Here's a pattern I've been noticing: while everyone's building the next unicorn, solo founders are quietly printing money by finding what works on one platform and building it for another. It's not sexy, but it's working, and the math is ridiculously simple.
The strategy is this: established platforms show you exactly what users will pay for. New platforms give you distribution and desperate users. You just connect the dots.
Table of Contents
The Sweet Spot Between "Too Small" and "Too Competitive"
The magic happens in markets big enough to change your life but too small for venture capital to care about. Think $10K-$50K monthly revenue range. At that scale, you're financially free, but you're not attracting teams raising millions to crush you.
These opportunities hide in plain sight. Every growing platform has pain points that mirror solved problems on older platforms.
Real Examples Making Real Money
Data Fetcher on Airtable generates $23K/month with 600 customers by doing one thing: connecting external APIs to Airtable. The founder spotted API Connector's success on Google Sheets (100K+ users) and rebuilt the concept for Airtable's newly launched marketplace. Now it sits at 85% margins with basically zero platform risk.
TrustMRR on Stripe hit $10K MRR within 24 hours by solving fake revenue screenshots on X. The founder built a one-page site that verifies Stripe revenue through read-only API keys, creating a leaderboard of verified startup revenues. Founders get free verified revenue pages plus dofollow backlinks, while TrustMRR monetizes through ad placements to other startups. Over $1 billion in startup revenue is now verified on the platform.
Feather on Notion lets you publish Notion pages as actual websites with custom domains and SEO optimization. Notion has the content; users need it online. Simple bridge, recurring revenue.
SuperX on X/Twitter helps creators manage and grow their presence by automating engagement, scheduling content, and tracking what's working. The platform solves what every X creator faces: staying visible without burning out.
15+ Modern Platforms and Opportunities You Can Build On Today
Notion database sync tools - Build two-way syncs between Notion and CRMs, project management tools, or accounting software that maintains relationships and custom fields
Airtable advanced automations - Create complex multi-step workflows, conditional logic builders, or industry-specific automation templates that go beyond native automations
Stripe subscription analytics - Build dashboards for cohort analysis, failed payment recovery, or expansion revenue tracking for specific verticals like agencies or marketplaces
Monday.com workflow templates - Design and sell pre-built boards for specific industries (construction, event planning, real estate) with custom automations
Webflow CMS enhancers - Create advanced filtering, search functionality, or membership site features that extend Webflow's native CMS capabilities
Figma design handoff tools - Build plugins that generate production-ready code, design documentation, or asset exports optimized for specific frameworks
Shopify post-purchase upsells - Create one-click upsell flows, bundle builders, or product recommendation engines specifically for checkout optimization
Asana reporting extensions - Build custom dashboards, workload forecasting, or resource allocation tools that surface insights Asana doesn't provide natively
Typeform response routing - Create smart routing systems that send form responses to different teams, trigger specific workflows, or integrate with industry-specific tools
Framer animation presets - Sell libraries of production-ready animations, micro-interactions, or page transitions specifically optimized for Framer sites
Cal.com industry booking flows - Build specialized scheduling tools for therapists, home services, or consultants with custom intake forms and payment flows
Supabase migration tools - Create one-click migrators from Firebase, MongoDB, or Airtable to Supabase with schema mapping and data transformation
Beehiiv monetization tools - Build sponsorship marketplaces, subscriber analytics, or referral program enhancers specifically for newsletter creators
Tally advanced logic - Create conditional logic builders, multi-page form flows, or payment integration tools that make Tally forms more powerful
Linear sprint automation - Build tools that auto-assign issues, predict sprint completion, or generate stakeholder reports from Linear data
Clickup custom views - Design and sell specialized dashboard views, gantt chart templates, or reporting layouts for specific team types
Ghost membership tools - Create advanced member management, content dripping, or community features that extend Ghost's native membership functionality
The Filter That Matters
Skip AI platforms like ChatGPT and Claude. Everyone's building there because the growth looks irresistible. The competition is brutal, and you're racing against the platform potentially building your feature natively. Better play: use those AI tools to build your product faster, not build on top of them.
The real filter is asking: "Will this platform build my feature?". Study their roadmap, check their forums for official responses, and gauge how "core" your idea feels. Data Fetcher works because it sits between Airtable's scripting and no-code imports, too flexible to be native, too niche to threaten their core.
The founders winning this game aren't the most technical or the best marketers. They're just early, focused, and solving problems users are already screaming about in forums. That's the whole playbook.