So you build your app. You make enough in MRR for expenses and then some.
Whats next?
6
I'm semi-retired since 2014 (I was 32), but I'm only at half of what the FIRE movement would consider financial independence. My balances have stayed pretty even, but a bad year for the market will slash a lot of value.
It has been pretty amazing. Here's some of what I've done:
A lot more traveling. Went to Thailand (previously had only been to Japan), Nicaragua (about 8 times with a good friend), Colombia, Mexico.
Went on a road trip and back packed in Zion, Bryce, and Tahoe. Finally saw the Grand Canyon :)
Started exercising more. I'm pretty bad about it, but spent a couple years on Muay Thai, but I have plenty of time to walk/jog most evenings.
I've built 3 apps that failed. Open sourcing my most recent, 4th.
As a developer, programming is way more fun to me now. I get to work on any idea I want for as much time as I want, and play with new tech.
if I were fully financially independent, I'd travel a lot more, and spend more money on my ideas to try to grow them more.
1
What's are your apps do you mind me asking?
3
The first 3 apps:
A site/app for finding hobbies and interests, getting started with them, and a little bit of goal tracking. This was a great first site to build after leaving a full-time job because it exposed me to plenty of things to try.
A WebVR photo album builder. Just because I wanted to try A-Frame, a web-based 3D/VR/AR framework that was super fun to use :).
And now http://brisaboards.com, an open source, extensible organizer and productivity app.
2
That's awesome, congrats! I'm just starting this journey of building my own apps to generate side-income so good to have stories as inspiration :)
1
Yeah. No success stories from me yet haha, but it has definitely been fun and interesting!
3
I think you will have time to really figure out what you want to do with your free time and what is really important to you.
I would still be building things but with a much more calm mind I think
3
I moved about 6 hours north of Sydney to a small beach town. We have a few acres(looking to upgrade next year to a full farm), I volunteer regularly up here, read a lot and I am continuing to build new things just in a more relaxed environment.
3
Nice Shawn. I live on the north shore! Having enough in Sydney is a major acheivement
2
Yeah Sydney is pricey. We have 5 acres and a 3 bedroom house for the same rent as we paid for a 1 bedroom apartment in Clovelly.
I do miss out on a lot of the Sydney tech scene though. Starting next week I'm actually flying down once a month for the Elixir meetups just to get a bit more connected.
1
North Shore too. I'm moving north to Newcastle in a year or so. I'll still be in Sydney regularly but Sydney life, particularly with kids is hard, too hard.
2
I would consider myself in the Financial Freedom / Retired–under–30 club. I accomplished this by doing 3 things:
Worked my ass off to become a designer who is in demand and can charge top tier rates. This has become a cash faucet for me. If ever I need/want an extra 10k, 20k or 30k, I just put out some feelers and make it happen. This is what happens when you cultivate a good network, a strong sense of business acumen and experienced understanding of your discipline.
I help other do the same with their freelancing career. This is a paid mentorship/educational program. I charge peanuts for this. It's more of a labour of love.
I built and sold a photo–sharing app back in 2013 (Photo-sharing apps were on crazy hyped back then!). In addition to the cash, this has brought a lot of value my way, in ways I couldn't have predicted. Network, leverage, experience, and so on.
All of this allows me to:
• Travel when I want
• Sleep when I want
• "Work" when I want
• Live where I want
• Workout when I want
• Get Massages whenever I want
• Do whatever the fuck I want
Your life essentially becomes whatever you want it to be. Best thing about it, we live in a time where if you're smart enough and work hard enough, it's all so achievable.
2
I'd help a lot more NGOs. Right now, my business model tries to do that as much as possible but still relies on higher paying customers paying the bills before the team can donate time to NGOs and their tech needs. So if there was a steady automated stream of income then that would be my goal.
1
I'd start an education-related NGO myself
2
That's a great question and I think a lot of us should think about. Money should never be the goal, rather what you can do with the money. I agree with travelling in the other comments, because it expands your horizons and humbles one by respecting other cultures and traditions.
