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Creating a $200k Side Project Without Writing a Line of Code with Ben Tossell of Makerpad

Episode #106

As the community manager for Product Hunt, Ben Tossell (@bentossell) saw over 80,000 new product launches and met hundreds of inspirational makers. So when learned that he could use a new breed of tools to make his own products without learning to code, it felt like unlocking a new superpower. Many dozens of apps and Ben created Makerpad, where he creates tutorials and collect resources to help others like him become no-code makers. In this episode we talk about how Ben grew Makerpad to over $100,000 in revenue in 6 months with almost no expenses, and why he has no plans to go full time on such a successful side project.

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    Can't believe I made something[1] that's worthy of being on IndieHackers podcast. It's been super fun building this year and lots more to come!

    [1] https://www.makerpad.co/

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    My Main Takeaways:

    • Leverage what you know: Ben has many years’ of experience of building things without code. Makerpad is his way of teaching all he knows to the world.
    • Build fast and don’t get attached: Don’t get attached to what you are building, just focus on building and validating it as quickly as possible.
    • Capitalise on trends: Ben’s first Product Hunt launch, called “Marketing Stack”, capitalised on the “curated lists” trend by offering a curated list of marketing resources, and as a result his launch did exceptionally well.
    • Build relationships: Ben formed a lot of relationships with makers, which worked in his favour during his first Product Hunt launch, because they all supported him with lots of upvotes, resulting in his product being among the top 20 most upvoted products of all time.
    • Get involved in your niche’s communities: Ben made sure to be heavily involved in all of the Product Hunt Maker slack groups. This increased his “fame” within the whole community, and eventually resulted in him getting hired as the official community manager of Product Hunt.
    • It’s easy to know when things aren’t going well: Ben says that it’s easy to know when things aren’t going well, but it’s just a matter of whether we accept the reality or not. When you know for certain that your idea is completely off, don’t hesitate to end it and start something else.
    • Stop doing the things you don’t want to do: Know what you want to do and focus on those things, disregarding the rest. Don’t do things out of self-inforced obligation.
    • Know your own principles and stick to them: Define the kind of life you want to live, and your personal principles, and ensure that everything you do is in alignment.
    • Repeat what works, until it doesn’t: “The fundamental algorithm of life is to repeat what works” - Charlie Munger
    • Seek mentors: Ben has been mentored by Lynne Tye the founder of “Key Values”, and he says that she has been a “massive, massive help”.
    • The main (no-code) tools used to build MakerPad: WebFlow, MemberSpace, Zapier, ConvertKit.
    • Advice for beginners: Find your path of least resistance, i.e. coding if you already know how to code, or using no-code tools if you don’t know how to code. And then build things.
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    Really glad to be a MakerPad Pro member! Ben is building something great! I also didn't realize he has a fulltime job already 👀😧.

    I'm in an odd space where I am a Technical Founder (10yrs IT experience) with basic front-end skills. But definitely, don't have the skillset to build a MEAN Stack PWA. This no-code movement is super helpful!

    Can't wait to share what I'm building! 😀

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      thanks so much Naya - glad to have you onboard!

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    i haven't finished a book or podcast to the end for over a year (maybe 2 👀) because I get bored - this is the first one that's held my attention, great episode

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      cheers man!!

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    Great podcast that I've shared to my team. At work I'm part of a group of developers in an innovation team. We know how to string something together to avoid unnecessary time, effort and engineering but you've taken it to another level which was really interesting to hear. Pleased to say you've got at lease one or two lifetime subs from my recommendations so not just me who thinks so.

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    Shout out to the interviewer too (and Ben of course) , great work!

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    Can't wait until the show notes are posted. A lot of good resources were mentioned but I was driving while listening to the podcast. Might have to listen again to take note of they don't show here soon. 😁

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    Very good down to earth interview. Ben doesn't order sparkling water.

    So many classic lessons which reoccur:

    1. Be helpful - People will help you
    2. Be out there - Ben in Slack groups => then getting dream job
    3. Code isn't necessary. Just get on w/ it.
    4. Do what works for you - silent screencasts sounds weird. But it doesn't matter. It works
    5. Create value and you create money - If I built Maker Pad I can imagine a version which just profits from the community and completely overlooks the value of companies. Very smart bringing in companies and letting them show off their tools