TailwindResume
Create a Perfect Resume for Tech Professionals in 5 mins
I hit a major milestone this year: my first side project [TailwindResume](https://tailwindresume.co), officially launched. It is a modern resume builder with TailwindCSS templates and advanced AI features to help developers stand out.
To cut to the chase, I used a cold-start approach and gained 50 users in two weeks, earning $100. It’s not a mind-blowing amount, but it’s real and totally replicable for any indie developer. Here’s the full rundown of the process.
Data
Let’s start with the final numbers. As of February 15th, over two weeks, I made $110 in total revenue, with 50 users, 5 paying customers, and a 10% conversion rate—pretty high, just like my domestic site. That said, it could be a bit skewed since the sample size was so small at the start. The breakdown: 3 monthly subscribers ($10/month), 1 quarterly subscriber ($20/quarter), and 1 yearly subscriber ($60/year).
Cold-Start Strategy
This time, I went all-in on a pure cold start—zero followers, relying entirely on the product’s quality and traffic from various communities to attract users.
The simplest approach? Post about it on different platforms to draw people in. I found a great resource that lists sites friendly to cold starts:
It’s just a simple list, but super practical.
Posting
My strategy was straightforward: following LaunchPointZero’s recommendations, I posted one or two times a day on different platforms, using AI-generated copy tailored to each site’s style to see what worked.
Reddit’s a powerhouse community with tons of subreddits, kind of like Baidu Tieba. Anyone who’s heard of going global knows Reddit—it’s a must for cold starts. It offers so many subreddits to choose from. I saw a foreign user on X share some [tips](https://x.com/constantout/status/1848680828991111202):
If you’re unsure where to begin:
1. Pick a subreddit.
2. Sort posts by “Hot” > “This Month/Year/All Time.”
3. Note which post types perform well in that subreddit.
4. Post your content (don’t promote your product if it breaks the rules).
5. Engage with everyone who comments.
6. Repeat for each subreddit. Post once a day, no spamming.
Stick with this, and you’ll land your first customers!
I followed this playbook, making a checklist. Every night at 11 PM (8 AM US time, supposedly the best posting window), I’d pick a subreddit, post according to the checklist, keep it to one post a day to avoid breaking rules, then hit the sack. I’d check results the next morning. Reddit’s got strict mechanisms—spamming can get you banned or shadowbanned, where your posts vanish unnoticed. So, I played by the rules and engaged genuinely with everyone.
I posted across many subreddits, and here are the top performers, ranked for your reference. Note that bigger subreddits aren’t always better—high activity can bury your post. Aim for moderately active ones.
- [r/IndieHacker 55K members](https://www.reddit.com/r/indiehackers/comments/1iibcnl/i_built_a_modern_resume_builder_with_tailwindcss/)
Got 28 upvotes, 13 comments, and 29K views.
- [r/microsaas 51K members](https://www.reddit.com/r/microsaas/comments/1iib9jk/i_built_a_modern_resume_builder_with_tailwindcss/)
Got 17 upvotes, 4 comments, and 4.1K views.
- [r/thesidehustle 136K members](https://www.reddit.com/r/thesidehustle/comments/1ij4o0h/i_built_a_modern_resume_builder_with_tailwindcss/)
Got 4 upvotes, 4 comments, and 3.3K views.
- [r/SideProject 304K members](https://www.reddit.com/r/SideProject/comments/1ihje8c/i_built_a_modern_resume_builder_with_tailwindcss/)
Got 3 upvotes, 1 comment, and 1.4K views—the biggest subreddit, but the weakest results.
You can also check LaunchPointZero and the X user’s shared screenshot for more subreddits. I tried most of them, mostly getting 500 to 1K views—worth testing if you follow the plan.
