Introduction

Ryan Darani started his journey in the online business world as an SEO consultant, eventually growing his consultancy to an impressive $65K MRR. However, rather than continuing on this trajectory, he made a bold move—shutting down his consultancy and joining forces with Chris Riley, who had recently acquired an AI micro-SaaS, Cuppa. Less than two years later, Cuppa has scaled to $45K MRR, and a spin-off service business, launched just two months ago, has already hit $13.5K MRR. Here’s how he did it.

Leaving a $65K MRR Business

For six years, Ryan worked in SEO, both in-house and in agencies, before launching his own consultancy. Reaching $65K MRR was a significant achievement, but he knew he wanted to transition into something bigger—SaaS and AI products.

Now, Ryan runs three different SaaS-related businesses, with his primary focus on Cuppa. Cuppa is an AI-driven writing tool designed to generate SEO-optimized content quickly and affordably, boasting over 1,000 users. Seeing a need for agencies to streamline content production, Ryan and his team launched a done-for-you AI automation service, allowing agencies to replace traditional content teams with automated AI workflows. This spin-off business has quickly grown to $13.5K MRR in just two months.

Jumping on the AI Bandwagon

Ryan didn’t start Cuppa from scratch. Chris Riley acquired it from an indie developer in 2023 after identifying a demand for AI-generated content in the SEO industry. Chris then invited Ryan to join, leveraging his deep expertise in SEO to accelerate growth.

Ryan’s experience allowed Cuppa to target the right users, refine its pricing strategy, and enhance its features based on real-world SEO needs. This partnership proved to be perfect timing, as Ryan had just exited his consultancy, giving him the freedom to focus entirely on Cuppa’s growth.

Jumpstarting a Newly Acquired Micro-SaaS

Phase 0: The Initial Push

The first step after acquiring Cuppa was validating demand. They launched a lifetime deal immediately after purchase, which brought in almost the same amount they had spent on acquiring the business. This quick influx of cash served two crucial purposes:

  • Validation: It confirmed that people were willing to pay for the product.
  • Liquidity: The money helped fund the initial scaling efforts, including marketing and infrastructure.

Without this early success, Cuppa’s growth might not have taken off as rapidly.

Phase 1: Building the Foundation

The next four to six months were chaotic. The team had to figure out everything—from handling customer support to scaling infrastructure—while ensuring smooth day-to-day operations. The lifetime deal buyers played a key role in shaping Cuppa’s development roadmap, as their feedback directly influenced new features and improvements.

Phase 2: Scaling the Business

Throughout 2024, Cuppa continued expanding its customer base, refining features, and streamlining its operations. SaaS businesses go through daily ups and downs, but Ryan and Chris focused on implementing structured growth strategies to ensure long-term stability.

Phase 3: Rebranding and Expanding

In mid-2024, they decided to take Cuppa to the next level by transitioning from Cuppa.sh to Cuppa.ai—a complete brand overhaul. The goal was to elevate the product from a micro-SaaS to a more polished, professional platform.

Unexpectedly, a service-lite product was introduced as part of the rebrand. The unplanned launch saw immediate traction, forcing the team to rework their strategy. This experience reinforced an essential lesson: while moving fast is crucial, staying adaptable and adjusting to user demand is even more important.

Growth Happens in Small Wins

Ryan emphasizes that momentum is the key to scaling a business. He learned the hard way that slowing down after a good week is a mistake—growth in business comes from stacking small wins over time.

Building a business isn’t glamorous; it involves long hours of repetitive tasks that push the company forward incrementally. While some breakthroughs lead to sudden spikes in growth, it’s the small, consistent efforts that build long-term success.

Influencer Marketing & Audience Borrowing

For Cuppa’s growth, Ryan and his team relied on two primary strategies:

  • Personal branding & audience building: Organic growth through long-term content marketing.
  • Borrowing other people’s audiences (BOPA): Partnering with influencers who already had access to Cuppa’s target market.

When Cuppa first launched, it quickly recouped its acquisition cost over a single weekend, thanks to the combined reach of Chris, Ryan, and their networks. Since then, they’ve continued leveraging influencer partnerships, offering revenue shares or equity in exchange for access to engaged audiences.

Pros of BOPA:

  • Rapid user acquisition
  • Stronger retention (users trust recommendations from people they follow)
  • Boosts word-of-mouth marketing

Cons:

  • Not all influencers are the right fit
  • Revenue splits cut into margins
  • Finding good affiliates is challenging

Beyond influencer marketing, Ryan’s team also cross-promotes services across their businesses, maximizing revenue from their existing audience.

Fighting Churn

Cuppa’s low entry price ($20/month) makes it accessible, but it also presents a challenge—churn. Many customers switch to cheaper alternatives, even if it means sacrificing features.

To combat churn, Ryan’s team focuses on making Cuppa as “sticky” as possible by:

  • Continuously improving features
  • Offering bundled services
  • Building community engagement

Despite churn, Cuppa currently sits at $460K ARR, with a goal of hitting $1M ARR by the end of the year. If churn were zero, they would already be at that milestone, making retention efforts a top priority.

Mistakes Were Made

Looking back, Ryan acknowledges several missteps:

  • Running a lifetime deal early on—while helpful for initial cash flow, it complicated long-term pricing.
  • Hiring and partnership decisions—some hires didn’t work out, slowing down development.
  • Delayed pricing adjustments—changing pricing sooner would have led to faster revenue growth.

Despite these mistakes, Ryan believes that every misstep provided a learning opportunity, shaping Cuppa into what it is today.

Follow This Playbook

Ryan’s top advice for SaaS founders: Don’t copy other businesses—focus on your unique strengths.

Most founders struggle with marketing, but Ryan’s deep understanding of distribution has been Cuppa’s key advantage. His simple playbook for launching and growing a SaaS business:

  1. Build a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)—Don’t overcomplicate development.
  2. Personally reach out to 100 target users—Get early feedback.
  3. Confirm product-market fit—If users are willing to pay, you have validation.
  4. Iterate and scale—Continuously improve and expand based on user needs.

What’s Next for Cuppa?

Ryan and Chris plan to ride the AI wave over the next 3–5 years, building products that offer real value, particularly in the B2B space.

Their short-term goals include:

  • Reaching $100K MRR across Cuppa’s SaaS and agency offerings.
  • Partnering with growth-focused entrepreneurs who can scale distribution.
  • Expanding via acquisitions—several are already in the pipeline.

Long-term, their ambitious stretch goal is to hit $250K MRR per product within 18 months, keeping them laser-focused on high-impact tasks.

Conclusion

Ryan Darani’s journey from a solo SEO consultancy to leading multiple AI SaaS businesses highlights the importance of adaptability, strategic partnerships, and relentless execution. His story serves as a playbook for founders looking to scale their own SaaS ventures—small wins, influencer marketing, churn management, and staying agile in an evolving market.