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Why do "indiehackers" want attention from and create products for other "indiehackers"? As a group they seem the people with the least amount of money to spend

Why do "indiehackers" want attention from and create products for other "indiehackers"? As a group they seem the people with the least amount of money to spend on products, and are some of the most cheapskate people on the planet. Here's some advice: if you want to make money selling a software product, sell to people who are able and willing to spend money on it.

h05sz487b 4y ago
That's what I asked myself reading the post. Business wise nobody cares about your product blog.
mschuster91 4y ago
> Why do "indiehackers" want attention from and create products for other "indiehackers"? Two things come to my mind: 1) "indie hackers" are way easier to get a relation started with than companies or even start-ups. And forget about big enterprise if you don't have an angel investor or some other experienced and well-connected guidance. 2) With smaller users, you're more likely to get better testing and feedback. In companies of all sizes, it's rare to have a "we have an issue with vendor X's software" pipeline that goes straight from the affected user to the vendor, in most cases every report or feedback question will take six to seven steps in between.
- tdeck 4y ago
  While these things are true, I can't help but think the advantages are outweighed by the fact that tech savvy people are some of the cheapest people around when it comes to paying for software. How many of us expect to build an MVP entirely on the free tier of something?
make_it_sure 4y ago
that's because people that usually become indie hacker don't have much expertise outside of development and a few very saturated markets. Everything related to indie hackers, statups, etc are super crowded because it's easier for a newcomer to enter the market and build something familiar to them. Most people that have expertise on agriculture, oil drilling, saw-milling etc where there are real opportunities don't know much about startups or know how to build an app.
vineyardmike 4y ago
> Why do "indiehackers" want attention from and create products for other "indiehackers"? They’re influencers. That’s why people want their attention. I think it kinda has the look of a cool lifestyle from the outside (to some). They’re digital nomads and they travel to cool places and meeting cool people and tweeting big graphs that go up and to the right. They disavow lots of possessions (again a nomad) while professing being all tech all the time. Once upon a time tech-entrepreneurs might have rented a shack in Palo Alto, but now they tweet while couch surfing in Lisbon. Silicon Valley is too crowded when you’re solo. I would take a house in Palo Alto over an airport lounge and an AirBnB du jour but the nomadic life is honestly cheaper and seems attainable, if only I can build that indie business.
- themitigating 4y ago
  I thought digital nomads were mostly remote workers who just wanted to travel. What is an indie business?
  - synu 4y ago
    Something where you make a business that takes minimal commitment so you can spend your time on the beach. The actual business seems to be taking photos of yourself on the beach and making money as an influencer, while telling people you made money from your startup though. At least that’s my impression. Maybe there are counter examples.
    - satvikpendem 4y ago
      This is mostly incorrect. Indie business are what the name says, independent bootstrapped businesses that does not take venture capital. They are usually SaaS but not always. Lots of examples on the IndieHackers podcast, including a guy who makes money doing cookie delivery. You're more likely thinking of Instagram, Twitter or YouTube influencers.
  - vineyardmike 4y ago
    An “indie hacker” is a solo entrepreneur who (may be a digital nomad and) builds small revenue generating projects. Typically building them in series and letting them grow passively while working on a new one. Often active on twitter sharing work in progress and success/failure stories. A key theme for many is building lifestyle businesses that collectively provide “passive income” and financial independence. But unlike “FIRE” it’s “financial independence, casually work while enjoying life” A common and well known person is Pieter Levels: https://levels.io/projects/ https://levels.io/projects/
seydor 4y ago
Because they probably don't know another community. A lot of people are also inspired and copying what Nomadlist did, but that is a project aimed at precisely this type of wandering wannabee entrepreneurs.
jwtnb 4y ago
This is great point. Every idie hacker wants to scratch his own itch but doesn't realize nobody else will want to buy even if they have similar problems.
ejb999 4y ago
[dead]
kybernetyk 4y ago
This. It's the "developers trying to sell products to other developers" conundrum. You know the development workflow. You came up with a great tool to increase productivity for developers. You set a low price of $50. And yet no one is going to buy it because "lol I could do this in a weekend". Developers are cheap bastards (I'm still fighting over whether I should shell our $99 for Panic's Nova editor or not - even though it would be the perfect fit for my editing needs. But I'm a cheap bastard and VIM is good enough so...) I guess "indiehackers" aren't much different. Only maybe they have less disposable income that old fart developers?
- nmfisher 4y ago
  I actually totally disagree with this. Developer tools are probably one of the easier segments to tackle because technical people 1) like trying new things and 2) often have company credit cards that don’t have to justify expenses.
  - tlarkworthy 4y ago
    Having worked in a successful developer tool (Firebase) this is utter nonsense. Developers are super cheap. People are ringing their hands over the 10 dollar per month copilot price for the world beat ai to help you code for Christ' sake.
    - varelse 4y ago
      [dead]
    - adversaryIdiot 4y ago
      yeah, and i plan on cancling my co-pilot subscription after the free trial
      - giardini 4y ago
        I'm not gonna do it! Someone else, please!8-))
KaiserPro 4y ago
> Here's some advice: I strongly doubt OP wants advice.
ericmcer 4y ago
Well one of the indiehacker mottos is to solve problems you are familiar with. So...

