4 Years, 26 Projects, $115k: Lessons from an Indie Hacker

I can relate to this. I've created over 200 projects, most of which were side projects without any intention of being profitable.

But even those designed for profit, only maybe 10% of them generated money.

What was your biggest takeaway from what you were lacking in the early days?

Good Lesson

I enjoyed reading this. It can be a lonely and diffuclt journey but definitely worth it.

This is really cool, thanks for sharing. As someone who's been working independently and had a great start (~$30,000 from my first two projects in 2023) but has had a very slow 2024 this is really encouraging to see.

Thanks for sharing. if you can give us some advices on promoting a product https://www.indiehackers.com/post/question-how-to-promote-a-product-i-am-building-994bc7ad87 it will be awesome

Thank you for your data, which made me realize that independent development is not easy. It's also good to make 10 of them and succeed with 1

Absolutely amazing! That's a great encouragement to me.

Thanks for sharing the lessons you learned! Pretty impressive and inspiring!!

Congratulations Alex! That really inspiring. I'm Doing my First Project too. I'm interested in what marketing channels did you use? what worked and what did not?

Your experience reminds me of "levelsio". He created 70 projects and only 4 had income, which means we need to have "Long Game Mindset"

Inspiring stuff. Thanks for sharing.

Have you done a write-up on how you sold? Curious to learn 👀🍿

good

where/how did you sell your apps?

how many were for sale but never got a buyer?

Thanks, @AlexBelogubov for sharing this this, curious to know whether $115k is a complete profit or it's revenue. what cost you are spending on infra ? are you using open-source solutions for building these apps?

Great post ! It's really inspiring and motivating!
Can I ask how did you find the acquerors for the sites you built ? Did you sell the company or just the website ?

From zero to hero in 4 years. Well done bro! 👏🏼

I'm just at the beginning of my journey with my first failures and conclusions. And this is absolutely true. I completely agree with your conclusions. Many conclusions are only reached after failure, through analysis and changing the approach to ideas, implementation, and distribution. Experience is everything.

Alex Belogubov’s journey as an indie developer is an inspiring testament to the power of perseverance and experimentation. Over the past four years, he launched 26 projects, generating around $115,000 in revenue, and sold five of them. His insights are invaluable for anyone navigating the uncertain waters of entrepreneurship.

I am sure I am going to use 'replyguy' soon. It's a killer idea.

Thank you for sharing and congratulations on your successes!

This insight stuck out the most to me:

Learn from each project: Even if a project doesn't generate revenue, it provides invaluable experience and knowledge that can be applied in the future.

This compounding of knowledge and experience is what I am after right now as I build and launch new projects.

Amazing! persistence always pays off. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

I'm wondering if you have great insights on the market validation of an idea? Right now, I'm at a point where I have ideas and I know how to code. But i don't know if an idea is worth spending the time it takes to develop, launch and only to see no one really cares.

Any suggestions?

Great, thanks for sharing your advices!
I think that the most tough point is to identify the "painkillers" or pain-points where to fit and intervene. This is the most difficult for me.
After some projects in which I spent much time making them perfect...I now start from the end: the customers 😀
Congrats for your persistence !

Thanks for sharing this! Do you have a methodology for validating ideas and/or deciding when to move on from a product that doesn't have income potential? And how did you manage that first year on zero income?

Thanks for sharing your journey! It's inspiring to see how persistence and adaptability have paid off for you. I appreciate the insights on diversification and project sales as monetization strategies. It's a great reminder that not every project has to be a hit to lead to success. Keep up the great work!

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