Introduction: The “Developer” Myth is Dead
For the last twenty years, if you wanted to build a software company, you had two choices: spend four years getting a Computer Science degree, or spend 50,000$ hiring a developer
That era is over
We have entered the age of “Natural Language Programming”. If you can speak English (or any language) clearly, you can code. Tools like Cursor, Replit Agent, and GPT-4 have turned coding into a conversation. This shift has opened the door for [profitable tech side hustles] that were previously impossible for non-technical founders
What is Micro-SaaS?
SaaS stands for “Software as a Service”. Micro-SaaS is simply a very small, niche version of that
Instead of trying to build the next Salesforce or Uber, you build a tiny tool that solves one specific problem for one specific group of people
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Example: A tool that converts HEIC images (iPhone format) to JPG for Windows users
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Example: A “Mortgage Calculator for Airbnb Hosts” that factors in cleaning fees
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Example: A specific “Cover Letter Generator” for nurses
These tools are too small for big tech companies to care about, but they are valuable enough for users to pay 5$/month or for you to monetize via ads
The AI Build Stack
You don’t need a complex environment. You need these three tools:
1. The Architect (Claude 3.5 Sonnet / GPT-4o)
You start here. You don’t ask for code yet, you ask for the plan
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Prompt: “I want to build a web-based calculator for freelance graphic designers to estimate their taxes. What features should it have? Write the technical requirements”
2. The Builder (Cursor / Replit)
Cursor is a code editor that has AI built into every line. You can literally highlight a blank file and type “Build me a React landing page with a blue button”, and it will write the code. Replit allows you to host the app instantly. You don’t need to know how to set up a server. You just hit “Run”
3. The Debugger (The Loop)
The code will break. It always does. In the past, you would be stuck for days. Now, you just copy the error message, paste it back into Cursor, and say, “Fix this”. The AI explains the error and rewrites the code for you
Monetization: How Do You Get Paid?
There are three ways to make money with Micro-SaaS:
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Ads (AdSense): The tool is free, but there are banner ads. This requires high traffic
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Freemium: Basic features are free, but “Export to PDF” or “Save Project” costs 5$/month
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One-Time Sale: You sell the tool entirely on a marketplace like Acquire.com once it has some users
The “Wrapper” Strategy
A popular strategy is building a “Wrapper”. This is a simple app that connects to OpenAI’s API but makes it easier to use for a specific person
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Example: A “Recipe Generator” app is just a wrapper around ChatGPT, but it has a nice interface with buttons for “Vegan”, “Keto”, and “Spicy”. The user pays you because you made the interface convenient
Conclusion: iterate or Die
The first version of your app will be ugly. That’s fine. The beauty of AI coding is that you can iterate instantly. You can say, “Make the button rounder”, “Add a dark mode”, or “Translate this to Spanish”, and it happens in seconds
You are no longer limited by your ability to write code, you are only limited by your ability to imagine a solution