Dennis launched Yaphone on Reddit days after Microsoft announced Skype's shutdown in March 2025. His first post consisted of clean screenshots of the app's core web dialer interface plus a few sentences about the product. He targeted traveler subreddits first — the post got blocked quickly, but not before generating his first paying sales within minutes of going live. He framed himself as "a lone engineer standing up to take the place of a giant company," which gave the post a compelling narrative hook that resonated on Reddit. He then pivoted to entrepreneur-focused subreddits, where self-promotion is explicitly allowed and links to projects are permitted. This avoided the blocking problem while still reaching an engaged audience. He also posted simultaneously on X (Twitter). Within the first week, these combined Reddit posts drove 150 registered users.
Yadaphone
Cheap international calls via browser using VoIP, pay-as-you-go model
8 moves, in order
- Pre launch / Weekend MVPProduct development
Built a working prototype of a browser-based VoIP international calling app in a single weekend after seeing a tweet by Peter Levels encouraging builders to create a Skype alternative following Microsoft's shutdown announcement.
Working MVP ready to launch within days of the Skype announcement - Launch DayReddit traveler subreddits
Posted clean screenshots of the web dialer interface with a short product description in traveler subreddits. Used a compelling founder narrative ('lone engineer vs. giant company'). Post was eventually blocked but not before going live.
First paying sales within minutes of posting; post blocked shortly after - Week 1Reddit entrepreneur subreddits
Shifted posting to entrepreneur-focused subreddits where self-promotion and project links are explicitly allowed, avoiding the blocking issue encountered in traveler subs. Also posted on X (Twitter).
150 registered users in the first weekUsers 150 users - Month 1Organic launch virality
Benefited from the Skype shutdown news cycle, which created broad organic virality around any Skype-alternative content. Timing of launch aligned with peak search and social interest in the topic.
$4,000 MRR in first monthMRR $4.0k - Months 1–6Founder customer outreach
Personally texted every single paying customer for 6 months asking for feedback. Message was: 'Hey, I'm Dennis, the founder of Yaphone. I'd be thrilled to know what you think about the app and how your experience was so far.' Used responses to identify best-fit user segments and intercept bad reviews before they went public.
Identified key user segments; caught negative experiences early; reduced churn - Months 2–3Seo blogger outreach
Searched for high-ranking blog posts on target keywords (e.g., 'Skype alternative'). Found the authors via X, LinkedIn, or email and directly asked them to add or replace Skype with Yaphone in their articles. In some cases Yaphone fully replaced Skype in the article.
Got listed/featured in high-authority blog posts; significant traffic increase; $10,800 MRR by month 3MRR $11k - Early growth (opportunistic)B2b inbound
Received an unsolicited midnight message from a business asking if Yaphone had an enterprise plan. Said yes, then coded the enterprise plan overnight, and demoed it live the next morning. Created a B2B tier with a central credit balance shared across an organization (no per-seat pricing).
First enterprise client signed; that client still pays ~$1,000/month; 20 enterprise clients total - Month 6SEO — organic
Continued investing in SEO; fixed a critical sitemap issue (missing www prefix) that had caused Google to ignore target pages. Used ChatGPT to audit and improve SEO strategy.
$13,300 MRR in month 6; 27,000 calls made by users in SeptemberMRR $13k Users 10k users
Prior Reddit launch experience — he had launched products on Reddit before, knew which subreddits to target, which tone to use, and how to avoid getting blocked. He also had freelance-built technical skills across multiple prior side projects, meaning he could ship a working, well-designed MVP in a single weekend. The Skype shutdown was a massive external tailwind that created organic virality for any related content.
SEO via outreach to authors of existing high-ranking blog posts (e.g., "Skype alternatives") to replace Skype mentions with Yaphone
Initial Reddit posts in traveler subreddits got blocked quickly. SEO was also delayed/broken early on due to a sitemap misconfiguration (missing the www prefix), causing Google to ignore target pages — competitors outranked Yaphone even though it launched first.
I rebuilt a $1B app and now make $14K/month
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