The Indie Hackers Podcast: How Developers Are Bootstrapping, Marketing, And Growing Their Online Businesses

Natalie Nagele (@natalienagele) is not a fan of following "the rules" when it comes to building her company. In the 18 years since she and her husband Chris started Wildbit, not only have they grown it into a profitable operation that employees over 30 people, but they've done it their way: with remote a team, 32-hour work weeks, numerous product launches, and an obsessive focus on the happiness of their customers and employees. In this episode, Natalie and I dive deep into what's she's learned running a tech business for almost two decades, including why she thinks you should learn from others' experiences but not their advice.Transcript, speaker information, and more: https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/090-natalie-nagele-of-wildbit

Matt Verlaque (@MattVerlaque) is no stranger to hard work. But when he decided to leave his job as a fireman to build a tech business, he embarked on a path of learning and uncertainty very different than the world he'd known. In this interview, Matt tells the story behind how met his cofounder Jake, came up with a business idea, learned how to code, overcame a stagnant business model that wasn't working, and built a profitable business that generates over $65,000/month in revenue as a first-time founder.Transcript, speaker information, and more: https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/089-matt-verlaque-of-uplaunch

Not only has Jason Cohen (@asmartbear) bootstrapped a software company from $0 to over $1M in revenue, but he's done it four times! The stories behind Jason's successes are plastered all over the Internet for anyone to find, so I decided to take a different approach: I skipped Jason's backstory and instead proceeded to squeeze him like a sponge to extract every ounce of advice I possibly could in the hour we had together. The result is a wide-ranging discussion about the best path for reaching your first $10k/month in revenue, the lies we tell ourselves as founders, and why you probably won't take the advice that Jason (or anyone else for that matter) gives you.Transcript, speaker information, and more: https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/088-jason-cohen-of-wp-engine

The anonymous "AJ" (@ajlkn) is one of the most prolific and multi-talented creators I've ever had on the podcast. His rare combination of developer expertise, design skills, and product sensibilities have allowed him to release a string of popular products that have racked up millions of users and downloads over the years. Maddeningly, AJ also has a knack for the business side of things, having grown his latest project Carrd to $30,000/mo in revenue as a solo founder and developer. In this episode we dive into exactly how he works his magic, analyze the most important decisions he's made with his businesses, and discuss the role that luck plays in any founder's journey.Transcript, speaker information, and more: https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/087-aj-of-carrd

After spending years pursuing a career in science, Lynne Tye (@lynnetye) shocked her family and colleagues by dropping out of grad school. Thus began a months-long journey of discovery and experimentation that eventually saw her managing 150 people at a high-profile tech startup. But when Lynne realized the fast-paced startup lifestyle was not for her, she quit that, too, and began her search all over again. In this episode, Lynne shares the story behind how she took her career into her own hands, learned to code, and started a business doing what she loves.Transcript, speaker information, and more: https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/086-lynne-tye-of-key-values

Twenty pages into reading his first business book, Peldi Guilizzonni (@peldi) closed it for good and told himself, "This is not for me. I'm never going to start a business. It's insane." Not long after that, he rolled up his sleeves and got started building Balsamiq Mockups, which would go on to employee dozens of people, serve thousands of customers, and generate over $6M per year in revenue. Over ten years later, it's still going strong. Learn about the path Peldi took to get where he is today, why he's a legend among bootstrappers, and how he's building a business that's meant to last.Transcript, speaker information, and more: https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/085-peldi-guilizzoni-of-balsamiq

"Whenever you work for a big company and they don't help you work on your ambitions, you start doing something on the side. That's what always happens." In this episode, Tim Soulo (@timsoulo) details the winding path he took to quit his job, build his own profitable online businesses, and eventually become the Product Advisor and Chief Marketing Officer of Ahrefs, which generates over $1M in revenue per employee.Transcript, speaker information, and more: https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/084-tim-soulo-of-ahrefs

"It doesn't necessarily feel that real at times." Dominic Wells (@human_proof) didn't initially set out to create a million-dollar business. However, he was so determined to find a way out of his job teaching English that he would write blog posts on his iPad in between classes. In this episode we dive into Dominic's winding path into building and scaling a profitable Internet business, why affiliate marketing is a great way to break into entrepreneurship for engineers and non-technical founders alike, and why the best advice is to just get started.Transcript, speaker information, and more: https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/083-dominic-wells-of-human-proof-designs

At first, Rob Walling (@robwalling) didn't know what he wanted to create — he just knew that he was tired of working for other people. After he spent his savings to buy an online business, however, he found himself in a do-or-die situation. In this episode Rob tells the story behind how he dove into the deep end of what would become almost twenty years of building online businesses, culminating in the 8-figure sale of his email marketing company Drip. We also discuss Rob's latest project, TinySeed, the first startup accelerator designed for bootstrappers, and why he believes now is a better time than ever to start an online business.Transcript, speaker information, and more: https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/082-rob-walling-of-drip-and-tinyseed

