Most people think you need a complex product and tons of features to build a big software business. Anton proved the opposite. His simple speech‑to‑text app brings in $250,000 every single month, and it does it by staying small, focused, and easy to use.
In this story, you’ll see how he went from 15 years of failed startups to a product that finally clicked. You’ll learn why every extra feature can hurt your revenue, how to think about simplicity as a real advantage, and the practical steps you can use to build something people actually enjoy using.
You do not need to be a designer or a senior engineer to apply this. You do need to care deeply about how it feels for a real human to open your app and use it.
Who Is Anton and What Did He Build?
Anton is the founder of Letterly, a note‑taking and writing app that turns speech into polished text. On paper, it looks like the most crowded idea in the world. There are free tools everywhere and large AI models anyone can access. But his numbers tell a different story.
For 15 years, Anton tried to build startups. He launched six or seven different projects. Every one of them failed.
Two years ago, that changed. He launched Letterly, and this time it worked.
Here is where the app stands today:
- Revenue: $250,000 per month
- Monthly active users: 30,000
- Paid subscribers: 20,000
- Total downloads: 150,000 in two years
Letterly is a paid app with a free trial, not a free tool with a distant plan to monetize one day. From day one, it was designed to make money and deliver real value.
What sets it apart is not a secret algorithm. It is a simple, stubborn focus on simplicity, ease of use, and thoughtful user experience.
Anton’s story is a good reminder that you do not need the “next big thing.” You need something people already understand, that feels far easier to use than anything else.
The Idea Behind Letterly: From Frustration to Opportunity
How the Idea Came About
Letterly started more than two years ago while Anton and his team were working on a completely different product.
They noticed early apps that plugged into ChatGPT and OpenAI’s transcription tools. You could talk into them, then turn your speech into text for all kinds of uses. On paper, it sounded great. In reality, those apps felt like rough demos.
They sort of worked, but they were clunky, confusing, and slow. Nothing you would want to use every day.
Anton realized something simple: the idea was strong, the execution was not.
He and his team looked at their current startup, then at this speech‑to‑text opportunity. They saw a tool that was:
- Simple to explain
- Already somewhat proven
- Personally useful to them
So they made a hard call. They stopped the old startup and pivoted the team to this new idea, focused on turning speech into clean, usable text.
In Anton’s words, they wanted a product that could:
“Turn your words into well‑written text you can use for notes, messages, emails, social posts, or meeting notes.”
Nothing fancy. Just something that worked so well you did not have to think about it.
If you look at the wider market, there are many tools in this space. Roundups like this list of the best dictation and speech‑to‑text software show how crowded it is. That is exactly why the team knew they had to win on experience, not on “being first.”
Why People Actually Need It
Letterly targets people for whom speaking is easier than typing. That includes:
- People who think out loud and want to capture ideas quickly
- Busy founders, creators, and professionals
- Anyone who struggles with typing on a phone or keyboard
- People who want better writing than a raw transcript
The most interesting part is this. Many of Anton’s early users already knew they could do something similar with raw ChatGPT prompts or other free AI tools. But they still chose Letterly.
When he asked why, the answer was almost always the same:
“I don’t know. It just feels so much easier to start recording in Letterly. One button, one widget, start, stop, and the text is ready.”
People are not paying for AI. They are paying to avoid friction.
Why Simplicity Is Letterly’s Secret Advantage
The Philosophy: Every Point of Friction Kills Revenue
Most founders believe more features mean more value. Anton believes the opposite.
For Letterly, the core rule is simple: every point of friction kills your revenue.
Friction can be:
- An extra tap
- A confusing setting
- A crowded screen
- A feature nobody really needs
The team treats simplicity as their main competitive edge. Every screen, button, and interaction is designed to be as light as possible. Fewer decisions, fewer paths, more clarity.
Anton sees user experience as a multiplier on everything else in the business:
- It makes onboarding easier, so more people get to their “aha” moment.
- It keeps users around longer, because the app never feels heavy or annoying.
- It boosts conversions, since paying feels natural when the app already feels helpful.
- It creates organic word of mouth, as people happily recommend something that feels smooth.
You still need a real problem to solve. Anton is clear on that. But without strong UX, you will always struggle, no matter how good your idea looks on paper.
It is no surprise that tools like Letterly show up in lists such as this overview of top speech‑to‑text software. The tech behind many of these tools is similar. How they feel to use is what sets them apart.
Lessons From User Feedback and Past Failures
In the early days, the team talked to users a lot. They kept asking one question in different ways:
“Why are you using us instead of ChatGPT or some other AI app?”
People rarely gave a technical reason. They said things like:
- “It is faster to just tap the widget and start talking.”
- “I do not have to think about prompts.”
- “The text is just ready when I need it.”
From his previous startups, Anton had a habit of trying to build something “unique” or unseen. That pattern often led him to ideas that were clever but not useful enough.
This time, he did the opposite.
Instead of hunting for a never‑seen feature, he looked for an already validated idea and asked:
“How can we make this dramatically easier to use?”
That shift in thinking changed everything.
If you look at competitors on sites like G2’s list of Letterly alternatives or other comparison tools, you will notice many products race to add more and more features. Anton’s team tries to resist that urge. When they have to choose between a new feature and making an existing one easier, simplicity usually wins.
Anton’s Playbook for Building a Simple App
Treat Simplicity as a Real Feature
Simplicity sounds cheap. In reality, it is expensive.
