Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation: 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟧⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 44% https://t.co/1Mv0Of2Q...
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟧⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 44% https://t.co/1Mv0Of2Q68
This one was too fast I missed the 43% screenshot 😭
A guide to escape the 9-5 and build a life you love
Tweet Threads
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟧⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 44% https://t.co/1Mv0Of2Q68
This one was too fast I missed the 43% screenshot 😭
You can turn the same product into:
– A SaaS – A free tool – A course – A newsletter – A chrome extension
Same backend. Different packaging. Infinite revenue opportunities.
Whoever created this deserves a raise. https://t.co/YSYzBUm9Om
I'm wearing a glucose monitor (CGM) for the next 2 months.
Blood tests done with a lab only show the fasting glucose level, but glycemic variability is also important. That's how much and how fast your blood sugar rises and falls after eating.
Healthy = light spikes, quick return to baseline.
The CGM is from @UltrahumanHQ (not sponsored)
I started wearing it this morning, and it shows my glucose level in real time https://t.co/s7Sg4685WT
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟧⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 42% https://t.co/nnvTwIZI1D
I'm rolling out a few more security updates to DataFast.
Now it prevents profane emails, checks against blacklisted mailing lists, and blocks when using 3+ aliases (important!). https://t.co/h2ibDslAHD
I removed the profanity filter because it might block some legit users from signing up.
Thanks for pointing this out everyone ❤️
14 days left
This will show up in your /billing soon https://t.co/a8oFNYv1o0
My little SaaS crossed a new milestone:
✅ $10,000/month https://t.co/isL7hE3D82
I documented the road to $5K MRR here: https://newsletter.marclou.com/p/how-i-grew-my-saas-to-5k-mrr
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟧⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 41% https://t.co/bcsrlVScCu
I can't code.
@stripe has rate-limited my account in test mode.
Please Stripe 🥹 https://t.co/hYumDchXpI
@stripe So Stripe Test Mode limits to 20 subscription updates per day.
That's way too low for testing my subscription flow 😭 https://t.co/lW2hNKvR3b
@stripe Wait a minute... It just worked because I removed the subscription for the user and created a new one.
Problem solved, leaving this thread if anyone encounters the same issue:
Stripe Test Mode limits to 20 subscription updates per day (i.e. upgrade plan tier, downgrade plan type etc...). If you get rate-limited, delete the sub and start over.
Sorry, but I don't have the time to go through your 10-step onboarding process or read the 47-page documentation.
Just show me the juice.
— 90% of your lost users
I'll get fired for this:
1. Sign up for a 14-day free trial on DataFast 2. Make a screenshot/video of the map 3. Use it to go viral on TikTok/IG/Reddit 4. Get free traffic 5. Cancel free trial 6. Never pay a cent
Don't tell my boss, please. https://t.co/uu3eUpldCA
How can banks let users dispute these payments?
1. Customer starts a no-credit-card 14-day free trial 2. Customer uses and pays for the product for 7 months 3. But suddenly decides to dispute all recent payments?
As a business owner, I can waste my time countering the dispute with a 90% failure rate, or accept that someone robbed me and move on.
And I've lost $42.
Luckily, my little startup ByeDispute caught the first dispute and instantly refunded the previous payment; otherwise, I'd have to deal with 2 disputes.
And no, the customer didn't reach out or forgot to cancel.
They stored 20,000+ records in my database.
A regular day when I had $0 in the bank
vs.
A regular day with a 20-year retirement in the bank https://t.co/mPdF8ISWi9
I built a system that finds the tweet that made you money.
1. Someone clicks a link on your post 2. Browses the landing page, bounces (a few days later...) 3. Googles your brand name 4. Visits the landing page, makes a purchase
→ DataFast shows the exact 𝕏 post URL that brought traffic and revenue, instead of a useless t(dot)co link.
KGB would be jealous.
The feature is available with the new 𝕏 Integration for http://DataFa.st:
1. Go to your site settings 2. Integrations Tab > 𝕏 > pick a plan (wait a few hours...) 3. Useless t(dot)co URLs are now actual tweets URLs 🤗
I've never seen this sticker in Asia.
Now I'm in France, and I see a bunch of them. https://t.co/vT2NxGO3EM
It's Sunday. It's OK to build useless features. https://t.co/aaqV0y4Cdl
"let's not overeat tomorrow"
tomorrow: https://t.co/qZJFyIcMag
How long it took to grow my SaaS to...
- $1K MRR → 131 days - $2K MRR → 78 days - $3K MRR → 63 days - $4K MRR → 36 days - $5K MRR → 27 days - $6K MRR → 24 days - $7K MRR → 10 days - $8K MRR → 9 days
Don't you dare give up. https://t.co/kZHPVj6j3l
I have documented the journey from 0 to $5K MRR here:
https://newsletter.marclou.com/p/how-i-grew-my-saas-to-5k-mrr
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 40% https://t.co/hQ0sBkhbZs
I don't know how to answer this, so I let my users do the talking. https://t.co/JYqNtiI7Hl
My little SaaS crossed a new milestone:
✅ $1,000/day https://t.co/37HaQ9ykBD
This new feature is slowly replacing my 𝕏 feed https://t.co/5qEXcPXVp7
A boring B2B business + cold emails.
Building an audience is sexy, but it takes years to compound.
With cold emails, you could literally have a Stripe notification in 1 hour, and you don't even need to build the product.
That's what I did in 2018: https://newsletter.marclou.com/p/my-first-dollar-online
My SaaS revenue hasn't taken over yet, but it's close 🤌 https://t.co/k79Smz396r
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
🟩🟩🟩🟧⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 39% https://t.co/AbU2JkX9q8
I'm trying to cook @Shopify please 😭 https://t.co/AHymyNUZ7h
Shopify customer support 10/10 https://t.co/uk9e8RiBZs
4 new colors landed in your startup dashboard 🎨✨ https://t.co/vYZDMBvTR3
1. Go to your site settings in http://DataFa.st 2. "General" tab > "Color scheme" 3. 🦄
i can't match clothes tho https://t.co/Opr8F1iEgm
Don't learn, build.
You want market feedback ASAP.
All you need is a landing page and a buy button.
You can learn as you get traction, or hire someone to help.
But your startup idea needs validation first.
Learning won't teach you that, shipping will.
I finally finished this encyclopedia (600+ pages).
