Indie Hackers

In just two years, Ben Tossell (@bentossell) grew Makerpad to over 10,000 users, $400,000 ARR and got bought by Zapier in a deal that became Zapier’s first acquisition. In this episode, I’m going to put Ben’s poker face to the test as I dig into the details of the deal and what it’s like for a founder to go through that process for the first time. 

• Learn about no-code: https://www.makerpad.co/
• Follow Ben on Twitter: https://twitter.com/@bentossell

David Perell (@david_perell) is someone whose own friends told him he wasn’t a good writer. By his own account, he was “horrible” at it. In this episode, we talk about why he decided to get really, really good at writing instead of just giving up and what specific techniques made it possible. 

• Learn how to write online: https://writeofpassage.school/
• Follow David on Twitter: https://twitter.com/@david_perell
• Listen to David’s podcast: https://perell.com/podcast/

Sabba Keynejad (@sab8a) is the founder of one of the fastest growing companies that I've ever featured on the show. In this episode we get into exactly how he used YouTube, side project marketing, Reddit and even getting banned from Qoura to grow Veed.io.

• Edit videos using Veed: https://www.veed.io/
• Follow Sabba on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sab8a

Kevin Lee (@kevinleeme) has run the premiere community for product managers online and is now working on something brand new, but it's not what you'd expect. He's working on noodles. Better, healthier, instant noodles. So in this episode, we just get really personal. We talk about our own health and wellness. We even talk about deathbed regrets and how to avoid them by working on the things that actually bring you joy.

• Shop healthy ramen: https://immieats.com/
• Follow Kevin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinleeme

Jay Clouse (@jayclouse) first popped onto my radar when he posted on Indie Hackers that he sold his community to Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income. You typically don't see communities get acquired because they're often built around a single individual and frequently they get worse as they grow instead if better. In this episode, we'll find out how Jay not only grows this thing, but also holds the ship together as it scales.

• Follow Jay on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jayclouse
• Jay's Web Site: https://jayclouse.com/
• Read about the acquisition here: https://jayclouse.com/unreal-collective-acquired-smart-passive-income/
• Check out SPI: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/

So many kids decide to become software engineers because they were captivated by video games at a young age, and they dreamed of crafting that magic themselves someday. More often than not, they end up working at Facebook or Google building web apps and selling ads. But not Dave Geddes. Dave (@geddski) followed his passion, quit his lucrative job, and is making a living creating games that teach people to code. In this episode, Dave and I talk about the moment that led to him leaving his high-paying job, the launch of his first game, and how he's reaching tens of thousands of people.

• Try Flexbox Zombies for free: https://flexboxzombies.com
• Follow Dave on Twitter: https://twitter.com/geddski
• Check out all Dave's games: https://mastery.games
• Indie Hackers can use code "Indiehackers" for 30% off Grid Critters: https://gridcritters.com

When Yaro Bagriy (@yarobagriy) set to learn about paid newsletters, he was disappointed by what he found. So in true indie hacker fashion, he decided to create his own learning resource to teach others like him — Newsletter Crew: a podcast, blog, and community all about the paid newsletter ecosystem. In this episode, Yaro and I discuss some of the most inspiring stories from newsletter creators, Yaro's process for coming up with paid newsletter ideas, and why indie hackers building newsletter software may stand to gain more than anyone else.

• Sign up for Yaro's community for newsletter authors: https://www.newslettercrew.com
• Follow Yaro on Twitter: https://twitter.com/yarobagriy
• Listen to Yaro's podcast on paid newsletters: https://newslettercrew.com/tag/podcast
• Subscribe to Yaro's personal newsletter: https://www.yarobagriy.com 
• Check out Yaro's tool for growing your newsletter: https://referralkit.co

When Li Jin (@ljin18) was young, she dreamed of going to school to pursue her passion in the arts. Instead she settled for little old Harvard, because common wisdom said there was no money in the passions. Today, the world has changed. The passion economy is stronger than ever, and Li is its patron saint. People are making millions of dollars on passion economy platforms like Shopify, Etsy, Teachable, TikTok, and Substack. And founders are creating millions of jobs by creating these platforms to empower other people. In this episode, Li and I discuss how she's indie hacking in the passion economy space despite being a venture capitalist; power-law distributions and their role in wealth inequality; and her massive ambition to expand the middle class.

• Sign up for Li's course on the creator economy: https://www.CreatorEconomyCourse.com
• Email Li about raising money for your passion economy startup: [email protected]
• Follow Li on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ljin18
• Side Hustle Stack, Li's platform of passion economy platforms: https://www.sidehustlestack.co
• Follow Side Hustle Stack on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sidehustlestack

When the founders of WhereBy.Us set out to connect people in their city, they weren't sure where to start. Holding events? Press conferences? Opening a bar? Local news? In this episode, Chris Sopher (@cksopher) and Bruce Pinchbeck (@BrucePinchbeck) share the story behind how they created local media brands in cities across the country, and then used their learnings to spin out a SaaS product for newsletters.

• The New Tropic: https://thenewtropic.com
• The Evergrey: https://theevergrey.com
• Letterhead: https://www.tryletterhead.com
• Follow Chris on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cksopher
• Follow Bruce on Twitter: https://twitter.com/brucepinchbeck

Evan Britton (@Evan_Britton) runs a massive website focused on digital celebrities called Famous Birthdays. It gets multiple billions of pageviews a year, has dozens of employees, and he bootstrapped it to profitability without raising a dime from investors. They key to Evan's approach is his laser focus. He says no to almost everything, including the most obvious of opportunities. Instead he prefers to "stay in his lane." He'd rather make one thing great than do a mediocre job at 4 or 5 different things. The story of how Evan made Famous Birthdays great is one of fame, focus, ambition, patience, and just a little bit of luck.

• Evan's platform for digital celebrities: https://www.famousbirthdays.com
• Follow Evan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Evan_Britton