BuildingNow is conversations with founders who shipped something real and are crushing it.
I'm Maya (@buildwithmaya). I host as a builder learning in public. Each episode we get into what they actually did: how they got their first 100 users, what they doubled down on, and what they killed — across products, apps, and SaaS.
If you're building in public — solo, bootstrapped, or a tiny team — these are founder interviews with people already in it. Not a class. Just the real story of how they got customers and kept going.
New episodes most weeks. Watch on YouTube @buildwithmaya.
$0 to $13k/Month Revenue with Mobile Apps & Cinematic Videos | Frederick James | BuildingNow Podcast
In this episode of BuildingNow, I sit down with Frederick James (@frederickjames), who went all in on building mobile apps, scaled his app to over $13k/month, and grew his audience from 900 to 8.5k followers in two months using cinematic videos on X.
Frederick shares the exact playbook behind scaling mobile apps: finding pain tolerance with paid ads, choosing between stealth and building in public, framing your content around the hero's journey, and why authenticity cuts through the noise.
What we cover:
• Scaling a mobile app to $13k/month revenue
• Growing from 900 to 8.5k followers in 2 months with cinematic video
• Paid ads vs organic distribution for mobile apps
• Building in public vs building in stealth
• The hero's journey as your content moat
• Overcoming health scares and taking the leap into full-time building
About Frederick: Frederick James is a mobile app developer, founder, and video creator. He documents his building journey, growth frameworks, and app metrics openly on X.
Connect with Frederick: • X/Twitter: https://x.com/frederickjames
Connect with me: • X/Twitter: https://x.com/buildwithmaya
20 Sept 2026
Quitting Startups/VC to $25k+/Month Solo Bootstrapper | Martin Donadieu | BuildingNow Podcast
In this episode of BuildingNow, I sit down with Martin Donadieu, founder of Capgo, who walked away from the venture-backed startup world to bootstrap on his own and scaled his product to over $25k+ MRR.
Martin shares the raw reality of bootstrapping solo: why he quit his role as a VC-backed CTO, how fixing open-source plugins accidentally became a 10x marketing flywheel, running a podcast as an entrepreneurship MBA, and why building in public is the only real moat against copycats.
What we cover:
• Why raising VC money made him care more about investors than customers
• Leaving a venture-backed startup to bootstrap solo
• Being stuck at $3k MRR and getting blunt feedback on his SEO
• How maintaining 150+ open-source plugins became his biggest acquisition engine
• Why you should welcome angry customer feedback instead of fearing it
• How a non-technical onboarding test with his wife unlocked conversion growth
• Using a podcast as a networking tool rather than just audience building
• Why building in public beats building in stealth
About Martin:
Martin Donadieu is the founder of Capgo, an open-source live update system for Capacitor apps. He has scaled Capgo to over $25k+ MRR as a solo bootstrapper and shares his building journey openly on X.
Connect with Martin:
X/Twitter: x.com/martindonadieu
Connect with me:
x.com/buildwithmaya
20 Sept 2026
From 200k Users to a 7-Figure Exit: UGC Crash Course | An Nayal | BuildingNow Podcast
In this episode of BuildingNow, I sit down with An Nayal (@consumerxai), founder of flamme, who grew a consumer app to $10k/month using short-form UGC and scaled flamme to over 200k users.
An breaks down how founders can get started with organic distribution, even with zero followers. We talk about finding creators, testing content, understanding TikTok’s algorithm, and figuring out why views aren’t turning into customers.
What we cover:
• UGC vs influencer marketing and why fresh accounts can work
• Finding creators when you’re starting from zero
• Why views don’t always translate into conversions
• Hooks, retention, and what to fix when your videos get stuck
• Warming up accounts and testing different content formats
• Phone farming and managing multiple accounts
• Why most founders give up on organic content too early
About An:
An Nayal is the founder of flamme and a consumer app builder focused on organic growth. After experimenting with TikTok and UGC to grow his own app, he now helps other founders build their distribution and scale through short-form content.
Connect with An:
• X/Twitter: https://x.com/consumerxai
Connect with me:
• X/Twitter: https://x.com/buildwithmaya
3 Sept 2026
From $10k/mo on the App Store to Starting Over with Web Apps | Will Baker
Apple banned Will Baker’s entire mobile app business overnight after he scaled to $10,000/month. Instead of quitting, he rebuilt from scratch around web apps and personal branding. We talk the restart, what distribution looks like the second time, and how he thinks about starting over.
3 Sept 2026
Tips for 70K+ Followers and Building Community | KP
KP has 70,000+ followers on X, is one of the top hunters on Product Hunt, and runs community at Netlify. He got there by saying one thing, consistently, for eight years. We talk building in public, JOY over ROI, Twitter serendipity, and why community is still the moat.
3 Sept 2026
He Made $0 For 12 Months. Now He Makes $20k+/Month | Rob Hallam
In this episode of BuildingNow, I sit down with Rob Hallam who went from $0 revenue for 12 straight months to making $20k+/month building SaaS products. We dig into what finally worked for distribution after a year of zero revenue — and what he’d tell builders stuck at $0 today.
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