Damn, I feel small. https://t.co/BW4xUZRYlt
POV you showed up when no one was watching https://t.co/5tvTP3Xu6m
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
🟩🟩🟩🟧⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 38% https://t.co/uJJ2hycIDJ
😖😭😤 viBe CoDing doeSN't WoRK 😡😤😭
Albert went from 0 to $106,000 MRR in 6 months with a vibe-coded SaaS.
Last December, he took CodeFast to learn the basics of coding, hacked together an MVP with ShipFast, and got his first customer posting in Skool groups.
He then went all-in on marketing: •Grew an Insta account to 200k followers in months •Built a free Skool community to 95k members •Repeated one viral format over and over
By February he had paying customers. By April he hired devs. By July his SaaS does $100k+ MRR.
Yes you can vibe code a profitable startup. Yes you need to double down on marketing. Yes you can change your entire life in a year.
I just shipped a boring, but necessary feature to DataFast:
🛡️ Attack mode
If your website is under attack, turn it on. It applies stricter validation rules to make it harder for spammers to pollute your analytics.
And if you're regularly targeted, you can turn it on automatically when DataFast detects a viral spike.
I just added this to my SaaS landing page
Conversion rate goes brrrrr https://t.co/5hS78rfIFp
I would be in jail if my prompts were public
lowest churn on my SaaS so far https://t.co/KNC5dygfzz
every freaking day https://t.co/uqIpEaRgHr
even AI makes better UI https://t.co/L8hItg9Lzx
It took a year to convince 500 people to let me charge their credit cards at the end of the month 🤗 https://t.co/YOS5t0xV1u
(thank you ❤️)
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
🟩🟩🟩🟧⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 37% https://t.co/D4lZCQNhXg
I lost $75,000 because I didn't go all in.
SP500 is up ~15% YTD.
I still have $500K cash (investing at $15K/week).
That would be $75,000 had I invested everything earlier this year.
"You don't really win or lose until you stop playing"
I know.
I created my own VC fund with all my websites.
Each startup promotes and finances the next one. https://t.co/s2xRGygEkX
PoopUp is the alpha but no one knows, yet.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Claude Sonnet 4.5 one-shotted this.
We're cooked 🥹 https://t.co/Lp2l77TuFn
So I guess it's available for all DataFast users now:
1. Go to your site settings in http://DataFa.st?ref=sch 2. "General" tab > "Color scheme" 3. 📷
I was reading this tweet with my morning coffee and thought it could be a fun feature to give claude 4.5
Tbh, I thought it would never make it to prod because it's harder than it seems.
For instance, components like this have tons of if/else + gradient effect on hover/click + light/dark mode.
But claude did an awesome first shot, I just tweaked a few minor things, and improved the color picker UI.
Less than an hour later, it was in prod.
Thanks AI Thanks @shraddhac92
Dark mode too, because today is Sunday, right? https://t.co/vfMH1OrReh
@nico_jeannen the green one is for you
I just finished the 6 mini book series by @alexwestco and it’s awesome.
He brings you to his startup journey, and go personal in every stage: from shouting in the void for 2 years, to désillusion, to finally making it.
It’s raw and honest. It feels like you’re with him. Much better than most biographies made to be published.
The books are free. Go read them!
The books: https://www.alexwest.co/books
Thanks for writing them Alex. I feel like we’re friends even we haven’t met 😁
What have we done? 🥹 https://t.co/VzOyR6PCcT
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
🟩🟩🟩🟧⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 36% https://t.co/rqAQFp7k11
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I've been a loser most of my life.
As a kid, I was constantly fighting with my mom. She wanted me to have good grades, but I hated school, and school hated me.
As a teenager, I didn't grow up. I was 155cm and super skinny when all the other guys were 180cm. I became an easy target, and I had to stop playing sports.
As a uni student, I lost the remaining bits of self-confidence. I had no role model, no idea what to do. So I became the guy who drinks the most and plays World of Warcraft the hardest.
As an entrepreneur, the first five years were painful. I kept failing, I cried, I lost my friends who followed the traditional path, and I felt completely misunderstood by everyone (my parents still don't really understand what I do).
The wind only started blowing in the right direction after 28 years because I showed up.
- I've built 30 startups when no one was looking. - I've worked out 300 days a year for three years before getting ripped. - I kept believing, even though I was hopeless.
If you want something hard enough, don't give up because it's just about putting in enough reps.
2021
I spend one month building a Shopify store to help men not dribble when they go to the toilets.
Obviously, I get 0 customers when I launch.
So I print stickers and put them in public toilets in Paris.
Obviously, no one buys.
Three months later, I decide to close the shop. Another failure.
A few months later, I burn out, cry, and punch my bedroom wall.
Everything you see online is the tip of a 10-year iceberg of failures.
🪦 R.I.P. old-school analytics 🪦
I added a GitHub integration to @DataFast_ so I can see commits in my analytics dashboard.
That way, I can link product updates to results (and realize I'm addicted to building features nobody asked for).
It's free and available now! https://t.co/Rtrh49j6pX
To get started:
1. Go to your site settings 2. Select the Integrations tab 3. Connect DataFast GitHub App 4. Pick your working repo
You'll see all commits on your main analytics dashboard 🎉
PS. You can filter them, like "feat:" https://t.co/T5lRowL2qF
How it started:
@DataFast_ How it also started:
https://x.com/Robert_Watkin_/status/1966484463589728347?t=1hr6c5HratxcyCdtv9fy7A&s=19
24 hours later:
3,000+ commits synced https://t.co/vPmrukTcMG
let me work 😭😭😭 https://t.co/a0onzRz76q
Claude sonnet 4.5 debugs with console log instead of brute forcing random guesses like Claude 4.
Like it was meant to be. https://t.co/EwH1UjqI9c
ps i dont know if it's official, maybe i just got lucky
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
🟩🟩🟩🟧⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 35% https://t.co/t87ccUIXMZ
i missed the 34% mark 😭😭😭
🥹 https://t.co/QHUkbBjD1G
Pretty soon I’ll need parental consent to use @WHOOP https://t.co/zwiuPwZr4Q
It's not analytics anymore.
It's a communication channel 😂 https://t.co/6ihVDwMXHh
git push https://t.co/ejNshxIWXX
I made $41,383 in September 2025.
