Val Sopi
Marching into March
<p>February was yet another month with unexpected expenses on top of my planned budget of -2500....
a year ago
<p>February was yet another month with unexpected expenses on top of my planned budget of -2500. They were again family related.</p><p>The lesson here is that my personal budget is way too tight without much margin for any unexpected expenses, especially with two growing kids and...
mtlynch.io
Configure a Git Shell Prompt Under Nix
I recently read Julia Evans’ latest zine about git, and one of her tips was to configure your...
5 months ago
I recently read Julia Evans’ latest zine about git, and one of her tips was to configure your terminal shell prompt to show the git status.
Julia’s terminal prompt looks like this:
~/work/homepage (main) $ main is Julia’s current git branch. When she’s in the middle of a git...
mtlynch.io
TinyPilot: Month 17
Highlights TinyPilot’s sales jumped to $57k, and it might be sustainable. I’m just about to launch...
over a year ago
Highlights TinyPilot’s sales jumped to $57k, and it might be sustainable. I’m just about to launch TinyPilot’s new product and branding. I reduced Google Cloud Platform fees by 90% on my side projects. Goal Grades At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to accomplish....
Dominik Sobe's...
I tried the "Coding for Marketing" growth hack and the results are...
over a year ago
mtlynch.io
WanderJest: Month 1
Highlights Three businesses agreed to form affiliate partnerships with WanderJest. Two of my blog...
over a year ago
Highlights Three businesses agreed to form affiliate partnerships with WanderJest. Two of my blog posts reached the front page of Hacker News. Is It Keto earned its all-time-highest monthly revenue, doubling its previous record. Goal Grades At the start of each month, I declare...
Grow With Less
7 Dangerous Meta Description Mistakes That Are Ruining Your CTR
I have some bad news.
Writing great content, building quality backlinks and having catchy blog post...
over a year ago
I have some bad news.
Writing great content, building quality backlinks and having catchy blog post titles is not enough.
You could have all this and still get very little traffic.
Why?
Because you need people to choose your article over competing articles in the search...
Tony Dinh's...
$500K milestone – my reflections after 1 year of building Typing Mind
Also in this issue: one-off purchase vs. subscription, selling Xnapper, and other updates from me in...
10 months ago
Also in this issue: one-off purchase vs. subscription, selling Xnapper, and other updates from me in Feb 2024
mtlynch.io
Import from a URL in Nix
I’m still a Nix beginner, and one thing I couldn’t figure out until recently was how to keep parts...
a year ago
I’m still a Nix beginner, and one thing I couldn’t figure out until recently was how to keep parts of my configuration.nix file under source control.
My goal I’d like for my Nix configuration files to be modular and reusable, so depending on the system or flake, I can pull in...
mtlynch.io
Fixing Memory Exhaustion Bugs in My Golang Web App
Earlier this year, I created an open-source app called PicoShare. It’s a simple Golang web app for...
over a year ago
Earlier this year, I created an open-source app called PicoShare. It’s a simple Golang web app for sharing files. I use it to send files that are too large to be email attachments, but I don’t want the recipient to deal with Dropbox or Google Drive.
A few months ago, I started...
mtlynch.io
TinyPilot: Month 2
Highlights I paused TinyPilot sales to address a design problem. I’m manufacturing a custom USB...
over a year ago
Highlights I paused TinyPilot sales to address a design problem. I’m manufacturing a custom USB power connector for TinyPilot. Revenue across all my projects was among my strongest ever, at $3.6k total. Goal Grades At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to...
mtlynch.io
Run a Simple Go Web Service on NixOS
I have a few toy utility apps that I run 24/7 on cloud infrastructure. One example is PicoShare, a...
2 weeks ago
I have a few toy utility apps that I run 24/7 on cloud infrastructure. One example is PicoShare, a simple web app that makes it easy for me to share files with friends and teammates.
There are several convenience apps I would run if it were easy to run them constantly. But...
Val Sopi
On using time
<p>One thing I've gotten really good at over the years is using time in terms of how it affects my...
a year ago
<p>One thing I've gotten really good at over the years is using time in terms of how it affects my product-making process.</p><p>Back in the day, when I was greener, I used to rush things, not just for the sake of rushing to get them out of the door — but I would get to...
Max Rozen
Protecting your React routes
React apps send their code directly to users, so you might be a little confused about how React...
over a year ago
React apps send their code directly to users, so you might be a little confused about how React 'guards' routes from unauthorised viewing. This article explains how.
mtlynch.io
TinyPilot: Month 36
New here?
Hi, I’m Michael. I’m a software developer and the founder of TinyPilot, an independent...
a year ago
New here?
Hi, I’m Michael. I’m a software developer and the founder of TinyPilot, an independent computer hardware company. I started the company in 2020, and it now earns $60-80k/month in revenue and employs seven other people.
Every month, I publish a retrospective like this...
I Have No Idea What...
I Have No Idea What I’m Doing: Introduction
In this blog “I have no idea what I’m doing” I’ll be chronicling the progress and discoveries I make...
over a year ago
In this blog “I have no idea what I’m doing” I’ll be chronicling the progress and discoveries I make as I build a startup for the first time. The name of this blog comes from a talk in 2015 by former Facebook engineer Graham Lee. In his talk, he admits that although at the time...
Val Sopi
blogstatic numbers for November
<p>Coming from <a href="https://valsopi.com/blogstatic-numbers-october-2022">October</a>, November...
over a year ago
<p>Coming from <a href="https://valsopi.com/blogstatic-numbers-october-2022">October</a>, November was again another solid month.<a href="https://valsopi.com/blogstatic-numbers-october-2022"></a></p>
<table><tbody><tr><td><b>blogstatic</b></td><td><b>October...
👋 Hello, I'm...
Work-n-travel: A practical guide for staying productive while exploring the world.
...
a year ago
mtlynch.io
The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick
A quick, practical guide to interviewing customers during the early stages of a new product idea.
I...
over a year ago
A quick, practical guide to interviewing customers during the early stages of a new product idea.
I expected basic advice about how you shouldn’t ask customers leading questions, but Fitzpatrick goes much more in-depth. The book made me recognize weaknesses in my approach to...
mtlynch.io
Badass: Making Users Awesome by Kathy Sierra
Overall, this was an interesting read, but I found it hard to apply the lessons to my product. The...
over a year ago
Overall, this was an interesting read, but I found it hard to apply the lessons to my product. The book contains compelling case studies and ideas from the field of meta-learning, but most of the ideas were either too theoretical or too specific to large companies.
mtlynch.io
TinyPilot: Month 25
Highlights My blog post about redesigning the TinyPilot website became my second most popular...
over a year ago
Highlights My blog post about redesigning the TinyPilot website became my second most popular article of all time I’m exploring ways to preserve more knowledge on my blog I’ve lowered TinyPilot’s prices in an effort to reduce inventory Goal Grades At the start of each month, I...
Build In Public...
How I Built This In Public: Noah Bragg
Lessons from building and growing Potion to its acquisition all in public
a year ago
Lessons from building and growing Potion to its acquisition all in public
Val Sopi
High productivity in a workday
<p>On a given workday, you only have a few hours at your disposal to create.</p>
<p>Commit to...
over a year ago
<p>On a given workday, you only have a few hours at your disposal to create.</p>
<p>Commit to relaxed focused work in two blocks of 3-hours each.</p>
<p>Take a 1-hour break in between. Meditating 11 minutes. Walking the rest.</p>
<p>Drink plenty of water. Coffee and...
mtlynch.io
Hiring Content Writers: Part Two - Creating a Detailed Job Description
Overview: Hiring Content Writers Part One: Finding Writers Part Two - Creating a Detailed Job...
over a year ago
Overview: Hiring Content Writers Part One: Finding Writers Part Two - Creating a Detailed Job Description (this section) Part Three: Screening Candidates Part Four - Working with Writers Part Five - Terminating Writers A clear, concise job description shows candidates that you’re...
High Signal
Selling a directory website for $10,000 - Damn Good Tools
Imagine selling a website you made for $10,000. Pretty great, huh? Well that's exactly what Dmytro...
a year ago
Imagine selling a website you made for $10,000. Pretty great, huh? Well that's exactly what Dmytro did
Build In Public...
Build In Public - Community Edition (Nov 2021)
Hey everyone 👋 Here’s a powerful quote to kick us off into the Thanksgiving week: “Gratitude...
over a year ago
Hey everyone 👋 Here’s a powerful quote to kick us off into the Thanksgiving week: “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.” - Melody Beattie I’m grateful for many things this year including my son’s birth
Build In Public...
What if you could edit like Spielberg? 🎥
Meet Eddie AI—your new editing partner ready to bring cinematic flair to every cut!
2 months ago
Meet Eddie AI—your new editing partner ready to bring cinematic flair to every cut!
Max Rozen
Keeping your sites fast with regular performance tests
You pride yourself on delivering fast websites to your clients, but do the websites stay fast as the...
over a year ago
You pride yourself on delivering fast websites to your clients, but do the websites stay fast as the months go by?
mtlynch.io
I Regret My $46k Website Redesign
Two years ago, I created a website for my business. By combining my terrible design skills with a...
over a year ago
Two years ago, I created a website for my business. By combining my terrible design skills with a decent-looking template, I created a site that looked okay. I told myself that if the business took off, I’d hire a real designer to make it look professional.
TinyPilot website,...
mtlynch.io
Deep Work by Cal Newport
This was my favorite book of 2018. It profoundly impacted the way I approach my work and organize my...
over a year ago
This was my favorite book of 2018. It profoundly impacted the way I approach my work and organize my time. After reading it, I find it easier to maintain concentration and to prioritize important tasks. It was also the final push I needed to un-addict myself from social media.
Max Rozen
OnlineOrNot Diaries 1
On marketing, and shipping a CLI
a year ago
On marketing, and shipping a CLI
Grow With Less
4 Simple Strategies I Use to Never Run out of Article Ideas
Want to know a secret?
I never run out of article ideas.
In fact, my main struggle is usually...
over a year ago
Want to know a secret?
I never run out of article ideas.
In fact, my main struggle is usually choosing between a myriad of topics I would love to write about.
You may think it’s because I’m very creative but the simple truth is that I simply use 4 simple strategies that guarantee...
mtlynch.io
Go Programming Blueprints by Mat Ryer
I’m a fan of Mat Ryer’s work, and his blog posts have had a significant impact on the way I program...
a year ago
I’m a fan of Mat Ryer’s work, and his blog posts have had a significant impact on the way I program in Go. I found the book hit or miss. Some chapters were fascinating and taught me valuable Go lessons, while others felt boring and got too bogged down in the minutiae of...
mtlynch.io
Is It Keto - Month 10
Highlights I sold my first meal plan on Is It Keto. I then tried five different experiments for...
over a year ago
Highlights I sold my first meal plan on Is It Keto. I then tried five different experiments for increasing sales. Is It Keto’s revenue dropped for the month as I redirected resources toward its failing meal plans. Goal Grades At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to...
High Signal
Sailing the world while building startups
James and his partner Danielle have an enviable working set-up - they live and work on a sailing...
10 months ago
James and his partner Danielle have an enviable working set-up - they live and work on a sailing boat!
mtlynch.io
Is It Keto: Month 6
Highlights Is It Keto’s user visits plateaued in February, but that still represents progress....
over a year ago
Highlights Is It Keto’s user visits plateaued in February, but that still represents progress. Revenues fell substantially and missed targets for the month. I’m going to shelve the project unless I achieve my targets for March. Goal Grades At the start of the month, I laid out...
mtlynch.io
Hiring Content Writers: Part Three - Screening Candidates
Overview: Hiring Content Writers Part One: Finding Writers Part Two - Creating a Detailed Job...
over a year ago
Overview: Hiring Content Writers Part One: Finding Writers Part Two - Creating a Detailed Job Description Part Three: Screening Candidates (this section) Part Four - Working with Writers Part Five - Terminating Writers Screening writing candidates requires you to make decisions...
