How Testimonial.to Hit $100K ARR in Just 9 Months

Building a profitable SaaS as a solo founder is no small feat. But Damon Chen did just that—scaling Testimonial.to from $0 to $100K ARR in under a year, without a team, VC funding, or prior success with SaaS.

He achieved this by leveraging Twitter, SEO, and product-led growth, Damon transformed an idea into a six-figure business—all while sharing the journey in public.

Here’s how he did it.

The Problem They Solved

Before launching Testimonial.to, Damon had already built four other SaaS projects. Most of them failed.

But through that process, he noticed a recurring problem:

Collecting customer testimonials was painful.

Most businesses struggled to gather social proof because:

• Customers weren’t motivated to provide testimonials.
• The process was clunky, requiring emails, forms, and back-and-forth follow-ups.
• Video testimonials, in particular, were difficult to request and manage.

Damon saw an opportunity. He built Testimonial.to—a simple tool that lets businesses collect and display video testimonials with ease.

The big differentiator? No friction.

Customers could record and submit testimonials in seconds, making the process seamless for both businesses and their customers.

The Strategy

Damon Chen didn’t rely on a single growth hack to scale Testimonial.to—he combined audience-building, product-led growth, and SEO to turn his side project into a six-figure SaaS. His journey wasn’t overnight success; it was built on consistency, smart pivots, and relentless execution.

He first launched Testimonial.to on Product Hunt, using Lifetime Deals (LTDs) to validate demand and generate initial revenue. 🎯

But instead of staying reliant on one-time payments, he quickly shifted to a subscription model, ensuring long-term sustainability. Early customer acquisition came from Twitter, where Damon consistently shared his journey, making his brand synonymous with social proof solutions.

Building in Public & Leveraging SEO

Building in public on Twitter became Damon’s biggest advantage, driving 80-90% of early customers. He didn’t just market—he documented. By sharing lessons, milestones, and feature launches, he attracted founders actively searching for testimonial solutions.

• SEO eventually overtook Twitter as his primary customer acquisition channel. He wrote targeted content, ranked for testimonial-related keywords, and captured organic traffic.
• Affiliate marketing played a supporting role, bringing in 10% of revenue through referral commissions.
• Funding from Calm Fund provided capital, mentorship, and a founder network—without the pressure of traditional VC expectations.

This mix of social-driven acquisition, SEO scaling, and strategic funding allowed Testimonial.to to hit $100K ARR in just 9 months—all as a solo founder.

Metrics & Milestones

Here are the numbers summing up Testimonial.to’s success:

• $100K ARR reached in just 9 months
• $8.3K MRR as of September 2021
• 80-90% of customers acquired through Twitter
• ~$100K funding raised from Calm Fund
• 10% of revenue generated through affiliate marketing

Takeaways & Practical Tips

Damon’s success wasn’t an accident—it was the result of relentless execution.

Here are five lessons other SaaS founders can learn from his journey:

✅ Build in public. Regularly share your progress and lessons—it builds trust and attracts early customers.

✅ Start with LTDs for validation, but move to subscriptions fast. LTDs provide cash flow, but they don’t scale.

✅ Own a keyword. Damon made “testimonial” his niche—if you searched for it, he showed up.

✅ Leverage SEO & Twitter together. Twitter drove early sales, but SEO became his long-term growth engine.

✅ Choose funding that aligns with your vision. Calm Fund gave Damon capital without the VC pressure.

Damon’s journey proves that you don’t need a team or VC backing to build a six-figure SaaS.

With the right mix of relentless execution, audience engagement, and strategic growth, even solo founders can win.

Launch the MVP early, build in public, listen to your users, evolve your product quickly, keep doing the same for at least 6 months.

Damon Chain, Founder @ Testimonial.to

And this is just the beginning—Testimonial.to continues to scale, proving that the best marketing strategy is simply building something people want.

Discover another inspiring story from Systeme.io, a company that leveraged the freemium model to scale to $450K MRR.