Main Income - Tech Company VS Indie Hacking
Hi everyone!
Just a thought I had in mind and wanted to hear what fellow indie hackers thoughts about it too :)
I'm seeing a lot of indie hackers, doing 1-1000$ in 6-12 months or a bit more time and it got me thinking is being an Indie Hacker really worth it? (in economic, mental, and time terms), Of course, unless you are an exception and make tons of money right away or pretty fast.
If I take an average or even lesser indie hacker who earns 1K a month through a Sass project and it's their main income versus a full-time tech job between 100-200K$(yearly) It will come out that being a full-time tech job is much more worthwhile.
Personally, I'm working a full-time job and in my free time working on different projects, I live in Israel which is really expensive country so I won't be able to afford a SaSS project without a really high MMR.
So what are your thoughts about this topic?
I currently work for a large tech company. I'm remaining anonymous with this username because I don't want them to find out and fire me.
Previously I had quit my job to pursue a startup. I had about $80k saved up, spent about three years working on the startup and living off my savings, saw it dwindle down to about $15k, and got back on the job market. (Yes, it was a big mistake to go that long without revenue.)
I felt a little anxious living off of my savings and for that reason don't want to do it again. Fortunately, a lot of people are able to indie hack while working for a company. See @mijustin's Can you bootstrap a startup on the side?. I think that's often a great approach. Indie hack on the side, quit your job once you have something sufficiently promising.
It definitely depends a lot on the individual situation though. And yeah, like others have said, the big reason to indie hack is probably the freedom, not the money.
Thanks for sharing your experience!
I agree indie hacking is part freedom but in the world, we live freedom is directly attached to income at least from my perspective.
For example, I have a mortgage so for me it can't be an option to be without a job though I would love to, and if you also take into calculation not only the money you spent and the lack of income but the salary from the job you could have done these years it can stack up to serious numbers.
I previously made a project about CS surveys (Sekker - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWhPlLHxxYs) with a friend while working full time but in the end, we dropped it :(
It’s the same as asking why one would pursue endeavors like starting a business, becoming a professional athlete, a famous singer or any type of artist, a recognized researcher, or just building a big, happy family that you take care of. Why would one even try any of these things when most people fail?
The truth is that anything in life that’s worthwhile and fulfilling is just hard, it’s a challenge that’s hard to conquer. But that’s why people who identify as indie hackers pursue such an endeavor, the difficulty of these challenges is precisely what makes them exciting.
Simply following in the footsteps of those who have already achieved success is not enough; they want to carve their own path and play their own game.
"becoming a professional athlete" - Well most people can't become professional athletes because lack of financial support.
The question is if most indie hackers make a decent living from their indie efforts.🤔
No, that’s not the question. The question is – “Is being an indie hacker really worth it?”
The problem is, he is focusing solely on income when asking his question, but for many indie hackers, money is not their main concern. Of course, it's important to maintain a comfortable lifestyle, but that’s achievable with much less than 200k, especially when you have the freedom to work from anywhere. And that’s the thing, freedom is the real motivation for most indie hackers - the ability to choose their projects to work on, workspace to work from, people to work with, etc. Ultimately, they come to value this type of freedom above all else, as it's something that can't be measured by any monetary gain. It’s just simply priceless and is well worth the effort.
By the way, it's unfair to compare a job that pays over $100k with a project you've only worked on for 6 months. The timeframes simply don't align - 6 months versus the years of education and practical experience required to secure such a high-paying job.
Hi Georgy,
the hard truth is that most indie hackers don't make spectacular amounts of money.
The reason?
There are many, but the most common are:
My biased, personal advice to you - SaaS is not the only way to make money as an indie hacker. ;)
Yours,
KodingKitty
What are the other ways if you don't mind me asking?
I totally agree with you! :)
For me it’s about freedom. Of course you have to eat, but I would much rather make a low income and have independence, than work for someone else.
What is so bad about working for someone else? as long as the job is good ?
For me it is about two things:
Freedom day to day. If I want to take the day off, work on something different, change work place or whatever, I can just do it. The thought alone is pleasing :)
The second part is ownership. I want a high degree of risk and reward. If I do something smart I want to get the reward. And also if I f up, the risk helps me stay motivated. I don't want to build wealth for others at a steady pay. I want the direct outcome so to speak.
Again this is just me. I understand that this is not ideal for everybody.
It sounds great, I can totally understand your reasoning
I think being successful in bootstrapping a startup has the same probability as having a job that pays you 200k$.
Do you know what is the average income? It is also, much less than 200k$
Bootstrapping a startup is hard, but it pays off when you have done 10-20 different ideas and found the perfect product-market fit. Then you can earn much more than 200k$
You need to try different approaches, test multiple hypotheses a month, and then, maybe, your startup will find a product-market fit.
Bootstrapping a startup is all about skill-stacking. Many founders are, as said in the comments, focused on the process of the building rather than growing a startup. That's the main issue. They are focused on building while building itself is not a source of value for your customers.
So, if you want to build a startup that does 200k$, you should really have the skills to do so first: marketing, sales, and building. If you don't have the skills – you will end up doing 1k/month.
Get the skills, and test multiple hypotheses for your startup and product. It might take 1 month, or it might take 1 year. It really depends. But once you found the perfect (or almost) product-market fit you can scale and automate.
Many indie hackers are solving problems that are not worth paying for. Or solving them for the wrong audience. So testing multiple hypotheses a month is paramount. When I am starting a new project I usually pivot 1-2 times A MONTH, and then when I see the results – I start scaling a bit and working on the customers' feedback.
Hi @stolenng,
You've raised a rather pertinent question.
In my opinion IndieHacking or just being an entrepreneur is a mid to long-term pursuit of professional and financial freedom.
Just like you, I work as a Software Engineer, and I am fortunate to have a good income. However I often find myself navigating through a lot of inefficiencies from the places I've worked at, which makes me wonder the following: How am I going to coop with this 5 or 10 years from now?
There is nothing wrong about working for somebody else, but the type of person I am at the moment, would rather make small bets on myself such that a more independent future becomes more feasible for me.
Cheers.
I can totally relate to your feelings, and share your fears about the future 😅
I think your sentence that indie hacking is a "mid to long-term pursuit" is a great way to look at it.
"Life Is A Marathon Not A Sprint" 😃