Val Sopi
Quitting is for the naive
<p>Pop culture glorifies quitting. I have done it. There's nothing glorious about it. Having your...
over a year ago
<p>Pop culture glorifies quitting. I have done it. There's nothing glorious about it. Having your savings dwindle fast is no fun. Time is relative. You have no idea how fast it flies when you need it the most. Especially when you have no contacts in the industry nor an audience....
mtlynch.io
Recovery Month
Highlights Is It Keto’s revenue doubled to $82.44 with zero effort on my part. My task journaling...
over a year ago
Highlights Is It Keto’s revenue doubled to $82.44 with zero effort on my part. My task journaling app is almost ready for publication. I’ve begun setting up meetings with potential customers about my next project ideas. Goal Grades At the start of the month, I gave up on Is It...
mtlynch.io
Designing the Ideal Bootstrapped Business
Jason Cohen’s 2013 Microconf talk, Designing the Ideal Bootstrapped Business with Jason Cohen, is...
a year ago
Jason Cohen’s 2013 Microconf talk, Designing the Ideal Bootstrapped Business with Jason Cohen, is one of the most valuable resources I’ve found for bootstrapped founders. I watched it for the first time in 2020, and I’ve revisited it repeatedly since then.
If you’re new to the...
I Have No Idea What...
A Summary of My Learnings On How To Find Startup Ideas
I’ve been searching for new startup ideas and problem areas to tackle. It’s quite difficult to do,...
over a year ago
I’ve been searching for new startup ideas and problem areas to tackle. It’s quite difficult to do, especially when you begin adding constraints to the criteria such as “Am I excited about this problem space?”. The internet is filled with helpful ways to come up with startup ideas...
I Have No Idea What...
Rejected from YCombinator
and how I’m using their feedback to change my approach
over a year ago
and how I’m using their feedback to change my approach
mtlynch.io
Is It Keto - Month 9
Highlights After six months of consistent gains of ~30% in revenue and traffic, Is It Keto’s growth...
over a year ago
Highlights After six months of consistent gains of ~30% in revenue and traffic, Is It Keto’s growth finally flattened out. I’m preparing to sell premium meal plans on Is It Keto. I’m ready to make bigger bets on my businesses. Goal Grades At the start of each month, I declare...
mtlynch.io
Takeaways from Cory Zue's May 2023 Livecoding Session
My friend Cory Zue has been publishing his live coding sessions, so I decided to watch one and...
a year ago
My friend Cory Zue has been publishing his live coding sessions, so I decided to watch one and record my notes.
My background vs. Cory’s I’ve read a lot of Cory’s blog. We’re both Python developers, but he specializes in Django, whereas I’ve always worked with thinner frameworks...
Val Sopi
Financial Update: February 2023
<p>In January, I managed to pay myself $500 for the first time — from my Saas making — since...
a year ago
<p>In January, I managed to pay myself $500 for the first time — from my Saas making — since setting sail on <a href="https://valsopi.com/setting-sail">my journey to financial freedom</a>.</p><p>The plan is to keep paying myself at least $500 each month going forward, hoping...
mtlynch.io
Using Zig to Unit Test a C Application
Zig is a new, independently developed low-level programming language. It’s a modern reimagining of C...
a year ago
Zig is a new, independently developed low-level programming language. It’s a modern reimagining of C that attempts to retain C’s performance while embracing improvements from the last 30 years of tooling and language design.
Zig makes calling into C code easier than any other...
Tony Dinh's...
July 2023: $6K MRR – getting back on recurring revenue
small updates from me in July 2023
a year ago
small updates from me in July 2023
Max Rozen
Demystifying useEffect's clean-up function
useEffect's clean-up function can be pretty confusing, especially if you're still trying to think in...
over a year ago
useEffect's clean-up function can be pretty confusing, especially if you're still trying to think in lifecycle methods. Let's clarify the clean-up function in this article.
Tony Dinh's...
May 2022: $7,839 MRR, travel, experiments, and a new app.
Hello everyone, it’s Tony again 👋 These days time flies so fast to me! I’m having so many updates...
over a year ago
Hello everyone, it’s Tony again 👋 These days time flies so fast to me! I’m having so many updates in May that I want to share with you all. Let’s go! Welcome 128 new subscribers since the last issue! If you are new here, this is a monthly newsletter of my indie hacking journey....
mtlynch.io
Educational Products: Month 2
Highlights I learned a few techniques that make it easier for me to record videos for my course....
4 months ago
Highlights I learned a few techniques that make it easier for me to record videos for my course. I’ve decided I don’t need to use a Merchant of Record service. I’ve integrated htmx into my standard toolkit for making web applications. Goal Grades At the start of each month, I...
mtlynch.io
A Survey of Applicant Tracking Systems for Bootstrapped Businesses
I’m a bootstrapped founder of a six-person company, and I spent this week testing different tools...
over a year ago
I’m a bootstrapped founder of a six-person company, and I spent this week testing different tools for hiring candidates.
This post summarizes my experience with the applicant tracking systems (ATS) I found and how well they serve small, bootstrapped businesses.
Note: This isn’t...
mtlynch.io
Educational Products: Month 1
Highlights I’m rebooting my blogging course from 2020. htmx is pretty good but not everything I wish...
5 months ago
Highlights I’m rebooting my blogging course from 2020. htmx is pretty good but not everything I wish it could be. I’m looking for a buyer for Is It Keto, my old keto website. Rebooting Hit the Front Page In 2020, I created a video course about blogging called “Hit the Front Page...
mtlynch.io
Stripe is Silently Recording Your Movements On its Customers' Websites
Among startups and tech companies, Stripe seems to be the near-universal favorite for payment...
over a year ago
Among startups and tech companies, Stripe seems to be the near-universal favorite for payment processing. When I needed paid subscription functionality for my new web app, Stripe felt like the natural choice. After integration, however, I discovered that Stripe’s official...
Tony Dinh's...
February 2022 updates – 6 months milestone
Hello everyone! It’s me again – Tony 👋 Time flies! February 2022 marks the 6 months milestone of me...
over a year ago
Hello everyone! It’s me again – Tony 👋 Time flies! February 2022 marks the 6 months milestone of me going indie hacking full time! 🥳 In this issue, I’ll share my regular updates from February and some thoughts on the first 6 months of my journey. Let’s go!
mtlynch.io
Key Mime Pi: Turn Your Raspberry Pi into a Remote Keyboard
Recent versions of the Raspberry Pi support USB on-the-go (USB OTG), which allows them to...
over a year ago
Recent versions of the Raspberry Pi support USB on-the-go (USB OTG), which allows them to impersonate USB devices such as keyboards, thumb drives, and microphones. To take advantage of this, I made an open-source web app that turns my Pi into a fake keyboard. I call it Key Mime...
Dominik Sobe's...
Stagnant MRR but experimenting in the background
over a year ago
mtlynch.io
Notes from PyTexas 2019
Overview This past weekend, PyTexas invited me to speak at their annual conference in Austin,...
over a year ago
Overview This past weekend, PyTexas invited me to speak at their annual conference in Austin, Texas.
It was a fun trip, and I learned a lot. It was also expensive, both financially and in terms of time. I’m taking these notes partly to share what I learned and partly to help me...
mtlynch.io
Building a Budget Homelab NAS Server (2022 Edition)
This year, I decided to build my first ever home storage server. It’s a 32 TB system that stores my...
over a year ago
This year, I decided to build my first ever home storage server. It’s a 32 TB system that stores my personal and business data using open-source software.
The server itself cost $531, and I bought four disks for $732, bringing the total cost to $1,263. It’s similar in price to...
mtlynch.io
Back Up Encrypted ZFS Data without Unlocking It
I recently built my first home TrueNAS server. I use it to store the bulk of my personal and work...
over a year ago
I recently built my first home TrueNAS server. I use it to store the bulk of my personal and work data, so I’ve been learning how to make the most of TrueNAS and its filesystem, ZFS.
Today, I want to tell you about backing up encrypted data.
My homelab TrueNAS server
One of the...
Grow With Less
The 27 tools I use to grow my online business
People often ask me what tools I use to build and grow French Together so I thought I would put...
over a year ago
People often ask me what tools I use to build and grow French Together so I thought I would put together a list of my favorites.
These are not necessarily the best and trendiest tools, some may even be considered old-fasshioned. But they are the tools that help me build and grow...
mtlynch.io
Use a Nix Flake without Adding it to Git
When I work in my own repositories these days, I always add a Nix flake to the repo so that I can...
11 months ago
When I work in my own repositories these days, I always add a Nix flake to the repo so that I can spin up a working development environment on any system with a single command.
What do I do when I’m working in someone else’s repo and they don’t want to adopt Nix flakes?
Normally,...
Val Sopi
The downsides of building in public
<p>I first started "building in public" back in 2017.</p>
<p>Not sure if the term existed back...
a year ago
<p>I first started "building in public" back in 2017.</p>
<p>Not sure if the term existed back then, but I started talking about my newest product at the time (Claritask), which I ended up <a href="https://bootstrapping-saas.transistor.fm/episodes/claritask-sold"...
Max Rozen
OnlineOrNot Diaries 10
On re-rearchitecting.
a year ago
mtlynch.io
A Simple Pre-Rendered Web App Using Vue + Nuxt
In this post, I’ll show you how to pre-render pages using Vue and Nuxt. This method combines the...
over a year ago
In this post, I’ll show you how to pre-render pages using Vue and Nuxt. This method combines the convenient development experience of Vue without forfeiting critical features like social sharing or search engine optimization.
This tutorial assumes no experience with Vue or Nuxt....
Dominik Sobe's...
Travel hard, work harder or: on being a digital nomad
a year ago
Max Prilutskiy
How we're using email on a custom domain for $0/mo
Google has announced yet another price increase for Google Workspace. Here's what we've done to...
9 months ago
Google has announced yet another price increase for Google Workspace. Here's what we've done to avoid paying anything at all.
Grow With Less
Statistics That Prove Blogging Is Not Dead Yet
Is blogging dead?
That’s a question thousands of people ask every day.
I was curious to know the...
over a year ago
Is blogging dead?
That’s a question thousands of people ask every day.
I was curious to know the answer so I looked for statistics
Let’s settle the debate once and for all!
Is blogging dead? Let’s look at trends! According to Google Trends, “blogging” peaked between 2004 and...
mtlynch.io
Noah Bragg's First Stoke Fire Livestream
I’ve been interested in Ethereum the past year, especially the Base ecosystem. The problem is that...
3 months ago
I’ve been interested in Ethereum the past year, especially the Base ecosystem. The problem is that after hours of reading about Base, I still don’t get what Base is.
Every few months, I check back in on the Base website’s developer section to see if there’s a path to building on...
mtlynch.io
Paternity Leave: Month 4
Highlights I found ways to procrastinate writing my book. I had fun fuzz testing open-source...
2 weeks ago
Highlights I found ways to procrastinate writing my book. I had fun fuzz testing open-source projects. I picked out components for a new high-end desktop computer for software development. Goal grades At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to accomplish. Here’s how I...
Max Rozen
How to use SVGs in your React App
Using SVG icons instead of PNG or JPG has a few performance benefits, but they're not always...
over a year ago
Using SVG icons instead of PNG or JPG has a few performance benefits, but they're not always straightforward to use. Here's how you do it.
Max Rozen
How code splitting can make your React app load significantly faster
Chances are, your React app's bundle is much, much larger than it needs to be.
over a year ago
Chances are, your React app's bundle is much, much larger than it needs to be.
mtlynch.io
Installing NixOS on Raspberry Pi 4
Nix is a tool that allows you to define your software environment from code. Nix has several...
a year ago
Nix is a tool that allows you to define your software environment from code. Nix has several components to it, and one of the most interesting to me is NixOS, which lets you use Nix tooling to define your entire OS configuration using plaintext files.
I only recently started...
