Introduction
Ben Boz, a former software developer stuck in a 9-5 grind, discovered the power of intentional internet use during the pandemic. What began as a personal solution to distraction turned into Tech Lockdown, a $15K monthly SaaS business that completely replaced his corporate income after a 2023 layoff. Here’s how he built it while still working full-time.
Founder QnA
What’s Tech Lockdown and how does it work?
The core part of the platform is the content policy which lets you schedule when websites and apps are blocked and you can use categories or keywords to instantly block millions of websites and apps. But then once you set that up, you connect to your devices using a VPN connection.
Who’s your target user?
My typical user as an adult who’s just trying to be more careful with how they use the internet and might have developed unwanted habits or compulsive behaviors.
How did you approach monetization?
I have a 14-day free trial which allows people to try things out, set things up, and decide if it’s a good fit. Then they either pay $15 monthtomonth or $10 a month for annual plans. I pay for Google Gemini, pay for like the light plan for Refs, but we’ll get into that.
What failed projects came before Tech Lockdown?
The first failed side project was I made a lead generation platform for freelance developers to help them find clients. I just got way too obsessive over like the colors on the website and the logo and the name. The next thing was a landing page builder. I wasn’t obsessed but I burned myself out before launching it. Then I ended up co-founding a web agency with two others for 2.5 years but found it really difficult to maintain.
How did 2023 layoff affect your approach?
I had kind already planned to leave in September/2023 but had to figure how pay for health insurance and expenses. Since Tech Lockdown had $3,000 in income at that point, I decided to double down. It’s grown 5x since being laid off.
What made Tech Lockdown succeed differently?
I didn’t start off trying to make a side project. It was something I was genuinely solving for myself. And I was really focused on audience building first. When I launched, I knew someone would use it eventually. That made development exponentially more motivating compared to throwing products into the ether before validating audiences.
Ben Boz’s Method
Built using these repeatable steps that transformed Tech Lockdown from personal tool to full-time replacement business
- Started with personal internet use validation before building
- Created content marketing assets (YouTube videos and Reddit posts) before product launch
- Used low-overhead tech stack to save development time
- Doubled down on customer acquisition channels he personally enjoyed (content marketing)
- Maintained 70% profit margins through careful tool selection
Tech Lockdown Tools
Selected tools based on developer efficiency and audience reach rather than complex infrastructure
- Superbase for database/authentication
- Speltkit JavaScript framework instead of React for development simplicity
- Forcell hosting ($20/month for peace of mind)
- Mail Gun and Elastic Email ($150/month combined) for email communication
- Plausible Analytics for audience insights
Key Business Notes
Essential takeaways from Tech Lockdown’s proven growth strategy
- Build an audience BEFORE creating a product
- Select marketing channels you’ll enjoy maintaining while employed elsewhere
- Customer acquisition strategy must be proven before quitting your 9-5
- SaaS pricing works at $10-$15/month for productivity tools
- Content marketing drives 2 million organic users yearly
Conclusion
The most valuable insight: building in public before launch creates eager customers ready to convert. By solving his own problem with distraction-free work systems, Ben created exactly what productivity-starved professionals were seeking. Perfect proof that solving your personal pain points while maintaining a job can be the safest path to profitable side project success.