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I've launched 37 products in 5 years and not doing that again

indiehackers.com

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Re: I've launched 37 products in 5 years and not doing that again

#51

Post by bwb »

andai wrote: post #49
weitendorf wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't understand the indiehacker community/product mindset until I discovered the indiehacker "influencers" / lifestyle vloggers / etc. that might be the only ones actually turning a profit on all of this. The influencers sell a lifestyle of throwing a million darts at the board with simple apps and building tiny businesses off the handful that get a lot of interest or seem to resonate with users. And the apps the…

That's hilarious. The post reminded me of Marc Lou, who's launched like 30 SaaS, and from what I gathered by far his most profitable one is the one that helps you launch your own SaaS...

Its the old story of who makes money in the gold rush, the person selling equipment and eggs.

Re: I've launched 37 products in 5 years and not doing that again

#52

Post by jasonthorsness »

fxtentacle wrote: post #26
karel-3d wrote: post #13

I see one of the products and I already hate the OP. Thanks https://replyguy.com/

I also dislike the product. But I find it refreshing to see that selling LLM slop for marketing is, apparently, not a viable business.

this is one of the ones he successfully sold, for apparently the biggest amount in fact

Re: I've launched 37 products in 5 years and not doing that again

#53

Post by satvikpendem »

poulpy123 wrote: post #43
Invictus0 wrote: post #2

The indie hacker community builds worthless, visionless widgets and then fails to market them. Could you imagine Steve jobs talking about building 37 products in 5 years? Instead, talk to a customer. Build something that solves just one person's problem really well. Grow from there.

From what I perceive of his personality through the media, I totally believe that a 24 years old Steve Jobs in 2025 would do that.

Jobs was a perfectionist and would not have done that, given what I read from Isaacson's biography.

Re: I've launched 37 products in 5 years and not doing that again

#54

Post by 9cb14c1ec0 »

weitendorf wrote: post #46
nzach wrote: post #19

I just want to share my recent personal experience. Recently I've finally decided to try creating something new that people would find useful hoping that some day I would be able to turn a profit from that. So I vibe coded a pretty bare-bones (but fully functional) version of my idea and started to talk about it in several platforms, including IndieHackers. And the main "advice" I've got after talking with a few peop…

I didn't understand the indiehacker community/product mindset until I discovered the indiehacker "influencers" / lifestyle vloggers / etc. that might be the only ones actually turning a profit on all of this. The influencers sell a lifestyle of throwing a million darts at the board with simple apps and building tiny businesses off the handful that get a lot of interest or seem to resonate with users. And the apps the…

> influencers sell a lifestyle

Oh, you mean that thing called the internet?

Re: I've launched 37 products in 5 years and not doing that again

#55

Post by satvikpendem »

jf22 wrote: post #37
farceSpherule wrote: post #18

Everyone is trying to "copy" Pieter Levels "success" which as of now is "brand effect." The guy started his thing over a decade ago and people look at it now and think they can replicate it. The stuff the guy codes is garbage and what he does is far from solving any problems. And, I do not believe his revenue numbers. At all. But people on the Internet see some shit posted, believe it, and then compare themselves to…

How are you defining garbage?

Probably because Levels says he codes each product in a single PHP file. But then again, there's a reason he's successful and the parent is not (at least to that same level, pun intended). Technologists think code is an end unto itself while true entrepreneurs that it's just a means to an end, and that the end itself is money (otherwise, why are you running a business? If you don't make money, it's simply a hobby).

Re: I've launched 37 products in 5 years and not doing that again

#56

Post by TrevorFSmith »

nzach wrote: post #19

I just want to share my recent personal experience. Recently I've finally decided to try creating something new that people would find useful hoping that some day I would be able to turn a profit from that. So I vibe coded a pretty bare-bones (but fully functional) version of my idea and started to talk about it in several platforms, including IndieHackers. And the main "advice" I've got after talking with a few peop…

I don't know why people gave you that advice but it's pretty easy to tell when a designer hasn't spent enough (or any!) time defining their target market and then spending time with those people to listen instead of force fitting a technology. Without that up front work we're all just rolling the dice. That said, building stuff is fun by itself so it doesn't always need to be about money and growth. Just know it's a hobby.

