In the world of micro SaaS, many founders dream of building a profitable business, but finding the right idea and platform can be a challenge. Rob Walling of the MicroConf community recently interviewed Snir Alayof, founder of Pioneera, a gold marketplace partner, to discuss how he built a portfolio of apps on the monday marketplace, scaling to $30,000 in monthly recurring revenue (MRR) in just a few months.
Snir, a non-technical founder, followed a lean, validation-driven approach, leveraging an existing platform’s audience to rapidly test, launch, and scale his apps.
Whether you’re a developer, product builder, or aspiring entrepreneur, his journey provides a playbook for building successful marketplace apps.
Watch the full interview:
Identifying profitable app ideas
One of the biggest challenges for SaaS founders is coming up with the right idea. Snir took a practical approach, focusing on real pain points within the monday.com ecosystem. His process involved:
- Participating in community discussions (Facebook groups, forums, and monday.com’s community).
- Identifying recurring requests from users asking for solutions that didn’t yet exist.
- Conducting direct conversations with potential customers to validate demand.
One of Snir’s most successful apps, “Same Item in Multiple Boards” was directly inspired by users struggling with workflow limitations. Instead of guessing, he went to where users were talking and asked questions.
Key takeaway: The best SaaS ideas come from solving real, unmet needs in an active ecosystem.
Building and launching fast
As a non-technical founder, Snir didn’t build the apps himself – he leveraged his experience running a web development agency to get his ideas built quickly.
His approach to launching:
- Start lean – The MVP for his first app was built in just two weeks.
- Leverage an existing audience – By integrating with monday.com, he didn’t need to market from scratch.
- Use feedback for iteration – Early users helped shape the roadmap.
Key takeaway: Speed matters. Start with an MVP, validate with early users, and iterate based on demand.
Growth strategies that worked
Once the apps were live, Snir focused on scaling smartly. Here are the strategies that drove rapid MRR growth:
- Community-based marketing – Snir engaged in organic marketing by replying to community posts, participating in discussions, and sharing app updates in relevant forums and groups. “I simply posted everywhere where people were talking about monday.com,” he shared. “Facebook groups, community forums, and replying to threads where people asked for similar features.”
- Optimizing marketplace visibility – He structured his app listings strategically by using relevant search terms, adding an explainer video, and selecting categories that maximized discoverability.
- Prioritizing customer support – By adding a chat widget inside the app, Snir directly engaged with users, solving issues quickly, collecting feature requests, and building trust that led to word-of-mouth growth.
Scaling revenue with reviews and word-of-mouth
User reviews played a huge role in boosting credibility and conversions.
According to Snir, “Every time I had a call with a user-whether for onboarding or support – I asked for a review. I even walked them through how to do it step by step.”
This strategy led to:
- More trust = Higher conversion rates
- More reviews = Higher rankings in the marketplace
- More visibility = More organic installs
Key takeaway: Actively ask for reviews early on-they become a long-term asset for marketplace success.
Why build on the monday marketplace
One of the biggest advantages of building on an established platform like monday.com is instant access to a large user base.
monday.com has:
- 225,000+ customers across 200+ industries.
- 94% of large accounts with at least one app installed.
- A built-in app store for distribution.
Instead of spending time and resources finding customers, founders can focus on solving a problem and leveraging marketplace demand.
Your action plan
If you’re considering building a profitable micro SaaS business, here’s your 3-step action plan:
- Identify the right problem – Look at forum posts, community discussions, and FAQs to find unmet needs.
- Build and launch fast – Start lean with an MVP and test demand before scaling.
- Engage, support, and optimize – Be active in your marketplace, provide great support, and ask for reviews.
Looking for your own winning monday app idea? Read our guide on where to find high-potential opportunities and how to validate them before you build. Read the full guide here.
Thinking about building an app on the monday marketplace? Sign up for a free developer account and start exploring the possibilities.
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