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Huỳnh Nhân Quốc
Huỳnh Nhân Quốc

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The Indie

#codinglife #programming #dreamerdeveloper #indiedeveloper

Indie is a profession born from dreams.

Years ago, I carried a dream I called “technological independence”. At the time, I had no idea what it really meant. Over the years, I realized that it was the dream of controlling my own code.

For a long time, I didn’t even know how to define the path I was on. Eventually, I discovered that I love writing code, creating something new, and understanding both the logic I’ve written and the product I’ve built.

From Zero to First Earnings

I started with nothing, working to earn my first tiny sums online. From 14,000 VND to hundreds of thousands, to a few million. I still remember the times when all I had was reality—the reality of a fool, someone who later learned to call himself a dreamer.

My journey began with ideas sketched on an A0 sheet, small diagrams, learning Figma to draw database schemas, and writing my first lines of code. It wasn’t just strings arranged logically. I designed DNS systems to organize domains, built templates with Golang template, explored frameworks, and poured the dreams of a naive mind into it all.

Eventually, I published a price comparison website like Samdy, then spent days seeding links, waiting for the first numbers to appear. Just a few thousand VND. Those were some of the hardest days—grueling, exhausting—but the struggle itself became fuel, teaching me perseverance. I often reminded myself:

Good books are written by those with experience. I am still gathering the material to write the story of my own dream.

A fool calls himself a dreamer.

Over the past year, I began to understand the definition of an indie hacker. In a vague, wandering way, I explored the concept through social media and chatbots, and slowly, I defined myself.

Dreamy Indie-stack Developer. It sounds elaborate, even amateurish, but for me, it tells a story.

I do not target SaaS or monthly revenue. I do not chase users for MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue). I do not claim to be a full-stack developer because, in a world flooded with deployment tools, calling oneself full-stack feels diluted.

I call myself indie-stack because I take an idea, design a logo in Figma, write its story, and deliver it to users using anything I can. A chip, a browser, or even a full platform. While others deploy via Vercel, Firebase, Cloudflare, I deploy with a copy command or drag it to self-hosted cloud I control.

And dreamy? The dreamer. Once, I called myself a fool, clueless about the path I was on. Now I know: the code is mine, I control it, I develop it, and I understand it.

I do not tell this to boast. I tell it so you know: somewhere out there, fools and dreamers exist, chasing dreams that no one else can understand. Only the fool can see the beauty of their own dream.

Indie Hacker vs Indie Developer

I once asked a chatbot about the difference between indie hacker and indie developer. It said:

Indie hackers are like product builders who monetize, while indie developers lean more toward games.
Perhaps fools begin as gamers, obsessed with the game they built themselves, playing it alone before sharing it with millions. Stories like Nguyễn Hà Đông, the BK student behind Flappy Bird, Brendan Greene, or Hà Gia Bảo with Binsoo show massive success.

But what about the failures? We rarely hear about them. Still, one day, I found my life’s dream, a guiding star pointing toward open-source.

Open Source and Starting Now

Back in 2019, in a coworking space, I stumbled upon the Wolfram Language logo. Curiosity led me to Stephen Wolfram, and then TED’s talk on computational universe programming. It sparked a fire in this naive dreamer, chasing technological independence, just walking forward, believing tomorrow exists.

Famous figures like Linus Torvalds inspired me as well. The teachers I’ve never met, never spoken to, never learned a word from, yet their stories shaped me:

  • Leonardo da Vinci taught me to love learning, exploration, and discovery.
  • Steve Jobs taught me simplicity and creativity.
  • Linus Torvalds taught me perseverance with code, loving what I do, and sharing it with the world. I admire them not for wealth or fame, but for their journeys, the mindset they modeled, the experiences I could never have on my own.

Publishing, Sharing, and Open

I began taking parts of my code, refining it, and letting AI help polish it. I started publishing small packages and stories in English. It’s like Build In Public, but I prefer a word that feels truer: Open.

Years ago, I saw people in the industry guarding their work as a secret advantage, treating it as their ultimate product. I once did the same.

But openness changed me. Sharing stories, even if some disagree, reveals that fear holds us back: fear of the new, the strange, and others who may be better. My advice is simple:

Share. Every shared story is a milestone on the path of growth.
We are all fools in pursuit of happiness and inner peace. Life’s greatest gift is experience—the lessons we learn to grow.

Why I Write Code

I did not come into this world for money.

I came for dreams. Dreams of creating something meaningful, leaving a small mark in this vast world.

When I started, I had nothing: no capital, no connections, no foundation. Just a fragile belief that perseverance would make the world listen.

Then I discovered code.

Code is not just a tool for living—it is the language I use to tell my story. It bridges reality and dreams.

In every line, I see the logic of life. Understand the rules, and you can change them.

In every project, I feel the power of thought and creation: nothing is too far if you dare to start from zero.

But code alone cannot run without the fuel of reality.

Long, grueling days, failures, sleepless nights—they burn raw, honest energy into me. Reality, with all its dark corners, fuels my journey.

I do not code to escape reality. I code to understand it, to make it more beautiful.

And though money, fame, or success may come and go, the dream remains. It shines whenever I type the first line of a new idea.

I don’t know how far I will go. But I do know this: every line I write today is a small step connecting reality and dreams.

As long as I keep writing, creating, and living by my ideals, I am on the right path.

A Message for You

If you are starting from zero, remember:

  • Every great journey begins with a small step.
  • No one is born with light. It is created from falls, long nights without giving up, and moments when you tell yourself, “I can do this.”
  • Do not fear reality. Turn it into fuel.
  • Today’s limits become tomorrow’s strength. When you look back, you will realize: the most valuable thing is not where you’ve reached, but who you’ve become on your way to your dreams.

Notes

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