Course war: Marc Lou’s $100K success sparks a SaaS founder's
criticism
An influential critic just took issue with the course that made Marc Lou $100k in two days. But many founders have Marc's back.
Marc’s new coding course made $100K in two days.
A 19-year-old SaaS founder, among others, called out Marc for selling courses with insufficient expertise.
The drama has drawn a crowd and turned into a full-blown spectacle.
Marc just can't seem to catch a break from the drama lately. While his last controversy might have been justified, this one feels different.
It all kicked off when Marc released his newest product, a coding course titled "CodeFa.st" with the tagline "Build your SaaS in 14 days." People are loving it so much that he pulled in $100K within just two days! Impressive, right?
Yet, not everyone is thrilled about Marc's success. Enter Arib Khan, a 19-year-old founder who openly criticizes the idea of selling courses — especially when the creator isn't a top expert in the field. Marc's own SaaS, Datafa.st, makes about $1K a month, and Arib isn't shy about pointing that out.
But here's the twist: Arib’s not just another armchair critic. He's founded at least two successful SaaS businesses — Musicfy AI, which reached $100K MRR last year, and Crayo AI, pulling in $500K MRR. One could argue that with numbers like those, he might have a point.
Here’s where it gets spicy: Arib’s cofounders, Musa and Daniel Bitton, run their own courses on how to grow and scale faceless YouTube channels — but they’re killing it in their field, claiming six-figure revenues from their YouTube businesses.
So, is Arib making a solid point, or just playing the hypocrisy game?
Depends on who you ask.
Arib’s posts on X are basically engineered to stir the pot. He knows how to rile people up, throwing out exaggerated takes that get everyone fired up. And, let’s be honest: it works. The dude’s good at going viral.
The real kicker? He’s using Marc, with his 140K followers, to boost his own profile stats, and he's not hiding it.
The beef has pulled in a bunch of onlookers, with folks like Daniel Vassallo and Brett from Designjoy jumping in to back Marc. Of course, not everyone’s Team Marc, but one thing’s for sure — it’s got many people talking.
Love him or hate him, Marc's products align perfectly with his actions and audience. He's shipped over 25 small projects in three years — all SaaS-related. He's built his reputation as a quick creator of solid products. People want to be like him, which is why his ShipFast and CodeFast projects resonate so much. They promise to help others achieve what Marc has already proven he can do.
Danny Postma pulled off something similar this year. For years, he's been scaling his projects through SEO. He then announced a pre-sale for his SEO course and made $106K within 24 hours.
In the end, the real question is whether this controversy sparks meaningful conversations or just adds more noise to the feed.
Marc Lou is an affiliate marketer. Think Herbalife. Shitty code or shitty supplements - it doesn't really matter what the end product is. His network will of course come to his defence as they're the ones getting kickbacks while the bottom rung of the ladder, the little guy that thinks they're buying something useful, is the one that gets screwed.
There's no smoke without fire. Sure, maybe some people are envious of the numbers he's doing (btw have these been verified on something other than his own platform?) but just take a look at the crap he's peddling and you can easily see why people take issue.
What's the difference between Marc Lou and Tai Lopez? (who he used to work for so go figure). Both are selling get rich quick schemes using dubious practices and rightly so they should be called out for it. Shame on @csallen and Indiehackers for promoting this guy so much. Check out the Stephen Flanders post on Codefast and you'll see a "?via=indiehackers" affiliate link. Classy stuff, guys.
I'd call you a hater, but I looked into the guy and you're right. He sells himself as a SaaS guru, yet made 95%+ of his income from a freaking boilerplate, and now he's just essentially charging people to connect with him. Andy Elliot, but in tech.
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Nothing better than learning how to build sass from someone that sell sass courses 🔥🔥🔥
Selling shovels and dreams 🥸
Quite the opposite
As someone who's been in and out of the SaaS game and culture over the years, I've been dipping my toe back in and it feels really... gross.
SaaS reddit is just terrible, and it feels like its a bunch of people who are just making products for each other, and then lying about their successes - scattered with people who are "no-coding" with AI and expecting to make $10k/MRR out of the gate. I think Marc Lou appeals to those types... the "naively aspirational".
The same thing was present in the "4 hour workweek" adjacent stuff online when everyone and their brother was figuring out affiliate linking and content marketing. You had 1 or 2 loud "gurus" which then convinced a bunch of people to buy courses, so they could then make their own courses to sell to the next rung down...
It seems like just another case of "the blind leading the blind" or "idiots teaching idiots", which is so common nowadays.
Kinda sad, but as long as the buyer and seller are happy, it is what it is I guess. Though the buyers likely just don't know better
The issue is an old one. "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach"?
The entire indie hacker community is so gullible man. Just how and why did everyone believe that the kid (Arib) was making $500K MRR with a music Ai app at that. He provides no proof, yet people believe him, but are calling out Marc Lou's numbers which are just a fraction of what Arib claims.
