Yes, you read that right. Scholarships, not startups. :)
Today, I launched a project that may seem a little counter-intuitive; one where I give away 12 scholarships next year for causes close to my heart.
As indie hackers, I find that we're all so focused on growing our projects to more revenue, more pageviews, more followers, etc. I include myself in that mentality -- so no judgement to anyone.
But... I want to be cognizant of this hedonic treadmill at play. In particular, that there is no day where you suddenly have enough to give.
I've realized that learning to give is just like learning any other skill like coding or writing.
Giving may feel uncomfortable at first, but you can get better at it. It takes practice for it to go from being foreign to a reflex.
I launched on Twitter earlier today and have already had $3k donated past my own contributions, in addition to numerous others reaching out proposing future scholarship ideas or interested in partnering. Shoutout to 6 early partners, including fellow indie hackers Pieter Levels and Marc Köhlbrugge, that you can find on the homepage, that I'm tracking openly starting today and throughout next year.
The first three scholarships were ones that resonated in particular for me, but there are 9 more to come!
If you want to learn more about the project or participate, you can learn more at: stephsmith.io/amplify