Anton is very clear about this. Clean UX takes:
- Extra design time
- Extra engineering time
- Saying no to features people ask for
- Rebuilding flows that are “good enough” on the surface
He treats simplicity and UX as separate features that need their own time and attention. As the product grows, the team constantly reviews the app and asks:
- Where does this feel heavier than it should?
- What can we remove?
- What can we combine or simplify?
The work never ends.
The Iteration Process
Here is the rough process Anton follows each time they build or improve a feature:
- Prototype on paper or mockups
They sketch screens, discuss flows, and remove complexity before any code is written. - Build, then pause
While building, they often stop and ask, “Is this as simple as we imagined?” If not, they are willing to delay a release and polish the experience. Sometimes they even postpone promised features. - Release, then watch and listen
After launch, they review support requests, questions, and usage patterns. These reveal the confusing parts they missed. - Refine
They go back in and fix wording, layout, button placement, and flows until the feature feels natural.
This rhythm repeats over and over. As Steve Jobs famously said, simple is harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking and execution clean enough.
Principles for New App Builders
From this project and all the failed ones before it, Anton has a few guiding rules:
- Work with co‑founders from day one
Building alone is slow and draining. A small, aligned team moves faster and makes better decisions. - Launch in one to two months
Aim for a small version you can ship quickly. Expect it to take slightly longer than you think once you factor UX work in. - Pick a “novel but validated” idea
You want something that feels new in its quality or focus, not in its core concept. Avoid spending years trying to prove a market that may not exist. - Earn money from day one
Design pricing and payments from the start. Revenue is feedback. It tells you if people truly value what you built.
This is also the thinking behind programs like Starter Story Build, which teaches founders to create simple apps with AI tools. Speed plus simplicity is a powerful mix when you are just getting started.
How Letterly Actually Works
You can understand a lot about Anton’s approach by looking at what the app does on a single screen.
When you open Letterly, you see a recording screen. There is an option to mark a recording as multi‑speaker if you are in a meeting. You tap a single button to start, talk, then tap again to stop.
The text appears almost immediately, in real time. No long loading screen, no extra steps.
From there, you can:
- Rewrite your text in different styles
Letterly offers several rewrite options. You can also create your own. If you mark a rewrite as a favorite, it appears at the bottom of the note so you can apply it with one tap. - Chain multiple rewrites
You might convert your raw thoughts into a clean summary, then tap again to get key takeaways. The app lets you move between these results with simple swipes. - Share or copy your text
Many people just want to grab their text and drop it somewhere else. That is why the one‑click “Copy” button is one of the most used features. You can also share directly into tools like Google Docs or Notion. - Add more speech into an existing note
If you want to continue a thought, you tap inside the note, record again, and the new speech is transcribed right where you left off.
From the outside, it looks almost too simple. Behind the scenes, the team has spent thousands of hours prototyping, rebuilding, and polishing to make sure every tap feels obvious.
If you are curious about how real users compare Letterly to other options, threads like this discussion about apps similar to Letterly offer a window into how people think about these tools in daily life.
Tech Stack, Costs, and Business Numbers
Behind this clean user experience is a very practical setup.
The Tech Stack
Letterly started as a React Native app. Over time, the team moved to:
- Swift for the iOS app
- Python on the backend
This mix gives them performance and flexibility while staying inside well known technologies.
The Team and Monthly Costs
Anton’s team is still lean. They have:
- A team of 10 people
- Salaries around $30,000 per month
- AI and infrastructure costs around $5,000 per month
- Advertising spend around $200,000 per month
So while the app brings in $250,000 per month, they are not just pocketing all of it. They are heavily reinvesting in growth and user experience.
Spending that much on ads may sound intense, but it fits their goal. They want to:
- Reach more people who can benefit from the app
- Keep improving the product with the cash flow it generates
There are many competitors in this space, as shown on lists like this directory of Letterly alternatives. Anton is betting that a clear, focused product plus aggressive growth will keep them ahead.
Also Read: Examples Of Startups That Disrupted Traditional Markets (And What They Teach Us)
Lessons From 15 Years of Failed Startups
Anton is careful not to present his story as a magic formula. What worked for him might not map perfectly to every project. Still, his main lessons are simple and worth repeating.
Here is what he says worked for him and his team:
- Do not pour years into unvalidated ideas
Look for proof that people already want something similar. Then decide how you can deliver a much better version. - Go all in once you see traction
When you start to see real revenue and real users who care about your product, that is the time to quit side projects and focus fully. - Make money from day one
If your app solves a real problem, people will pay. Early revenue lets you invest more into UX, marketing, and support. - Protect simplicity at all costs
As you grow, you will feel pressure to add more and more. Your job is to keep the main experience clean so new users do not feel lost.
Anton’s story also lines up with what many founders share on platforms like Starter Story. When you pay attention, patterns appear. Simple, focused apps often win over feature‑heavy ones.
If you want extra help building this kind of product, deals like the Starter Story Black Friday offer can be a good push to finally start.
Conclusion: Keep It Simple, Ship It, Then Make It Easier
Anton spent 15 years on failed startups before building Letterly, a simple app that now makes $250,000 a month. He did it by focusing on simplicity, not on more features.
You saw how he chose a proven idea, treated UX as a real feature, and kept stripping friction out of every screen. You also saw the real numbers behind the business, from team size to ad spend.
The core message is timeless: KISS, Keep It Simple, Stupid. Start with a clear problem, build the smallest version that solves it well, then keep making that experience smoother.
If you want to follow his path, you do not need a breakthrough idea. You need the courage to ship, listen, and keep making things easier for real people.
For more of Anton’s thoughts and updates, you can follow him on X at @Samarsky.
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