Velocity
2022Founder & CTO
Zero to 50k users and $2M ARR in 14 months. The whole stack, then a team of 8.
View →Portfolio Studio
PortfolioAustin, TX
Kai
Mercer
Founder · Engineer · Maker
TypeScript ✦React ✦Next.js ✦Rust ✦Postgres ✦Distributed Systems ✦WebGL ✦Go ✦Product ✦Growth ✦TypeScript ✦React ✦Next.js ✦Rust ✦Postgres ✦Distributed Systems ✦WebGL ✦Go ✦Product ✦Growth ✦TypeScript ✦React ✦Next.js ✦Rust ✦Postgres ✦Distributed Systems ✦WebGL ✦Go ✦Product ✦Growth ✦
I ship. Three startups, one acquisition, a few spectacular failures, and a lot of weekends turning ideas into things people actually use. I move fast, build in public, and believe the best way to learn anything is to launch it.
Experience
Founder & CTO
2022 / NOWVelocity (YC W22)
Built the product from zero to 50k users and $2M ARR in 14 months. Wrote the first 100k lines, then hired and led a team of 8.
Founding Engineer
2019 / 2022Pulse (acq. by Adobe)
Employee #2. Built the realtime collaboration engine handling 1M+ concurrent edits. Acquired in 2022.
Indie Hacker
2017 / 2019Self-employed
Shipped 30+ side projects in two years; two hit #1 Product of the Day on Product Hunt.
Selected Work
Pulse Realtime Engine
2021Founding engineer
Realtime collaboration handling 1M+ concurrent edits. Acquired by Adobe.
30 Apps in 30 Weeks
2019Solo
A public build streak. Two hit #1 Product of the Day. All shipped, none precious.
View →Education
B.S. Computer Science (left junior year to build)
Georgia Tech
Awards
- ★Forbes 30 Under 30 (2023)
- ★Product Hunt #1 Product of the Day ×2 (2021)
- ★Y Combinator W22 (2022)
Off the clock
Bouldering / DJing / Mechanical keyboards