If anything this sounds like jealousy on the part of Arib or just engagement farming, if you make more that $1m+ a month, why do you bother when someone makes $100K, why should you care?. I'd rather sit in my house, sip my coffee and enjoy my millions.
you're absolutely right
Nothing wrong with selling courses - you just have to be one step ahead of the person you're teaching
Marc is doing nothing new. He is playing the game what dropshipping gurus were doing in 2016 to 2020. Hyping that you can make a lot of knowing its hard to make money through dropshipping. Instead sell the course, themes and tools for doing dropshipping.
Marc is hyping everyone can be millionaire by building stuff and he selling shovel.
For experienced coders, if you use AI IDE, you'll learn to code and ship your own product even without a course.
His best product makes $1k and his course made $100k in 2 days.
Lesson for all indie hackers:
The product that people want the most, not necessarily the best product, is what wins.
Selling courses is perfectly acceptable; however, it is essential to maintain a position of being one step ahead of the individual you are instructing.
$100k in 2-days ??? How much was the course? How many signed-up and why? I have been developing software for decades with a number of successful releases. Call me! :)
It's always easier to criticize the the visible people doing things for that long. And that guy who's criticizing is the typical person who throws shade at others just to get visibility.
Part of everything's that's wrong with the X platform.
man i am just happy to see your profile pic long time connecting with you
Yo!
"Marc Lou's impressive $100K success story in the course industry has ignited a heated debate, with a SaaS founder voicing criticism. While Marc's achievement highlights the growing potential of online courses, the founder's concerns likely stem from the rapid monetization and possible oversaturation in the educational SaaS This clash underscores the evolving dynamics between content creators and platform providers in the ever-expanding digital economy."reweprospekt com de
What people don’t get is that Marc doesn’t sell code nor a course. He sells a dream.
And that’s value.
Yeah, take your dreams to the bank and see how much you get for them. It’s free to dream buddy. Shouldn’t have to pay for that privilege.
Paying for something is a good motivator to get started . Some people just need it.
ps: I haven’t bought Marcs product though
I haven't heard about either of the dudes.
However, selling anything and promoting yourself is crucial for any founder. Doesn't matter if you are a legit builder or a course-maker.
So articles like this are gold, some interesting techniques to learn. Thanks for exploring this case Michal!
I don’t think he founded Crayo btw. He’s not mentioned as a founder if you watch the Crayo guys speak about it. But he seems to have had some involvement with it like connecting the founders or something. Not quite sure what the story is there. But he is behind musically
I think we can learn a lot from Mark. While many makers know a lot about technology and nothing about marketing, Mark knows how to overcome inertia and perfectionism to launch an idea. His products may not be that great, but he has a great ability to make money.
Regardless of right or wrong, having money brings out your true character.
I think a lot of people are missing the point.
Marc has built dozens of saas apps over the past few years. That's what he is teaching. How to build saas apps.
It's also why he was able to build such a successful boilerplate. He knows what goes into building saas apps fast, and what the basic components every app needs.
Is he the best at marketing saas apps? Who knows. But, he is pretty damn good at marketing products online, regardless of whether they are saas or some other business model.
Arib is just a douchebag trying to ride somebody else's wave.
Marc's biggest SaaS makes 1K MRR? Wow, it sounds like he can teach an indie hacker like me how to make 1K MRR a month with my SaaS!
Isn't perspective an interesting thing? 😃. This was an attempt to stir the pot, like you mentioned, for Arib's own clout. Congrats Marc on your course success!
Marc is transparent about where his earnings come from, what he's good at, and what the course is for. There is no problem.
Is any of this hate based on actual customer feedback and reviews? No.
You're not the target customer bro.
In a small village, the king sought a new advisor to help him govern wisely. Two candidates came forward.
The first was a wealthy merchant who dressed in fine silks, adorned with jewels, and spoke with confidence. “I am the richest man in the land because I understand everything about success. With me by your side, your kingdom will prosper beyond measure.”
The second was a poor wanderer, wearing threadbare clothes and carrying only a simple satchel. He said, “I have traveled across deserts, climbed mountains, and worked every kind of job to survive. I have little wealth, but I understand people, hardship, and the world’s ways.”
The king was intrigued. To test them, he posed a challenge: “There is a boulder blocking the road to the market. Whoever finds the best solution will be my advisor.”
The wealthy merchant immediately hired workers to build a new road around the boulder, sparing his hands any labor. The wanderer, meanwhile, went to the road, studied the boulder, and used simple levers to move it aside. Beneath the rock, he found a treasure chest with a note from the king: “The one who removes the obstacle understands the true path to success.”
The king chose the wanderer, saying, “Wealth may open doors, but wisdom clears the way.”
Build a SaaS in 14 days and earn $100K in two? Marc Lou did it—but not without sparking a feud with a 19-year-old founder. Is this brilliance or beginner's luck? The drama is as viral as his sales.
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