Made my first 30$ on my very first day on Indie Hackers
I was introduced to indie hackers by a friend. I was very inspired by the community. I was scrolling through posts and saw someone asking critique on their coming soon page. I felt that much more could be done on the page and whipped up a design and shared with OP. Was not intending to make any money but he said he was willing to pay to use it. I said he could pay whatever he wants and he sent me 30$ on paypal! It put a smile on my face :)
Cheers!
This is a nice example of the power of unknown unknowns.
When we start a project we think purely in terms of known unknowns: how many impressions will this generate, what will be the conversion rate, how many units will be sold.
Yet sometimes, the most powerful outcomes are unknown unknown: the acquisition offer that arises, the new connections made, the invitation to give a speech - all of the later can not be predicted and are sometimes the most precious outcomes.
I know indiehackers who have gotten job offers on the back of side projects - this was an outcome they never could have fathomed beforehand.
Yes, I think I focus too much on know unknows but in my experience a couple unknown unknown were the most powerful :P
Thanks for sharing, never heard those terms haha
I believe the term was popularized by Donald Rumsfield.
A good exploration of this idea is the book Obliquity by John Kay.
Basically, we overestimate what we can conceptualize (and therefore plan for) and the underestimate those things we can not imagine, fathom or predict. Epistemologically the McNamara fallacy is a related concept.
Absolutely! gotten few emails already :) IH rocks!
I saw that post and was thinking how nice of you that was! Great he was willing to pay :D
Welcome to Indie Hackers!!!
thanks :)
congrats i saw it it's a great job
That's nice to hear!
Welcome to IH!!
thank you :)
Nice!
thanks :)
Amazing man!
thanks :)
Cha Ching! :)
Nice little motivational story Udaya!
Congrats! The power of providing value!
Saw that post too - and thought it was very kind of your to mockup a design. It’s great that you got rewarded for it.
Also I think you’re super talented. I might be in contact myself shortly if you freelance?
Hey Liam thanks for the kind words, I do freelance, do send me an email :)