🧑💻 CodeFast — $15.4K ⚡️ ShipFast — $14.1K 📈 DataFast — $8.5K 🐥 Twitter — $1.3K 🍜 Indie Page — $785 🧬 BioAge — $490 💨 Zenvoice — $236 🎞️ YouTube — $132 🚀 LaunchViral — $129 🌱 HabitsGarden — $118 🛡️ ByeDispute — $117 📚 WorkbookPDF — $57 💩 PoopUp — $19
HOLD ON POOPUP, HOLD ON!
I also made $24K from my boring investment.
(not directly startup revenue, but reinvesting profits into SP500) https://t.co/rYw4lGs5Hm
I've created a monster...
My web analytics now scans 𝕏 for mentions of my startup.
Whenever someone tweets a keyword I track, like “DataFast”, the post appears directly on top of my traffic and revenue charts.
Boring analytics are dead 💀
(this tweet will literally show up on top of my own revenue chart)
Just like the rest of the app, pricing goes up on October 31st.
For now, it starts at $9/mo (depends on your monthly pageviews)
I priced this new feature as low as I could because 𝕏 API is a joke.
To get started: 1. Go to http://DataFa.st 2. Hover the visitor line and click the 📝 icon 3. Select the Mentions tab and start a subscription 4. Wait a few hours 5. 🎉
Big thanks to @chrissyinspace @illyism @karakhanyanS, and a few other beta testers who made this feature possible ❤️
@chrissyinspace @illyism @karakhanyanS https://t.co/vpw2gJSPzM
today:
- woke up 7am (2hr REM | 2hr deep) - nuts & berries breakfast - ran 12km - built new feature for my SaaS - lunch w/ wife - built more features - customer support - dinner w/ wife at 4:30pm - sunset w/ wife
about to watch a TV show before sleeping at 10pm and restarting the same day tomorrow.
try 5g creatine per day
Since my wife and I started following @bryan_johnson’s Blueprint, our AST levels have climbed to critical range.
AST is a liver enzyme that shows how healthy liver and muscle cells are. It rises when cells are stressed or damaged, usually from alcohol, excess supplements, or intense exercise.
We work out daily (but not intensely). We don’t drink. We eat clean.
That leaves supplements as the likely cause. We’ve switched to taking them every other day and will retest in two months.
Still can’t figure out how Bryan keeps his AST at 13 U/L (top 5%) with all the supplements he takes.
Supplement stack:
Our diet:
I touched some grass today https://t.co/N6R07tpE8D
I’m reading the 6 mini book series by @alexwestco
It’s excellent
Go read it
It’s fee
It's Sunday. It's OK to build a useless glowing effect. https://t.co/1QFxnQCqaP
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
🟩🟩🟩🟧⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 33% https://t.co/YexshgSJsS
Today, we’re thrilled to announce the future of funnels.
Introducing Wildcard Path Matching in @DataFast_ — a groundbreaking technology enabling infinite scalability of customer journeys.
(me pretending my little SaaS is a VC startup) https://t.co/2870JWEZNG
Thanks for the idea btw @chrissyinspace 🙌
I started taking shrooms 🍄🟫 https://t.co/Md5H2zdpmN
It's good but will never replace my morning latte
- i’m crap - i’m crap - i’m crap - i’m crap - i’m crap
*shipping a startup*
- i’m awesome 😇
I’ll make your startup analytics feel like a game you can’t stop playing.
This beta feature for DataFast is more expensive than I thought 🥲 https://t.co/BvlhURNUho
releasing the feature for public access from next week
until then, you can get beta access through your dashboard
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
🟩🟩🟩🟧⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 32% https://t.co/C0Mf3mT8a6
You're one bet away from changing your life.
Don't give up.
I made Google search keywords available directly in your DataFast dashboard.
❌ No need to add Google as a filter anymore
It was confusing and poor UI/UX. https://t.co/Ful9K7QSPO
I had to count every pixel on the source card header 🔎🐜 to make this 4th tab possible https://t.co/tYLufQ9UZN
What happened to cocoa powder @bryan_johnson? 😭😭😭 https://t.co/G2fX7KHGCa
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
🟩🟩🟩🟧⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 31% https://t.co/excb6oQe8i
finally testing this for the first time tonight https://t.co/NI7fpfh5G5
I forgot the screen record, but @eightsleep app onboarding is one of the best I've seen https://t.co/3CkZOWPaBf
I was curious what people search on Google before buying my product so I've built this feature 🌟
1. See a visitor's journey for <goal> (payment, signup) 2. Show top 3 keywords for entry path when referrer is Google
This is possible with Google Search Console integration. They don't give developers enough data to match the exact keyword to a click but with the path matching and a bit of math, I can at least show a probability.
Available now for all @DataFast_ users!
DataFast prices double on October 31.
Over the last year, I’ve added tons of features and made it one of the most affordable analytics tools compared to similar products, with plenty more on the way.
But DataFast only exists because of its early users. So everyone who subscribed before October 31 will be grandfathered into today’s price, for as long as they keep their subscription active.
Thank you to the 600+ customers who believed in this product early and shared feedback, it wouldn’t exist without you ❤️
A recap of what I've shipped since birth: https://datafa.st/changelog
when this is done, datafast will finally be out of beta (after 1 year 😂) and ready for the official launch https://t.co/2YWd5lqmfO
wow 🤯 https://t.co/PNSCyn3h5x
During the first 6 months shouting into the void, I remember looking at the ocean while talking with my surf friend Jean:
“Maybe I should just give up?”
I don’t remember how the conversation ended, but I went home with a strong feeling it was the end of my entrepreneurship journey.
The next day I didn’t think much and followed my usual routine: workout, build, tweet.
It was probably March 2022. Until now, I’ve been repeating the same day over and over.
I’m glad I didn’t give up.
You can launch the same startup 10 times.
Change its name, change the headline, target different customers, advertise different features, new pricing, swap your landing page.
1 product → 10 launches → repeat until it hits.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
It's because of them that your analytics are fast ⚡️
@tinybirdco* allows dumb engineers like me to serve enterprise-grade speed analytics to my customers, so thanks to the cracked team behind the product ❤️
*This is not a sponsored post, and I pay for analytics like everyone else. I just love what they built.
They sent me way too many clothes, and I don't really wear them anyway, so I gifted them to my family 😁
Actually, this tweet was written 12 hours before they decided to waive some overage fees on my account 😅
This wouldn't have changed anything from what I said above. And I still pay for the database!
