Setter AI: The Solo Founder Who Lost It All and Rebuilt a $10K/Month SaaS
Last updated: September 21, 2025
Setter AI
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Setter AI: How a Founder Rebuilt His SaaS From Collapse to $10K+ MRR
When German entrepreneur Timo Tzschetzsch (aka Timo Nikolai) walked away from his $55K/month e-commerce agency, he wasn’t just leaving behind a profitable business. He was stepping off the treadmill of one-off projects and into the uncertain world of SaaS.
Today, Timo runs Setter AI, an appointment-setting tool that responds to new leads within seconds and books meetings automatically.
It wasn’t a straight climb. Setter grew to $10K in MRR, crashed to zero, and then was rebuilt from the ground up. Here’s how it happened.
From Agency Work to SaaS
Straight out of university, Timo co-founded an e-commerce agency.
- Revenue: $55K/month
- Team: 8 employees
That same week, ChatGPT launched, opening the door to something entirely new.
The First Taste of SaaS
With a friend, Timo launched Jinni AI, a WhatsApp chatbot powered by ChatGPT.
A quick 6-second TikTok about the product went viral, bringing hundreds of users overnight. For the first time, Timo saw the potential of recurring SaaS revenue, even if Jinni itself wasn’t defensible.
Two problems stood out:
- It was just a ChatGPT wrapper anyone could copy
- Pricing topped out at $5.99/month
Spotting the Opportunity
Thinking back to his college internship cold-calling leads, Timo identified a painful bottleneck: slow follow-up kills deals.
He tested the idea with a simple Webflow landing page.
- Result: 30+ demo calls from SEO alone
- Proof: One lead even wired $500 upfront before a product existed
The Rise and Collapse
Setter started by automating AI-powered phone calls. At first, it worked:
- Revenue grew past $10K MRR
- Customers included enterprise clients like Mindvalley
- Pricing ranged from $49/month up to $5,000/month
- Only 15–20% of people answered calls from unknown numbers
- The tech broke often
- Customers churned
The Pivot to Text
Instead of giving up, Timo pivoted. Setter dropped voice calls and went all in on text-first channels like WhatsApp and SMS.
- Higher open rates
- More reliable tech
- Better customer experience
By 2025, Setter was back at $10K+ MRR, this time on a stronger foundation.
The Tech Stack
Setter runs on a lean, modern stack:
- Supabase — database
- OpenAI — conversations and scheduling
- Stripe — subscriptions
- TypeScript + Svelte — frontend
Growth Playbook
Setter’s inbound growth comes from two main channels:
- SEO: Leveraging backlinks from Timo’s existing site to rank quickly
- YouTube long-form content: Educational videos that attract high-intent leads
Most revenue still comes from sales calls, where Timo personally closes deals.
High Ticket, High Touch
Timo emphasizes selling high-ticket packages early.
“Pitch a number that feels uncomfortable to say out loud, like $4K setup + $1K recurring.”
Even with limited traffic, high-ticket deals mean each lead is valuable. The cash flow creates stability, which later makes it easier to layer in lower-ticket self-service plans.
Lessons for Founders
- Validate early: A landing page and $500 prepayment proved real demand
- Anchor on a clear promise: “Respond in 10 seconds” is simple and powerful
- Pivot quickly: Dropping unreliable voice calls for WhatsApp/SMS saved the business
- Own your distribution: SEO and YouTube are sustainable, high-intent channels
- Price with confidence: High-ticket deals buy time to refine the product
Closing Thoughts
Setter AI’s journey is a reminder that bootstrapping isn’t glamorous. Growth is messy, setbacks are real, and sometimes revenue goes all the way back to zero.
But persistence, fast pivots, and staying close to customer pain points can bring a SaaS back to life.
For solo founders, the lesson is clear: speed beats perfection. Validate early, sell with confidence, and never be afraid to rebuild when the first version breaks.