If I could truly achieve it and didn't have to worry about it, I would consider venturing into other industries, energy, transportation, recycling, health, etc, they all have problems that need solving too. Also it would be awesome to able be do some philanthropy / charitable works, perhaps giving some of my own time / money to others in need, e.g. contribute to help building a school or build a well / water treatment to provide access to clean water in some remote village, so many still don't have clean drinking water in the world.
2
That's a good question.
I would:
Build more things.
Travel more.
Take more pictures.
Buying a house / flat somewhere cool. Near the beach would be super nice.
Giving more to associations.
Actually I would do exactly what I'm doing now. With more time to concentrate on my own projects or building with people I really want to work with.
2
Continue making stuff and traveling the world; pretty much what I am doing right now.
1
The first step would be to secure it. How? Making at least one more product to the same financial levels of your current one. So you're better equipped against a market downturn, change of technology or anything like that.
You'll learn and grow much more because this second time, you're approaching a problem with pure business mindset. You might be less attached to the idea/product, be able to pivot early and often and everything in between.
Nonetheless, you'll have contributed more to the world and be in a safer place yourself however you happen to accomplish a second feast.
And then, I'd suggest you read Mr Money Mustache blog to start with. A life with purpose and control. You WILL work, only what you LIKE to work on.
Travellig the world, buying homes and cars are just the perks of financial freedom. You're looking for the bigger answers, hence this post on indiehackers I guess. And that I have tried to answer.
Best of luck.
1
Now is your chance to help someone else achieve financial freedom. Whether you make a financial investment in someone, or are a mentor to someone who needs guidance, you will be making a contribution to the industry.
1
I'd definitely travel to other countries, try more fun stuff and later start another business in another industry.
But I eventually want to do something philanthropical like Elon Musk. I mean the guy can't lose with any of his businesses since his goal is to advance human progress so he's perfectly okay with his competitors winning.
Because they'd actually be making the world a better place. I think that's an incredible business to be in.
1
Bodyboarding all day long :)
1
If quit my job and work on more side projects. I'd then be able to stop using my spare time to work on them. Probably also live further from the city in a bigger house. Think I'd be more than happy with that
I'm semi-retired since 2014 (I was 32), but I'm only at half of what the FIRE movement would consider financial independence. My balances have stayed pretty even, but a bad year for the market will slash a lot of value.
It has been pretty amazing. Here's some of what I've done:
A lot more traveling. Went to Thailand (previously had only been to Japan), Nicaragua (about 8 times with a good friend), Colombia, Mexico.
Went on a road trip and back packed in Zion, Bryce, and Tahoe. Finally saw the Grand Canyon :)
Started exercising more. I'm pretty bad about it, but spent a couple years on Muay Thai, but I have plenty of time to walk/jog most evenings.
I've built 3 apps that failed. Open sourcing my most recent, 4th.
As a developer, programming is way more fun to me now. I get to work on any idea I want for as much time as I want, and play with new tech.
if I were fully financially independent, I'd travel a lot more, and spend more money on my ideas to try to grow them more.
What's are your apps do you mind me asking?
The first 3 apps:
A site/app for finding hobbies and interests, getting started with them, and a little bit of goal tracking. This was a great first site to build after leaving a full-time job because it exposed me to plenty of things to try.
A "debate" site that would help people find the best pro/con arguments on a given topic. It was almost exactly the same as https://www.kialo.com/should-the-sale-of-genetically-modified-food-be-banned-17715/17715.0=17715.1/=17715.1, except that site looks way better and has more features.
A WebVR photo album builder. Just because I wanted to try A-Frame, a web-based 3D/VR/AR framework that was super fun to use :).
And now http://brisaboards.com, an open source, extensible organizer and productivity app.
That's awesome, congrats! I'm just starting this journey of building my own apps to generate side-income so good to have stories as inspiration :)
Yeah. No success stories from me yet haha, but it has definitely been fun and interesting!
I think you will have time to really figure out what you want to do with your free time and what is really important to you.
I would still be building things but with a much more calm mind I think
I moved about 6 hours north of Sydney to a small beach town. We have a few acres(looking to upgrade next year to a full farm), I volunteer regularly up here, read a lot and I am continuing to build new things just in a more relaxed environment.
