Hit 1,000 users before I finally paid for Indie Hackers
Hi everyone. I'm new here and, honestly, a bit older than your typical indie hacker - so I'll write the way I know how. Let me introduce myself, because I plan to share thoughts and lessons going forward, and I'd like you to know where I'm coming from.
I'm a psychologist and sociologist, 11 years in practice, around 5,000 one-on-one consultations. But the typology itself I carried far longer - more than 15 years, well before I became a professional psychologist. Along the way I built my own method for working with personality, wrote two books, created a deck of metaphorical cards, and developed a polygraph-based method for detecting unconscious deception. Add nearly 20 years in offline business - so entrepreneurship isn't new to me, but a digital product is.
A couple of years ago I left my home country after the war began. My children are grown now, each building their own life. These days I live by the ocean, on a small piece of land of my own - with a vineyard and even a personal cactus. Launching AimLive became two things at once: an attempt to gather everything I know into one product, and the start of a new chapter.
I made this typology the core of AimLive. At first I thought about monetizing it, but I decided otherwise: let people who want to change their lives use it for free. We're already past 1,000 users - even though I only paid for Indie Hackers yesterday.
From here I'll share what I've gathered over the years: how people are wired, why they behave so differently, and what to do about it. Glad to meet you all.
the world's first personality typology without external expertise, powered by AI
Asya AimLive
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aimlive.app
I'm curious what convinced you making the core product free would create a stronger business than charging for the typology itself.
From your first 1,000 users, what surprised you most about why people kept coming back after the initial personality assessment?
Honestly, I can't give you a clean answer on the free model, because "free" carries a very expensive price tag of its own: it invites people to devalue the thing. But for now I'm testing it this way and learning through my own bumps and bruises. What surprised me? That a person's level of development matters more than their type itself. (In my method, the "type" is a type of attention focus, which shapes the life strategies someone gravitates toward.) Motivated people use the app relentlessly, while those used to ready-made answers leave quickly. That's fundamentally shifting my strategy.
Thanks for the question, dear Aryan
Appreciate the context, Asya.
Would be interesting to continue the conversation as you learn from those user patterns.
What's the best email to reach you on?
asyabrovko@gmail.com
Thanks! I’ve just sent it over.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts whenever you have a chance.