Charlie Clark built Links, a link-in-bio tool generating ~$31,500 MRR, while working full-time as a software engineer; he quit his job in August 2024 to become a full-time solopreneur after the business matched his salary.
Background and path to Links
Charlie studied graphic design, taught himself programming, and worked at a web development agency before joining Squarespace, where he learned software engineering fundamentals and gained exposure to website-building tools.
He first quit his job in 2019 to build Visual, a print-on-demand marketplace for artists, but struggled to find product-market fit.
While interacting with artists using Linktree, he noticed their pages looked poor and gave himself two weeks to build a better alternative, which became Links.
Building Links: from side project to $31.5k MRR
Early validation came from manual outreach: Charlie built pages for friends and acquaintances, grandfathering them into free plans, which provided crucial initial feedback.
A Product Hunt launch drove significant traffic and prompted him to test monetization with a $3/month premium tier, reaching ~$100 MRR within months.
Revenue grew steadily; a price increase from $4 to $5/month in June 2024 added nearly $5,000 MRR due to high customer volume.
As of the interview, Links sits at ~$31,500 MRR with a pro tier at $12/month (custom domains, multi-page management) that includes customers paying $100+/month.
Growth strategy and channels
Instagram ads drove early growth but became non-viable after algorithm changes around 2021–2022.
Google search ads became the primary scalable channel: high-intent traffic (people searching “link in bio tool” or “webpage builder”) with predictable unit economics.
Charlie spends ~$100/day on Google Ads, which has consistently powered growth for the last four years.
No other paid channels are mentioned as significant; growth has been largely driven by this single, reliable paid acquisition loop.
Pricing and business model
Pricing is anchored relative to Linktree, the dominant competitor: the paid tier undercuts Linktree at $5/month (raised from $4), while a $12/month pro tier unlocks custom domains and multi-page management.
Charlie prefers many customers at a low price point over fewer at a higher price, but the pro tier captures higher-value users (agencies, creators managing multiple pages).
The model relies on volume: a $1 price increase across thousands of users translated to ~$5k MRR uplift.
Quitting jobs: two different approaches
First quit (2019): driven by an idea (Visual) without a clear plan; supported by a partner’s income and no dependents; the venture did not generate meaningful revenue.
Second quit (August 2024): Links MRR matched his salary; motivated by desire for flexibility to care for his child; decision came after years of compounding growth, COVID delays, and family planning.
Charlie emphasizes the second approach — building until the business de-risks the transition — as more relatable for founders with growing responsibilities.
Tech stack and operations
Hosting: DigitalOcean VPS for the application; AWS for asset storage (user-uploaded images).
Email: Resend for transactional and marketing emails.
Analytics: Tinybird (ClickHouse wrapper) for product analytics.
AI: OpenAI API for integrated AI features (e.g., content generation).
Coding assistance: ~$100–200/month on a coding agent (added in the last year).
Primary recurring cost: ~$100/day on Google Ads.
Product demo and features
Onboarding: users can start from Instagram (scrapes profile photo, name, bio), a link, or scratch; Instagram is the most structured path.
Editor: mobile-first page builder with themes as starting points, full customization, blocks (links, forms, QR codes, short links), and multi-page support.
Recent addition: a mock-up builder for creating shareable profile assets, pulled in from a side project.
Output: a links.co/username URL serving as a simple, customizable web presence for creators and brands monetizing online.
Advice for founders
In the AI era, it’s too easy to abandon ideas quickly because building is cheap; the hard work remains customer outreach, marketing, and iteration.
Pick a validated space, iterate until the product feels right, then commit — don’t jump between ideas to avoid the difficult go-to-market work.