[IndieHacker](https://www.indiehackers.com/)
A veteran community for indie devs where people share their products. Traffic is decent, but the quality’s high. I posted the day after launch:
[Launching Tailwind Resume - A Modern Resume Builder for Tech Professionals](https://www.indiehackers.com/post/launching-tailwind-resume-a-modern-resume-builder-for-tech-professionals-R1Jm0lg9jlw9GJCTmBKh)
It got 7 likes, 9 replies, and over 700 views. The responses were professional and friendly, with solid feedback, and it even ranked 5th on The Build Board. That said, it also showed the site’s traffic isn’t huge, though the users are top-notch.
HackerNews
You can post on [Show HN](https://news.ycombinator.com/show). With so many posts daily, it’s hard to hit the front page. I tried twice:
[Show HN: TailwindResume – Modern Resume Builder for Tech Professionals](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42864806)
No upvotes to speak of, but trust me, HackerNews still drives solid traffic even without likes. My post got about 1.5K visits the next day, mostly from programmers—great results. If you’re thick-skinned, tweak the title and repost after a few days for similar traffic. No review process means you can post freely.
Other Sites
Following LaunchPointZero’s list, I hit up some smaller sites when I had time. Results were meh but better than nothing:
- [Launching today](https://launching.today/)
- [Make.rs](https://make.rs/)
- [Microlaunch](https://microlaunch.net/)
- [Insanely Cool Tools](https://insanelycooltools.com/)
- [BetaList](https://betalist.com/)
Some charge for better rankings, so not worth it. But submitting to multiple sites does boost backlinks, which is gold for SEO. Each link to your site is like a “vote” for its quality, especially from relevant, high-authority sites. These small sites might not carry much weight individually, but combined, they lift your search ranking for steady long-tail traffic.
That long-tail traffic isn’t as flashy as the initial launch spike, but it’s stable and key for long-term growth.
What’s Next
That’s it for today—this is just the first step. I’ll keep updating on the product’s progress. Next plans:
- Launch on ProductHunt.
- Learn to boost SEO.
- Keep posting on different sites.
Hey fellow indie hackers! 👋
Just wrapped up the first week of launching TailwindResume.co and managed to get our first 3 sales! Wanted to share my experience with different launch platforms and communities:
IndieHackers (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)
Absolute gold! The community here is incredibly supportive and welcoming. Got tons of actionable feedback and genuine interactions. If you're launching something new, IH should be your first stop.
Hacker News
Posted in Show HN. While there's a lot of daily content and it's easy to get lost in the noise, it can drive significant traffic if your timing is right. Worth trying, but don't put all your eggs in this basket.
Interesting findings here. I posted in two subreddits:
- Large ones (like r/sideprojects): High subscriber count but posts get buried quickly
- Smaller ones (like r/BootstrappedSaas): Less traffic but more engaged audience and better conversion
Pro tip for Reddit: Be genuine, follow community rules, and absolutely avoid anything that looks like spam. The community can smell marketing from miles away.
Other Platforms
Tried a few smaller platforms too. While they didn't drive massive traffic, every little bit helps in the early days. Cast a wide net, but focus your energy on the most promising channels.
Key Takeaway: Focus on communities where you can add value and engage genuinely. Quality interactions > Quantity of posts.
Would love to hear about your launch experiences! What platforms worked best for you?
After months of development, I'm excited to launch Tailwind Resume - a resume builder specifically crafted for developers and tech professionals.
Why I Built This
As a developer, I was frustrated with existing resume builders that:
- Look generic and dated
- Lack technical focus
- Have poor responsive design
- Are bloated with unnecessary features
Core Features
- Clean, responsive templates built with Tailwind CSS
- Resume generation powered by DeepSeek AI
- Real tech resume examples (Frontend, Backend, DevOps, etc.)
- Free resume writing guidelines: docs.tailwindresume.co/guide
- Dark mode support
- Export as PDF or share as a web page
Tech Stack
- Frontend: Vue3 + Tailwind CSS
- AI: DeepSeek LLM
- Infrastructure: AWS
Launch Special
For students and open-source contributors:
Email hey@tailwindresume.co with:
1. Your status (student ID or GitHub profile with 200+ star repos)
2. Your user ID (found in settings)
→ Get 6 months premium membership free!
