Here are a few of my thoughts…
What are some things you should *NOT* do as an indie hacker?
Here are a few of my thoughts…
E.g. advice that works for a high-growth VC-funded startup might be disastrous to your indie business.
You'll end up overvaluing and over-protecting your pet ideas. Or worse, you'll never come up with an idea at all, because you'll assume that it needs to be something completely new.
Talk to customers about what you're doing from day #1. Figure out where they hang online and learn from their conversations. Try to get a strong sense of what they'll think about your product before you waste months building it.
Going from 1M to 2M users requires a bulletproof strategy, considerable knowledge, and a healthy dose of luck. Going from 1 to 2 users requires… a conversation.
Many of the strategies that work at scale are often deadly to early-stage companies.
More from Makers
Results from yesterday’s poll. I’m inclined to agree. And this is something I’m going to fix in my next move.
As an indie maker you have a huge advantage if you can genuinely dogfood your product. Don’t do what I did and try to make a product for teams if you’re just one person. That’s really, really dumb 🙃
Before searching for product-market fit, ask yourself if you have founder-product fit. It is a humbling question but one worth investing the time to answer truthfully.
In hindsight, I have low founder-product fit with Talkshow. It’s for teams but I’m solo. It’s a big broad idea but as an indie I should be focused on a niche.
Just braindumping 🤪 Again thanks to @tylertringas for the micro-saas content on his blog, it helped me navigate / articulate some thoughts I was having.
Controversial question. Does it matter if you are a user of your own product?
— Jon Yongfook (@yongfook) September 3, 2019
As an indie maker you have a huge advantage if you can genuinely dogfood your product. Don’t do what I did and try to make a product for teams if you’re just one person. That’s really, really dumb 🙃
Before searching for product-market fit, ask yourself if you have founder-product fit. It is a humbling question but one worth investing the time to answer truthfully.
In hindsight, I have low founder-product fit with Talkshow. It’s for teams but I’m solo. It’s a big broad idea but as an indie I should be focused on a niche.
Just braindumping 🤪 Again thanks to @tylertringas for the micro-saas content on his blog, it helped me navigate / articulate some thoughts I was having.
Don't look at deadlines negatively! They are a useful tool to measure your performance + stimulate you to do more. You can learn a lot from a single deadline. Did you work too little or too much? Was the goal too ambitious or easy? Apply lessons to the future work. 😉 #MyMindset
I wish I had this... — don't excuse yourself. Forget about what you can't and focus on what you can.
Stop comparing yourself to others, come from the point of what you have, know and have: "I can... so I will do..!" #MyMindset
BTW this was an update of one of the previous tweets. And I'm continuing this thread today!
Do something for the long-term. Everything else is a distraction. 🛑 Nowadays I always check if the thing I'm doing aligns with my long-term plans. If not — that is probably not the best thing to do at the moment. #MyMindset
The only way to get more done is to have less to do. Eliminate your obligations, say "no" to things that are not important, stay minimal in what you do, focus. Being busy is not equal to getting things done. #MyMindset
I wish I had this... — don't excuse yourself. Forget about what you can't and focus on what you can.
Stop comparing yourself to others, come from the point of what you have, know and have: "I can... so I will do..!" #MyMindset
BTW this was an update of one of the previous tweets. And I'm continuing this thread today!
Focus only on positive things! These include what *you* have, know and can do. If you don't have, know or cannot do something either get it or ignore it. Don't think about it and don't use it as an excuse.
— Gleb Sabirzyanov (@zyumbik) October 17, 2018
I've been struggling to follow this principle for a long time. #MyMindset pic.twitter.com/SK5vtwHs3G
Do something for the long-term. Everything else is a distraction. 🛑 Nowadays I always check if the thing I'm doing aligns with my long-term plans. If not — that is probably not the best thing to do at the moment. #MyMindset
The only way to get more done is to have less to do. Eliminate your obligations, say "no" to things that are not important, stay minimal in what you do, focus. Being busy is not equal to getting things done. #MyMindset
Making a thread of makers & entrepreneurs who inspired me, and what they taught me.
#thread
👇
Strong marketing game, super hard work, can stream for 24 hours and currently leading a new streamer movement with the #24hrstartup challenge.
Make it bigger than yourself.
👉 @thepatwalls
Made the awesome https://t.co/lBYn9nP3KJ which works perfectly and saved me hours and hours.
Make a simple, helpful product.
👉 @gvrizzo
Making the stylish @threader_app looking for maximum integration with Twitter (it might even become part of Twitter one day...)
Raise the bar for quality, look for seamless integrations.
👉 @marie_dm_ + @yesnoornext
Successfully monetized a tiny social network @wip without screwing his users, focusing on the maker community.
A small engaged community is enough.
👉 @marckohlbrugge
#thread
👇
Strong marketing game, super hard work, can stream for 24 hours and currently leading a new streamer movement with the #24hrstartup challenge.
Make it bigger than yourself.
👉 @thepatwalls
Made the awesome https://t.co/lBYn9nP3KJ which works perfectly and saved me hours and hours.
Make a simple, helpful product.
👉 @gvrizzo
Making the stylish @threader_app looking for maximum integration with Twitter (it might even become part of Twitter one day...)
Raise the bar for quality, look for seamless integrations.
👉 @marie_dm_ + @yesnoornext
Successfully monetized a tiny social network @wip without screwing his users, focusing on the maker community.
A small engaged community is enough.
👉 @marckohlbrugge
You May Also Like
“We don’t negotiate salaries” is a negotiation tactic.
Always. No, your company is not an exception.
A tactic I don’t appreciate at all because of how unfairly it penalizes low-leverage, junior employees, and those loyal enough not to question it, but that’s negotiation for you after all. Weaponized information asymmetry.
Listen to Aditya
And by the way, you should never be worried that an offer would be withdrawn if you politely negotiate.
I have seen this happen *extremely* rarely, mostly to women, and anyway is a giant red flag. It suggests you probably didn’t want to work there.
You wish there was no negotiating so it would all be more fair? I feel you, but it’s not happening.
Instead, negotiate hard, use your privilege, and then go and share numbers with your underrepresented and underpaid colleagues. […]
Always. No, your company is not an exception.
A tactic I don’t appreciate at all because of how unfairly it penalizes low-leverage, junior employees, and those loyal enough not to question it, but that’s negotiation for you after all. Weaponized information asymmetry.
Listen to Aditya
"we don't negotiate salaries" really means "we'd prefer to negotiate massive signing bonuses and equity grants, but we'll negotiate salary if you REALLY insist" https://t.co/80k7nWAMoK
— Aditya Mukerjee, the Otterrific \U0001f3f3\ufe0f\u200d\U0001f308 (@chimeracoder) December 4, 2018
And by the way, you should never be worried that an offer would be withdrawn if you politely negotiate.
I have seen this happen *extremely* rarely, mostly to women, and anyway is a giant red flag. It suggests you probably didn’t want to work there.
You wish there was no negotiating so it would all be more fair? I feel you, but it’s not happening.
Instead, negotiate hard, use your privilege, and then go and share numbers with your underrepresented and underpaid colleagues. […]