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After losing my savings as an indie hacker, I can't do it anymore. I quit.

indiehackers.com

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Re: After losing my savings as an indie hacker, I can't do it anymore. I quit.

#61

Post by _aleph2c_ »

switch11 wrote: post #3

This is a difficult post to respond to Firstly, your issue doesn't seem to be anything other than social anxiety If you have to 'lose sleep' after contacting someone on LinkedIn about your product, then you are just not suited to doing a startup Secondly, there is nothing to feel bad about Vast majority of people are not suited to starting a company or working in a small startup Lots of good jobs in middle and large…

The thing that you can't lose is that spiritual drive that is the engine of your venture. With out it, all is lost, even your mental health. It's hard to predict how life will be when your gamble starts coming up short. It's hard to keep focus when your dealing with your girlfriend's anxiety, or when your running out of money without any backup plan. I have felt the author's pain, but from the pain comes a set of lessons you can't understand from reading a book. I hope that after he picks up his pieces he eventually executes again with a new game plan: to manage his downside, to have customer's chomping at the bit, to find proper financial backing, to establish a team of fellow believers, to sell into a well established network through a partner, or whatever lessons he has learned.

Re: After losing my savings as an indie hacker, I can't do it anymore. I quit.

#62

Post by allenu »

I think these types of posts are important to read, to contrast with the success stories we typical see online. Read enough success stories and you start to believe that success is a given if you just work hard enough.

I'm reminded of the chapter on Stardew Valley in the book Blood, Sweat, and Pixels. That story is also about a developer who worked on a solo project, years, however, and who brought in no income while his girlfriend worked to support both of them. Obviously that one has a much happier ending. (I will say one huge difference is that from early on, it was clear that there was a fanatic user base just waiting for the game to be released.)

Re: After losing my savings as an indie hacker, I can't do it anymore. I quit.

#63

Post by cortesoft »

bawolff wrote: post #52
croes wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ever thought that his anxieties are the result of his failing business and not how he started? And life is telling nothing. There is no guaranteed way of success. You can have all the abilities and knowledge you need and still fail miserably. Luck is a large part of every success story. Nobody has really unique capabilities.

Not to be harsh, but that seems even worse. If you can't handle failures and set backs, you even more so should not be in the start up business because those things are definitely going to happen, a lot, if you are running any sort of business. Its the same as if you are terrified of heights, being a professional mountain climber is a very bad plan. You either need to get over it somehow quickly or choose a different…

I am confused by this sort of comment pointing out that he was not cut out for the life of an independent developer... well, yeah, that is what his essay is saying - that he is not cut out to be an independent developer. He thought he was, did it for a year, and realized he was not cut out for it.

I don't understand this comment and the other similar ones acting like they are somehow adding insight... yes, he couldn't make it as an independent developer, that is literally the point of the essay.

Repeating the reasons he lays out in the essay and saying "yeah, you won't succeed as an independent developer" seems a little like hearing someone at Alcoholics Anonymous tell their story and then responding, "Yeah, it sounds like you can't have a healthy relationship with alcohol"

Re: After losing my savings as an indie hacker, I can't do it anymore. I quit.

#64

Post by bialpio »

tpxl wrote: post #39
tomc1985 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe, but I don't know anyone I would trust with that kind of thing Honestly the safest option seems to be relocating to a third-world country where the labor and the cost of living is cheap, so that said money can be stretched out over a few years. Or waiting til that pile of money gets a bit larger and living off ramen for a while

>relocating to a third-world country There is a large part of Europe (and I'm sure the US) where the standard of living is decent and you can easily get by on <15k€/year.

Average gross salary in Poland is ~$1400 if you are looking for options. But please do some research before relocating, current political climate is one of the reasons why I'm not really considering moving back there...

Re: After losing my savings as an indie hacker, I can't do it anymore. I quit.

#66

Post by alfonsodev »

switch11 wrote: post #3

This is a difficult post to respond to Firstly, your issue doesn't seem to be anything other than social anxiety If you have to 'lose sleep' after contacting someone on LinkedIn about your product, then you are just not suited to doing a startup Secondly, there is nothing to feel bad about Vast majority of people are not suited to starting a company or working in a small startup Lots of good jobs in middle and large…

I think you are confused, this was posted on Indie Hackers under the self care section, not to hacker news directly.

Besides that, there is no point to compare risks and suffering, both are relative and subjective experiences.

And lastly, social anxiety could be (or not) by it self a major problem, bigger than losing a Green Card, your comment sounds too condescending and not really useful.

Re: After losing my savings as an indie hacker, I can't do it anymore. I quit.

#67

Post by xchaotic »

I'm glad it's out there - for most people, the 'boring' software dev career at a larger tech company is better off financially at critical junctions in your life and often lets you solve more challenging/advanced problems as compared to doing accounting/sales/pm/hr/dev work all by yourself. I've been following an ex-googler who reached $30k in revenue after two years (total), compared to his previous salary+options of around $225k/year. But most importantly you're not stressed out as much.

Re: After losing my savings as an indie hacker, I can't do it anymore. I quit.

#69

Post by maire »

switch11 wrote: post #3

This is a difficult post to respond to Firstly, your issue doesn't seem to be anything other than social anxiety If you have to 'lose sleep' after contacting someone on LinkedIn about your product, then you are just not suited to doing a startup Secondly, there is nothing to feel bad about Vast majority of people are not suited to starting a company or working in a small startup Lots of good jobs in middle and large…

I was painfully shy and started my own business. There is a lot of value in the startup experience even if he does not stay in the startup world.

How did I do it? I had small goals each day and each week and focused on those goals rather than the outcome. It is the outcome that creates angst for the introverted.

I had my own business for 3 years. The first year was painful the 2nd 2 years were productive.

When I went back to traditional employment I had a confidence that I would not have had if I stayed on a traditional business path.

Re: After losing my savings as an indie hacker, I can't do it anymore. I quit.

#70

Post by itake »

blaisio wrote: post #38

> I had around $12K in savings. Enough to cover a year of expenses and a bit more. I stopped spending money on almost everything. Yeah, that sucks. I'm sorry you had a bad experience. I think one thing for the community to take away is you need to be in a good position financially before you can start a startup - unless you can get funding. Especially for indiehackers who don't usually take outside investment, $12k i…

I don’t see that takeaway at all. He didn’t fail because of lack of money. His life is not worse due to spending his savings. He still has a highly valuable skill set and can easily replace that with 1-3 years of working at a company.

If he has $500k, spent $20k living cheaply for a year, I’d bet he would be in a similar position that he is in now and choose to re-enter the workforce after a year of failure.

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