Try it out: https://tailwindresume.co
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The idea looks very satisfying.
I think your onboarding might need a little tweaking though:
1. By clicking on "Create Resume" I didn't expect to be redirected to docs. Once I was there, I was expecting a shiny button saying "Create Resume" or something like that.
2. Once I figured how to get to the template page and hit the "Use this template" button, I again would expect to land to the actual template creation, but no, I was again redirected to something else, this time to create an account.
3. Then I used a social link to create an account, fully expecting that now I could start the resume creation. Nope, yet again I was redirected, this time back to the front page.
My suggestion would be:Either for first users just redirect them directly to the creationwhen they click the button using one default resume template and ask for a user creation afterwards, when for example they want to save or export the resume
Redirect them to account creation and directly to resume creation using any default templete
Redirecting me to docs was a very weird onboard experiencing and I really think you need to redirect straight to resume creation when the user creates an account
That being said, this has a lot of potential! Good luck
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Thank you so much for this detailed feedback about the onboarding process!
Quick question: Could you clarify which "Create Resume" button redirected you to the docs page? The homepage button should redirect directly to the login page if you're not logged in.
But you make excellent points about the user flow - it should be more straightforward and intuitive. I agree that being bounced between different pages isn't ideal. Your suggestions about:
1. Starting with a default template right away
2. Moving account creation to the save/export step
3. Direct resume creation after login
These are really valuable insights. I'll work on streamlining the onboarding process to make it more user-friendly.
Really appreciate you taking the time to provide such detailed feedback! 🙏
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Another thing: even for the template selection I think there are unnecessary steps happening.
The whole user journey of "Select template" -> "Select resume job type" for a first user experience creates too much friction. I would totally just send them straight to a pre-selected (it could be a random one from a pool) resume and job position.Just get to the meat and to see how stuff works.
Then I would make very visible a button saying "CREATE FROM TEMPLATE" from inside this resume I was already creating.
My thought process:
I think (yeah you decide if I am making any sense) most users will want to see if they can figure out how to use, how it works, if it is good or just too hard before they actually want to build their own resume. So give them a taste of how it works. You can even use some "oboarding" library to highlight things and tooltip main concepts on first land. Just to give them a little tutorial to help them out.
You are aiming for a tech savvy group of users, even if the use of your product is not too intuitive, I think you can rely on users to figure out how to use with minimal intrusiveness.
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Very Nice website! Very clean like early Google or an RSS feed!
Take a quick look at your "Resume Styling" and "Resume Content" links in the guide page, when you get a moment. Because 404...
With the coming upheaval in tech, I'm sure you'll see a lot of traffic. All the best!
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Thank you for the kind words and the detailed feedback!
The clean, minimalist design was definitely inspired by classic web interfaces like early Google - glad you noticed that!
And thanks for catching those 404s in the guide page. I've fixed those broken links now. They should be working properly.
Really appreciate you taking the time to check out the site in detail! 🙏
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As an accessibility expert I'm wondering how difficult this will be to use for people with disabilities.
I wonder if it is built to include many new types of experience such as site reviews, team training, content creation, etc.
Wishing you much success, Maxwell
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Thanks for your thoughtful feedback, Maxwell!
Regarding accessibility: We're actively improving our accessibility support to meet WCAG standards. This is a crucial area we're working on to ensure the platform is usable for everyone.
About different types of work experience: Yes, our resume editor fully supports and makes it easy to write about modern work experiences like site reviews, team training, and content creation. The editor is flexible enough to help you effectively showcase these valuable experiences.
Thanks for bringing up these important points. If you have any specific accessibility suggestions, we'd love to hear them!
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Congratulations on the launch! Saved the link for when I need it in the future :)
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Thank you! 🙏 Hope it helps when you need it.
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