18 months for one person to make a product

Month 0: A math problem

March 2020, an ordinary Tuesday morning.

I opened Thinkorswim and started today's pre-market work: screening for Sell Put opportunities. AAPL, MSFT, NVDA, JPM... Go through the option chain one by one, calculate the annualized income, compare the exercise probability, and estimate the margin.

40 minutes passed. My eyes are sore, my neck is stiff, and I haven’t finished screening yet.

I did some math that day: 40 minutes a day, 250 trading days a year, is 166 hours. The equivalent of 4 full working weeks, all spent doing repetitive work.

As a programmer, this shames me.

That night I wrote a Python script to automatically capture option data, calculate the annualized return and exercise probability, and output a sorted recommendation list.

The script ran for 3 seconds. Whereas I did it manually for 40 minutes before.

The file name of that script: sellput_screener.py. It is version zero of Hyperstock.

Years 1-3: Tools for your own use

The script has been running on my computer for three years. Every morning./screener.py AAPL, MSFT, NVDA, the results will be output in 3 seconds.

I sent it to two friends who do options. Their feedback:

Okay, let’s make a web version. In June 2023, I built the simplest web interface using Flask + HTML + jQuery.

No user systems, no databases, no payments. A page, an input box, and a results table.

I posted it to Reddit r/options with the title: "I built a free Sell Put screener for Chinese options traders."

Within 24 hours, 500 people visited. Within 72 hours, 100 people emailed me asking for the feature.

Those 100 emails made me realize: this is not my personal tool anymore, it’s a product.

Year 3 Q1-Q2: First version

In June 2023, Hyperstock 1.0 will be launched.

Technology stack: Next.js + Node.js + PostgreSQL

Function:

• User registration/login
• Sell Put analysis (single mark)
• Basics Score Rating
• Free to use (power generated by love)

Data: I can’t afford the interface of a professional option data provider, so I make do with the free API. The data is often delayed by 15 minutes.

Server: A $12/month VPS from DigitalOcean.

First month, 1,000 registered users. I was stunned.

The next month, someone emailed me: "Do you have a paid version? I want to support you."

I said, "We only have the free version."

He said, "Then how do you survive?"

This question kept me awake for three nights.

Year 3 Q3: From free to paid

In January 2024, I launched the Token payment system.

Each analysis consumes Token.

I struggled internally for a long time. It has been free before, but I am afraid that all paid users will run away.

Result: Great first month revenue. Paid conversion rate 2.3%.

Although it's not much, it's enough - enough for me to renew the server and enough for me to buy a better data source.

In March 2024, I upgraded the options data source with the first month of revenue and the latency dropped from 15 minutes to real time.

After Q4 in the third year: User push function

During this time, user feedback became my product roadmap:

In September 2024, users exceeded 10,000.

I work on products, write code, answer emails, and handle customer service all by myself. Work 14 hours a day.

Tired, but happy. Because every day users say "it saved me time".

Year 5: 2.0 Refactoring

After 10,000 users, the old system could no longer handle it.

• Database query is slow, analysis page loading takes 5 seconds+
• The front-end code is a mess (jQuery's pot)
• Score The algorithm is too simple, users say "recommendation is not accurate"

In January 2025, I decided to rewrite.

Comprehensive upgrade of technology stack:

• Next.js → React + TypeScript
• Simple scoring → multi-dimensional AI model
• PostgreSQL Single database → Read and write separation
• Single VPS → distributed deployment

Hyperstock 2.0 goes live in January 2025.

Analysis speed reduced from 5 seconds to 2.5 seconds. User retention rose from 45% to 67%.

Now

Data for May 2025:

• 30,000+ registered users
• 3,400+ daily analysis
• Monthly activity 8,500
• Paid conversion rate 4.2%
• Team: There is already a team composed of some partners

Someone asked: Why not raise funds?

Answer: Because I'm afraid. Afraid of taking money and being pushed to grow, afraid of making features for KPIs, afraid of losing control of the product.

Although it is slow now, every step is what users really need.

What 5 years have taught me

1. Products are the best marketing

It doesn’t spend a penny on advertising and relies entirely on word-of-mouth among users. If the product is easy to use, users will naturally share it.

2. Small teams have advantages

No meetings, no OKRs, no cross-departmental coordination. User feedback comes to my ears, I change the code, and it goes online 24 hours a day.

3. Free users are the breeding ground for paying users

Out of 30,000 users, only 1,260 paid. But without those 28,740 free users, there would be no word of mouth and no traffic.

4. Technical debt must be repaid sooner or later

The 1.0 front-end code now looks like a nightmare. If you use TypeScript + good architecture from the beginning, the time saved in later refactoring will be enough to create 10 new features.

5. Living is the most important thing

Do not pursue explosive growth or unicorn valuation. If the product continues to iterate, users continue to use it, and revenue covers the cost, it is victory.

Next step

• Combination strategy (completed)
• Strategy backtest
• Community discussion forum

5 years, accumulated 30,000 users.

Thanks to everyone who uses Hyperstock.

The story continues.