Thursday, April 24, 2025

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Solo Developer Builds Seven-Figure SaaS Using Ruby on Rails

Building a seven-figure SaaS business solo with Ruby on Rails

From Hacker News Original Article Hacker News Discussion

A solo developer used Ruby on Rails to build and scale a seven-figure SaaS business over 14 years, proving the framework’s strength for one-person teams. The journey involved learning from mistakes, a full rewrite, and eventually adding a second developer without losing the lean setup.

Why it matters: Rails enables single developers to build and maintain scalable, profitable businesses without large teams.

The big picture: The story challenges the conventional need for large engineering teams in SaaS startups, emphasizing craftsmanship and efficient tooling.

Lessons learned: Embrace Rails conventions, limit dependencies, seek community support, manage technical debt pragmatically, and know solo success is possible.

Commenters say: Readers admire the solo developer’s discipline and Rails’ power, while discussing challenges of solo growth and the balance between speed and maintainability.