Grow With Less
The Overwhelmed Business Owner's Guide to SEO
What do you do when you spent hours writing awesome articles only to realize your mom and your best...
over a year ago
What do you do when you spent hours writing awesome articles only to realize your mom and your best friend Dave are the only people reading them?
That’s the question I asked myself 7 years ago after writing dozens of articles for my new blog French Together.
I followed 10,000...
Tony Dinh's...
May 2023: I sold my 2 years old business for only $128K
Everything about the Black Magic's acquisition + May 2023 updates
a year ago
Everything about the Black Magic's acquisition + May 2023 updates
Grow With Less
How to Use Haro to Build Backlinks from the World's Best Websites
You know you need backlinks
You may even have tried broken link building, the skyscraper technique,...
over a year ago
You know you need backlinks
You may even have tried broken link building, the skyscraper technique, and other link building tactics but they made you feel desperate.You don’t want to send hundreds of emails, you just want to build backlinks.
You are in the right place.
I love...
Build In Public...
Still on the fence on learning no-code? What's stopping you?
It’s not an understatement when I say no-code practically changed my life and my career. In 2018, I...
over a year ago
It’s not an understatement when I say no-code practically changed my life and my career. In 2018, I was a different KP. Stuck at a corporate job where I felt like I was a tiny cog in a huge wheel, surrounded by uninspiring peers who I didn’t resonate with, bringing home a...
Max Rozen
2019: Further reflections on trying to start an internet business
A review of what I said I would do in 2019, and what I actually did.
over a year ago
A review of what I said I would do in 2019, and what I actually did.
mtlynch.io
Building a Homelab VM Server (2020 Edition)
For the past five years, I’ve done all of my software development in virtual machines (VMs). Each of...
over a year ago
For the past five years, I’ve done all of my software development in virtual machines (VMs). Each of my projects gets a dedicated VM, sparing me the headache of dependency conflicts and TCP port collisions.
Three years ago, I took things to the next level by building my own...
Tony Dinh's...
Jan 2021: I got a $500K acquisition offer!
...and other updates in January 2022 from me
a year ago
...and other updates in January 2022 from me
Build In Public...
How I Built This In Public: Luca Restagno
Lessons from building, growing and selling SaaS Products all in public
a year ago
Lessons from building, growing and selling SaaS Products all in public
mtlynch.io
How I Tricked Myself into Shipping Too Late
Many software founders fail for a simple reason: they ship too late. They spend years developing a...
over a year ago
Many software founders fail for a simple reason: they ship too late. They spend years developing a product in a vacuum only to see it crumble the first time a real customer touches it.
The Indie Hackers podcast features many such stories. The show’s stated mission is to help...
High Signal
Making $20k from a job board directory
Rod is a founder who has successfully monetized a directory showing websites for finding a job. He...
a year ago
Rod is a founder who has successfully monetized a directory showing websites for finding a job. He has made $20k from his Job Board Search site.
Tony Dinh's...
Apr 2023: I sold Black Magic
And other updates in April 2023
a year ago
And other updates in April 2023
Tony Dinh's...
Aug 2022: One year since I quit my job
Reached $10K MRR, launched Xnapper (#1 of the week), went on Indie Hackers podcast (😱), and other...
over a year ago
Reached $10K MRR, launched Xnapper (#1 of the week), went on Indie Hackers podcast (😱), and other updates in Aug 2022...
Build In Public...
How I Built This In Public: Marko Saric
Lessons from building Plausible Analytics to $1.2m ARR in public
a year ago
Lessons from building Plausible Analytics to $1.2m ARR in public
Max Rozen
Methods for styling your React app
It can be pretty confusing to pick how to style your React app. This guide attempts to simplify your...
over a year ago
It can be pretty confusing to pick how to style your React app. This guide attempts to simplify your choice.
mtlynch.io
Zestful: Month 5
Prior to February 2019, I published all my retrospectives on Indie Hackers:
Zestful Month 5:...
over a year ago
Prior to February 2019, I published all my retrospectives on Indie Hackers:
Zestful Month 5: Launched, but Still No Customers
Tony Dinh's...
Jan 2022 updates: 4K MRR, new release, new features, new learnings
Hello everyone, this is Tony! 👋 In January 2022, I released a new DevUtils version, added a lot of...
over a year ago
Hello everyone, this is Tony! 👋 In January 2022, I released a new DevUtils version, added a lot of features for Black Magic, reached $4K MRR, and learned a ton! Here comes the monthly update! Hope you like it! 🧩 New DevUtils release: 1.13 The latest release of DevUtils comes...
Dominik Sobe's...
Lessons from a “failed” Product Hunt launch
over a year ago
Max Rozen
Guidelines to improve your React folder structure
People often say to 'move files around until it feels right', but what does 'right' even mean? Let's...
over a year ago
People often say to 'move files around until it feels right', but what does 'right' even mean? Let's learn in this article.
Grow With Less
Journorequest: The Little-Known Twitter Hashtag That Will Help You Get Quality Backlinks
If you have ever tried to do outreach to build backlinks, you know how frustrating the process can...
over a year ago
If you have ever tried to do outreach to build backlinks, you know how frustrating the process can be.
You spend hours looking for the right people to reach out to, crafting your outreach emails and finally send them, already picturing yourself receiving a ton of quality...
mtlynch.io
Experimenting with Lllama 3 via Ollama
I saw that Meta released the Llama 3 AI model, and people seem excited about it, so I decided to...
8 months ago
I saw that Meta released the Llama 3 AI model, and people seem excited about it, so I decided to give it a try.
I don’t have much experience running open-source AI models, and I didn’t see a lot of documentation about how to run them. I tinkered with it for a few hours and got...
Grow With Less
Is Your Article's Date Destroying Your Rankings?
Having a recent date associated with your article could be the difference between a page 1 ranking...
over a year ago
Having a recent date associated with your article could be the difference between a page 1 ranking and a page 5 ranking.
This means that you should not only keep your content up-to-date but also make sure that Google knows it’s up-to-date.
This article will show you how to find...
Max Rozen
Lessons from my third year running a SaaS
I've run this business for three years now, and I'm only just now starting to *get it*.
10 months ago
I've run this business for three years now, and I'm only just now starting to *get it*.
Val Sopi
Launching on Product Hunt
<p>
<b>Diary entries, aka Table of contents</b>
</p>
<ul>
<li><a...
over a year ago
<p>
<b>Diary entries, aka Table of contents</b>
</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="#wednesday7">Wednesday, Dec 7</a></li>
<li><a href="#thursday8">Thursday, Dec 8</a></li>
<li><a href="#thursday8">Friday, Dec 9</a></li>
<li><a href="#monday12">Monday, Dec 12</a></li>
...
Max Rozen
Using Tailwind CSS with React and CSS-in-JS
If you're already using a CSS-in-JS library, trying out Tailwind CSS with your existing app might be...
over a year ago
If you're already using a CSS-in-JS library, trying out Tailwind CSS with your existing app might be much easier than you think.
High Signal
Joining a startup as a co-founder
Today's interview is with Iron Brands (he's Dutch, that is his actual name), who joined a privacy...
10 months ago
Today's interview is with Iron Brands (he's Dutch, that is his actual name), who joined a privacy analytics startups as a co-founder after it had already launched. We talked about how he met the original founder of Simple Analytics, how they negotiated the new ownership...
mtlynch.io
TinyPilot: Month 34
New here?
Hi, I’m Michael. I’m a software developer and the founder of TinyPilot, an independent...
a year ago
New here?
Hi, I’m Michael. I’m a software developer and the founder of TinyPilot, an independent computer hardware company. I started the company in 2020, and it now earns $60-80k/month in revenue and employs seven other people.
Every month, I publish a retrospective like this...
High Signal
Making $200k/year at 25 from online startups
Ch Daniel is a 25 year old founder who is making $200,000 in annual revenue from a variety of...
a year ago
Ch Daniel is a 25 year old founder who is making $200,000 in annual revenue from a variety of websites.
Max Rozen
Guidelines for Deploying React
These days there are a heck of a lot of options for deploying React. It can be a bit overwhelming....
over a year ago
These days there are a heck of a lot of options for deploying React. It can be a bit overwhelming. This article simplifies your choices.
Build In Public...
How I Built This In Public: Marie Martens
Lessons from building Tally.so from 0 to $40k MRR all in public
a year ago
Lessons from building Tally.so from 0 to $40k MRR all in public
mtlynch.io
Nonviolent Communication by Marshall B. Rosenberg, Ph.D.
Nonviolent Communication describes a communication style centered around sharing vulnerability and...
over a year ago
Nonviolent Communication describes a communication style centered around sharing vulnerability and offering empathy. One of its biggest strengths is in how it highlights common patterns of lazy communication that exclude personal feelings or critical thinking. I also found its...
Max Rozen
Why early stage startups are the worst for junior developers
Startups can be the best or worst thing for your career as a junior developer. Let's discuss why.
over a year ago
Startups can be the best or worst thing for your career as a junior developer. Let's discuss why.
Scott DeLong
Weeks 19-21: Fortunately, I Wasn’t Lying
Incentive-based lead generation is a game changer and record days continue to become the new normal....
a year ago
Incentive-based lead generation is a game changer and record days continue to become the new normal. But it's not all good.
The post Weeks 19-21: Fortunately, I Wasn’t Lying appeared first on Scott DeLong.
mtlynch.io
Zestful: Month 4
Prior to February 2019, I published all my retrospectives on Indie Hackers:
Zestful Month 4:...
over a year ago
Prior to February 2019, I published all my retrospectives on Indie Hackers:
Zestful Month 4: Shipping Too Late
Dominik Sobe's...
HelpKit reached $1000 MRR!
over a year ago
High Signal
Is Ruby on Rails dead in 2024? No!
Ruby on Rails, or 'Rails' for short, is a framework for making websites with the programming...
10 months ago
Ruby on Rails, or 'Rails' for short, is a framework for making websites with the programming language Ruby. The idea behind it is to simplify how programmers create websites and it caused a storm amongst developers when it was released in August 2004 by software engineer David...
mtlynch.io
Resurrecting a Dead Library: Part Three - Rehabilitation
I love refactoring. Nothing satisfies me more than untangling spaghetti code to reveal its...
over a year ago
I love refactoring. Nothing satisfies me more than untangling spaghetti code to reveal its underlying logic in a clear, intuitive way.
I’ve learned that refactoring requires diligence. In my younger and more reckless days, I would rush into a legacy codebase and tear apart the...
Build In Public...
How Twitter helped me with the 1st ever BUILD IN PUBLIC NFT 💎
Happy Friday everyone, Below is the story of: how I found an artist to collaborate and mint my 1st...
over a year ago
Happy Friday everyone, Below is the story of: how I found an artist to collaborate and mint my 1st ever NFT project on the theme of “build in public” how it all came together on Twitter DMs how we plan to auction/sell it to a thoughtful buyer how we intend to donate all the...
Tony Dinh's...
Nov 2022 updates: learning new skills
Indie updates, B2B vs B2C, Black Friday, surfing, skimboarding, hardware.
over a year ago
Indie updates, B2B vs B2C, Black Friday, surfing, skimboarding, hardware.
Max Rozen
OnlineOrNot Diaries 19
Refactoring the business entity, thoughts on marketing and building
9 months ago
Refactoring the business entity, thoughts on marketing and building
Dominik Sobe's...
My Indiehacker Journey: Part One.
over a year ago
Max Rozen
How to implement a Higher-order component in React with TypeScript
You probably know how to implement a HoC, but do you know how to write types for one?
over a year ago
You probably know how to implement a HoC, but do you know how to write types for one?
mtlynch.io
TinyPilot: Month 38
New here?
Hi, I’m Michael. I’m a software developer and the founder of TinyPilot, an independent...
a year ago
New here?
Hi, I’m Michael. I’m a software developer and the founder of TinyPilot, an independent computer hardware company. I started the company in 2020, and it now earns $60-80k/month in revenue and employs seven other people.
