Indie Hackers

Rob Walling (@robwalling) returns to the show to talk about new and not-so-new trends in SaaS that Indie Hackers should be paying attention to. 

• Listen to Rob's podcast: https://www.startupsfortherestofus.com/
• Follow Rob on Twitter: https://twitter.com/robwalling
• Check out Tiny Seed: https://tinyseed.com/

Nathan Barry (@nathanbarry) has grown ConvertKit from $7M to $27M since I last spoke with him three years ago. He’s done several things in the last few years to grow—including making ConvertKit’s first acquisition and riding the wave of the creator economy. But mostly we’ll discuss how incremental improvements over eight years is responsible for the email marketing tool’s compound growth.  

• Follow Nathan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nathanbarry
• Find and build your audience with ConvertKit: https://convertkit.com/

Today I have Chris Justin (@Chris_Justin) and Eathan Janney from the Run With It podcast. They are coming on the show today to share some business ideas for 2021 for indie hackers. In this episode we discuss flying cars (VTOL), NFTs, people coins, and other trends to get ahead of for the next year. 

• Listen to new ideas on the Run With It podcast: https://www.runwithit.fm/

Over the past two years, I’ve been getting emails from Collin Waldoch. The first was in 2019 when he told me his startup Water Cooler Trivia was making $10K ARR. That was followed a few months later by him telling me he was making $50k, then $100K, and most recently $250K. I want you to hear how simple the product is that he built and why he’s not seeing any churn. 

• Try to beat your co-workers on Water Cooler Trivia: https://www.watercoolertrivia.com/

Joining me is prolific indie hacker and Bitclout enthusiast Mubashar Iqbal (@mubashariqbal) to discuss the pros and cons of the new platform. Is it a scam? Is it not a scam? Are we all living in a real life episode of Black Mirror? We get to the bottom of your burning questions in this episode. 

Austin Rief (@Austin_Rief) started the newsletter Morning Brew in college when he didn’t care if he made money or mistakes. That freedom in the early days resulted in an authenticity that he credits for their growth. In this episode, I talk to Austin about how he’s using Twitter to grow, what types of customers become brand ambassadors, and so much more. 

 • Follow Austin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Austin_Rief

 • Get smarter by subscribing to Morning Brew: https://www.morningbrew.com/daily/subscribe

Today I’m catching up with Ben Orenstein (@r00k) after nearly two years. Since then his company Tuple has grown 3x and is hitting millions on annual revenue. In this episode, I talk to Ben about the factors behind his insane growth, what it’s like being single as a startup founder, and why he’s hiring a coach for nearly every aspect of his life.  

 • Follow Ben on Twitter: https://twitter.com/r00k

 • Ask Ben out on a date: http://dating.benorenstein.com

 • Pair remotely with Tuple: https://tuple.app/

Today I’m talking to some of the best online course creators that I know. So many indie hackers got started and became successful because they found ways to teach others online. So I invited Andrew Barry (@Bazzaruto), who runs the On Deck Course Creators Fellowship, Marie Poulin (@mariepoulin), who runs an online course called Notion Mastery, and Ali Abdaal (@AliAbdaal), who runs Part Time YouTuber Academy. In this episode, we’ll talk about how to get started, overcome imposter syndrome, and how everyone has something to teach.  

 • Build a Transformative Online Course: https://www.beondeck.com/course-creators

 • Master Your Life and Business Workflows with Notion: https://notionmastery.com/

 • Learn How To Grow Your YouTube Channel: https://academy.aliabdaal.com/

One of the best ways to build a successful business as an indie hacker is to teach people a valuable skill. So in this episode, I sat down to talk to you two of the best educators that I know. Darrell Silver (@darrellsilver) is the founder of Thinkful (an online learning service that's helped thousands of students get high paying jobs in tech)  and Quincy Larson (@ossia), the founder of freeCodeCamp.

We’ll get into some of the best ways for indie hackers to get started as educators and the economics behind an education business.  

 • Learn to code on freeCodeCamp: https://www.freecodecamp.org/

 • Follow Quincy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ossia

 • Check out Thinkful: https://www.thinkful.com/

 • Follow Darrell on Twitter: https://twitter.com/darrellsilver

Nadav Keyson and his brother built a podcast recording tool on the bleeding edge of technology. By being hyper-focused and product-driven they were able to score clients like Hillary Clinton and the NFL as first customers. In this episode, I’ll talk to Nadav about how he reached out to big names, turned them into customers, and built a product with innate virality.

• Check out Riverside: https://www.riverside.fm

• Follow Nadav on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nadavkeyson