[Looking for Cofounders] Privacy-first VPN built on VLESS+Reality. 18 active users, ready to monetize. Need Backend + Netrowk engineers.
TL;DR:
I'm a product designer with a working VPN service used by 18 people monthly. Looking for 1-2 technical co-founders to turn it into a paid product targeting privacy-conscious users in the US/EU. Equity-only for first 6 months, salary after $3K MRR. Full MVP spec linked below.
About the product:
A VPN service where users get an access to a shared server with a unique IP and stealth masking (VLESS+Reality), without ever touching Linux or xray configs. Positioning sits between complex self-hosted tools (3x-ui, Remnawave) and closed commercial VPNs (Mullvad, Proton).
Why this product is relevant:
- The US and EU are actively drafting VPN regulation (age verification, KYC requirements, mandatory provider registration). Traditional protocols like WireGuard and OpenVPN have distinctive traffic signatures and are trivial to identify and throttle/block at the ISP level. VLESS+Reality, which masks as legitimate TLS traffic to real websites, is likely to remain one of the few protocols that actually works once these laws kick in
- Reality protocol has been undefeated by Russian, Iranian and Chinese DPI for 4+ years despite billions in state investment
- Privacy-conscious users are actively looking for alternatives they can trust, especially since lots of commercial VPNs are owned by the same giant companies
- There is a real gap between "$5/mo NordVPN" and spending a few weekends on selfhosting and maintaining a VPN
What's done so far:
- I have 18 active users on my personal VPN setup that (I have more people interested in buying an access and that's from my surroundings only)
- Validated the technical stack works in production
About me:
- I'm a product designer with 5 years of experience with no job. I have a Bachelor degree in "Advertising and Public Relations" and a Masters degree in "Marketing and digital communications".
- I'll own every design aspect: identity, branding and UX/UI. Also planning to own marketing and content in a foreseeable future
- The product will target US/EU customers, but I'll bring russian-speaking audience
- Russia-based, planning to incorporate in the UAE once revenue grows
- I have a bit of money to sponsor our spendings on the development, but ready to find more if needed
Who am I looking for:
1. Infrastructure / Network Engineer (30% equity). I'm specifically looking for someone with real hands-on Reality/xray experience, or willing to make a deep dive in it
You will own: an entire network pipeline and security
2. Backend / Product Engineer (30% equity). GO, WebAPIs, PostgreSQL ( I'm not 100% sure about this stack)
You will own: core API, billing, user dashboard
Goals:
- 50-100 paying customers in 4 months
- Roughly 30-50k$ annual net profit from 500 customers (5-8$ from user per month)
- Realistic exit potential is 2-5m$ acqui-hire by one of the VPN consolidators, but the main play is a profitable indie business
If you are interested - feel free to DM me here. Any opinion or a suggestion are welcome : )