On the joy of building a product
by Alexis GrantI've never considered myself an indie hacker.
But I've embraced that mentality over the last year as we've built our M&A platform — and I've really enjoyed it!
It's insane that we can build a platform of this scope with no-code tools.
And yet, I also find it kind of crazy that despite how many great tools we have available now, pulling this off still requires a labyrinth of software that's all interconnected.
🛠️ Our tool stack for the M&A platform includes...
• AirTable (houses the data)
• Softr (powers the platform)
• Make (runs our automations)
• Stripe (for payments)
• ConvertKit (onboarding via email)
• ClickUp (team task management)
We also use some Zapier (legacy automations), WordPress (stories that live on our website), Google Forms (for Q&As), Loom (for onboarding), ProBackup (backing up AirTable), Feedly (to track deals) and more.
(Shout out to Cole, who coached me through the Softr build. None of this would be possible without his brain.)
Now that we're starting to add our first users and see the fruits of our labor, I'm realizing:
🤔 Working on this project has made me rethink what I want from my business.
I've always considered myself more of an operator; I'm good at arranging all the people and pieces so everyone can do their best work. I prefer to delegate most of the work to a team, so we can move faster together.
But getting deep into the weeds on this build has been so much fun. As a bonus, I'm intimately familiar with how the platform works and what's possible, which is helpful for our future roadmap, fixing bugs and more.
💡 Conventional advice says that as you grow as an entrepreneur, you should work more on the business rather than in it.
But what if getting your hands dirty brings satisfaction and joy?
***
I'm Alexis Grant, founder of They Got Acquired.
Our M&A platform helps founders, brokers and buyers pull comps for relevant businesses and identify good-fit buyers. It's the first tool of its kind for the "everyday" founder who expects to sell for 6, 7 or 8 figures. More details here: https://data.TheyGotAcquired.com