Ajay Goel (@PartTimeSnob) loves to code. He also loves to grow profitable Internet businesses. In 2003, Ajay transitioned from making websites for clients to building his own email marketing application, Jangomail, which he eventually grew to over $5M in annual revenue and sold to a private equity firm. He then retired to a life of luxury, conversation, and relaxation, and lived happily ever after… or did he? In this episode, we dive into the pitfalls of bootstrapping vs fundraising, the strategic decisions that differentiate big wins from HUGE wins, and why Ajay felt the need to come back for round two with his new business GMass.Transcript, speaker information, and more: https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/081-ajay-goel-of-gmass

Daniel Gross (@danielgross) has a tendency to view pretty much everything in life as a game. So when it came time to start a new business after selling his first startup to Apple, he decided to make it into a game that could change the world. In this episode, Daniel talks about what it takes to build a massively impactful project, how to minimize the effects of luck, and the habits you should develop to become a more successful founder.Transcript, speaker information, and more: https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/080-daniel-gross-of-pioneer

After helping dozens of Silicon Valley startups grow their businesses, Julian Shapiro (@Julian) knows a thing or two about growth. In this episode, he shares some strong opinions about why every company should run ads, why e-commerce is more promising than SaaS, and how you should prioritize your focus as a founder to ensure you start a business that can grow.Transcript, speaker information, and more: https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/079-julian-shapiro-of-bell-curve

When Evan You (@youyuxi) decided to create his own front-end JavaScript framework, there were already mega-popular competitors in the market from no other than Facebook and Google. Still, Evan forged ahead to build something that would satisfy his own tastes, and it turned out millions of people wanted the same things he did. Learn how Evan built his open-source project Vue.js into one of the most popular in the world and grew it to over $200,000 in annual revenue via Patreon.Transcript, speaker information, and more: https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/078-evan-yue-of-vue

Rather than jump immediately into writing code, Andy Cook (@AndyGCook) and his cofounder Nelson (@nelsonjoyce) began their journey by spending weeks talking to and learning from potential customers. This wasn't their first time around the startup block. But to their surprise, when they finished their product and it was time for people to start using it, nobody wanted to. Learn how they iterated on their idea to turn it into a business that now generates hundreds of thousand of dollars in revenue.Transcript, speaker information, and more: https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/077-andy-cook-of-tettra

Cameron Yarbrough (@yarbroughcam) and Keegan Walden (@keeganwalden) created a company that combines software and coaching to help leadership teams improve their job performance in a measurable way. In this episode, we discuss how they've applied their own teachings to their roles as founders, and how they've grown to become to the kinds of people who can work together to build a successful business.Transcript, speaker information, and more: https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/076-keegan-and-cameron-of-torch

Joel Hooks (@jhooks) never found it easy to spend his life working for other people. So when he came across an inspirational book that told him he could learn to code and build his own company, he embarked on a fateful journey to do just that. Learn how Joel helped start a sustainable business that connects programmers to educators, and how he bootstrapped it to over $3 million in annual revenue.Transcript, speaker information, and more: https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/075-joel-hooks-of-egghead

David Rabie (@davidrabie), the founder of Tovala, set out to build one of the most complex businesses imaginable: a hardware device, a software application, and a food prep and delivery service all-in-one. In this interview, we talk about how he approached this challenge one step at a time, from carefully crafting the minimum viable product and making the necessary sacrifices to get to the next step, to delivering a popular product to thousands of paying customers.Transcript, speaker information, and more: https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/074-david-rabie-of-tovala

James Clear (@jamesclear), the author of Atomic Habits, knows a thing or two about forming successful habits as a founder. In this episode, he talks about how he developed the habits he used to help grow his website to over 400,000 subscribers. We also go into detail about the methods and science behind habit formation, and how any founder can develop the habits necessary to do their best work.Transcript, speaker information, and more: https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/073-james-clear

Shola Akinlade (@Shollsman) knew that the online payments process in Nigeria was broken, and that he was in the perfect position to help fix it. However, numerous challenges stood in his way, including broken financial infrastructure, unreliable internet, and users that had little experience making online payments. Learn how Shola overcame the odds to build and grow Paystack — Stripe for Africa — to over 17,000 merchants processing over $20M per month.Transcript, speaker information, and more: https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/072-shola-akinlade-of-paystack

When Christy Laurence started designing her mobile app, she knew nothing about building tech products or launching startups. In fact, she didn't even know that fundraising an option. Driven by her optimistic nature and love of learning, she traded web agencies for development time in exchange for her marketing skills to get an app built from scratch, and went on to make impactful connections with dozens of influencers who helped her spread the word. Plann generated over $10,000 in sales in its first week, and today is at an impressive 650,000 downloads with growth showing no signs of stopping.Transcript, speaker information, and more: https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/071-christy-laurence-of-plann