What it takes to go from demo to $100K MRR.
A plan for Luka + Klemen.
While normal teams are still writing project specs, we shipped a production-ready platform.
Dashboard, search, lead detail, tokens, affiliate hub, onboarding, search progress, welcome
Apollo, PDL, Hunter, QEV, AbstractAPI, BuiltWith, SEC, BLS, Coresignal, GitHub, Funding, Financial scoring
Already in the database, enriched and scored. Not demo data — real businesses.
9-expert advisory board, full pitch narrative, Brooke AI advisor embedded on deck
Proprietary lead scoring: Fit, Intent, Recency, Engagement — multi-signal intelligence
All built in ONE session. Luka + Claude Code. No agencies, no freelancers, no delays.
What this would cost if we hired a traditional development team — and what we actually spent.
| Role | Monthly Cost | Duration | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior Full-Stack Dev (Next.js + Python) | $12,000/mo | 4-6 months | $48,000 - $72,000 |
| UI/UX Designer | $8,000/mo | 2-3 months | $16,000 - $24,000 |
| Backend/API Engineer (enrichment pipeline) | $10,000/mo | 3-4 months | $30,000 - $40,000 |
| DevOps / Infrastructure | $6,000/mo | 2 months | $12,000 |
| Product Manager | $8,000/mo | 4-6 months | $32,000 - $48,000 |
| QA Engineer | $5,000/mo | 2-3 months | $10,000 - $15,000 |
| TOTAL | 4-6 months | $148,000 - $211,000 |
Plus: recruiting costs ($15K-30K), management overhead, communication delays, code quality issues, 2-3 iteration cycles.
Realistic total with normal team: $180,000 - $250,000 and 6-8 months
| What | Cost | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Full app (8 screens, v2 design) | $0 (Luka + Claude) | 1 day |
| 12-step enrichment pipeline | $0 (already built) | 0 days |
| Investment deck + advisory board | $0 | 1 day |
| Brooke AI advisor | $0 | 2 hours |
| Stitch design system + mockups | $0 | 2 hours |
| VPS infrastructure | Already running | 0 |
| TOTAL | $0 in dev costs | 2 days |
A clear, actionable 3-month path from MVP to scale. Conservative projections, aggressive execution.
Week 1-2: Polish app for production (auth, billing, real-time scraping)
Week 3: Launch to Klemen's network (50 leaders, 20 activate)
Week 4: First 50-100 paid users from affiliate network
Luka: Full-time product + engineering
Klemen: Activate first 20 affiliates
Cost: $2K infra + $3K Luka
Expected revenue: $4,500 - $9,000
Expected revenue: $8,900 - $13,350
Recruit 5-10 content creators
First clipper videos go live
Scale to 200-500 users
Luka: Product iteration based on feedback
Klemen: Manage clippers + affiliates
Cost: $3K clippers + $2K infra + $3K Luka
Expected revenue: $17,800 - $44,500
Expected revenue: $26,700 - $66,750
Launch Meta/TikTok ads ($5K test budget)
10-20 active clippers
500-1,000 users
Luka: Growth features (referral system, API tier)
Klemen: Optimize winning channels
Cost: $5K ads + $3K clippers + $2K infra + $3K Luka + $2K tools
Expected revenue: $44,500 - $89,000
Expected revenue: $66,750 - $133,500
What it looks like when Luka goes full-time. And why it's the best deal on the table.
Luka goes full-time on Heatseak for 3 months. In exchange:
Paid from initial investment, NOT from revenue. Covers bills, lets him drop other projects.
A developer of Luka's caliber costs $12,000 - $15,000/mo on the open market. Klemen gets a CTO-level co-founder for 20-25% of market rate. $9K total vs $36K-45K market rate. Every dollar saved goes into growth.
Building the product every single day
Claude Code = 10x development speed
No recruiting, no management, no delays
50/50 — every decision made together
| Option | Cost (3 mo) | Quality | Speed | Alignment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luka full-time | $9,000 | 10/10 (built the whole thing) | 10x (Claude-augmented) | Co-CEO, 50/50 |
| Senior freelancer | $36,000 - $45,000 | 6/10 (learning codebase) | 1x | Employee, no skin in game |
| Dev agency | $60,000 - $90,000 | 5/10 (generic) | 0.5x (meetings, specs) | Vendor, misaligned |
| Offshore team | $15,000 - $24,000 | 4/10 (timezone, quality) | 0.3x (lost in translation) | Contractor, no ownership |
A complete 3-month budget with conservative revenue projections and payback schedule.
| Category | Month 1 | Month 2 | Month 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luka stipend | $3,000 | $3,000 | $3,000 | $9,000 |
| Infrastructure (APIs, hosting) | $2,000 | $2,000 | $2,000 | $6,000 |
| Clippers | $0 | $3,000 | $3,000 | $6,000 |
| Ads | $0 | $0 | $5,000 | $5,000 |
| Tools (Serper, Apollo paid) | $500 | $500 | $500 | $1,500 |
| Contingency (10%) | $550 | $850 | $1,350 | $2,750 |
| TOTAL | $6,050 | $9,350 | $14,850 | $30,250 |
| Month | Users | MRR | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | 75 | $6,675 | $6,675 |
| Month 2 | 300 | $26,700 | $33,375 |
| Month 3 | 700 | $62,300 | $95,675 |
in 90 days
The ultimate combination: world-class engineering meets world-class distribution. Zero outside dependencies.
"We built the MVP in 2 days. Normal teams take 6 months. That's our competitive advantage."
A clear action plan. No ambiguity. Every step has an owner and a deadline.
"The tech is built. The deck is ready. The advisory board said GO.
The only thing missing is the green light."