Tony Dinh, a well-known indie hacker, recently shared an article about his Indie Hacker journey that reached the top of Hacker News. As usual, some people reacted negatively to an indie hacker sharing their story. One common criticism was that these small projects, or "pet rock projects," aren't valuable. There was a strong sentiment in … Continue reading Pet Rock Projects (And Why They… Rock)
Category: Bootstrapping
What I Learned From 250 Podcast Episodes
This week, I celebrated the podcast reaching 250 episodes with my most recent interview with Amanda Goetz. Just last week, the podcast hit 250,000 overall downloads. These are numbers I never expected to reach. And here I am, still enjoying creating new episodes and interviewing people every week. Today, I want to reflect on the … Continue reading What I Learned From 250 Podcast Episodes
Avoiding the Entrepreneurial Planning Trap
Let's talk about planning fallacies for bootstrapped founders. As a founder, especially if you're starting a business alone, planning is important. But you have to get it right. There are a few common mistakes to avoid when developing your strategy for a bootstrapped business. The M in MVP stands for Minimum One mistake is spending … Continue reading Avoiding the Entrepreneurial Planning Trap
You’re Not “Too Late”: Capitalizing on Pre-Validated Ideas
Today, I want to discuss a problem some founders face when they discover someone else has already created their idea. I certainly felt deflated when my cool idea was already being done by someone else in the past. Many founder feel disappointed, thinking it's too late for them. And then they drop their idea. This … Continue reading You’re Not “Too Late”: Capitalizing on Pre-Validated Ideas
Bootstrapped SaaS Exit Planning
Recently, I had a great conversation with Kevin McArdle, an accomplished investor who essentially operates in the private equity space. He's also the person who acquired my first successful SaaS business, FeedbackPanda. Right now, he's building a holding company that acquires and operates already successful SaaS companies. During our chat, we delved into what he refers … Continue reading Bootstrapped SaaS Exit Planning
Entrepreneurship isn’t genetic. It’s memetic.
Entrepreneurship is not something we inherit or solely a matter of genetics. As a first-generation founder, I believe that it is profoundly influenced by the ideas and values we adopt. When we closely examine how entrepreneurs are raised and what drives them, we begin to notice intriguing similarities that spark questions about where their entrepreneurial … Continue reading Entrepreneurship isn’t genetic. It’s memetic.
Utility, Pricing, and Entrepreneurship
Utility isn't just "being a Swiss Army knife." In fact, this might be one of the biggest misconceptions in entrepreneurship. Too many founders conflate the value of their products with the amount of potential problems it can solve. They spend their time and efforts slapping on more and more perceived “functions” that end up diluting … Continue reading Utility, Pricing, and Entrepreneurship
Why Entrepreneurs are Choosing ‘Short-Lived Businesses’ Over ‘Forever Businesses
Back when our economy allowed most of us to eventually be able to afford a house, we developed the phrase "starter home." It describes the first careful introduction to homeownership for young people. The first home — of many. The one to get started with. A home that will be owned temporarily before the growing … Continue reading Why Entrepreneurs are Choosing ‘Short-Lived Businesses’ Over ‘Forever Businesses
MicroConf US ’23 Recap — What Happens When 250 SaaS Founders Meet
This week, I got on my first post-COVID trip and headed to Denver, Colorado for MicroConf 2023. It. Was. Awesome. Unsurprisingly, being in the same room with 250 other bootstrapped SaaS founders is one of the nerdiest things you can do. And it was as enlightening as it was nerdy. I just arrived back home … Continue reading MicroConf US ’23 Recap — What Happens When 250 SaaS Founders Meet
ChatGPT: Goldmine or Minefield for Indie Hackers?
Everybody in the indie founder community is talking about ChatGPT. Some founders discover how powerful it is as a writing tool, others have it build their products, and some entrepreneurs are even building businesses on top of OpenAI's conversational chat-based AI. Beyond that, it's a meme now: everyone is talking about how everyone is talking … Continue reading ChatGPT: Goldmine or Minefield for Indie Hackers?