HeadshotPro
$300K+/month MRR (~$3.6M ARR), 196K+ customers, 17.9M+ headshots generated
Dutch indie hacker who sold Headlime to Jasper for $1M+ at $20K MRR. Has built nearly 20 products from Bali under Postcrafts.
Danny Postma launched ProfilePicture.ai in 30 hours post-Stable Diffusion, watched it explode then fade. Users kept asking for professional headshots specifically. He narrowed the focus, launched HeadshotPro in March 2023, and hit $100K ARR in 14 days.
The Receipt
“There's no moat around profile pictures, not even good execution.”
“We've been working for a full year now on our own custom models. We're getting really close to consistently generating AI photos that are indistinguishable from real photos.”
— @dannypostmaaThe Journey
Growth trajectory — click a dot to jump
- Mar 2021
acquisition Postma sells Headlime (AI copywriting, $20K MRR) to Conversion.ai (later Jasper) for over $1M — establishing him as a credible indie hacker.
- Sep 2022
launch Stable Diffusion launches. Postma builds ProfilePicture.ai in 30 hours; it goes viral on Twitter with six-figure revenue in week one.
- Dec 2022
pivot ProfilePicture.ai sales decline. Users consistently request professional headshots specifically — the pivot signal.
- Mar 2023
other HN launch thread: critics call 'indistinguishable from real photos' dishonest. Postma responds in real time, commits to build a before/after comparison page overnight.
- Mar 2023
other Second HN thread: user spots headshotai.studio copied HeadshotPro's FAQ. Postma confirms: 'Yeah they copied my other product.'
- Mar 2023
What they said
“'Indistinguishable from real photos' seems a stretch...I'd never try to pass them off as real. Seems dishonest.”
What happened
$100K ARR reached within 14 days of launch.
March 2023
Criticism → Reality - Mar 2023
What they said
“There's no moat around profile pictures, not even good execution.”
What happened
HeadshotPro launches: 'Show HN: Professional headshots for remote team with AI.' Launch tweet goes viral.
March 2023
Criticism → Reality - Jun 2023
What they said
“There's hundreds maybe thousands of profile picture AI startups.”
What happened
Affiliate program launched via Rewardful; eventually generates $50K+/month and 15%+ of total revenue.
June 2023
Criticism → Reality - Sep 2023
milestone Remini goes viral in a different AI photo category — HeadshotPro's pre-built SEO captures the demand surge and triples sales without paid marketing.
- Oct 2023
milestone Postma acquires profilepicturemaker.com (12-year-old domain) to inherit its SEO authority and funnel traffic.
- Nov 2023
milestone Ranked #1 on Google for 'AI headshots' and top 10 for 'professional headshots' (21K/month searches); 1,000+ keyword rankings.
- Jan 2024
milestone $300K/month MRR (~$3.6M ARR); 40,000+ active users; ML engineer hired — first team member.
- Jun 2024
milestone Postma sells off side projects (Tattoos AI, Alice, Deep Agency, Meme Morph) to focus entirely on HeadshotPro.
- Apr 2026
milestone 196,987+ customers served; 17.9M+ headshots generated; Fortune 500 clients; SOC 2 Type II certified.
Outcomes & Insights
Latest outcome
June 2024
Affiliate revenue
$50K+/month from affiliate program alone (>15% of revenue)
Programmatic SEO at scale: 200+ location-targeted pages with keyword difficulty <20, capturing high-intent searches for 'AI headshots [city]' before competitors noticed the opportunity
AI wave timing: launched in March 2023 at peak Stable Diffusion momentum, capturing first-mover SEO authority that compounded as competitors arrived
Affiliate program via Rewardful generating $50K+/month and 15%+ of revenue, doubling as a backlink and distribution engine
Build-in-public on X: Danny's 162K+ Twitter following provided instant distribution on launch day and ongoing earned media from milestone posts
We've been working for a full year now on our own custom models. We're getting really close to consistently generating AI photos that are indistinguishable from real photos.
💡 What you can learn
- Danny built his SEO moat before anyone cared.
- When Remini went viral and demand surged, HeadshotPro captured it all — not because of Remini, but because of the 200+ pages Postma had already indexed.
- The best distribution is infrastructure you build before you need it.
Aged domain acquisition (profilepicturemaker.com, 12 years old) to inherit domain authority rather than building from zero
When they pushed back
After ProfilePicture.ai lost momentum, Postma listened to users requesting professional headshots and relaunched with a narrow B2B focus. When a VC-funded clone copied his landing page, he ignored it and sprinted to ship differentiated features.
Success patterns
See all patterns →Chat about HeadshotPro loads when this section enters view.