Re: I've launched 37 products in 5 years and not doing that again

#57

Post by spacemadness »

weitendorf wrote: post #46
nzach wrote: post #19

I just want to share my recent personal experience. Recently I've finally decided to try creating something new that people would find useful hoping that some day I would be able to turn a profit from that. So I vibe coded a pretty bare-bones (but fully functional) version of my idea and started to talk about it in several platforms, including IndieHackers. And the main "advice" I've got after talking with a few peop…

I didn't understand the indiehacker community/product mindset until I discovered the indiehacker "influencers" / lifestyle vloggers / etc. that might be the only ones actually turning a profit on all of this. The influencers sell a lifestyle of throwing a million darts at the board with simple apps and building tiny businesses off the handful that get a lot of interest or seem to resonate with users. And the apps the…

Kind of like all the investment and finance influencers. If they’re so good at it why do they need to spend all that time trying to be an influencer? They should be rich already. They even beg for likes and subscribes so they’re obviously not doing it as a hobby. It’s simply because they’re trying to get rich selling advice to gullible people.

Re: I've launched 37 products in 5 years and not doing that again

#58

Post by satvikpendem »

farceSpherule wrote: post #18

Everyone is trying to "copy" Pieter Levels "success" which as of now is "brand effect." The guy started his thing over a decade ago and people look at it now and think they can replicate it. The stuff the guy codes is garbage and what he does is far from solving any problems. And, I do not believe his revenue numbers. At all. But people on the Internet see some shit posted, believe it, and then compare themselves to…

I agree with half your comment while disagreeing with the other half. Yes, it is very true that he now has a brand and can get users much more easily, and that trying to replicate his success is very survivorship bias heavy. However, if he hadn't been solving problems for people, he wouldn't have made the money he has in the first place, because no one would be buying his products (I, for example, bought NomadList a long time ago and met many people from it due to their Slack channels). And see my other comment about "garbage" code, it does not matter if they're making money, Levels is by his own proclamation not a software engineer, he uses code as a tool.

Re: I've launched 37 products in 5 years and not doing that again

#59

Post by jacquesm »

weitendorf wrote: post #46
nzach wrote: post #19

I just want to share my recent personal experience. Recently I've finally decided to try creating something new that people would find useful hoping that some day I would be able to turn a profit from that. So I vibe coded a pretty bare-bones (but fully functional) version of my idea and started to talk about it in several platforms, including IndieHackers. And the main "advice" I've got after talking with a few peop…

I didn't understand the indiehacker community/product mindset until I discovered the indiehacker "influencers" / lifestyle vloggers / etc. that might be the only ones actually turning a profit on all of this. The influencers sell a lifestyle of throwing a million darts at the board with simple apps and building tiny businesses off the handful that get a lot of interest or seem to resonate with users. And the apps the…

Something very similar applies to VC investing. Sure, some founders get rich. But founder returns averaged across all founders are horrible. The VCs however... they are like those influencers. They'll tell you exactly how you should maximize for their return, just in case you strike it big. They're not going to tell you how to minimize your risks, unless that happens to align with their increased returns.

Re: I've launched 37 products in 5 years and not doing that again

#60

Post by libraryatnight »

karel-3d wrote: post #16
sunaookami wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hm not sure if you are a legit commenter or if this is just rage marketing ;)

He doesn't even own it anymore and, according to the recent reviews of the service (by marketers), it basically stopped working since he sold it (and when I google there are many more like it that works better, this seems to be using 2024 LLMs). So I am not selling it at all. I just really hate the idea.

I hate it too, but I hate it even more knowing it broke after he sold it. Not even bringing any integrity to the evil. lol
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