I just want to be 100% transparent. https://t.co/9uao24pg3D
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
🟩🟩🟩⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 30% https://t.co/oH41SpOtXi
How I've been coding over the years:
2017 → JavaScript ... 2022 → JavaScript 2023 → JavaScript 2024 → JavaScript 2025 → English https://t.co/2WkdLssGyQ
I'm having too much fun watching the pie chart update 🥹
But let's be serious.
New in DataFast → clicking on the main chart will zoom in on the period. https://t.co/ET4If0XhKx
📚 The Roadmap → https://codefa.st/roadmap
This guy literally dropped a 3-hour masterclass on building an AI startup from scratch 🤯 https://t.co/fOhsLDSEJa
I moved the startup office back to the motherland in France 🇫🇷
The next 3 months will be dedicated to the great lock-in of Sep<>Dec:
🧑💻 pushing my SaaS to $10k MRR and launching a new project 🥦 99% of healthy food and a blood test in October 🌊 1 hour daily workout (surf, run, lift, repeat)
It's time to lock TF in 🙃
It's Sunday. It's OK to build useless features. https://t.co/ZNyAC9fsXx
btw i'm using this component: https://number-flow.barvian.me/
I visited the Trump Gold Card website and went for lunch.
When I came back, it had downloaded 3.5Gb of data.
The site is nice, though. https://t.co/EHsvxvgPuf
If he launches that, you probably don't need 100% SEO lighthouse score
I’m having nightmares tonight @Apple https://t.co/IBFGpnkmLV
There's a special place in hell for people who buy .com and ship this. https://t.co/smsiinqKji
I think I've been shipping a little too much https://t.co/YKe2608Edl
Each day starts with a fork: dream it, or ship it.
Success is nothing more than repeating the right choice.
AI is now sending 200 visitors per month to ShipFast
(last 30 days) https://t.co/zwlGuiU1Y5
inspiration
My SaaS conversion rate almost doubled in 14 days 🤯
Everything I did:
- Interactive demo in hero section - New headline (written by @DanKulkov) - Add "no card required" below every CTA - No "signup" but instead "add your site" with form input
Before: > 2.4% of visitors created a website
After: > 4.0% of visitors created a website
I track important changes in my startups with the new Notes feature on @DataFast_ https://t.co/USQpyXxJCN
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
🟩🟩🟧⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 29% https://t.co/vy7rA5Vcvz
Sorry Malaysia Airlines but my real-time map is better than yours https://t.co/s4FtYpjUZg
This stupid ad made $10,000+.
One night, @nico_jeannen sent me a French Instagram ad for a Chinese restaurant.
It was fun and simple. So I remade the exact ad and just plugged my product. It took me 30 minutes. Cost $0.
That ad went on to generate 54 sales (~$220 per sale), with a 4:1 return on ad spend.
Watch more ads. Steal the structure. Make it yours.
@nico_jeannen Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I just bought my 38th domain 🥹 https://t.co/jE13AN6ax8
For now, it redirects to datafa(dot)st with ?ref=dotio for internal tracking.
I want the .io to become the main domain, but that's a bit of a pain because hundreds of domains are pointing to the .st, and I'm not yet sure how a redirect would impact analytics.
Would love to hear your thoughts.
My startups that made $1,000+ (✅) and that didn't (❌)
❌ TinderForSport ❌ PricePredictor ✅ VirallyBot ✅ GameWidget ❌ GoldenPlumber ❌ Mood2Movie ✅ Habits Garden ❌ Books Calculator ❌ 50 Hacks ❌ Hero Fit ✅ Fake It Till You Make It ❌ Visualize Habit ❌ Decision Game ❌ Buddy Crush ❌ Naval 25 ✅ LaunchViral ❌ Gamify List ✅ Indie Page ✅ WorkbookPDF ✅ MakeLanding ✅ ShipFast ✅ ByeDispute ❌ Insighto ✅ LogoFast ✅ Zenvoice ✅ PoopUp ✅ DataFast ✅ CodeFast ✅ BioAge
Just ship it.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
1 year of work in 1 photo https://t.co/MehlZdxiB1
Btw this is what had the most impact on growth so far: https://newsletter.marclou.com/p/onboarding-is-killing-your-saas
startup launch video incoming 🎥 https://t.co/xdVP1iVCwH
A clue https://t.co/y1MlbGrpcD
clipping https://t.co/EtNorUfUsm
Shipping is the most powerful drug in existence
I just shipped this to @DataFast_ https://t.co/KVJqLXmx4h
I basically work for him
founder mode is airplane mode
It's Sunday. It's OK to build useless features. https://t.co/ywGBXrINxV
Previous design.
If this doesn't skyrocket the conversion rate, I don't know what will. https://t.co/vRSiicO8xv
Try this:
+ Throw out every unhealthy snack in your house. + Delete Uber Eats. + Don’t eat out. + Set a bedtime alarm (yes, even on weekends). + Turn off your phone before bed. + Don’t turn it back on before midday the next day. + Wake up. Look in the mirror. Smile big and say: “Today is going to be freaking awesome.” + Move your body for 30 minutes (run, gym, home workout, doesn’t matter). + Walk 10K steps a day. Bonus: 3K right after eating.
The first 3 days will suck. The next 30 years won't.
The great lock-in of September-December has started https://t.co/kfcTbY1Jtq
Nobody talks about this, so maybe I'm just weird, but here we go:
I dream about my apps at night.
I see myself tweaking a button's drop shadow, adding more border radius etc. I come up with features that end up in prod the next day. This usually happens when I spend a few days focusing on a single product.
It's not really a dream because I'm partially awake (although my wearable says otherwise). It's a weird state between conscious and unconscious.
It started 4 years ago when I started building tiny startups on the internet.
Ok so we’re all weird, nice 😇
I added a startup diary to your analytics 📝
Log anything from pricing updates, redesign, new features, etc.
Available now to all users, for free ❤️ https://t.co/2UDJtveIpU
How it started:
The launch video is a copycat of OG @robj3d3 🫣
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
✅ 28% completed https://t.co/vOMTkvZxKg
"It's just a website." https://t.co/XFDfFfdwwc
🚨 BREAKING: Google traffic finally makes sense.
@DataFast_ now filters search keywords by /path.
See which pages actually bring in the buyers 😁🤑 https://t.co/8RhqhdTXCY
banned from X algo for using all caps
I just added my favorite boiler rooms to my web analytics SaaS.