Every month, I publish a retrospective like this...
Grow With Less
The Best Way to Come up with Catchy Blog Post Titles
Copywriting legend David Ogilvy once said that “on the average, five times as many people read the...
over a year ago
Copywriting legend David Ogilvy once said that “on the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.”
That’s great news because it means a great blog post title has...
mtlynch.io
Guidelines for Freelance Developers Working with Me
I’ve been hiring software developers and other freelancers for the past seven years. Even though I...
over a year ago
I’ve been hiring software developers and other freelancers for the past seven years. Even though I write most code myself, hiring other developers is a tremendous force multiplier that frees up time for other parts of my business.
Freelancers work well if you manage the...
Max Rozen
How to style react-select with styled-components or emotion
Styling react-select can be annoying. Here's a quick guide on how to do it with popular CSS-in-JS...
over a year ago
Styling react-select can be annoying. Here's a quick guide on how to do it with popular CSS-in-JS libraries.
mtlynch.io
Start Small, Stay Small by Rob Walling
I wish that I had found this book nine years ago. It taught me a great deal about choosing the right...
over a year ago
I wish that I had found this book nine years ago. It taught me a great deal about choosing the right product to build and the advantages of targeting small niches. The author makes compelling points about the importance of marketing and small founders’ common pitfall of treating...
mtlynch.io
Want to Buy Is It Keto?
I’m looking for someone to take over my old content website, Is It Keto.
Is It Keto is for sale
I...
5 months ago
I’m looking for someone to take over my old content website, Is It Keto.
Is It Keto is for sale
I worked on the site on and off between 2019 and 2020, but I no longer have time for it, so it’s just been neglected for the past several years. Still, it consistently earns $1-2k/yr...
mtlynch.io
TinyPilot: Month 37
New here?
Hi, I’m Michael. I’m a software developer and the founder of TinyPilot, an independent...
a year ago
New here?
Hi, I’m Michael. I’m a software developer and the founder of TinyPilot, an independent computer hardware company. I started the company in 2020, and it now earns $60-80k/month in revenue and employs seven other people.
Every month, I publish a retrospective like this...
mtlynch.io
Creating a Nix Workflow to Fuzz netconsd
Recently, when I’m having trouble sleeping, I look for software to fuzz test.
Earlier this week, I...
a month ago
Recently, when I’m having trouble sleeping, I look for software to fuzz test.
Earlier this week, I thought back to Fady Othman’s post “Meta Bug Bounty — Fuzzing ’netconsd’ for fun and profit.” It’s a good tutorial about fuzzing code exhaustively.
Like most fuzzing blog posts, I...
Dominik Sobe's...
What I learned bootstrapping 8+ software products
3 weeks ago
mtlynch.io
The Dumbest Task I Ever Outsourced
I derive immense satisfaction from outsourcing my chores. All of my friends have heard me encourage...
over a year ago
I derive immense satisfaction from outsourcing my chores. All of my friends have heard me encourage them to place a higher value on their free time and delegate their errands. Few of them heed my advice, and it’s probably because they know about the time I paid someone $96 to...
mtlynch.io
My Second Year as a Solo Developer
Two years ago, I quit my developer job at Google to build my own software business. A year later, I...
over a year ago
Two years ago, I quit my developer job at Google to build my own software business. A year later, I posted an update about my finances, happiness, and lessons learned. Today marks the end of my second year, so it’s time for another update.
How I made and spent money Metric 2018...
Dominik Sobe's...
Five videos that shaped my life so far
over a year ago
mtlynch.io
What Got Done - Month 3
Highlights I’m shelving What Got Done, as customers seem uninterested in the idea. Zestful has...
over a year ago
Highlights I’m shelving What Got Done, as customers seem uninterested in the idea. Zestful has become my greatest challenge in not sweating the small stuff. Is It Keto continues growing in the background, with a 22% increase in revenue and a 35% rise in traffic. Goal Grades...
mtlynch.io
How I Stole Your Siacoin
A seedy reddit post The night was June 9th, 2017. It was a typical Friday night for me. I was...
over a year ago
A seedy reddit post The night was June 9th, 2017. It was a typical Friday night for me. I was watching Netflix and checking reddit partying with cool kids.
Suddenly, I saw this post on the “New” tab of the /r/siacoin subreddit:
If you’re not familiar with Siacoin, it’s a...
Val Sopi
The Benefits of NOT Being Online
<p>Hey, you probably know me as the founder of <a href="https://claritask.com/">Claritask</a> or as...
over a year ago
<p>Hey, you probably know me as the founder of <a href="https://claritask.com/">Claritask</a> or as a Podcaster where I nakedly talk about my <a href="https://bootstrapping-saas.transistor.fm/">Bootstrapping Saas</a> journey.</p>
<p>Since early this summer I took a sabbatical...
Grow With Less
Do Headline Analyzers Work? A Data-Driven Answer
Headline analyzers are a popular way to come up with great headlines and try to predict their...
over a year ago
Headline analyzers are a popular way to come up with great headlines and try to predict their effectiveness.
All you need to do is write your headline and the tool will give it a score telling you how effective it’s likely to be.
But can these free headline analyzers accurately...
High Signal
500,000 users per month after quitting his developer job
Today's interview is with Ruurtjan, a Dutch founder whose two sites get 500,000 users a month....
a year ago
Today's interview is with Ruurtjan, a Dutch founder whose two sites get 500,000 users a month. Ruurtjan quit his job to go all in on his business
mtlynch.io
ArchiveBox is Super Cool
Have you ever used archive.org’s Internet Wayback Machine? It’s a free tool that’s been archiving...
11 months ago
Have you ever used archive.org’s Internet Wayback Machine? It’s a free tool that’s been archiving the web since 1996. So, if you want to see what Google looked like in 1999, they’ve got it.
Internet Archive capture of Google from April 22, 1999
ArchiveBox is like your own,...
mtlynch.io
Reset Month
No update this month I’m skipping my normal retrospective this month, as I sold TinyPilot and am...
6 months ago
No update this month I’m skipping my normal retrospective this month, as I sold TinyPilot and am taking some time to figure out my next project.
Retrospectives will hopefully resume in a month or two!
mtlynch.io
TinyPilot: Month 8
Highlights TinyPilots revenues dropped for the first time in six months. TinyPilot finished the...
over a year ago
Highlights TinyPilots revenues dropped for the first time in six months. TinyPilot finished the month with $33k in revenue, a 21% drop from January. One of the critical TinyPilot parts I need suddenly disappeared from vendors. Delegating work to others is paradoxically leaving me...
mtlynch.io
Lessons from my First Exit
In April of this year, I sold TinyPilot, the bootstrapped hardware company I founded and ran for...
a month ago
In April of this year, I sold TinyPilot, the bootstrapped hardware company I founded and ran for four years.
I wrote a post in May that told the story of the sale, but I’d like to share more about the practical lessons I learned from the experience.
In this post, I’m sharing what...
Val Sopi
Quitting when I sense “the grind”
<p>One change I’ve made recently in my product making process is that I stop as soon as I sense that...
over a year ago
<p>One change I’ve made recently in my product making process is that I stop as soon as I sense that I am “pushing it”.</p>
<p>I quit immediately.</p>
<p>Right there and then.</p>
<p>If I don’t feel fresh, my work will look stale.</p>
<p>I hit more “in the zone” states this...
mtlynch.io
I Sold TinyPilot, My First Successful Business
My first two years as a bootstrapped founder went poorly. I could barely find any paying customers,...
6 months ago
My first two years as a bootstrapped founder went poorly. I could barely find any paying customers, and all of my businesses lost money. I began questioning my decision to quit my cushy Google job.
In mid-2020, yet another of my businesses had flopped, and it was only kind of...
mtlynch.io
TinyPilot: Month 18
Highlights I’ve launched a new TinyPilot product and debuted a new logo. TinyPilot’s revenue...
over a year ago
Highlights I’ve launched a new TinyPilot product and debuted a new logo. TinyPilot’s revenue finished the year strong at $55k for December. I’ve learned to manage design projects more aggressively. Goal Grades At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to accomplish....
Val Sopi
What is leadership?
<p>With so much going on in the world and information traveling faster than ever before in the human...
over a year ago
<p>With so much going on in the world and information traveling faster than ever before in the human existence, it's easy to lose track of the basics.</p>
<p>Feeling overwhelmed is a result of our values, thoughts, being challenged.</p>
<p>The first response is naturally to...
Grow With Less
Don't Trust Keyword Difficulty Scores (Do This Instead)
Keyword difficulty or SEO difficulty is the likelihood of ranking for a keyword. And the way most...
over a year ago
Keyword difficulty or SEO difficulty is the likelihood of ranking for a keyword. And the way most bloggers estimate it is dangerous.
They use SEO tools like Ahrefs, Keysearch, or SEMrush and rely on their keyword difficulty scores to tell how easy ranking for a keyword should...
Val Sopi
Get Lucky
<iframe src="https://share.transistor.fm/e/eb7cbb63" width="100%" height="180" frameborder="0"...
over a year ago
<iframe src="https://share.transistor.fm/e/eb7cbb63" width="100%" height="180" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" seamless="true" style="width:100%; height:180px;"></iframe>
<p>In the past year or so, I’ve been thinking about Luck a lot — in terms of how a chain of random events can...
Max Rozen
OnlineOrNot Diaries 16
On content marketing, starting a YouTube channel, and improving status pages
a year ago
On content marketing, starting a YouTube channel, and improving status pages
High Signal
The best no-code newsletters for founders to read
Want to find the best no-code newsletters for learning about what you can build without coding? You...
a year ago
Want to find the best no-code newsletters for learning about what you can build without coding? You came to the right place!
mtlynch.io
TinyPilot: Month 28
New here?
Hi, I’m Michael. I’m a software developer and the founder of TinyPilot, an independent...
over a year ago
New here?
Hi, I’m Michael. I’m a software developer and the founder of TinyPilot, an independent computer hardware company. I started the company in 2020, and it now earns $60-80k/month in revenue and employs six other people.
Every month, I publish a retrospective like this one...
mtlynch.io
Why Good Developers Write Bad Unit Tests
Congratulations! You’ve finally written so many lines of code that you can afford a beach house. You...
over a year ago
Congratulations! You’ve finally written so many lines of code that you can afford a beach house. You hire Peter Keating, an architect world-famous for his skyscrapers, who assures you that he has brilliant plans for your beachfront property.
Months later, you arrive at the grand...
mtlynch.io
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
Like all Gladwell books, Outliers does an excellent job of building an engaging narrative out of...
over a year ago
Like all Gladwell books, Outliers does an excellent job of building an engaging narrative out of topics that the average person might otherwise find inaccessible. His exploration into the causes of airline crashes was especially fascinating.
While it provides a nice collection of...
mtlynch.io
TinyPilot: Month 9
Highlights I plan to open TinyPilot’s first real office next month. TinyPilot’s revenues continue to...
over a year ago
Highlights I plan to open TinyPilot’s first real office next month. TinyPilot’s revenues continue to plummet, but I’m learning to accept it. I’m inching ever closer to the freedom to take short vacations. Goal Grades At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to...
Val Sopi
The Word that guides my year
<p>Sort of without fail and unplanned, every year in December, I usually think of a word that I want...
over a year ago
<p>Sort of without fail and unplanned, every year in December, I usually think of a word that I want to live by the upcoming year.</p>
<p>Depending on what kind of year I have had, the Word for the upcoming one should represent the practical step ahead for...
Grow With Less
How to Overcome Information Overload and Make Real Progress with Your Business
Being a solopreneur is exhausting.
You wake up in the morning, check your emails and find dozens of...
over a year ago
Being a solopreneur is exhausting.
You wake up in the morning, check your emails and find dozens of new strategies waiting for you.
Double your subscribers with this new pop-up!
Use this little-known copywriting trick to get 32% more signups!
