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I bootstrapped my trivia business to $250k ARR and was just on the Indie Hackers podcast, AMA!

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    I'll be answering questions throughout the day if there's anything you're wondering about!

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    Hey @cowllin, really enjoyed the episode you were just on! It's always refreshing when @csallen has founders on the pod who didn't experience some sort of meteoric growth - it's something about the slow but steady grinds that motivate me most and your story/journey is an excellent example of that. That being said, I'm a growth guy so I'm curious what acquisition channels you're doubling down on in 2021? Beyond the podcast sponsors you mentioned on the pod of course!

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      Hi @JohnatProxii thanks for the note!

      In terms of growth, I think there's nothing revolutionary on our front - thinking about our SEO/organic growth (takes time but pays off), funnel optimization (landing page, onboarding flows, etc), and some selective paid marketing opportunities as well! I would love to learn from folks more experienced than I on that last front - which could come with hiring someone or just seeking mentorship actively.

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        Appreciate the reply! @DiegoatProxii and I just started a project where we're dedicating the rest of 2021 towards helping indie hackers solve growth problems for free - documenting everything and creating YT videos featuring the companies and founders we work with along the way so that others can learn from real-world examples.

        https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRglDsIjBqpmNqFLtwiBK_A

        If there's a specific goal/problem with regards to paid marketing you have in mind, we'd love to lend a hand!

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    Also interested to know, how did you animate the "screenshots" on the landing page?

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      Sure thing! Those are lottie files, and Raag from madebydot.tv was my design help on those!

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    Is the podcast sped up per default or is my head just slow in the morning?

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      Ha! Not sped up by default, I'm just a bit of a fast talker I've been told :)

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    Love the demo video! Who did you use to get that done?

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      Raag from https://www.madebydot.tv/ was the designer and animator on that! Working with him was lovely.

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        Thanks! Looks like $2K is the min for a video. A little more than I’d like to spend at the moment. 😄 Good idea and positioning. Super scalable too. 👍

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    I also worked in strategy consulting but have dabbled in code. Now trying to focus on building MVPs with no-code. I listened to your interview and remember you had a bit of duct-tape method with google sheets but it solved the job and then had a technical cofounder. Anyway my question is - how much do you think it is important to learn to code? I have about 3 months coming up free and am thinking of taking the plunge. Or would it be better spent on the product MVP(s) and bizdev? One consultant to another.

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      Great question! If I were you, I would spend the time on MVPs :)

      If it's more of a long-term career play, could be worth at least dabbling in a coding course online to see if it's something that sparks your interest - otherwise I think no-code tools are good enough to spend the cycles instead working on product ideation, design, and the basics of trying to get a product off the ground!

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        Thanks for the reply! Yeah that's what I was thinking. I don't think even after 3 months I could get to nice enough products that I could sustain the pace on the side. I find with code unless I do it everyday for hours the skill bucket leaks faster than I can fill it. Meanwhile no-code (Bubble.io) is as intuitive as combining Powerpoint and Excel. In any case, I can do the outsourcing thing and learn at the time that something (hopefully) takes off.

        All in all thanks for your story, it was inspiring to listen to and especially the life discussions about memories and mental story-telling. Good luck to you and the team! I may push for a subscription in our office! :)

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    Congrats.
    So what is your main take away?

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      Oof, summing it up to one main takeaway is tricky, but I would say it's:

      If you believe in the product and some customers (who you don't know) believe in the product, then keep going. Good things will eventually happen.

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        That's a deep thought. Thanks. Will mark it down.

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    I enjoyed your candor @cowllin! Have you given more thought to how you are going to evolve your capital structure? Going to start taking a paycheck? Do your cofounders want to remain owners? Or participate full-time?

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      HI @jacob_foshee - great question! Indeed, in the near-term will be taking a paycheck while continuing to work on the business. In the medium-term, will be making a decision in the next month or two about whether we take external fundraising to grow the team. Cofounders definitely want to remain owners but unlikely to jump in full-time!

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