Prevents burnout from overexposure to "you're absolutely right!" https://t.co/2rw8FNkxH8
vibing https://t.co/UZWo56yksK
ultra vibing https://t.co/rVJ3cZFdNG
Drop your favorite hard techno playlist below please.
I'm adding a new radio station to DataFast for when AI says "you're absolutely right!".
(must be a YouTube link) https://t.co/LEl4sEqTly
@robj3d3 help a brother out
WAIT A MINUTE
YouTube is not returning 404, that means... https://t.co/5HBvY7AW5c
Even my granda could complete my startup's onboarding flow.
- 1 page = 1 step - Each step is documented - Every other feature is invisible
Complex onboarding is killing your SaaS. All paths should lead to the aha moment, that's it. https://t.co/sq7yhPaoBy
Scroll depth funnels showed me 70% of visitors never even saw my pricing.
Huge insight. But setting it up sucked.
So I've shipped a new feature to @DataFast_ to make it dead simple:
1. Use HTML attribute "data-fast-scroll=view_pricing" 2. DataFast automatically detects when visitors reach 50% of that <div> and creates a custom goal.
No JavaScript.
And you can customize the threshold (how much of the container should be visible before firing an event) with data-fast-scroll-threshold="0.3"
- 0 → visitor saw the tip of the container - 1 → visitor saw all the container's content
Full doc: https://datafa.st/docs/scroll-tracking
I wish I had the confidence to charge $3,000/year and forbid my customers from removing branding. https://t.co/TULqw0QXNe
I just shipped this chart to DataFast.
📊 Group traffic source by channels 💰 Group revenue source by channels https://t.co/mXhVpXoNI1
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
✅ 27% completed https://t.co/gJhBPjCU8r
You don’t need new features. You need a new headline.
80% of people don’t scroll.
I launched my SaaS a year ago.
The first months were rough. Churn was 33%. It took me 124 days to reach the first $1K MRR.
Today, it's at $5K+ MRR, growing 22% MoM, and churn at 8.99%.
I’ve learned 6 lessons along the way. I’ll share them in my newsletter this Saturday. Use the link below to get it.
Make sure to reply to the welcome email so the issue doesn't end up in your spam: https://newsletter.marclou.com/
I've been drinking from 17yo to 23yo:
Let's be conservative and say 1 party per week with moderate alcohol consumption:
- 1,560 hours partying (65 days) - 936 hours hangover (39 days) - 312 liters of beer/wine equivalent - ∞ health complication (sleep, liver, brain, etc)
Yes, I met my wife thanks to alcohol.
But what if I spent my time going to the gym instead? Or forcing myself to talk to a random stranger? Or just socializing during the day?
If I were single again, I'd never date with alcohol involved.
Instead, I'd live the same life as I do right now, but outside my home, like working in a coworking space, working out at the gym, and trying to always talk to a new person every day.
That’s 0.3% hit rate
My startup hit rate is 6%
Guess what's my next startup? https://t.co/8oeSqYKKC1
customers only want one thing and it’s disgusting https://t.co/0vmosaCg8H
Looking at the replies, seems like the screenshot was confusing, so here we go again:
---
customers only want one thing and it’s disgusting https://t.co/JiVeNrL4UC
It's Sunday. It's OK to build useless features. https://t.co/fMV44fFU6h
8 years ago today, I was dead drunk in a club in South Korea.
My life was a chaos. I was smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, my diet was 7/11 food, and sleep was not even a side quest. I had failed two startups and had zero self-confidence.
That night, I met my wife.
The past 8 years have been the happiest of my life.
Rock bottom is just the preface.
The most valuable skill I've learned is disconnecting input from output.
It works for literally anything.
- Gym - Diet - Skills - Business - Investment
Do. Repeat. Wait.
Willpower is a cheat code.
My happiness 10x since I added this little "new feature" pop-up.
Every week or two, I summarize all the updates I pushed so users can see them. I record a video of me presenting the features.
It makes me want to ship faster & more often 🤩 https://t.co/C1NMxGNKgz
I’m back at the startup office in Bali ☀️🌴
On the list:
💪 Daily gym or surf 📈 Launch DataFast 🧬 Big update on BioAge 🤫 Launch new little app
I’ll repeat the same day over and over until everything is cooked. https://t.co/taH9CieJhp
Btw I train everyday at Fitness Plus ungasan at 7 am
Hit me up if you’re around!
hallelujah https://t.co/cCBhCk8yfs
I just added a new biomarker to BioAge:
🫀 VO₂ max = how much oxygen your body can use when you push at max effort.
Higher VO₂ max → your heart, lungs, and muscles can handle more work → better endurance.
It’s a key biomarker for longevity. https://t.co/hSG4h8Id3x
https://t.co/CXqoyaaw5z
My SaaS crossed 400 paying customers.
That’s a full Boeing 737 of people who actually want me to charge their credit card every month 😁
Churn is at 9.07% currently.
I have no plan but to ship relentlessly. https://t.co/sTnPuYUHUp
Do I know anyone working at @WHOOP?
My developer app has been in review for 6 months. I requested approval 3 times, contacted support, and I'm still stuck...
Meanwhile, I have customers of my SaaS waiting to connect their WHOOP band (unapproved app allows only 10 connections).
Help please 😭
The real client ID — 896734857345-3f79-f62d5234a9a61f — if you want to check it out.
5 years ago I married a beautiful creature from the other side of the planet.
These have been the best years of my life.
Explore. https://t.co/dBtjR9UGNL
It was also the last time I wore a shirt
I just added a daily sugar intake to BioAge 🧬 so my monkey brain sees when he fucks up. https://t.co/B2jnNYgmDu
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
✅ 26% completed https://t.co/p7LM5xWcBj
My productivity ends where the scroll begins.
My SaaS a year ago: > localhost:3000
My SaaS today: > 100M requests per month
Don't give up 💪 https://t.co/IVbXPNp7bf
- Focus on people/problems you care - Ship tiny solutions fast - Don’t quit
Given 3 years and 30 bets, the chance of success is pretty high, I think.
Wow this is so nice!
New onboarding for my little SaaS, thanks Jesse 🤩 https://t.co/0JiOXHC4qO
it follows you on the singup page! https://t.co/GWzhnOXJgN
Cursor showing us how to build a startup https://t.co/e3TxXuDVe7
I think adding a CTA would help with more conversions.