How this simple tool helped me get...
mtlynch.io
TinyPilot: Month 23
Highlights The TinyPilot website redesign is finally done. I’ve learned to make Debian packages, and...
over a year ago
Highlights The TinyPilot website redesign is finally done. I’ve learned to make Debian packages, and it’s surprisingly simple. I’ve given up on Vue and frontend frameworks in general. Goal Grades At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to accomplish. Here’s how I did...
mtlynch.io
How I Hired a Freelance Editor for My Blog
A year in blogging I started this blog in May of last year. I don’t mean to brag, but by last April,...
over a year ago
A year in blogging I started this blog in May of last year. I don’t mean to brag, but by last April, after less than a year of blogging, I was pulling in upwards of 20 visitors per day, several of whom were not spam bots. That number reached as high as 50 visitors on days when I...
👋 Hello, I'm...
Seven deadly sins of a second-time founder
a year ago
mtlynch.io
Update: Stripe's Response Regarding User Tracking
Last week, I published a blog post describing how Stripe recorded visitor behavior on their...
over a year ago
Last week, I published a blog post describing how Stripe recorded visitor behavior on their customers’ websites. In short, Stripe’s JavaScript library collected information about URLs users visited and telemetry about their mouse movements, even when the site never displayed any...
I Have No Idea What...
Starting Over
Abandoning the idea of building a Slack Alternative
over a year ago
Abandoning the idea of building a Slack Alternative
mtlynch.io
Is It Keto: Month 7
Highlights Is It Keto’s visits reached a record high of 11k pageviews. Revenues reached a record...
over a year ago
Highlights Is It Keto’s visits reached a record high of 11k pageviews. Revenues reached a record high of $40.84 in affiliate income. Despite this, Is It Keto didn’t satisfy its critical goals, so I’m putting it on the backburner. Goal Grades At the start of the month, I laid out...
Max Rozen
Deploying Node and React Shopify apps on Vercel
Shopify's tutorial is awesome for getting started, but doesn't let you deploy onto Vercel. In this...
over a year ago
Shopify's tutorial is awesome for getting started, but doesn't let you deploy onto Vercel. In this article, I'll show you how.
Max Rozen
Fixing Race Conditions in React with useEffect
If you're using useEffect to fetch data, chances are you've either run into a race condition, or...
over a year ago
If you're using useEffect to fetch data, chances are you've either run into a race condition, or have one without realising it. Let's learn how to fix them in this article.
mtlynch.io
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
I had a mixed reaction to this book. Some of Ibram X. Kendi’s ideas felt novel and compelling. It...
over a year ago
I had a mixed reaction to this book. Some of Ibram X. Kendi’s ideas felt novel and compelling. It broadened my perspective in thinking about race. And there’s a lot of historical discussion of race and slavery that covered details I don’t remember from school. At the same time, I...
mtlynch.io
Automated Prosper Investing with ProsperBot
Overview I started investing in peer to peer lending in 2014 through a site called Prosper. I...
over a year ago
Overview I started investing in peer to peer lending in 2014 through a site called Prosper. I thought peer to peer lending was a neat idea and could potentially earn lucrative returns.
When I began, I chose each of my loan investments manually, but over time, I have automated...
Tony Dinh's...
Jun 2022 updates, $100K ARR, reflections, and a screenshot app!
Hello everyone 👋 It’s Tony again with another monthly update! 😄Thanks for reading Tony Dinh’s...
over a year ago
Hello everyone 👋 It’s Tony again with another monthly update! 😄Thanks for reading Tony Dinh’s Newsletter! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Phu Yen Province, Vietnam Welcome 313 new subscribers since my last issue! 👋 If you are new here: My name is...
mtlynch.io
Takeaways from Charles Marohn's "Escaping the Housing Trap"
Last week, I stumbled upon a reddit post announcing that the author, Charles Marohn, was giving a...
a month ago
Last week, I stumbled upon a reddit post announcing that the author, Charles Marohn, was giving a free talk near my town the next morning. Marohn is the author of Strong Towns, one of my favorite books of the last few years. So, my wife and I attended the talk and enjoyed it.
The...
High Signal
$100k from building a SaaS boilerplate for Django
Cory Zue has built a living making Django SaaS boilerplates for founders. It means you can get...
a year ago
Cory Zue has built a living making Django SaaS boilerplates for founders. It means you can get started with your SaaS much quicker
Max Rozen
OnlineOrNot Diaries 12
On failing customers, failing to ship a new feature, learning sales, and giving up on ads.
a year ago
On failing customers, failing to ship a new feature, learning sales, and giving up on ads.
Val Sopi
Summer 2023 finances
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/valsopi/status/1680156076036030464" target="_blank">Monthly tweet...
a year ago
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/valsopi/status/1680156076036030464" target="_blank">Monthly tweet update</a></p><p>Looking back at the tough June, I thought I should clear up a few things as the much better July is almost over.</p><ul><li><b>🫣 Bummer:</b> June tanked with...
Max Rozen
OnlineOrNot Diaries 17
On learning screencasting, cleaning up tech debt, and focus
a year ago
On learning screencasting, cleaning up tech debt, and focus
mtlynch.io
Deploying Syncthing on a Fly.io Cloud Server
I recently discovered Syncthing, an open-source tool for syncing files across multiple...
a year ago
I recently discovered Syncthing, an open-source tool for syncing files across multiple machines.
Setting up Syncthing on my personal devices was easy, but I went on an interesting journey deploying it to a cloud server.
Why run Syncthing in the cloud? Syncthing synchronizes files...
Val Sopi
A change in how I share my open finances and a new self–imposed public challenge
<p>
A bit over a year ago, I wrote <a href="https://valsopi.com/setting-sail">a post</a> in...
a year ago
<p>
A bit over a year ago, I wrote <a href="https://valsopi.com/setting-sail">a post</a> in which I talked about embarking on a journey to financial freedom. Specifically speaking — I took out a personal loan so I could focus on solely building products.
</p><p>
With that...
Tony Dinh's...
April 2024 updates, new product!
Traveled to Bali and Sydney, some updates on Typing Mind, and a new product.
7 months ago
Traveled to Bali and Sydney, some updates on Typing Mind, and a new product.
mtlynch.io
TinyPilot: Month 20
Highlights I hired TinyPilot’s first support engineer. I learned that hiring a support engineer is...
over a year ago
Highlights I hired TinyPilot’s first support engineer. I learned that hiring a support engineer is even harder than I expected. I’m evaluating platforms for paying international contractors. Goal Grades At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to accomplish. Here’s how...
mtlynch.io
How to Grow Quickly and Never Turn a Profit
Early last year, I launched a nutrition site called Is It Keto. From November 2018 until March 2019,...
over a year ago
Early last year, I launched a nutrition site called Is It Keto. From November 2018 until March 2019, the site was my full-time focus. Every month, visitors increased by 50% to 150%, an exhilarating growth rate that far outpaced any of my previous projects.
There was only one...
mtlynch.io
Adventures in Outsourcing: Cooking with TaskRabbit
Overview For the past few years, I’ve been outsourcing tasks from my daily life whenever possible. I...
over a year ago
Overview For the past few years, I’ve been outsourcing tasks from my daily life whenever possible. I tend to be more limited in time than money, so if paying $30 can save me an hour, I consider that a good deal.
I recently started experimenting with the keto diet, which focuses...
Grow With Less
A Bittersweet First Blog Income Report
The internet is full of success stories and my 6-figures language-learning blog French Together...
over a year ago
The internet is full of success stories and my 6-figures language-learning blog French Together could be considered one of them
But things don’t always go as planned and every business experiences ups and downs.
April was definitely in the down category for me and that’s great...
Max Rozen
OnlineOrNot Diaries 7
In which I pay for people to check out OnlineOrNot to test my landing pages.
a year ago
In which I pay for people to check out OnlineOrNot to test my landing pages.
mtlynch.io
KetoHub Update: Month 3
In early October, I launched a new website, KetoHub, a recipe aggregator for keto meals. Each month,...
over a year ago
In early October, I launched a new website, KetoHub, a recipe aggregator for keto meals. Each month, I’ve evaluated the site’s progress to decide how it’s doing and what areas need improvement.
I’m doing my evaluation of December publicly. Here’s what was good, bad, and learnable...
Max Rozen
Guidelines for choosing React Libraries
There are a *lot* of React libraries out there. So how do you pick which one to use in your app?...
over a year ago
There are a *lot* of React libraries out there. So how do you pick which one to use in your app? This article provides guidelines for choosing.
mtlynch.io
I'm Still Confused About Base
A year ago, I listented to an interview with Jesse Pollak on an episode of Into the Bytecode.
Jesse...
3 months ago
A year ago, I listented to an interview with Jesse Pollak on an episode of Into the Bytecode.
Jesse works for Coinbase, and he noticed that lots of developers building apps on top of Ethereum were solving the same problems over and over again. He started a project at Coinbase to...
Grow With Less
My SEO traffic collapsed so I built a SaaS (Early 2022 retrospective)
Sometime last year, I decided to turn the French Together course (a self-study French course for...
over a year ago
Sometime last year, I decided to turn the French Together course (a self-study French course for English speakers) into a language learning app.
This was done in 3 steps:
Learning how to code Building the French Together app Launching Here is how I went about each step and what I...
Val Sopi
Test
<p>
Some super </p>
<p class="top-button">
<a href="#top">🔝</a>
</p>
10 months ago
<p>
Some super </p>
<p class="top-button">
<a href="#top">🔝</a>
</p>
High Signal
Making thousands from a German learning online community
Rónán is the founder of Deutsch Gym, an online community for learning German. He's making thousands...
a year ago
Rónán is the founder of Deutsch Gym, an online community for learning German. He's making thousands in revenue from his startup which he made after moving to Berlin and wanting to improve his German language skills. Read on for his tips on making a
Max Rozen
OnlineOrNot Diaries 3
Marketing week? More like reliability week
a year ago
Marketing week? More like reliability week
High Signal
Selling Unicorn Platform for $800k
I was thrilled to see recently Alex Isora make $800k by selling Unicorn Platform, a website builder,...
a year ago
I was thrilled to see recently Alex Isora make $800k by selling Unicorn Platform, a website builder, as I previously interviewed him about learning to code without a CS degree. Alex has stayed on at Mars, the company which has acquired him and unlike a lot of founders, will stay
mtlynch.io
Paternity Leave: Month 1
Highlights My wife and I became parents. I realized that caring for a newborn takes more time than I...
3 months ago
Highlights My wife and I became parents. I realized that caring for a newborn takes more time than I expected. I’m unsure what to do with my partially-finished Hacker News course. Goal Grades At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to accomplish. Here’s how I did...
mtlynch.io
TinyPilot: Month 16
Highlights I announced a new product and then discovered it was a mistake. I simplified the...
over a year ago
Highlights I announced a new product and then discovered it was a mistake. I simplified the TinyPilot website to focus on a single device. I tried taking my first real vacation from TinyPilot with mixed results. Goal Grades At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to...
Grow With Less
A Day in the Life of a Full-Time Blogger
Search “blogger working” in Google Image and you will see thousands of smiling bloggers working on...
over a year ago
Search “blogger working” in Google Image and you will see thousands of smiling bloggers working on their laptop while drinking coffee in a trendy coffee shop.
And while these things can definitely be part of a blogger’s day, they are only the visible part of the iceberg.
Blogging...
Tony Dinh's...
Sep 2022: I'm on Indie Hackers Podcast!
Also in September: $12K MRR, built a small new app, SEO, and other updates...
over a year ago
Also in September: $12K MRR, built a small new app, SEO, and other updates...
mtlynch.io
End-to-End Testing Web Apps: The Painless Way
Okay, I know you’re skeptical. Other guides have promised you painless web app tests only to reveal...
over a year ago
Okay, I know you’re skeptical. Other guides have promised you painless web app tests only to reveal that their solution requires some hyper-specific tech stack or a paid third-party service. I won’t do that to you.
