
From developer to entrepreneur: Learning to build an indie startup - seapunk
https://twomakers.io/two-makers-one-journey/
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flaviocopes
> "My biggest fear before every launch was the reaction of the people"

Today I was looking at a project one person posted on the internet. A labor of
work, probably a week. One of the few comments was "Is this real? [...] This
is dumb and useless."

Imagine being that person, spending a lot of time crafting something, even
just for fun, being told that. You probably won't do anything like that ever
again.

The best thing as a maker is finding a welcoming community and a place where
even if you fail, it's not the end of the world, tomorrow is a new day and you
can make something new that will succeed.

This post is so inspiring, I joined your newsletter to follow the journey!

~~~
oligopoly
Is one person really going to take you out of course if you are doing
something you want? In that case you have to figure out what you really want.
Getting in shape people criticising gave the added fuel to succeed and storm
ahead

~~~
iovrthoughtthis
Well, yeah.

Some people have a low self intertia. It takes very little external preasure
to change their perception of them selves. They can’t just “fix” that. Many
don’t even know they could “fix” it.

It’s like a parent telling a kid they suck at somthing. It has a lasting
effect on the persons perception of them selves.

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superasn
Being a solopreneur myself I think the hardest part is maintaining and
improving what you've built.

For makers the rush dies pretty quickly once the idea is validated (with
praise, press or downloads) or invalidated (nobody cares).

Unfortunately, the journey only truly begins after that point and everything
upto it really doesn't matter because even if your are on the frontpage of
HN/PH it's not that big of a deal after a week.. But doing support, handling
feedback, doing the boring stuff like content marketing, seo, optimizing
conversions and worst of all waiting is the part that matters. The stuff that
really makes your product incrementally into a business but which you can't
see happen (like a flower bloom).

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__emmerich
I think it's amazing the impact Pieter (and others) have had on solopreneurs
and bootstrapped startups. He's become a reference point for what's possible
when you release quickly (and publicly) and put your project front and centre
in social media. Disrupting Agile by replacing weekly release procedures with
several per day and broadcasting it all on Twitch. Disrupting customer
interviews by talking to people directly on Twitter and getting feedback on
features there and then.

Pieter's work is great because he applies everything that everyone says you
should do but in the most simple and effective ways.

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ttoinou

       France is a country where failure is a taboo. People see
       it as unwise to start anything and will try to discourage you
    

Actually, once you have the "fuck you" attitude, this kind of environment
pushes you in the right direction...

------
1996
> "Sometimes it’s easier and reassuring to avoid the reaction of others by
> postponing your deadline."

So true. I suffer from that.

------
echan00
"Indie startup" is an oxymoron

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ythn
> France is a country where failure is a taboo. People see it as unwise to
> start anything and will try to discourage you.

Maybe part of the reason there is no "Silicon Valley" of Europe is cultural?
This attitude will have a chilling effect on anything that requires risk...

~~~
pell
This is definitely the reason. France specifically makes it very difficult to
start a business, but even in other places such as Germany or the UK, it seems
like any attitude towards independence is always met with discouragement.

~~~
moorhosj
And yet, many European countries have higher entrepreneurship rates than the
US. [1]

[1]
[https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/10/think-w...](https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/10/think-
were-the-most-entrepreneurial-country-in-the-world-not-so-fast/263102/)

