OpenCourser
"An online course catalog and aggregator that helps users discover and compare courses from major e-learning platforms, monetized through affiliate relationships."
Marketing Channels
Reddit (r/learnprogramming)
Creator shared their learning-to-code story on r/learnprogramming, which provided initial traction and momentum.
SEO / Organic Search
Initial Reddit traction helped the site rank on search engines, which became an ongoing traffic source.
Affiliate partnerships
Set up affiliate relationships with several major online course platforms for monetization.
Hacker News
Shared the project in the HN yearly projects thread and solicited feedback.
Growth Levers
- Expand course catalog coverage to include more platforms and course types
- Add user reviews, ratings, and course comparison features to increase engagement and SEO value
- Create curated learning paths or 'best courses for X' content to capture high-intent search queries
- Build email nurture sequences for saved courses to drive repeat visits and conversions
- Explore partnerships with employers or bootcamps for B2B revenue streams
- Add AI-powered course recommendations based on user goals and skill level
First Customer Strategy
The creator shared their personal story of learning to code and building the site on Reddit's r/learnprogramming subreddit. This authentic, narrative-driven post provided enough initial momentum to start ranking on search engines, creating a sustainable organic traffic loop.
Pricing Insight
Free for users. Revenue comes from affiliate commissions when users click through to course platforms and purchase courses.
Key Takeaways
- • Sharing your authentic learning story on relevant communities (Reddit) can provide powerful initial traction
- • A simple tech stack (Flask + Jinja) is sufficient for a successful content-driven web project
- • Building something you want to use yourself aligns product development with genuine user needs
- • Initial community traction can snowball into organic search rankings, creating a sustainable growth flywheel
- • Affiliate monetization is a natural fit for aggregator/catalog products where users are comparison shopping
- • Iterating over many years ('a few iterations') allows a side project to find its market fit gradually
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