This guide provides a straightforward and flexible template for...
Max Rozen
Understanding when to use useMemo
If you've just learned what useCallback is, you might be wondering why on earth useMemo exists, and...
over a year ago
If you've just learned what useCallback is, you might be wondering why on earth useMemo exists, and why we don't use it everywhere.
Tony Dinh's...
My solopreneur story: zero to $45K/mo in 2 years
Today is exactly 2 years since I quit my job and become a full-time indie hacker.
a year ago
Today is exactly 2 years since I quit my job and become a full-time indie hacker.
mtlynch.io
A Beginner's Guide to Mining Siacoin
This guide is out of date.
This post describes mining Sia with a desktop graphics card (GPU), but...
over a year ago
This guide is out of date.
This post describes mining Sia with a desktop graphics card (GPU), but custom mining hardware is now available for Sia. The custom hardware has made Sia GPU mining non-viable. This guide will still work, but you may never reach payout, even with a...
mtlynch.io
WanderJest: Month 2
Highlights I’m betting big on a publicity campaign that’s at risk of failing spectacularly....
over a year ago
Highlights I’m betting big on a publicity campaign that’s at risk of failing spectacularly. WanderJest finally earned its first dollar of revenue, but in a way that is definitely unsustainable. Poor work habits have left me with the most stress I’ve felt in a year. Goal Grades At...
Dominik Sobe's...
First, second, wait—third customer
over a year ago
High Signal
$200k from selling Google Sheets tutorials
Andrew Kamphey is a creator who has made $200k from teaching people how to use Google Sheets over...
a year ago
Andrew Kamphey is a creator who has made $200k from teaching people how to use Google Sheets over the past three years. Think 'Miss Excel' but he's a beardy guy who doesn't dance in his videos. In this interview Andrew shares his marketing wins,
Val Sopi
I'm done making
<p><em><strong>UPDATE:</strong> This post got such a great response that it inspired me to start...
over a year ago
<p><em><strong>UPDATE:</strong> This post got such a great response that it inspired me to start playing and building <a href="https://claritask.com">Claritask</a> while documenting it out in the open</em></p>
<p>—</p>
<p>I'm going to let you in on a great secret.</p>
<p>Do you...
Max Rozen
Apollo vs Relay Modern: An unbiased look at which GraphQL client to use
If you're building an app using GraphQL, picking a client to use can be hard. Apollo? Relay? Urql?...
over a year ago
If you're building an app using GraphQL, picking a client to use can be hard. Apollo? Relay? Urql? Let's look into some options.
Tony Dinh's...
$322 → $2K MRR in 60 days by building in public
Hello everyone, this is Tony! 👋 Today is a special day. I want to share with you all this post I...
over a year ago
Hello everyone, this is Tony! 👋 Today is a special day. I want to share with you all this post I originally posted on Indie Hackers, but I think you all will also be interested! It’s a long post about my journey growing Black Magic to $2K MRR in the last 2 months.
mtlynch.io
What I've Been Doing Since Quitting My Job
I worked as a software engineer for Google from 2014 to 2018. On February 1st, I quit my job and...
over a year ago
I worked as a software engineer for Google from 2014 to 2018. On February 1st, I quit my job and formed my own single-person software company.
That was four months ago, so I thought I’d share an update on how things are going.
What’s it like not having a job? That’s the most...
Val Sopi
My 2 lessons when it comes to pricing a Saas product
<p>I was listening to two founders on Twitter Spaces talking about both ends of the spectrum when it...
over a year ago
<p>I was listening to two founders on Twitter Spaces talking about both ends of the spectrum when it came charging for their Saas. One wanted to charge (and they are), the other one didn't care about it so much (for now). Then a discussion about the founder of <a...
Max Rozen
The Definitive Guide to Commonly Used Words in React
Do some words in React have you scratching your head? Ref? Stateless component? Let's learn some...
over a year ago
Do some words in React have you scratching your head? Ref? Stateless component? Let's learn some words!
Dominik Sobe's...
What a roller coaster ride
over a year ago
High Signal
10 stoic quotes for entrepreneurs
Stoic quotes can be a great comfort to you, especially if you are an entrepreneur. Building a...
10 months ago
Stoic quotes can be a great comfort to you, especially if you are an entrepreneur. Building a business is hard work so it's important to build resilience. That's where stoicism comes in! Stoicism is not about being an emotion-less robot but more about not letting your
mtlynch.io
Debugging VLANs on my TP-Link Managed Switch
I recently bought my first-ever managed networking switch, a TP-Link JetStream TL-SG3428X.
The main...
a year ago
I recently bought my first-ever managed networking switch, a TP-Link JetStream TL-SG3428X.
The main feature of a managed switch is that it lets you segment your network into VLANs. I was excited about this functionality, but it took me hours of trial and error to get VLANs...
Max Rozen
Frustrated by Formik? Here's a simpler way to do forms in React
Do you find yourself struggling for hours to solve problems with Formik? I've started using a...
over a year ago
Do you find yourself struggling for hours to solve problems with Formik? I've started using a different library that's much simpler.
High Signal
Making thousands from Bubble courses
Kieran Bell is a founder specializing in teaching people how to use the no-code software Bubble.
a year ago
Kieran Bell is a founder specializing in teaching people how to use the no-code software Bubble.
mtlynch.io
Testing Ansible Web App Roles with Selenium
Overview Ansible is an excellent tool for deploying web apps. Ansible allows us to define web apps...
over a year ago
Overview Ansible is an excellent tool for deploying web apps. Ansible allows us to define web apps in terms of the different “roles” that compose our web app (e.g. web server, database server, application server). As our roles and the interactions between them become more...
mtlynch.io
TinyPilot: Month 1
Highlights This is my highest revenue month ever, at $9.8k across all of my projects. Tiny Pilot had...
over a year ago
Highlights This is my highest revenue month ever, at $9.8k across all of my projects. Tiny Pilot had the biggest first month of anything I’ve ever launched, at 52 sales and $8.7k in revenue. The sudden surge in customers also made it one of my highest-stress months since going...
mtlynch.io
Why I Quit Google to Work for Myself
For the past four years, I’ve worked as a software developer at Google. On February 1st, I quit. It...
over a year ago
For the past four years, I’ve worked as a software developer at Google. On February 1st, I quit. It was because they refused to buy me a Christmas present.
Well, I guess it’s a little more complicated than that.
The first two years Two years in, I loved Google.
When the annual...
mtlynch.io
Is It Keto: Month 13
Highlights I sold my first pre-order for KVM Pi. Finding new ways to monetize Is It Keto is proving...
over a year ago
Highlights I sold my first pre-order for KVM Pi. Finding new ways to monetize Is It Keto is proving more difficult than I expected. I sold an Enterprise plan for Zestful. Goal Grades At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to accomplish. Here’s how I did against those...
Max Rozen
A Guide to Commonly Used React Component Libraries
There are a *lot* of React Component libraries to choose from. This guide attempts to put them all...
over a year ago
There are a *lot* of React Component libraries to choose from. This guide attempts to put them all on one page.
Max Rozen
OnlineOrNot Diaries 14
Back to regular programming.
a year ago
Back to regular programming.
Build In Public...
Meet Turf
Imagine having a Swiss Army Knife for your community use cases
5 months ago
Imagine having a Swiss Army Knife for your community use cases
mtlynch.io
How to Do Code Reviews Like a Human (Part Two)
This is the second half of my article about how to communicate well and avoid pitfalls in code...
over a year ago
This is the second half of my article about how to communicate well and avoid pitfalls in code reviews. Here, I focus on techniques to bring your code review to a successful close while avoiding ugly conflict.
I laid the groundwork in Part One, so I recommend starting there. If...
Tony Dinh's...
Nov 2024: My first million!
$1M in annual revenue, B2B sales, SOC 2, resellers, grow team, and other updates in November 2024.
a month ago
$1M in annual revenue, B2B sales, SOC 2, resellers, grow team, and other updates in November 2024.
mtlynch.io
Hiring Content Writers: A Guide for Small Businesses
If you write original content for your business, you know how quickly it drains your time and mental...
over a year ago
If you write original content for your business, you know how quickly it drains your time and mental energy. It’s extremely challenging to write articles or blog posts that readers find engaging, clear, and eloquent.
You may have considered hiring a freelance writer, but it’s...
mtlynch.io
Eliminating Distractions from Social Media, Email, and StackOverflow
You open Gmail to write a note to your friend. Before you begin, you notice that you’ve received six...
over a year ago
You open Gmail to write a note to your friend. Before you begin, you notice that you’ve received six new messages. It pains you to leave emails unopened, so you read them immediately. Two hours later, you realize that you never wrote that note to your friend.
This happened to me...
Tony Dinh's...
Help me win the Golden Kitty Awards 2022?
(just a quick announcement...)
a year ago
(just a quick announcement...)
Max Rozen
How do you use resolve.alias in webpack?
Want to stop webpack from including multiple versions of the same package in your bundle? It only...
over a year ago
Want to stop webpack from including multiple versions of the same package in your bundle? It only takes a couple of lines of code.
High Signal
Starting a successful business at 50 - Devan shares his tips
Ever thought if 50 is too old to start your own business? Devan is proof it's not. He was 50 when he...
a year ago
Ever thought if 50 is too old to start your own business? Devan is proof it's not. He was 50 when he created his startup and at 56 years old, he has made a million-dollar business!
Can you tell us about HR Partner and your achievements?
HR Partner
👋 Hello, I'm...
The real reasons why your boss wants you back in the office
a year ago
Max Rozen
OnlineOrNot Diaries 4
On ripping out product analytics, updating the pricing page, and adding multi-region monitoring
a year ago
On ripping out product analytics, updating the pricing page, and adding multi-region monitoring
mtlynch.io
My Feedback about Hello Base
The cryptocurrency language barrier There’s an unforunate language barrier among technologists right...
2 weeks ago
The cryptocurrency language barrier There’s an unforunate language barrier among technologists right now.
Cryptocurrency enthusiasts are excited about the ecosystem and what’s going on in crypto-world right now. They’re trying to bring new people in, but they’re often so...
mtlynch.io
Is It Keto: Month 5
Highlights Is It Keto’s user visits continued to grow rapidly. Revenues increased substantially from...
over a year ago
Highlights Is It Keto’s user visits continued to grow rapidly. Revenues increased substantially from the previous month but missed targets for January. I figured out an easy and inexpensive way to attract users via Twitter. Goal Grades At the start of the month, I laid out some...
mtlynch.io
TinyPilot: Month 12
Highlights I’m struggling to get unstuck in two areas that have stalled for months: hardware...
over a year ago
Highlights I’m struggling to get unstuck in two areas that have stalled for months: hardware development and hiring. I’m partnering with a distributor in Germany to begin selling TinyPilot within the EU. Goal Grades At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to...
High Signal
Selling a website after learning to code with AI
Andrew Davison is a British founder who built and sold an app by learning to code with ChatGPT. He...
a year ago
Andrew Davison is a British founder who built and sold an app by learning to code with ChatGPT. He had a problem with exporting multiple tables from Airtable databases so he built a tool to help him automate the process. Andrew used new tools like ChatGPT and Replit to a)
mtlynch.io
What Got Done - Month 1
Highlights I launched my task journaling app, but it hasn’t attracted many users. Interviewing...
over a year ago
Highlights I launched my task journaling app, but it hasn’t attracted many users. Interviewing potential customers gave me a good idea for my next project. I earned $107 from Is It Keto and $123 from Zestful without working on either. Goal Grades Publish a minimum viable product...
Dominik Sobe's...
My experience living and working in South East Asia
a year ago
Grow With Less
A 10-Minute Guide to Finding Low Competition, High Traffic Keywords
You may have heard of unicorn keywords: low competition, high volume keywords.
Some say they are...
over a year ago
You may have heard of unicorn keywords: low competition, high volume keywords.
