The Story
Dmytro Krasun, 32, thought having a baby was the perfect time to launch a SaaS business. Despite the pressure of raising a newborn, he built ScreenshotOne - a screenshot API for developers - and grew it to $12K+ MRR as a solo founder.
Dmytro has a master's degree in computer science and has been writing code for over 17 years. He worked as a software developer for about a decade, becoming passionate about building APIs. He led API development at companies, managed documentation, and wrote API services from tiny to highly loaded ones.
The idea came from his experience building APIs and encountering problems. He thought it would be cool to do something with browser automation. He didn't even check out competitors (of which there were many), but luckily found his niche in the market.
After discovering IndieHackers.com and listening to the podcast, Dmytro realized he could build everything on his own without funding. When his partner had a baby, he decided to bootstrap both - a new baby and a new business.
Key Insights
The Product
- •Screenshot API for developers
- •Turns any website URL into a screenshot
- •Use cases: competitor intelligence, open graph images, personalized videos at scale
- •Serves businesses from small to enterprise
New Baby, New Business
- •Launched while raising a newborn
- •"I didn't think about how hard that would be at the time"
- •Curiosity drove him to see how far he could go
- •Found a gig to cover family expenses while building
The Positioning Breakthrough
- •Started consciously positioning to ideal customer profile
- •All features, marketing, designs, and content focused on specific customer
- •"Define your ideal customer profile and this will make your life so much easier"
Tech Stack
- •Next.js (dashboard)
- •Astro (marketing website)
- •Puppeteer (rendering screenshots)
- •Go (API key management, rate limiting)
- •DigitalOcean managed Kubernetes
- •Cloudflare (edge caching, computing, storage)
- •Hetzner GPU servers
- •Google Cloud Run (scaling backup)
Why Multiple Servers?
- •Started with $5 server
- •Moved to Render for scaling
- •Then Google Cloud (free credits)
- •Became too expensive, moved to DigitalOcean
- •"It might look like over-engineering" but necessary for reliability
Business Model
Pricing Structure
- •Three paid plans based on user needs
- •Higher plans = more screenshots + costlier features (video generation)
- •Pay-as-you-go option added to each plan
- •Had to raise prices to cover server costs
Growth Timeline
- •Launched just over two years ago
- •Now at $10K-12K+ MRR
- •Publishes monthly reports on X
Growth Strategy
Product Hunt Launch
- •Made it to top products of the day
- •Brought credibility and customers
- •Improved SEO significantly
- •Main acquisition channel is now SEO
Building in Public
- •Shares monthly reports publicly
- •Engages with indie hacker community
- •Daniel Nguyen helped change his thinking patterns
The Mental Game
Thinking About Quitting
- •"I thought about quitting every week when I started"
- •Had 2+ year runway but still stressed
- •"You see your money burning daily"
- •Curiosity became his superpower
Freedom Trade-offs
- •More freedom: Can fly to Italy for a week without asking permission
- •Less freedom: Still worked on laptop during vacation
- •"Don't be delusional, you won't have complete freedom"
- •But you choose who to serve and what problems to solve
Key Advice
- •Define your ideal customer profile early
- •Curiosity is a superpower - stay curious about how far you can go
- •Get a gig to cover expenses while building (wish he'd started earlier)
- •Don't give up - determination matters
- •Connect with other indie hackers for support
Resources
- •ScreenshotOne: https://screenshotone.com/
- •Follow Dmytro: https://x.com/nicklockwood