I just shipped a stupid simple way to track goals on @DataFast_
✍️ Add "data-fast-goal" attribute to any HTML element 🖲️ Auto-register a custom goal when the visitor clicks
I use this on my startups to know when people initiate a checkout and click the FAQ sections.
(FAQ click tracking helps me know what people are curious about, so I can rewrite the landing page copy)
You can pass custom parameters to the goal you're tracking with 👉 data-fast-goal-*
And see the values in customer Journeys https://t.co/u6f2qqAqsv
I added these features to my SaaS in the last 90 days:
💸 Funnels 🟠 Activity grid 🕵️♂️ IP exclusion 🔁 Refresh data 🫷 Queue script ⏭️ Date hopping 🔎 Filter by goals 🐾 Path exclusion ✍️ Goal parameters 🕸️ 12 proxy tutorials 🔗 Support for Polar 📋 Billing breakdown 💄 Countless redesigns 💱 Currency conversion 🪄 Post-journey completion 🔗 Support for LemonSqueezy 🤖 SEO integration with Google ⚡️ 10x faster analytics with TinyBird 📚 2 revenue attribution methods for Stripe
Ship fast or die trying.
*yeah it's a repost, i wanted to see if the algo behaves differently with/without links 😁
don't include links in your posts https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1962534447137620229
Cursor updates make me feel like it's Christmas every day https://t.co/XYV8xG2Fvo
I added these features to http://DataFa.st in the last 3 months:
💸 Funnels 🟠 Activity grid 🕵️♂️ IP exclusion 🔁 Refresh data 🫷 Queue script ⏭️ Date hopping 🔎 Filter by goals 🐾 Path exclusion ✍️ Goal parameters 🕸️ 12 proxy tutorials 🔗 Support for Polar 📋 Billing breakdown 💄 Countless redesigns 💱 Currency conversion 🪄 Post-journey completion 🔗 Support for LemonSqueezy 🤖 SEO integration with Google ⚡️ 10x faster analytics with TinyBird 📚 2 revenue attribution methods for Stripe
Ship fast or die trying.
All the changelogs → https://datafa.st/changelog
And of course, I wouldn't be able to ship fast without my guy @iwahabshaikh handling the backend 🥰
🎂 ShipFast is 2 years old 🎂 https://t.co/2yEZEsaHBO
Thank you, Steve https://t.co/CJhaENrVG3
nostalgia tear dropped 🥹 https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1697165875957449084
Everything I did, and why:
1. New headline ✨
This is where 80% of visitors drop off.
I asked everyone what their favorite DataFast feature and they said "revenue attribution".
Plus, the #1 question people keep asking me is "how is it different from <analytic_tool_abc>?"
So let it be. Now the headline and the subheadline explain DataFast's value proposition.
2. Onboar... 🧵👇
2. Onboarding ✍️
Nobody likes to give away their emails.
So instead, visitors can directly add their websites from the landing page, even before signing up.
That way, they've completed 30% of the steps to get to the AHAH moment. They achieved something. So hopefully they're more likely to sign up.
4. Target customer pivoting 🙋
No more "startup" No more "founder"
A lot of recent signups are outside tech Twitter.
"Grow your startup" makes no sense for a womenpreneur selling a nail polishing course on YouTube.
So now DataFast is not just for founders, but online businesses.
3. Interactive demo 🕹️
No more external links to try the analytics demo.
I added an iframe of a real dashboard in the hero section. Visitors can play with it, discover every feature, like it's their own dashboard.
(desktop only) https://t.co/fx9jUunDQj
5. More CTA 🖱️
I noticed there were only 2 CTA (signup) on the landing page.
If a visitor missed the first one, well, they would have to scroll till the pricing section to find the next one.
So I've added almost 1 CTA per section (viewport). https://t.co/X34tMWmjS0
My goal is to improve the biggest bottleneck—signups.
I'll track everything using this funnel and scroll depth. https://t.co/iTWl5Eid5g
Thanks @DanKulkov for coming up with the headline. Thanks @nico_jeannen for the landing page roasting. Thanks everyone who sent me feedback.
At this point, I'm just a puppet obeying my puppeteers
If my SaaS reaches that $1M goal, I've documented everything since day 1. https://t.co/DYQryZJKpv
I made $41,440 in August 2025.
🧑💻 CodeFast — $19.9K ⚡️ ShipFast — $11.7K 📈 DataFast — $6.1K 🐥 Twitter — $1.5K 🧬 BioAge — $588 🍜 Indie Page — $505 🛡️ ByeDispute — $363 🌱 HabitsGarden — $317 💨 Zenvoice — $147 🎞️ YouTube — $134 🚀 LaunchViral — $129 📚 WorkbookPDF — $29 💩 PoopUp — $28
→ It's my lowest revenue in the past 2 years → it's 10x my revenue in July 2023
Don't give up.
2 years ago:
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I started lifting weights 4 weeks ago.
Since I don’t know anything, ChatGPT made me a program for beginner and I looked at YouTube videos for the correct form.
My first session might have been a disaster because within 5 minutes, someone tapped my shoulder “안돼요” (no no no 🙅♂️)
He showed me how to do leg curls properly and since he was super muscular, I asked him if he could become my PT.
He said yes. I asked how much. He replied he doesn’t want to get paid. I insisted, but he kept refusing.
He’s been training me twice a week for a month, and even though I don’t understand everything he says because of the language barrier, I learned a lot. Lifting weight is much more complex than I imagined and it’s really humbling.
Meanwhile, my coach still refuses any financial incentives and trains me out of sheer kindness. Koreans are the friendliest person I’ve meet 🥹
Leaving Korea in a Pokemon sponsored airplane https://t.co/Z1VPOzV1wp
This is my Instagram feed after I started going to the gym.
The top 0.01%.
Reminder: what you see on social media is not the real world.
Most people struggle getting the basics right (7hr sleep, exercise, no junk diet).
If you're taking care of your health, even just a bit, If you're building startups, even if it's $0 for now, If you're reading non-fiction to improve yourself,
You're already awesome.
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
✅ 25% completed https://t.co/ke6Ht46ToM
How would you rewrite DataFast's headline? https://t.co/R9IKAZFJBN
me hoping @DanKulkov never sees this post https://t.co/YpDawC4lfu
POV you tried claude-4.1-opus MAX https://t.co/zS9ibz2bNm
I BUILT CURSOR FOR HEALTH
No, I didn't.