Some say they are extinct. Others say they are so plentiful in some niches that any blog can easily rank without backlinks.
As often, the truth lies somewhere in between.
One thing is for certain...
Build In Public...
Build In Public - Announcements Edition 🚀
Hey everyone, It’s been a while since I sent a new edition of this newsletter. There’s a good reason...
over a year ago
Hey everyone, It’s been a while since I sent a new edition of this newsletter. There’s a good reason behind my delay. Let me share what I’m up to via a string of fun announcements today. Let’s get to it. BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: I launched something fun for the larger founder ecosystem...
Val Sopi
Going steady
<p>blogstatic has been going well. Better than any other app I've ever ran. Not sure what it is....
over a year ago
<p>blogstatic has been going well. Better than any other app I've ever ran. Not sure what it is. Could be that my experience over the years has caused for me to cover all the usual pitfalls, so everything looks good to the new client: from the marketing website all the way to the...
High Signal
Making $10k a month from a French learning app
Most founders dream of making $10,000 in monthly revenue. One founder who has made that dream a...
a year ago
Most founders dream of making $10,000 in monthly revenue. One founder who has made that dream a reality is Benjamin Houy
High Signal
Making $6k MRR from a Notion website builder
Noah Bragg is the founder of Potion, a website builder based on Notion. It lets you simply publish a...
a year ago
Noah Bragg is the founder of Potion, a website builder based on Notion. It lets you simply publish a website straight from Notion without any coding skills! Noah has done a great job growing Potion to $6k MRR. I interviewed him about how he created Potion, his best marketing...
Max Rozen
OnlineOrNot Diaries 11
On building table-stakes features, and breaking through a plateau.
a year ago
On building table-stakes features, and breaking through a plateau.
mtlynch.io
How I Collected a Debt from an Unscrupulous Merchant
A few years ago, I learned a handy technique for resolving disputes with uncooperative businesses....
over a year ago
A few years ago, I learned a handy technique for resolving disputes with uncooperative businesses. It’s simple to understand and easy to implement. You don’t need lawyers or a prominent social media presence. All it requires is for you to behave like an organized professional....
Scott DeLong
My Predictions For The Future Of Content Sites (And How To Navigate Them)
With the rise of artificial intelligence and content being mostly commodotized, what's the future...
a year ago
With the rise of artificial intelligence and content being mostly commodotized, what's the future look like for websites? Let's predict it.
The post My Predictions For The Future Of Content Sites (And How To Navigate Them) appeared first on Scott DeLong.
High Signal
Black Friday 2023 deals for entrepreneurs
Here's a list of some of the best Black Friday discounts for entrepreneurs and developers. This page...
a year ago
Here's a list of some of the best Black Friday discounts for entrepreneurs and developers. This page contains affiliate links.
Courses
Grow and Monetize your Newsletter - 60% off
Monetize Your Newsletter - 60% off
Grow Your Newsletter - 60% off
WesBos - Beginner JavaScript -...
mtlynch.io
An Unexpected Reset Month
Highlights My loved ones and I are safe and healthy. WanderJest is on hiatus due to the nationwide...
over a year ago
Highlights My loved ones and I are safe and healthy. WanderJest is on hiatus due to the nationwide shutdown. I’m working on a product to help investors rebalance their portfolios. COVID-19 and me Obviously, the most relevant thing to happen in the last month has been the global...
Val Sopi
Giving blogstatic a real chance
<p>I have never really given blogstatic a real chance to succeed.</p>
<p><b>Up to now, I've said a...
over a year ago
<p>I have never really given blogstatic a real chance to succeed.</p>
<p><b>Up to now, I've said a version of any of the following.</b></p>
<ul><li>"It's a side project..."</li><li>"I did it in ~30 hours..."</li><li>"It's growing slowly without much marketing..."</li></ul>
<p>And...
Val Sopi
Work less
<p>A friend recently boasted how they're working 15 hour days. To which I replied with a concerning...
over a year ago
<p>A friend recently boasted how they're working 15 hour days. To which I replied with a concerning "Why?" and was met with a distant look.</p>
<p>My friend thought I'd metaphorically pat him on the back.</p>
<p>I didn't. No surprise there.</p>
<p>Supposedly the industry he's in...
mtlynch.io
My First Year as a Solo Developer
On February 1st, 2018, I quit my job as a software engineer at Google to start my own single-person...
over a year ago
On February 1st, 2018, I quit my job as a software engineer at Google to start my own single-person software company. It’s exactly one year later, so it feels like an apt time to reflect on how that decision affected my finances, lifestyle, and happiness.
How I made and spent...
mtlynch.io
Running NixOS on Proxmox
One of the stumbling blocks I ran into when trying out NixOS was that I couldn’t run it under...
a year ago
One of the stumbling blocks I ran into when trying out NixOS was that I couldn’t run it under Proxmox, my preferred virtual machine server.
Through some trial and error, I figured out how to install NixOS as a Proxmox container.
Download the NixOS container image First, download...
Max Rozen
2018: Reflections on trying to start an internet business
A review post on what I've done this year in terms of trying to start an Internet business
over a year ago
A review post on what I've done this year in terms of trying to start an Internet business
mtlynch.io
What Got Done - Month 2
Highlights What Got Done received 32 new user sign-ups (growth of about 5x since May) Zestful may be...
over a year ago
Highlights What Got Done received 32 new user sign-ups (growth of about 5x since May) Zestful may be rising from the dead, with four new inbound customer inquiries. Is It Keto earned $184, and Zestful earned $26, making it my highest revenue month since quitting my job. Goal...
Build In Public...
Build In Public - Community Edition (Sep 2021)
Hey everyone 👋 Let’s open this edition with a powerful quote: On that note, get ready for...
over a year ago
Hey everyone 👋 Let’s open this edition with a powerful quote: On that note, get ready for September’s round-up highlighting key launches and wins from founders, makers, and creators in the #buildinpublic community. Without further ado, let’s get rolling.
Max Rozen
Fetching Data in React with useEffect
If you're confused about side-effects and pure functions, it can be hard to understand useEffect....
over a year ago
If you're confused about side-effects and pure functions, it can be hard to understand useEffect. Let's learn them both, to fetch data with useEffect.
Max Rozen
How do you use variables in the HTML webpack outputs?
Looking to inject variables from CI into the HTML your webpack build outputs? It's relatively simple...
over a year ago
Looking to inject variables from CI into the HTML your webpack build outputs? It's relatively simple to do.
mtlynch.io
Is It Keto: Month 3
Prior to February 2019, I published all my retrospectives on Indie Hackers:
Is It Keto Month 3:...
over a year ago
Prior to February 2019, I published all my retrospectives on Indie Hackers:
Is It Keto Month 3: Returning to a Site that Grew without Me
mtlynch.io
On Migrating from Cypress to Playwright
Cypress is an open-source tool for testing web applications end-to-end. I first saw Gleb Bahmutov...
over a year ago
Cypress is an open-source tool for testing web applications end-to-end. I first saw Gleb Bahmutov demo Cypress at a 2018 web dev meetup in New York, and I was blown away.
I’ve been using Cypress since I saw it demoed at a dev meetup in 2018.
Before discovering Cypress, I had...
High Signal
Newsletter that make money in 2024
Newsletters are a great way to make money. The humble email list can be monetized through...
10 months ago
Newsletters are a great way to make money. The humble email list can be monetized through advertising or if you have a seriously big value proposition, paid subscriptions.
Most email platforms give generous free plans so you don't have to pay anything for your first 1,000-2500...
mtlynch.io
Hiring Content Writers: Part Five - Terminating Writers
Overview: Hiring Content Writers Part One: Finding Writers Part Two - Creating a Detailed Job...
over a year ago
Overview: Hiring Content Writers Part One: Finding Writers Part Two - Creating a Detailed Job Description Part Three: Screening Candidates Part Four - Working with Writers Part Five - Terminating Writers (this section) If you’ve followed this guide, you’ve hired writers on a...
mtlynch.io
How to Republish or Adapt this Content
All original writing and images on this blog are released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0...
11 months ago
All original writing and images on this blog are released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
That means you can republish the content or adapt it as long as you honor the license.
What you’re allowed to do Republish the content in any medium or...
mtlynch.io
Takeaways from Cory Zue's May 2023 Livecoding Session
My friend Cory Zue has been publishing his live coding sessions, so I decided to watch one and...
a year ago
My friend Cory Zue has been publishing his live coding sessions, so I decided to watch one and record my notes.
My background vs. Cory’s I’ve read a lot of Cory’s blog. We’re both Python developers, but he specializes in Django, whereas I’ve always worked with thinner frameworks...
Build In Public...
🚨 Announcement Alert 🚨 I'm dropping a mega Twitter resource on BUILD IN PUBLIC
Hey everyone, Some of you know my story but if I have to summarize the last 3 years in 10 bullets of...
over a year ago
Hey everyone, Some of you know my story but if I have to summarize the last 3 years in 10 bullets of inflection points, here’s how it would look like: Jan 2018, I was a nobody in startups, stuck in a dead-end corporate job due to visa challenges Oct 2018, read a book called...
mtlynch.io
Paternity Leave: Month 2
Highlights I’m finding it surprisingly difficult not to work. Sleep is getting a little better. I...
2 months ago
Highlights I’m finding it surprisingly difficult not to work. Sleep is getting a little better. I used Nix to create a slick and reusable fuzz testing workflow. Goal grades At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to accomplish. Here’s how I did against those...
Grow With Less
The 8 Best Free Blogging, SEO and Marketing Courses
Blogging is hard and the COVID-19 epidemic is not making things easier.
Luckily, several businesses...
over a year ago
Blogging is hard and the COVID-19 epidemic is not making things easier.
Luckily, several businesses have started offering their blogging, SEO or marketing courses for free to help bloggers and small business owners who are struggling because of the pandemic.
This page lists the...
mtlynch.io
Paternity Leave: Month 3
Highlights I’m finding it easier to balance my time as a new father. I moped about two of my blog...
a month ago
Highlights I’m finding it easier to balance my time as a new father. I moped about two of my blog posts doing poorly, and then they did well. I experimented with a stacked diff workflow for software development and liked it except for git’s weaknesses. Goal grades At the start of...
Val Sopi
A fresh new start: Investing in myself towards financial freedom and sharing my personal and...
<p>
<i>This is the first of many updates in the <a...
over a year ago
<p>
<i>This is the first of many updates in the <a href="https://valsopi.com/financial-freedom">Financial Freedom</a> series, where I hold myself publicly accountable for my big challenge ahead!</i>
</p>
<p>
<i><b>TLDR:</b> Towards the end of this article,...
Max Rozen
OnlineOrNot Diaries 8
Building a new feature in a couple of weeks.
a year ago
Building a new feature in a couple of weeks.
mtlynch.io
TinyPilot: Month 43
New here?
Hi, I’m Michael. I’m a software developer and the founder of TinyPilot, an independent...
10 months ago
New here?
Hi, I’m Michael. I’m a software developer and the founder of TinyPilot, an independent computer hardware company. I started the company in 2020, and it now earns $80-100k/month in revenue and employs six other people.
Every month, I publish a retrospective like this one...
Val Sopi
The Waiting Room
<p>Growing up I was always told to work hard, wait my turn, and good things will...
7 months ago
<p>Growing up I was always told to work hard, wait my turn, and good things will happen.</p><p>However, I've been the most successful when I didn't wait.</p><p>The "waiting room" is the worst place to be in. </p><p>You're at the mercy of someone else letting you...
mtlynch.io
Hiring: Freelance Blog Illustrator
I’m a blogger, and I often commission custom illustrations for my blog posts like this one:
An...
7 months ago
I’m a blogger, and I often commission custom illustrations for my blog posts like this one:
An example of an illustration I commissioned for the blog, part of my year-in-review series
The blog’s previous illustrator was the awesome Loraine Yow, who worked with me for six years....
