In 2018, Paul Jarvis and Jack Ellis were tired of bloated analytics tools, especially the privacy-invasive ones like Google Analytics.

So they built their own: lightweight, fast, and privacy-focused.

What started as a weekend project grew into a sustainable, profitable business with thousands of paying customers.

THE PRODUCT:

Fathom Analytics is a simple, privacy-first website analytics tool.

Why use it?

✔️ Simple UI

✔️ GDPR-compliant (no cookie banners)

✔️ Fast and lightweight

✔️ Doesn’t compromise user privacy

Who uses it?

Creators, indie hackers, bloggers, SaaS companies, anyone who values simplicity and privacy.

How it works?

Add one script to your site. That’s it.

It shows you what matters: traffic, top pages, referrers, goals, all in one page, without invading your users' privacy.

THE GROWTH STRATEGY:

- Positioning: Anti-GA(Google Analytics) messaging clicked with privacy-conscious users

- They transparently build in public (especially on Twitter/X)

- Subscription-based pricing: clear, affordable plans

- Word of mouth + indie hacker buzz

THE RESULT:

- Profitable business with estimation of $12.2M ARR(data from Growjo)

- Trusted by thousands of websites globally

- Built on strong product-market fit and privacy-first demandYou just need a real problem, a focused solution, and the patience to talk to your users.

That’s it for this story.

Keep learning, keep building because even the smallest idea can turn into something big.

Talk soon,

Sweekar Koirala

P.S.

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