🔗 The One-Person Framework in practice

How I built a seven-figure business with Rails

In early 2022, when we counted our ARR at PlanGo, my co-founder and I shared a moment that we couldn't believe. We just crossed the magical €1M ARR milestone, something that felt unreal for a company built on one Rails codebase and one developer (me).

Let me be clear: I was not alone in building the business. My co-founder was very important for shaping our vision, meeting potential customers, and making growth happen. Our small support team made sure our customers stayed happy and successful. But on the technical side, it was just me: a Rails developer who was the architect, designer, full-stack engineer, database admin, and DevOps engineer all rolled into one.

When DHH talks about the "One Person Framework", he describes how Rails was built to enable a single developer to build and maintain a complete application. Rails was designed so that one person could handle everything: from database design to business logic to frontend UI. That isn't just hypothetical: I lived this.

This post is for the Rails developers who wonder if it's still possible to build something big without a team of specialists. It's for the technical founders who feel too much pressure from wearing many hats. And it's for anyone who believes in craftsmanship and using the right tools and frameworks.

I'll share the technical decisions that made our growth possible, the challenges of scaling both the application and the business, and the lessons learned along the way. Because while Rails promises a path "from HELLO WORLD to IPO", I find the journey in between far more fascinating.