But I've added a new feature to upload any bloodwork lab test, and http://BioA.ge will extract key biomarkers.
That way it knows:
🍌 my food intake (snap photos) 😴 my sleep data (with WHOOP) 💪 my workout data (with WHOOP) 🩸 my biomarkers (new)
Since everything is connected, the end goal is to train an AI on all my health datasets so I can ask any questions and get tailored answers.
Two weeks ago, I walked into a shop to look at running shoes.
It was empty. The whole staff stared at me, and it felt like they didn’t want me there. When my wife asked about a specific model, they looked down at her and dismissed the question in a sassy way.
Yesterday, I walked into the same shop, but this time with a camera in my hand.
As soon as we entered, the lady at the counter waved with a big smile. We asked if they had the shoes, and she brought us to her colleague, who did his best to make sure the models fit. The staff even waited for us at the door, smiling, “안녕히 가세요 👋”
Since I started filming YouTube videos in public, I’ve noticed people show their best side when they see a professional camera.
They ask questions, and when I say it’s for YouTube, their eyes light up. Sometimes we skip lines, sometimes we get freebies, and most of the time, we just get smiles
Try it. You don’t even need to record; just hold the camera.
so i got new running shoes https://t.co/aE0pAPy4xF
I tested my V02 max for the first time today:
🫀 57.4 ml/kg/min
According to ChatGPT, that's the top 5–10% of men my age.
The test was done in a lab using the Bruce protocol. Every 3 minutes, treadmill speed and incline increase:
- stage 1: 4 km/h at 10% grade - stage 2: 5.5km/h at 12% - stage 3: 6.7 km/h at 14% - etc etc
I passed out at the end of stage 5. It's just a horrible test because you're fighting inner demons to get a little farther.
V02 max is a key biomarker in predicting longevity, so from now on, I'll focus my training on increasing that number.
AI is making my electricity bill unsustainable https://t.co/KIJZPLK37B
#1 most requested feature on @DataFast_:
✅ Shipped
(or press Ctrl+R / Cmd+R) https://t.co/6oiYsmcvZL
I did another blood test:
👎 too much LDL (bad cholesterol) 👎 slightly high blood pressure 👎 too high AST (liver)
So...
1/ I drink almost a liter of full-fat milk a day, and I think it's the culprit for high LDL.
To help me out, I've updated http://BioA.ge to extract the estimated saturated fat from meal photos uploaded and show the daily intake.
2/ I reduced my daily protein intake from 220g to 160g (2x my body weight), which is likely why my liver AST levels are high.
I ditched my pea protein supplement (30g/day).
3/ High blood pressure?
I have no idea, it's a first for me. I don't feel stressed, I eat clean, sleep well, and work out daily. It could be because I caught a little virus that week.
Meanwhile, wife biomarkers are almost all green. Congrats 👏🙇
50% of people I told my wife is Korean asked this question.
North Korea is a dictatorship. Less than 0.4% of its population lives abroad. And they are refugees.
I don’t know if OP is joking but people who ask me are dead serious.
btw thats all you need to get started https://t.co/o8iK85Yj8X
Building myself a little admin dashboard:
📧 email me new video submissions ✅ 1-click to approve/reject 📧 email clipper with result https://t.co/G3RRWRpZ81
ok it's kinda fun https://t.co/Oz8z9jL4Cv
Don't obsess over getting more eyeballs.
→ To double your traffic would take ads, SEO, influencer deals (and money). → To double your conversion rate takes 3 hours and a blank doc.
Fix your startup's landing page first. https://t.co/KkyKfdN0Q5
self-proof
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
✅ 24% completed https://t.co/GfXPEJTHDD
bye bye good old Stripe design 🥲
Are you a wizard with motion graphics?
Got a short project for my AI startup launch.
Drop a video you edited below, I’ll DM you 👇 https://t.co/8q8zzRHCqB
My new project's signup rate (left) is 330% higher than my web analytics SaaS (right)
Both have magic links + Google auth.
I'm puzzled. https://t.co/x90mFaoQxe
i want to launch more startups just for this https://t.co/FHJ1YuzhgJ
context:
How do I not waste 97% of my efforts?
Only 3% of people who visit the landing page create an account 💀
I want to fix the bottleneck in my web analytics SaaS (DataFast), but I don't know what's missing at the top of the funnel. https://t.co/4HChtFSGal
This is how far people scroll on the landing page.
And session duration is 47 seconds. https://t.co/30vmvJXzIe
The low payment conversion rate is because there's a 14-day free trial, and the funnel is for the last 30 days.
So... I created my own content reward platform:
🤑 $3 per 1k views 🌟 Only 30 spots available (26 left)
First-come, first-served → http://clipmarc.com https://t.co/8kpQ7PBD0U
1. Inside, you'll get access to my long-form content (brolls, published videos, tech/entrepreneurship related) 2. Submit videos with your unique #hashtag 3. Get paid via PayPal or Wise
(the domain is new, so please check your spam for magic links) https://t.co/XPhwtXIwv9
this is nice 😊
watch the traffic: https://datafa.st/share/68aa5a47fe8dbe3ebfeb915f https://t.co/Q4fcjooEpF
it's time https://t.co/YuCoiGqzrz
WELL WHAT DID YOU EXPECT MARC?? https://t.co/mXdNTibKMS
Did you lift today? https://t.co/cbtLHR2x60
teach me sensei 😭 https://t.co/yxFGJdDmBa
I just pushed this new little feature to @DataFast_:
🔎 Filter your traffic and revenue by <goal>
You can use this to split-test features & copy, and discover what drives the most revenue.
1. Create <goal_A> and <goal_B> (the variants) 2. Randomize them equally with a 50% chance 3. Wait 4. Use the<goal> filter to discover which one converts best
How to track goals in DataFast: https://datafa.st/docs/custom-goals
The new filter design is strongly inspired by Seline from @nstkostya 🥰
Things I owned when I was broke:
- a laptop
Things I own making $1.2M/year:
- a laptop
Stop buying stuff.
That's the fastest way to feel rich.
Growing a startup to $10K/month takes months or years of hard work.
Cutting spending to the bare minimum is willpower.
You can live comfortably in SEA and with $1K/month.
And build that $10K/month startup without stressing over money.
South Korea came to the rescue https://t.co/AeZi9r93dk
Good morning, grinders 🌅 https://t.co/wFmikgX2hP
I just added a revenue breakdown for <time_range> https://t.co/Rsy87WNmmo
The most useful habit I’ve built:
When something bad happens, I always look for the upside.
