Side Hustle School Ep. 3211 - TBT: Built in a Weekend, Used by Thousands
Oct 16, 2025
In a captivating Throwback Thursday segment, discover how a simple Chrome extension, built in just a weekend, attracted 5,000 loyal users. Brian shares his inspiration for creating Quick Highlight to save key points from articles, despite its clunky design. He details how he monetized the tool with affordable subscription options and the surprising demand from edtech companies for white-labeled versions. The key takeaway? Focus on creating something useful rather than perfect, and you'll find your audience!
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Weekend Tool That Became Steady Income
- Brian built a simple Chrome extension called Quick Highlight in one weekend to save highlighted text to a Google Sheet.
- It attracted thousands of users and a small paid tier that now earns him $400–$600 monthly.
Launch Ugly, Solve One Clear Problem
- Do ship a minimally viable product that solves a real problem even if the UI is rough.
- Offer a low-cost premium tier with useful extras to convert a small percentage of users into paying customers.
Growth From Communities And Word Of Mouth
- Brian initially shared the extension on Reddit and in a productivity Slack, sparking hundreds of installs quickly.
- Growth then continued via word of mouth and the Chrome Web Store without active advertising.