Nice Shawn. I live on the north shore! Having enough in Sydney is a major acheivement
Yeah Sydney is pricey. We have 5 acres and a 3 bedroom house for the same rent as we paid for a 1 bedroom apartment in Clovelly.
I do miss out on a lot of the Sydney tech scene though. Starting next week I'm actually flying down once a month for the Elixir meetups just to get a bit more connected.
North Shore too. I'm moving north to Newcastle in a year or so. I'll still be in Sydney regularly but Sydney life, particularly with kids is hard, too hard.
I would consider myself in the Financial Freedom / Retired–under–30 club. I accomplished this by doing 3 things:
Worked my ass off to become a designer who is in demand and can charge top tier rates. This has become a cash faucet for me. If ever I need/want an extra 10k, 20k or 30k, I just put out some feelers and make it happen. This is what happens when you cultivate a good network, a strong sense of business acumen and experienced understanding of your discipline.
I help other do the same with their freelancing career. This is a paid mentorship/educational program. I charge peanuts for this. It's more of a labour of love.
I built and sold a photo–sharing app back in 2013 (Photo-sharing apps were on crazy hyped back then!). In addition to the cash, this has brought a lot of value my way, in ways I couldn't have predicted. Network, leverage, experience, and so on.
All of this allows me to:
• Travel when I want
• Sleep when I want
• "Work" when I want
• Live where I want
• Workout when I want
• Get Massages whenever I want
• Do whatever the fuck I want
Your life essentially becomes whatever you want it to be. Best thing about it, we live in a time where if you're smart enough and work hard enough, it's all so achievable.
I'd help a lot more NGOs. Right now, my business model tries to do that as much as possible but still relies on higher paying customers paying the bills before the team can donate time to NGOs and their tech needs. So if there was a steady automated stream of income then that would be my goal.
I'd start an education-related NGO myself
That's a great question and I think a lot of us should think about. Money should never be the goal, rather what you can do with the money. I agree with travelling in the other comments, because it expands your horizons and humbles one by respecting other cultures and traditions.
If I could truly achieve it and didn't have to worry about it, I would consider venturing into other industries, energy, transportation, recycling, health, etc, they all have problems that need solving too. Also it would be awesome to able be do some philanthropy / charitable works, perhaps giving some of my own time / money to others in need, e.g. contribute to help building a school or build a well / water treatment to provide access to clean water in some remote village, so many still don't have clean drinking water in the world.
That's a good question.
I would:
Build more things.
Travel more.
Take more pictures.
Buying a house / flat somewhere cool. Near the beach would be super nice.
Giving more to associations.
Actually I would do exactly what I'm doing now. With more time to concentrate on my own projects or building with people I really want to work with.
Continue making stuff and traveling the world; pretty much what I am doing right now.
The first step would be to secure it. How? Making at least one more product to the same financial levels of your current one. So you're better equipped against a market downturn, change of technology or anything like that.
You'll learn and grow much more because this second time, you're approaching a problem with pure business mindset. You might be less attached to the idea/product, be able to pivot early and often and everything in between.
Nonetheless, you'll have contributed more to the world and be in a safer place yourself however you happen to accomplish a second feast.
And then, I'd suggest you read Mr Money Mustache blog to start with. A life with purpose and control. You WILL work, only what you LIKE to work on.
Travellig the world, buying homes and cars are just the perks of financial freedom. You're looking for the bigger answers, hence this post on indiehackers I guess. And that I have tried to answer.
Best of luck.
Now is your chance to help someone else achieve financial freedom. Whether you make a financial investment in someone, or are a mentor to someone who needs guidance, you will be making a contribution to the industry.
I'd definitely travel to other countries, try more fun stuff and later start another business in another industry.
But I eventually want to do something philanthropical like Elon Musk. I mean the guy can't lose with any of his businesses since his goal is to advance human progress so he's perfectly okay with his competitors winning.
Because they'd actually be making the world a better place. I think that's an incredible business to be in.
Bodyboarding all day long :)
If quit my job and work on more side projects. I'd then be able to stop using my spare time to work on them. Probably also live further from the city in a bigger house. Think I'd be more than happy with that
Spend more time on creating an internet business
This comment was deleted 2 days ago.