lead generation platform for freelance developers: "I just got way too obsessive over like the colors on the website and the logo and the name of it and I just didn't think about the business model enough or how I would get customers."
- •Landing page builder: "I didn't really think about how I'd launch it and I burnt myself out before launching it. I over complicated it."
- •Web agency: "Did that for about 2 and a half years, but it was just really difficult, a hard business to run."
What Made Tech Lockdown Different
"I didn't start off trying to make a side project. It was genuinely something that I was passionate about and I was trying to solve a problem."
"I also didn't over complicate the logo and the marketing and all that. I actually didn't have a logo until I had a few hundred customers."
"It was actually really helpful to have an audience who was really focused on that topic, too. So, that when I actually worked on something, I felt like I wasn't just like throwing something out there into the ether. I knew that someone would use it eventually."
The Layoff Decision
"I got laid off and I had kind of already planned to leave in September of that year. The income from Tech Lockdown was like $3,000 at that point, which would not have covered my expenses."
"My natural instinct was to go back to this like safety net, which is a W2 income. But I figured I'm only going to get this opportunity probably once. Let me give it a good shot."
"I ended up doubling down on Tech Lockdown, and I'm glad I did that because it's grown by 5x since I was laid off."
Building with Limited Time
Morning Routine
"I've formed a habit of waking up really early in the morning, prioritizing like development tasks and stuff that just required more focus and attention in the morning. So, I would do that, you know, between like 5:30 and 8:00, 8:30."
Evening Work
"If I worked on anything in the evening, it might be more like marketing related because I could do those kinds of tasks without having to be hyperfocused and alert."
Pick Your Channel
"If you're juggling a full-time job and you're also trying to do customer acquisition through marketing, you should pick a channel that is energizing to you and that you can do reliably and that you don't dread doing. So for me, that was content marketing."
Growth Strategy
Content Marketing
"My core strategy was just to write really well researched and helpful content. I'm going to give it away for free and it made it really easy for people to just share the stuff that I was writing."
The Viral Guide
"I made a guide on how you can convert an iPhone into a dumb phone cuz I know there's this audience of people that are just kind of fed up with their smartphone and they're tired of being addicted to it. That article alone, it's one of the top performing guides that I've ever published and it's been read hundreds of thousands of times."
Reddit Strategy
"The thing with Reddit is you can't be overly promotional. So you have to be a little bit more subtle. So if I made like a YouTube video or I made a guide, I would put like all of the good stuff in that Reddit post. I would kind of just tack on a reference to like the YouTube video or the guide."
"More people engaged with it. So it was more likely to go to the front page. And then at the same time, there's a lot of people that want to explore the topic further."
Authenticity
"A lot of my competitors are kind of these faceless apps or companies. They look really corporate but maybe don't look so trustworthy. It helps to just put your face on it and own what you're building. And when I write about content, I'm not saying 'we', I'm saying 'I'. I'm not pretending to be a big company when it's just me working on a project."
Business Numbers
- •$15K MRR
- •1,300 customers
- •2 million+ organic visitors in last 2 years
- •20,000 email contacts
- •Pricing: $15/month or $10/month (annual)
Tech Stack
- •Supabase (database and authentication)
- •SvelteKit (web framework)
- •Vercel (hosting) - $20/month
- •Mail Gun and Elastic Email (~$150/month)
- •Google Gemini
- •Ahrefs (light plan)
- •Plausible Analytics
- •70%+ profit margin
Playbook for Finding Side Project Ideas
- •Pick an idea you can make a very simple version of
- •Start by building an audience before the product
- •Build an audience interested in that specific topic
- •Choose something you're genuinely passionate about
Key Advice
"Make sure that you have a way to get customers. I think the customer acquisition problem is a thing you have to solve before you leave your job. And you have to have a plan that you can kind of throw gasoline on."
"I wouldn't start a side project just because you hate your job and you just want to work for yourself. It's really not that glamorous being your own boss. If you have a problem with your job, maybe just make your full-time job getting a better one."
"Start a side project when it's something you're genuinely passionate about, but you would almost work on for free if you couldn't make money with it."
Key Lesson
"It's actually not that hard to make money with a side project. The hard part is making it into a viable business. There's a lot of side projects that are basically just selling a dollar for 90 cents and when they actually go to scale, it doesn't work out."
"It's less about being really innovative or inventive. It's just coming up with a smart strategy where your customer acquisition cost is low enough that you can build it into a sustainable business."
Resources
- •Tech Lockdown: https://techlockdown.com/
- •Follow Ben Boz on Twitter