h05sz487b 4y ago

That's what I asked myself reading the post. Business wise nobody cares about your product blog.

mschuster91 4y ago

> Why do "indiehackers" want attention from and create products for other "indiehackers"? Two things come to my mind: 1) "indie hackers" are way easier to get a relation started with than companies or even start-ups. And forget about big enterprise if you don't have an angel investor or some other experienced and well-connected guidance. 2) With smaller users, you're more likely to get better testing and feedback. In companies of all sizes, it's rare to have a "we have an issue with vendor X's software" pipeline that goes straight from the affected user to the vendor, in most cases every report or feedback question will take six to seven steps in between.

tdeck 4y ago
While these things are true, I can't help but think the advantages are outweighed by the fact that tech savvy people are some of the cheapest people around when it comes to paying for software. How many of us expect to build an MVP entirely on the free tier of something?

make_it_sure 4y ago

that's because people that usually become indie hacker don't have much expertise outside of development and a few very saturated markets. Everything related to indie hackers, statups, etc are super crowded because it's easier for a newcomer to enter the market and build something familiar to them. Most people that have expertise on agriculture, oil drilling, saw-milling etc where there are real opportunities don't know much about startups or know how to build an app.

vineyardmike 4y ago

> Why do "indiehackers" want attention from and create products for other "indiehackers"? They’re influencers. That’s why people want their attention. I think it kinda has the look of a cool lifestyle from the outside (to some). They’re digital nomads and they travel to cool places and meeting cool people and tweeting big graphs that go up and to the right. They disavow lots of possessions (again a nomad) while professing being all tech all the time. Once upon a time tech-entrepreneurs might have rented a shack in Palo Alto, but now they tweet while couch surfing in Lisbon. Silicon Valley is too crowded when you’re solo. I would take a house in Palo Alto over an airport lounge and an AirBnB du jour but the nomadic life is honestly cheaper and seems attainable, if only I can build that indie business.

themitigating 4y ago
I thought digital nomads were mostly remote workers who just wanted to travel. What is an indie business?
- synu 4y ago
  Something where you make a business that takes minimal commitment so you can spend your time on the beach. The actual business seems to be taking photos of yourself on the beach and making money as an influencer, while telling people you made money from your startup though. At least that’s my impression. Maybe there are counter examples.
  - satvikpendem 4y ago
    This is mostly incorrect. Indie business are what the name says, independent bootstrapped businesses that does not take venture capital. They are usually SaaS but not always. Lots of examples on the IndieHackers podcast, including a guy who makes money doing cookie delivery. You're more likely thinking of Instagram, Twitter or YouTube influencers.
- vineyardmike 4y ago
  An “indie hacker” is a solo entrepreneur who (may be a digital nomad and) builds small revenue generating projects. Typically building them in series and letting them grow passively while working on a new one. Often active on twitter sharing work in progress and success/failure stories. A key theme for many is building lifestyle businesses that collectively provide “passive income” and financial independence. But unlike “FIRE” it’s “financial independence, casually work while enjoying life” A common and well known person is Pieter Levels: https://levels.io/projects/ https://levels.io/projects/

seydor 4y ago

Because they probably don't know another community. A lot of people are also inspired and copying what Nomadlist did, but that is a project aimed at precisely this type of wandering wannabee entrepreneurs.

jwtnb 4y ago

This is great point. Every idie hacker wants to scratch his own itch but doesn't realize nobody else will want to buy even if they have similar problems.

ejb999 4y ago

[dead]

kybernetyk 4y ago

This. It's the "developers trying to sell products to other developers" conundrum. You know the development workflow. You came up with a great tool to increase productivity for developers. You set a low price of $50. And yet no one is going to buy it because "lol I could do this in a weekend". Developers are cheap bastards (I'm still fighting over whether I should shell our $99 for Panic's Nova editor or not - even though it would be the perfect fit for my editing needs. But I'm a cheap bastard and VIM is good enough so...) I guess "indiehackers" aren't much different. Only maybe they have less disposable income that old fart developers?

nmfisher 4y ago
I actually totally disagree with this. Developer tools are probably one of the easier segments to tackle because technical people 1) like trying new things and 2) often have company credit cards that don’t have to justify expenses.
- tlarkworthy 4y ago
  Having worked in a successful developer tool (Firebase) this is utter nonsense. Developers are super cheap. People are ringing their hands over the 10 dollar per month copilot price for the world beat ai to help you code for Christ' sake.
  - varelse 4y ago
    [dead]
  - adversaryIdiot 4y ago
    yeah, and i plan on cancling my co-pilot subscription after the free trial
    - giardini 4y ago
      I'm not gonna do it! Someone else, please!8-))

KaiserPro 4y ago

> Here's some advice: I strongly doubt OP wants advice.

ericmcer 4y ago

Well one of the indiehacker mottos is to solve problems you are familiar with. So...