Max Rozen
Strangers from the internet paid for my MacBook Air: on my 4th year of indiehacking
In which I finally make money from strangers off the internet.
over a year ago
In which I finally make money from strangers off the internet.
mtlynch.io
Using Nix to Fuzz Test a PDF Parser (Part Two)
This is the second half of a post about using Nix to automate a fuzz testing workflow.
At this...
2 months ago
This is the second half of a post about using Nix to automate a fuzz testing workflow.
At this point, I can run honggfuzz against pdftotext, but it takes a bit of manual effort to get things started. I promised in part one that I’d get all of the installation and fuzzing down to...
mtlynch.io
TinyPilot: Month 30
New here?
Hi, I’m Michael. I’m a software developer and the founder of TinyPilot, an independent...
a year ago
New here?
Hi, I’m Michael. I’m a software developer and the founder of TinyPilot, an independent computer hardware company. I started the company in 2020, and it now earns $60-80k/month in revenue and employs six other people.
Every month, I publish a retrospective like this one...
Max Rozen
OnlineOrNot Diaries 23
Working with big systems all day can slow you down.
a week ago
Working with big systems all day can slow you down.
Dominik Sobe's...
Early marketing efforts showing results
over a year ago
mtlynch.io
TinyPilot: Month 45
New here?
Hi, I’m Michael. I’m a software developer and the founder of TinyPilot, an independent...
8 months ago
New here?
Hi, I’m Michael. I’m a software developer and the founder of TinyPilot, an independent computer hardware company. I started the company in 2020, and it now earns $80-110k/month in revenue and employs six other people.
Every month, I publish a retrospective like this one...
Build In Public...
What's your north star while building in public? 🔭⭐️
Hey folks, Recently, I gave a workshop on “BUILDING IN PUBLIC” at On Deck and shared insights,...
over a year ago
Hey folks, Recently, I gave a workshop on “BUILDING IN PUBLIC” at On Deck and shared insights, lessons, war stories and essentially opened up all my playbooks on the topic. The talk seemed to have resonated deeply with many fellows and I was grateful and delighted. Some of them...
mtlynch.io
I'm Probably Procrastinating
Highlights A change to Zestful’s website boosted it to the front page of Google results within days....
over a year ago
Highlights A change to Zestful’s website boosted it to the front page of Google results within days. I’m going to try to make a better version of a decades’ old application for managing machine shops. I’m doing lots of coding to avoid talking to customers. Goal Grades At the...
mtlynch.io
Using Nix to Fuzz Test a PDF Parser (Part One)
Fuzz testing is a technique for automatically uncovering bugs in software. The problem is that it’s...
2 months ago
Fuzz testing is a technique for automatically uncovering bugs in software. The problem is that it’s a pain to set up. Read any fuzz testing tutorial, and the first task is an hour of building tools from source and chasing down dependencies upon dependencies.
I recently found that...
mtlynch.io
Delete the Timestamps from your Static Blog
I build this blog using Hugo, a popular static site generator.
The way Hugo works is that when I...
a month ago
I build this blog using Hugo, a popular static site generator.
The way Hugo works is that when I create a new blog post, Hugo generates a default template that looks like this:
--- title: "My New Post" date: 2024-11-16T20:33:09-04:00 --- The boilerplate for the post contains a...
mtlynch.io
The Perils of Outsourcing Your MVP
A few months ago, I had a brilliant idea for a website. Then, I had an even brillianter idea: build...
over a year ago
A few months ago, I had a brilliant idea for a website. Then, I had an even brillianter idea: build the website, but outsource all the work.
Every great website starts with an MVP: the minimum viable product. It demonstrates the idea in its simplest form to test whether anyone is...
mtlynch.io
Installing Jellyfin on TrueNAS Core
I always run into issues installing Jellyfin on TrueNAS core. I fix them, and then I forget a few...
a year ago
I always run into issues installing Jellyfin on TrueNAS core. I fix them, and then I forget a few months later, so these are just my notes to myself of how to install Jellyfin on TrueNAS core.
Instructions Install based on these...
Val Sopi
What it's like to make and launch a product, for me.
<p>I've been making Saas products since 2013. My very first product was a project management tool...
over a year ago
<p>I've been making Saas products since 2013. My very first product was a project management tool that included invoicing, time-tracking, and a plethora of other functions.</p>
<p>The idea was to be better than others at cheaper prices. Whatever "better" and "cheaper"...
mtlynch.io
Resurrecting a Dead Library: Part Two - Stabilization
In this post, I demonstrate how to retrofit automated tests onto an untested legacy library.
This is...
over a year ago
In this post, I demonstrate how to retrofit automated tests onto an untested legacy library.
This is part two of a three-part series about how I resurrected ingredient-phrase-tagger, a library that uses machine learning to parse cooking ingredients (e.g., “2 cups milk”) into...
Tony Dinh's...
April 2022: High churn, reached $6K MRR, and other updates.
Hello everyone! Welcome 150 new subscribers since my last issue. I’m glad to have you here! 👋 Here...
over a year ago
Hello everyone! Welcome 150 new subscribers since my last issue. I’m glad to have you here! 👋 Here is a quick update from me in April 2022. This should make a nice thumbnail for this page! 😁 🔻 Suffered from high churn In early April, Black Magic observed
mtlynch.io
My First Impressions of Nix
Nix is a tool for configuring software environments according to source files. I’ve been hearing...
a year ago
Nix is a tool for configuring software environments according to source files. I’ve been hearing more and more about Nix on Hacker News and Twitter. The idea of it appeals to me, so I’ve been tinkering with it over the past few weeks.
My history with infrastructure as code Ten...
Dominik Sobe's...
The journey of launching StorePreviewer PRO
over a year ago
mtlynch.io
Why does a extraneous build step make my Zig app 10x faster?
For the past few months, I’ve been curious about two technologies: the Zig programming language and...
9 months ago
For the past few months, I’ve been curious about two technologies: the Zig programming language and Ethereum cryptocurrency. To learn more about both, I’ve been using Zig to write a bytecode interpreter for the Ethereum Virtual Machine.
Zig is a great language for performance...
mtlynch.io
Is It Keto - Month 8
Highlights Is It Keto continued its streak of growth, with a 72% jump in revenue to an all-time high...
over a year ago
Highlights Is It Keto continued its streak of growth, with a 72% jump in revenue to an all-time high of $389 for August. Given that Is It Keto is doing better than any of my other projects, I decided to stop ignoring it. I finally got a high-ranking domain to link to Is It Keto,...
mtlynch.io
TinyPilot: Month 27
New here?
Hi, I’m Michael. I’m a software developer and the founder of TinyPilot, an independent...
over a year ago
New here?
Hi, I’m Michael. I’m a software developer and the founder of TinyPilot, an independent computer hardware company. I started the company in 2020, and it now earns $60-80k/month in revenue and employs six other people.
Every month, I publish a retrospective like this one...
mtlynch.io
About
Michael Lynch is a developer and blogger. He graduated from Columbia University in 2007 with a BS in...
over a year ago
Michael Lynch is a developer and blogger. He graduated from Columbia University in 2007 with a BS in Computer Science. He has worked as a software engineer at Microsoft and Google and as a security engineer at NCC Group.
Michael is available for weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, and...
mtlynch.io
What I Learned About Upwork from a Bumbling Scammer
For years, I’ve hired freelancers through a site called Upwork. The site attracts many different...
over a year ago
For years, I’ve hired freelancers through a site called Upwork. The site attracts many different professionals, so I’ve used it to find everything from cartoonists to software developers to copy editors. Some were great, some were disastrous, but none of them had ever tried to...
Val Sopi
A Successful Product Hunt Launch
<p>blogstatic's <a href="https://www.producthunt.com/products/blogstatic#blogstatic"...
5 months ago
<p>blogstatic's <a href="https://www.producthunt.com/products/blogstatic#blogstatic" target="_blank">first PH launch</a> (documented <a href="https://valsopi.com/launching-on-product-hunt">here</a>) was in December of 2022, three months after the <a...
Val Sopi
Hello world
<p>I started toying with the web circa 2000. Since then, I have always wanted to have my own space...
over a year ago
<p>I started toying with the web circa 2000. Since then, I have always wanted to have my own space where I can spit out my thoughts, unfiltered, on my very own domain.</p>
<p>I was able to start a personal blog several times, but then got sidetracked.</p>
<p>I aim to keep this...
Max Rozen
Understanding useState's initial value
If you're used to class components and setState, the useState Hook might be confusing at first....
over a year ago
If you're used to class components and setState, the useState Hook might be confusing at first. Let's learn more about it in this article.
Max Rozen
How the React Hooks ESLint plugin saved me hours debugging useEffect
useEffect is great for fetching and rendering data, but are you using it correctly? There's an...
over a year ago
useEffect is great for fetching and rendering data, but are you using it correctly? There's an eslint plugin to check!
Build In Public...
How I Built This In Public: Louis Pereira
Lessons from building AudioPen to 600+ paid users to clinching #1 on Product Hunt
a year ago
Lessons from building AudioPen to 600+ paid users to clinching #1 on Product Hunt
mtlynch.io
Hiring Content Writers: Part One - Finding Writers
Overview: Hiring Content Writers Part One: Finding Writers (this section) Part Two - Creating a...
over a year ago
Overview: Hiring Content Writers Part One: Finding Writers (this section) Part Two - Creating a Detailed Job Description Part Three: Screening Candidates Part Four - Working with Writers Part Five - Terminating Writers There are thousands of working freelance writers in the...
mtlynch.io
Massachusetts Residents Can Sue Online Merchants for Spam
Last week, I saw an interesting article on the /r/legaladvice subreddit. An e-commerce business...
2 months ago
Last week, I saw an interesting article on the /r/legaladvice subreddit. An e-commerce business owner was complaining that a customer was suing because the merchant had been sending the customer promotional emails for years that the customer never agreed to. The author deleted...
Grow With Less
9 Inspiring Examples of Successful Blogs (And How They Got There)
Looking at blog income reports from popular blogs, you could think that the only way to make money...
over a year ago
Looking at blog income reports from popular blogs, you could think that the only way to make money blogging is to blog about blogging.
Luckily, you would be mistaken.
The reality is that there are successful blogs in all kinds of niches. You simply hear more about the make money...
👋 Hello, I'm...
The dead horse framework: How to evaluate the potential of a startup.
a year ago
Max Rozen
Understanding your webpack config
webpack is a complicated beast. The more you get to know it though, the better it can serve you.
over a year ago
webpack is a complicated beast. The more you get to know it though, the better it can serve you.
mtlynch.io
Hiring Content Writers: Part Four - Working with Writers
Overview: Hiring Content Writers Part One: Finding Writers Part Two - Creating a Detailed Job...
over a year ago
Overview: Hiring Content Writers Part One: Finding Writers Part Two - Creating a Detailed Job Description Part Three: Screening Candidates Part Four - Working with Writers (this section) Part Five - Terminating Writers You can’t judge a writer’s skill accurately until they...
Max Rozen
OnlineOrNot Diaries 15
Heading back into the arena. We are so back.
a year ago
Heading back into the arena. We are so back.
Max Rozen
Why you should use functional components + Hooks over class components in React
If you find yourself asking whether to use functional components with Hooks over class components,...
over a year ago
If you find yourself asking whether to use functional components with Hooks over class components, you'll find a lot of outdated information out there. Let's settle this once and for all in this article.
mtlynch.io
The Making of Prince of Persia by Jordan Mechner
This book follows the author of the hit 90s computer game Prince of Persia through the game’s...
over a year ago
This book follows the author of the hit 90s computer game Prince of Persia through the game’s development, release, and several years after. The book consists of diary entries that author Jordan Mechner wrote during that time, with margin notes and accompanying photos and...
Build In Public...
How I Built This In Public: Peter Mick
Lessons from building and growing Copylime to 6 figures all in public
a year ago
Lessons from building and growing Copylime to 6 figures all in public
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