How an Ed-Tech SaaS Hit $50K MRR with Viral Domain Hacks

Breaking into Ed-Tech SaaS: The JotBot Story

All right, the online learning market is crowded and noisy. JotBot’s co-founders, Declan and Derrick, tried a ton of side projects—from AI alarms to sneaker flipping—before landing on an app that generated AI essays. But retention was almost zero. They needed a growth spark.

The Domain Hack That Changed Everything

One morning Declan scribbled a super-long URL on his phone while on the toilet:ihaveanessaydueatmidnight.com. They bought it and shot a quick Reels video with that URL front and center. Within hours, it hit 30,000 views, then just kept climbing—eventually landing at 7 million. They even remade the same script and scored another 10 million views.

From there they registered 100+ domains—each a hilarious riff on student panic—redirecting all traffic back to JotBot. The novelty carried them through an initial spike in sign-ups.

Reposting on Meme Pages

JotBot identified Instagram meme pages run by teens trying to make pocket money. For a small fee, they reposted viral clips to those feeds and watched traffic double, then triple. Meme audiences were primed for short, funny content featuring relatable lines about essays and deadlines.

Multiple TikTok Accounts

Rather than nursing one TikTok profile, JotBot spun up several. Each account focused on a slightly different angle—special-ed tutor vibes, procrastination hacks, even sneakerhead crossover content. That strategy lives or dies based on the content, not follower count, so they doubled down on fresh scripts and posting cadence.

Pivoting from Cheating to Writing Aid

Early users churned fast when they just generated mediocre AI essays. JotBot flipped the script: they branded as an AI research and writing companion. Three core use cases emerged—draft creation, note-taking, and editing. This shift brought retention up and gave them real product-market fit.

Results and Revenue Growth

In six months, those funny domain redirects, meme reposts, and multi-account tactics added up to $50,000 MRR. They also launched an affiliate program offering 50% commissions, but quickly caught one bad actor buying ads on JotBot’s own brand terms—an expensive lesson in partner vetting. Even so, the business kept scaling.