Observations from my first week as full-time IndieHacker after seven years of 9-5 coding

#programming #career #productivity

Hi there,

2020 is the year of everyone going crazy on indie hacking, building bootstrapped products, starting paid newsletters, and launching podcasts.

I jumped on this boat myself, but this time with full steam ahead. Full time. I quit my job to teach blockchain programming - no more hobbies or side projects.

I want to share my top two findings from the first week as an indie-hacker with you.

1. There are no rules

I find myself surprisingly lost - in a good way. As someone who loves structures and rules, waking up at 9 am for the stand-up, for years, it feels peculiar NOT to HAVE TO.

When do you want to wake up? Up to you!
What do you want to work on? Up to you!
How are you going to implement this product? Up to you!

Do you want to play CS:GO for 10 hours? Ok. Do you want to work for 16 hours? Ok.

This sounds fantastic until you realize that your day's structure has a direct impact on your earnings :)

Exciting because there is no cap on how much you can earn, but also a bit stressful because you may earn 10 000$ this month, or 0.

2. You are the entire company

When you start indie hacking, you will probably be a solo founder. A developer with a good idea? Well, congratulation! You are now also a product team, marketing team, sales team, and potentially a legal team.

You soon realize that the tech is probably the least of your problems :) Coding is the easiest part! You already have experience in solving technical challenges. But that's now only 30% of your workweek compared to the previous 100% as a dev employee (depending on what you are building ofc).

Ultimate freedom comes with the ultimate responsibility - as superman would say.

Why becoming an IndieHacker?

Well, the answer will vary from person to person. That's the beauty of it - there are no rules.

I left my comfy job bc I want to acquire a new marketing, business skills, and bring more devs into the blockchain ecosystem.

Follow me on Twitter if you are considering this journey or want to learn more about self-employment, indie-hacking, and my current obsession with blockchain programming:

https://twitter.com/Web3Coach

What about you? Did you try entrepreneurship? Are you considering it?