I was reading Brandon Sanderson's latest novel, Wind and Truth, when I came across a sentence that stopped me cold: "A stronger current makes for stronger fish." That's it. That's what entrepreneurship is. We're constantly encountering currents that either facilitate what we want to accomplish—the businesses we want to build, the lives we want to … Continue reading The Currents of a Founder
Category: Indie Hacking
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?
Indie Hackers’ Myopic View of AI
AI has an image problem among founders, particularly indie hackers and within the online communities that we frequent. In the builder community, we are constantly inundated with shallow copies of the same kinds of tools. There are GPT wrappers, social media auto repliers, AI starter kits, boilerplates, AI search, AI coding tools, AI, AI, AI… … Continue reading Indie Hackers’ Myopic View of AI
My SaaS Server Exploded (& How I Salvaged It)
Earlier this week, I finally found time to work on a large code change. When I deployed it, things got worse quickly. Here's what happened, why it happened, and how this changed my approach to working on a complicated software project. One thing became apparent: while it may look like a waste of time to … Continue reading My SaaS Server Exploded (& How I Salvaged It)
MicroConf Atlanta — My Biggest Learnings
I am writing this still from the hotel where MicroConf 2024 just wrapped up. I'm on the road in Atlanta, and I want to share my impressions from this conference and the things I learned, the things I'm taking home with me to work on my software as a service business, my media brand, and … Continue reading MicroConf Atlanta — My Biggest Learnings
Addressing my Weaknesses
I’m a pretty okay developer, but when it comes to marketing and sales, I really need help. And for the longest time, I’ve held myself back. That ends today. My current SaaS business, Podscan, is at a point where some very important decisions need to be made. I’ve got something quite big in the works, … Continue reading Addressing my Weaknesses
Indie Hacking Isn’t Dead — It’s Just Less Hacky
I talked to Peter Levels earlier this week, and he had several controversial takes that he shared with me during our conversation. But in the acting being dead, that was probably the most controversial one of all. The conversation around this topic started with a tweet by Peter. He mentioned more competition, less community, and … Continue reading Indie Hacking Isn’t Dead — It’s Just Less Hacky
Proof of Work: How Indie Founders Build Defensible Businesses
I was recently talking to several indie founders about how cloneable their businesses are. Many of them have had to deal with copycats and have since developed methods of either engaging with them or not engaging at all, which is the more common response. They usually keep track of clones and copycats to ensure their … Continue reading Proof of Work: How Indie Founders Build Defensible Businesses
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?