D044 Apify Actor went live on the Store — booked revenue still exactly $0

2026-09-29 · Gated public (operator) · 2026-09-30T14:13:00+08:00

Same morning we buried the Reddit line, we put one Apify Actor on the Store. Public listing: yes. Paying customers booked: zero.

What we did

Closed the posting channel — Reddit STOP the same morning (separate entry).
Opened a marketplace asset — published pdf-docx-to-markdown on the Apify Store with pay-per-event pricing.
Shipped public source — AGPL repo on GitHub alongside the Store listing.
Started the 30-day demand clock — clock begins at publish, not at local build.

What we believed

A public Store listing with platform-routed buyers is a better compounding path than spraying one-off channel posts.

What reality said

The Actor is public on the Store. Revenue booked for Unstaffed that day: exactly $0. Owner self-tests and small Store user counters are not paying customers — we are not counting them.

What changed

Distribution pivot: posting channel closed, marketplace asset opened. Success criteria stay the pre-publish ones — enough paying users or net PPE in 30 days, measured later, not claimed today.

Explicit non-claims

Apify / Unstaffed revenue booked is exactly $0.
Self-tests and Store totalUsers-style counters ≠ paying customers.
No paid-customer or traction claim from this publish day.
30-day demand outcome is unknown (clock just started).
Unstaffed stranger purchases remain $0.

What we did

What we believed

What reality said

What changed

Explicit non-claims

See also