As a software entrepreneur wearing many hats - from coding to marketing to customer service - I've found AI systems to be game-changing tools in my daily work. Today, I want to share how I use these systems, particularly large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Claude, to —hopefully— inspire you to benefit from similar … Continue reading The AI-Powered Solopreneur
Author: Arvid Kahl
I write about bootstrapping, audience-building, and building in public at The Bootstrapped Founder.
Formerly FeedbackPanda (exit/2019)
Wrote Zero to Sold, The Embedded Entrepreneur, and made Find your Following.
When Podcasts Attack: The Unexpected Challenges of External Data
As founders, we often focus on scaling our businesses in terms of customers, revenue, or team size. But what happens when the data your business relies on scales faster than anything else? That's the challenge I very recently faced with Podscan.fm, and it nearly brought the entire system to its knees. Nearly! 😉 If you're … Continue reading When Podcasts Attack: The Unexpected Challenges of External Data
Scrape or Be Scraped
With my podcast data scanning business, Podscan, I'm constantly scraping the web for terabytes of audio and metadata - but now I find myself in a wild cat-and-mouse game, trying to protect my own valuable data from aggressive AI companies doing the exact same thing. It's a bizarre tightrope walk: I need data to be … Continue reading Scrape or Be Scraped
Should Indie Hackers Go to Tech Conferences?
Should software founders attend tech conferences? The answer is a resounding yes. If you’d asked me five years ago, I’d have completely disagreed. So today, I’ll share my journey from skepticism to enthusiasm about tech conferences — how they can be invaluable for entrepreneurs in ways that go far beyond just keeping up with the … Continue reading Should Indie Hackers Go to Tech Conferences?
Andrew Davies — The Power of a Merchant of Record
Andrew Davies (@andjdavies) runs marketing for Paddle, the payment provider that powers several of my businesses. They also recently ran an AI launchpad accelerator, which massively impacted the trajectory of my business, Podscan. It's about time we chat more about money on the pod. Today, I get to talk to Andrew about all things payment, why … Continue reading Andrew Davies — The Power of a Merchant of Record
The Evolution of Coding in the AI Era
Just a few years ago, I was a wholly different coder. At my best, I was breezing through documentation and writing mostly functional code. At my worst, I’d be chasing typos and strange bugs for hours, to no avail. Not once would I have thought of using AI to help me — because it didn’t … Continue reading The Evolution of Coding in the AI Era
Striking a Balance
Earlier this week, I came across a quote that resonated deeply with me: "I can accomplish anything, but I won't really be worthy until I accomplish the next big thing." This sentiment, shared in a Hacker News conversation about similarities between founders, got me thinking about the self-limiting beliefs we entrepreneurs often grapple with, especially … Continue reading Striking a Balance
kerollmops — From Hackathon to Success: The Meilisearch Story
@kerollmops, the technical brain behind the open-source search engine Meilisearch, joins me for a nerdy chat about all things search. I’ve been using this blazing-fast tech for my own business, Podscan.fm, and kero has helped me through a few challenges over the last few weeks. I really want to dive into the economics of building … Continue reading kerollmops — From Hackathon to Success: The Meilisearch Story
Does Your SaaS Need a “User Tour?”
I recently came across a tweet by Nikita Bier about onboarding in software products that made me reflect on my own choices for the first touches that my customers have with my product. It also got me thinking about the general expectations we have for software products we use for all kinds of purposes. In … Continue reading Does Your SaaS Need a “User Tour?”
“Working In” vs “Working On” the Business
I ran into a pretty substantial question this week. Am I working in my business, or am I working on my business? I've been spending so much time building features, talking to customers, implementing fixes, dealing with infrastructure problems, and even trying to upgrade the product design. All of this is still working in the … Continue reading “Working In” vs “Working On” the Business