Starter Story
A research database of 3,000+ real, revenue-generating businesses and founder interviews — see exactly what people built, what it cost, and how they grew.
What is Starter Story?
Starter Story (created by Pat Walls) is a media and research platform built around real, profitable small businesses rather than hype. Its 2.0 data product lets you search 3,039+ revenue-generating projects — together representing $4B+/month — with each entry showing monthly revenue, the founder, cost and time to start, business type, the exact software stack it was built with, and the growth channels used, updated live. It curates 39 filterable idea databases (micro-SaaS, no-code, solopreneur, side projects you can run with a 9-5, automation, agencies, GPT wrappers, marketplaces, digital products and more), each tagged with a median revenue. Alongside the data are long-form founder interviews and episodes covering how the idea was found, the early failures and the growth playbook. A free tier lets anyone browse the /data directory and get a weekly founder-tested idea by email; paid membership unlocks 4,000+ full case studies, all databases, courses and a community. It is a practical starting point for validating a niche with real numbers before writing code.
Pros
- Decisions are grounded in real revenue and cost numbers, not theory.
- Huge breadth across indie, SaaS, no-code and service niches.
- Filterable lists with median revenue make niche selection faster.
- Transparent stacks and channels are directly actionable.
- Free tier already exposes a lot of the live database.
Cons
- The deepest case studies sit behind a paid membership.
- Content is English-first and skews toward US indie-hacker models.
- Revenue figures are self-reported and vary in verification.
- Dozens of overlapping databases can feel overwhelming at first.
Detailed Ratings
Capabilities
Compare with Alternatives
| Feature | Starter Story | Gnarly CV | AI Agents Vault | AIOR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.8 | 5.0 | 4.5 | 4.8 |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting From | Paid | Free / Paid | Free / Paid | Free / Paid |
| API | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Free Tier | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Mobile App | — | — | — | — |
Who is it for
Aspiring founder
Validate a niche against real revenue, cost and time-to-profit before committing.
Solopreneur
Pick a one-person business model by comparing median earnings across lists.
Indie developer
Find micro-SaaS and GPT-wrapper ideas with proven willingness to pay.
Side-project builder
Choose something launchable on nights and weekends while keeping a job.
Marketer/researcher
Study which channels and stacks actually drive growth for small businesses.