I’ve shipped 5 SaaS in 2 Years: my Indie Hacking rollercoaster
The Secret Life of a Corporate Developer
Every night, as the corporate world winds down, my real work begins. I’m a full-time software engineer by day, an indie hacker by night — building products in the quiet hours between midnight and dawn. This isn’t just a side hustle; it’s a journey of transformation.
The Unfiltered Story of My Products
Releasy (Summer 2023): Reimagining Quality Assurance
Tech Stack: GO API, React, Next.js, Strapi CMS, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Redis
Releasy was born from frustration. After years of watching teams struggle with complex testing tools, I knew there had to be a better way. This wasn’t just another product — it was my rebellion against software complexity.
The Real Challenge: Breaking into the enterprise market. Each pitch was a battle, each potential client a mountain to climb. I learned that trust isn’t given; it’s earned through relentless dedication and understanding real pain points.
Suparepos (Winter 2023): Empowering Developer Creativity
Tech Stack: Next.js, Supabase, Stripe, Tailwind
What happens to brilliant repositories that never see the light of day? Suparepos became my answer — a marketplace where developers could transform side projects into potential revenue streams.
This was more than a product. It was a love letter to every developer who’s ever dreamed of monetizing their passion.
Reposter (Spring 2024): Challenging the SaaS Subscription Model
Tech Stack: Next.js, MongoDB
I was tired. Tired of endless subscriptions, of renting software instead of owning it. Reposter became my statement — a social media management tool you buy once and own forever.
It was personal. It was my small rebellion against the recurring revenue model that dominates the tech industry.
Supabugs (Summer 2024): Simplifying the Impossible
Tech Stack: GO API, React, Next.js, Strapi CMS, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Redis
Issue tracking shouldn’t feel like solving a Rubik’s cube. Supabugs was my attempt to create a universal language for bug reporting — accessible to everyone, from developers to non-technical team members.
The magic wasn’t in the complex code, but in creating something so intuitive it could transform team communication.
Upvoted (Autumn 2024): Democratizing Product Development
Tech Stack: Elixir/Phoenix LiveView, PostgreSQL
Born from countless frustrating product experiences, Upvoted is about giving power back to users. No more guessing what features matter — now, the community decides.
Each feature request feels like a direct conversation with my potential users. It’s terrifying and beautiful.
The Emotional Landscape
Let me be brutally honest: This journey is a rollercoaster. Some nights, I’m riding a wave of potential and possibility. Other nights, the silence of an unresponsive market feels overwhelming.
Financial Reality: I’m not quitting my day job — yet. Each product brings me closer, but “closer” doesn’t pay the mortgage. My full-time job isn’t a safety net; it’s my current reality.
Lessons That Can’t Be Coded
Technical skills are just the beginning
Rejection isn’t failure; it’s fuel for improvement
The indie hacker community is a lifeline of support and inspiration
A Message to Fellow Dreamers
To anyone feeling that spark of possibility: Start. Be messy. Be imperfect. Your first product won’t be a masterpiece, and that’s okay. What matters is that you begin.
The Undefined Path Ahead
I don’t know exactly where this journey leads. But I know each product, each line of code, each late night is bringing me closer to something profound — a life designed entirely on my terms.
This isn’t just a technical journey. This is a human journey of turning dreams into reality, one product at a time.
Nice, it be great to where these tools landed
i love your energy towards building more and more products .. keeps me motivated to build my first product..
I seen you pivoted from go + react to phoenix, how did that work out? which one was more productive?
I actually use go + react right now
No, I didn't pivoted from Go to Phoenix, I've only changed tech to learn something new.
Elixir has a higher learning curve than go I think, but once you master the language building apps with Phoenix and LiveView is faster than Go + React. It's like using Rails.
I used Go Fiber as framework and I really liked it, but I would not use Go with Mongo again. As Go is a typed language, it's very hard to handle data without a schema. Better use Node with Mongo.
From the performance side, I think Go is still faster than Phoenix.
That's an amazing summary!
After more than 13 years as a software engineer, I'm just starting my journey as an Indie Hacker, and content like this is the exact hard truth I need to read.
Thanks!
Hi, good luck for your journey!
That's a lot of shipping! Congrats, as I'm sure you've learned a ton from this process, even if you aren't sure where things will end up. I shipped a similar number of SaaS 5 years in my 20s and learned a ton of about coding and design, really improved my skills there. Although none of my products made meaningful revenue 🙃
Hi, thanks for your comment. You are right, I've learned a lot in these 2 years but what I'm still missing is a proper way to market my product. I like building, I don't like marketing. That's probably the main reason why I'm shipping so fast.
Anyway, I'm still looking for a product market fit, so I must going on with my 9-5 job.
Join a co-founder with marketing knowledge and problems solved.