How I went from homeless to founder

Money for some reason is an uncomfortable topic to talk about. Even with stories related to money, people seems to never give out their exact numbers. It may come off as rude if you ask someone how much they have saved before indie hacking full time, and it shouldn’t be. The skills to reorient your life to pursue your goals is just as important as coming up with an idea, building the MVP, or finding your first 100 users.

So let me tell you my story. How I went from nothing to creating enough runway to found my own startup, with exact financial numbers.

The beginning

I was never a good student, had a 2.2 high school gpa and had no idea what I want to do as a career. The only thing I really liked was video games; so when I first talked to my school adviser at 18 years old, I told her that I wanted to be a game developer. She then laughed a little and told me “A lot of kids want to do that, why don’t you choose something that is more realistic”. I was sad at first but what do I know right? “Obviously the adult advisor has more wisdom and knowledge than me” I thought. So I chose a random degree. Financially, I was just your typical broke college student with a minimum wage job; but I was living at home and was able to get the federal pell grant, so I was not in debt.

Letting go and choosing the right path

I graduated and of course I couldn’t find a job. During this time I was building a game as a passion hobby using a no-code builder, I just really love building things. Having a creative outlet made me much happier. Unfortunately, I never finished the game.

Then something clicked. “Why am I looking for a career I don’t care about? I should pursue what I love, screw that advisor.” I thought to myself. At 25 years old, I decided to pivot and go through a coding boot camp. There was no reputable bootcamp around where I lived so I searched the country. The program I wanted to go to was out of state and cost $18,000.

I only had $1000 in the bank. So it was time to save up. I got a job as a waiter making ~$16/hour and lived at home with my parents. 18 months later, I had $20,000. If I didn’t pull the trigger now, I would have to wait another 4 months for the next cohort. So I pulled the trigger.

A new chapter in my life started. Now I’m 1000 miles away from my family and friends with $2000 in the bank. The program is 4 months long. I can’t afford to pay rent and need the money for food and essential bills. So I decided to spend the next four months living out of my car, this car to be exact.

In general, it was a fun time in my life. Taking showers at Planet Fitness, security guards knocking on my car window, going to the mall trying to get full off sample teriyaki chicken, etc. I literally coded from 9am to 12am everyday; the bootcamp’s pace was too slow so I taught myself extra stuff on the side. I did really well and got a job offer 3 weeks before the bootcamp was over.

From developer to indie hacker

The pay for the job was low ($38,000/year). But I needed a job, I was about to go broke and the job itself was really good in terms of learning (agency company). I knew early on I wanted to either do my own thing or retire early; so I lived frugally and put all of my savings in the market.

Over 3.5 years and 6 raises later, I was making $85,000/yr and had $120,000 saved up. The pandemic hit and work moved to full remote. I then moved back to my home state of Florida. I requested to be remote forever and the company said ok. Immediately after, I bought a house. Down payment and closing costs were ~$100,000. The house had 5 bedrooms and I rented 4 of them out. The rented rooms covered all of my expenses. On average I spend about $200 a month to maintain my lifestyle.

6 months later, I got laid off. It was a perfect time for me to start my own startup. I had $65,000 in the bank and was only spending $200 a month. I started my indie hacking journey and a little over a year later, I launched Dotling.

Final thoughts

I don’t want the message of this article to be about saving money so you can indie hack full time. But about how we can’t control what hand life gives us, but we can control how we play them. Also, don't listen to your school advisor, they don't know you better than you know yourself.

Until next time indie hackers.