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15 y/o indie hacker

Hey everyone, I'm new to this community. Being fascinated by all the indie hacker podcast episodes and being somewhat decent in Python and web dev plus being an UX intern, I've decide this embark this journey.

I often hear people going how they wished they had done this or that at this age and I sure have time to experiment. How should I start? Any tips, tricks or mentors out there?

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    make the smallest thing you can that you can get someone to use. Doesn't matter if it's for your friends, parents, wider family or groups you communicate with already in whatever topic it is. (well it is more valuable if it's used not just because they know you, if they get their friends to use it, your on to something - look up "the mom test")
    The cycle of launching something, letting people use, get feedback etc will teach you much. The next level is actually getting paid for it.

    1. 1

      I totally agree with this, thank you so much! I just googled "the mom test" and it sure looks interesting, will throw the book on my Kindle and have a read.

  2. 1

    Echoing the advice shared here: start small, and ship often!

    Small doesn't mean a project is lesser, it means you are more certain to finish it, which is really the superpower of every indie hacker.

    One of the best habits you can form is finishing your own projects and putting them out into the world.

    From there, learning how to ask for and receive great feedback.

    Find a couple of people who have actually done the things you want to do, and watch them closely.

    Write about what you're learning as you learn it. You'll look back and be glad you did 😄

    Welcome to the community!

  3. 1

    Hey Hayden! It sounds like you’ve got a great head start on the development side which is awesome and will serve you well! As a coder myself I’ve found building products is easy, but building something people actually want, getting it in front of them, and convincing them to pay money are all the hard parts. So use your head start to start getting reps in those skills. Just like you practice your coding skills you’ve got to practice these skills:

    • How to identify and validate a problem worth solving
    • How to scope your solution small enough that you can get it out quick, but large enough that you’re actually adding value (this is harder than it sounds)
    • How to spread the word about your product and build an audience for it
    • How to put yourself put there and cope with rejection (it will happen sooner or later)
    • And probably a bunch of other non-coding-skills I’m not thinking of right now.

    I think it’s great you’re exploring this at a young age, starting early gives you a lot of advantages and if nothing else gives you more time to learn things the hard way :).

    Last piece of advice - building a business is cool, but make sure you’re having fun along the way. I don’t say that just because you’re young, it’s a constant reminder to myself as well. Life isn’t always as short as everyone will tell you, but it isn’t long either - make the most of it by maximizing what you enjoy when possible.

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