Are you walking the walk as an indie hacker? Or are you being a hypocrite?

Lots of indie hackers are tight on cash. You're telling me that while we're bootstrapping and scraping by, we should also spend more? I'm supporting small businesses by starting one.

So you shouldn't use AWS or GCP then? This would make you a hypocrite, right?

What about Photoshop, Figma, Jira, Windows or Mac? After all, there are "Indie hacker" versions of these tools and even independent operating systems you can use as well... what about your hardware, printer, monitor, digital cameras... this is tricky huh?

So where do you draw the line?

Many large companies started in basements and garages... do you make some line in the sand about how much revenue they are allowed to make or is it based on their headcount? At what point do you dump an "indie hacker" and select the same service from the next "indie hacker" clone?

Just playing devil's advocate.

I agree.

I just bought Arvid Kahl's book like 9 minutes ago so I'm walking the walk.

And I try to avoid Amazon but also I'm price sensitive so I can't pay 50% more to support the small guy all the time.

Agree 100%. I go out of my way to avoid giving money to Amazon, Google, etc. Gotta put your money where your mouth is.

I do support small businesses and indiehackers, but I don't see it as a moral obligation.

The thing with startups is that they should improve on the status quo. I do have 100x more patience with a business starting out, but there must be an underlying advantage of some sort to make me go for their services.

That's a challenging juxtaposition to be honest.

Using the product of a business smaller than your own business could be a risk, an already risky endeavor. Consider taking a chance on a new Firebase alternative: If the alternative fails, it will impact your own business operations and could cause significant downtime, maybe enough to upset your customers into churning since they probably use your product for their own business operations.

I'm not even sure what your discussing is 'walking the walk' to be honest because this community often breeds business' to sell to other fledgling businesses. I did that once. I quickly learned Indie Hackers are bad customers.

Being a small business isn't a competitive advantage in it's own right, you have to make it one. Even if you do make it one, it's still a tough position to be in. If you want to buy from other small businesses, that's your prerogative, but I don't think shaming others is a great look when we should be focusing on what's best for our customers (and yes, I do buy somethings from Indie Hackers, but they earned it with their products and services).

This question is one that I've been thinking about for a long time. It's a question that everyone should ask themselves on a regular basis, but especially so for hackers. The entire point of being an indie hacker is to be free from corporate constraints and to be able to do what you want, right? But when it comes down to it, how many of us really live up to that ideal?

I've always considered myself an indie hacker. I started my first business when I was 16 and have been working in tech ever since. My company has grown and shrunk over the course of almost 10 years now, but I'm still here doing what I love: creating new products that make people's lives better. But sometimes I wonder if my life would be different if we weren't so tied down by the need to make money at every step—if we could just focus on making something cool first and then figuring out how we were going to sell it later.

So here's my answer: yes! If you're not walking the walk as an indie hacker, then you're not really being yourself. You're just doing what everyone else tells you to do.

I think being an indie hacker is about living authentically as yourself without apology or regret—not just walking the walk but also talking the talk by doing what's right for you no matter what anyone else says or thinks about it!

I do agree, fuck Amazon etc., and supporting local independents over chains; but its like others say it depends with a lot of stuff.

I think a lot of this buying behaviour comes to convenience but that’ll depend on the context. Ultimately, Large corporations are wherr they are due to offering a product that provides value to their target audience.

If that audience is an IH, who is working on their business and trying to keep costs low, then I think it’s fair enough.

Personally I live mostly independently but I still inevitably spend money on big things like Uber etc., life is for living as well as being socially responsible.

Cheers!

A

Hey, everyone!

I'm so glad you're here.

I've been thinking a lot lately about the "indie hacker" life and how it's different from the way most people think of it. And I've got to say: it's not always as awesome as we'd like to believe it is, right?

I mean, don't get me wrong—there are some things that are truly wonderful about being an indie hacker. For example, when you're working on your own schedule and in your own space, you can really make sure that your work is just how YOU want it to be. No one else's opinion matters but yours! That's a pretty great feeling. But there are also some things that are really hard about being an indie hacker—and I want us all to be honest about those things today so we can figure out how to make them better for ourselves and each other.

To start off with, let's talk about what happens when something goes wrong in your life and then get into why it matters whether or not you've got a team behind you helping through times like these. I mean, maybe you have a spouse or partner who supports your decisions 100%—but do they also know how to code?

I am walking the walk. I am an organic chemist and I turned to the open source world to learn and help me in developing something that I believe in. A lot of people have helped me and I don't intend to stop. I am doing my PhD and I make 25K a year so I'm more or less doing this out of pure love for my field and not wanting it to die in our millennial generation.

https://github.com/Sulstice/global-chem

24K downloads a month so far, and I'm proud of that.

You know what's worse than a hypocrite? Someone who says one thing and then does another.

It's hard to get past that kind of inconsistency.

And if you're an indie hacker, we think it's time for a talk about hypocrisy.

A lot of people say they want to be an indie hacker—but are they really doing it?

We think not. And we have some tips for you on how to make sure you're actually walking the walk as an indie hacker:

1. Be transparent about your goals with your friends and family

2. Call out anyone who isn't transparent with their goals (because they're probably just being hypocritical)

3. Don't call out someone unless they've done something bad that affects you directly (like stealing from you or something)

Indie hackers are all about the hustle. They work hard, they struggle, and they push through to get what they want. But sometimes we forget that we can't do this alone. Sure, we might be able to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps—but it's not always easy! Sometimes we need a little help from our friends. And sometimes those friends are the people in our lives who have been there since day one.

When I started my first company, I didn't know how to do anything besides write code. So when I ran into roadblocks in my business plan, I couldn't figure out where to go next. It was terrifying to ask for help—especially because my business partner was also my roommate at the time! But after some pep talks and reassurances from him, he helped me find a new way forward for my company. We were able to move past those issues and grow together instead of apart.

Are you walking the walk as an indie hacker? Or are you being a hypocrite?

The indie hacker movement is real, and it's here to stay. But there's a lot of talk about how important it is to be an independent thinker, how valuable it is to have an open mind and not just follow what everyone else is doing.

But if you're anything like me—and I'm betting you are—it's hard to know when to draw the line between being an independent thinker and being a total hypocrite.

I mean, look at all those people who are saying that we have to be indies because we don't want to be controlled by the man (or woman). But then they turn around and spend their time trying to control other people by telling them what they should do (like me!) or who they should date (not me!).

It can be hard not to feel like a hypocrite sometimes. But here's the thing: You're never going to get anywhere if all you do is sit around feeling bad about yourself. So let's stop feeling bad about it! Let's start doing something about it instead!

Yeah, maybe I'm not perfect either. Maybe I'm hypocritical sometimes too.

I do believe in powers of personal, self-identity, values, and work streamlining and cohesion.

I don't think I'm a hypocrite.

I love to hack. I love working on my own projects, and I especially love helping other people with theirs. But sometimes, you just need some help, and that's where the community comes in.

In programming, it’s unwise to choose a fledgling and proprietary tool.

As for supporting indiehackers, I’ve purchased several products and given much feedback.

There’s always a balance to be had.