I’ve been indie for about four years now. I wouldn’t trade it for anything else, but it does come with its own kind of hell. The lack of security and the fear that everything could disappear overnight is always there. Some days feel euphoric, and some days everything feels dark.
At one point I even built a live sales dashboard[1] to keep my dopamine in check, but a year later I realized it was a mistake. It started shaping my motivation instead of supporting it.
I guess the main lesson is that the ups and downs are normal, and you get better at riding them over the years.
> the fear that everything could disappear overnight is
I feel the opposite. I was more fearful of losing my regular job because that could be taken away from me overnight at the whim of a bad manager. However it would take a lot longer for everything I've built up to crumble away.
Can you talk more about how it started "shaping my motivation instead of supporting it?" I was starting to aggregate my own sales data for a dashboard, but maybe it's unwise.
> Every job I had was way more tiring than whatever situations I bring myself into.
It depends on your past job experience, if you had a cruisy job it's a wake up call, but if you've been working 16 hours a day and forced to be the jack of all trades because you have no support at the company, it's the same however you don't waste time in meetings, get more freedom and your efforts directly reward yourself.
I agree on all but launching an app with a side job is less hard than the author expects: not having whatever you are working on to be a successful money maker does add lots of benefits. These include: not having to sell out (adding cheap ads is included in my opinion) just to make some money, take on projects you seriously believe should exist in the world and not because they are lucrative.
I had some success with side projects a while back, but I haven’t been able to spend much time on them lately. The anxiety is still there, especially with the current layoffs and the state of the economy. My plan is to go indie again once I reach lean FIRE, so money isn’t something I have to worry about and I can focus on building things I enjoy.
Monetization is always the tricky part, since most of the ideas I’m drawn to aren’t things a large audience would pay for. But working on projects I’m personally interested in is what keeps me motivated long enough to actually finish them. It’s easier now too, because AI lets me go from an idea to something usable in just a few hours.
I've just reached lean FIRE, will try to go indie soon. Like you the ideas I have are pretty niche and not things that neatly fit into a B2B SaaS. But I'm hoping I can build at least some income to supplement my investments, doesn't have to be much.
Yes, I've been indie for a decade, working remotely with small clients before that, and seclusion has always been a plus. If I need to socialize, there're plenty of spaces for it outside of work.
In fact, I've been actively volunteering for the past four years, and no way I could do that without my flexible schedule that lets me just pause my work for a week and dedicate all my time to my community instead.
I’m here doing it too. It has been 2 years, I can’t believe it. I am thankful for the immense amount of learning I never would’ve done working in a more secure gig (in my market anyway.)
I've been on that path since 2019. It's super challenging but so rewarding. Building your own universe, working your own way with total freedom and constraints.
I'm proud of all I've built and shared so far. But I still can't leave my day job. So at this point it's still 40/60.
At work, management asked if I'm willing to come back full-time and take over the team's leadership. No way. It's a costly game to play (huge opportunity cost), but the freedom is so valuable.
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At one point I even built a live sales dashboard[1] to keep my dopamine in check, but a year later I realized it was a mistake. It started shaping my motivation instead of supporting it.
I guess the main lesson is that the ups and downs are normal, and you get better at riding them over the years.
[1]: https://x.com/kushsolitary/status/1777306909344715158
I feel the opposite. I was more fearful of losing my regular job because that could be taken away from me overnight at the whim of a bad manager. However it would take a lot longer for everything I've built up to crumble away.
Any advice for someone who's just planning to start their own indie journey?
Just bought a license!
I love the freedom and doing nothing when I don't feel like it is the most inspiring and creativity boosting thing I've ever tried.
Even in the times where money wasn't remotely enough, live was good and motivation was even higher.
It depends on your past job experience, if you had a cruisy job it's a wake up call, but if you've been working 16 hours a day and forced to be the jack of all trades because you have no support at the company, it's the same however you don't waste time in meetings, get more freedom and your efforts directly reward yourself.
Monetization is always the tricky part, since most of the ideas I’m drawn to aren’t things a large audience would pay for. But working on projects I’m personally interested in is what keeps me motivated long enough to actually finish them. It’s easier now too, because AI lets me go from an idea to something usable in just a few hours.
In fact, I've been actively volunteering for the past four years, and no way I could do that without my flexible schedule that lets me just pause my work for a week and dedicate all my time to my community instead.
I'm proud of all I've built and shared so far. But I still can't leave my day job. So at this point it's still 40/60.
At work, management asked if I'm willing to come back full-time and take over the team's leadership. No way. It's a costly game to play (huge opportunity cost), but the freedom is so valuable.