My body fat is down to 5.6%.
I go to the gym daily (run + lift), and I eat low carbs.
Diet is the most impactful here I think, because I have way fewer cravings.
I eat mostly vegetables, healthy fats, and protein, 3x meals a day. I used to snack on cereals and/or a bunch of sweet stuff, but since I changed my diet, I don't want to binge anymore; it's almost weird.
You don’t need a $2,000 marketing course.
Just stop skipping ads.
They’re the highest-performing sales messages on the internet.
Watch. Reverse-engineer. Plug in your startup.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
ShipFast in 2023: A little codebase for myself
ShipFast in 2025: Launched more profitable startups than haters will ever ship 🫠 https://t.co/kRGgSQtXkf
This would never exist in the West lol
It's super hot in Korea now, so the city hall has free umbrella stands. You can pick one and return it at any time.
And most people actually use an umbrella to not get sunburnt, even when they just walk for a few minutes. https://t.co/iQcHOwcTTR
of course i got one https://t.co/63QEnahxzC
Actually I think it would never exists outside Korea/Japan
The market doesn’t reward effort.
It rewards momentum.
Ship fast. Move fast.
I started tracking scroll depth on all my landing pages and noticed that on average, 50% of visitors don't even bother scrolling past the hero section.
You don't need more traffic. You don't need more features. You don't need to overengineer onboarding.
You need a better headline.
btw
Do I know a cracked clipper?
I want to try short-form content, but I'm a 30yo boomer, so I'd love to work with you.
Post 1 video you've clipped below, and I'll reach out!
(you must drink the techpreneurship culture juice) https://t.co/dnICMPQG66
Over-engineering killed more startups than ugly MVPs
I started sharing my thoughts on Twitter in November 2021.
Growing an audience was never the goal (and never will be), but I thought:
"If I can get a few people watching my work, I won't have to start from 0 when I launch new startups."
It took 8 months to get 1,000 followers. It was very slow, but I didn't care because my north star metric was the number of shipped startups.
I was having fun, and I was committed. I think early followers felt it.
My audience grew faster after shipping 10+ startups. And much faster after the financial success of ShipFast.
In July 2024, my Twitter account crossed 100K followers.
And here we are, August 2025, with 200K followers, an amount I never even thought was possible for a little guy writing JavaScript and surfing.
I'm deeply grateful to every single one of you who has been following the journey. You make me feel less weird and make my life more meaningful.
So thank you 200,000 times ❤️
If you noticed my content got a little more boring in 2025, it's because I'm focusing on DataFast.
I'm also preparing a little secret something which will take 2 to 6 months, so I'll get even more boring 😑
But if I don't fail, I'll have tons of cool stuff to share soon.
Back to work 🫡
My startup office today https://t.co/ID98yDX2Xl
This is the new wave park in Incheon, South Korea 🇰🇷
You don’t need more features.
You need to do marketing.
Your product is good enough.
WHOOP really cooked with this feature.
I want to compete against myself. I want to compete against others. I want to share my results..
It's free marketing for them, and a net positive for society because in the end, everybody wins by competing for a healthier lifestyle. https://t.co/vSqA5RrO7F
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
✅ 23% completed https://t.co/9u8C4SbIrp
I added an automation to turn off my phone from 8pm to midday (next day) and it’s changing my life
The automation https://t.co/hUYiIuAOj9
Startups don't fail because the product is bad, but because the promise is too weak to get anyone to care.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I built the missing part of the puzzle.
Introducing Funnels on http://DataFa.st:
✓ Free ✓ On all plans ✓ Available now
Find bottlenecks in your startup and increase your conversion rate. Boom. https://t.co/9FOy1XydQT
If you fancy a quick founder demo. https://t.co/KEz9QkDvR8
And if you want to test it yourself (scroll to the bottom) https://datafa.st/share/667a83a69618224a0831e489?funnelSlug=scroll-depth
I don't understand why @bryan_johnson's nut butter is in a plastic container?
Many peanut butter brands are sold in glass jars because fats bind to microplastics easily. https://t.co/kEUw5IOhkG
This is a genuine question, not an attack.
I'm a big fan of Blueprint. I just don't get that one product.
I just stopped reading this bestseller at 50%.
The angle is very interesting, and the promise is appealing, but I don't see why it's 300 pages long.
So, I asked ChatGPT to summarize the book, and that was enough! The bullet points are gold. https://t.co/ZWDgEH1sMo
I normally never read summaries because you can't immerse yourself in the book and don't get the real outcome. But for some reasons, I feel like that book could indeed be 10 bullet points.
and my login emails end up in spam.
game is rigged 😭 https://t.co/Z653kX9xUE
Genius.
My ego thought this was a copycat of my startup going viral on Reddit, so I was like "ignore and keep shipping".
But a friend sent me this tweet later, and I realized I was 100% wrong.
Paul has built a great product and used his DataFast globe as a way to get attention on Reddit.
- His post went viral - It fueled his Product Hunt launch - And his product ended #3 product of the day
Props to you Paul!
I hope to pays back DataFast monthly subscription 1000x 😇
I met the underdog @Davidjpark96 yesterday.
He invited us to his office in Seoul. There are 10ish people working with him and a whiteboard with the secret marketing sauce:
"ROAD TO $10M ARR = 80 UGC CONTENT CREATORS"
(currently his 7 startups make $8.5M ARR)
We chat for a bit.
You can tell how smart David is by how fast he thinks and replies. I felt a bit lost ngl 😁
Also, we laughed at how entrepreneurship could have a different look. For him, it's building a ship of super smart pirates. For me, it's shipping 100 tiny startups.
Later, other cool people joined. David ordered pizzas (and a salad for BORING people like me!!).
We were a group of 20ish. Now there are many indie hackers in Korea, like @chrissyinspace and @brianshinsh (he quit VC to bootstrap) and VC startups like David and @josephstein (he just got into YC!)
I felt lonely in Korea in 2017 because there were only a handful of VC startups. But now the ecosystem is much bigger, and you can just pop into David's office and it feels like you're in San Francisco 😁
Thanks for having us, 대표님!
some photos with @neiso_studio @josephstein @ElimKalilov @brianshinsh @mattgittleson https://t.co/nnoDI4VlVh
😖😭😤 viBe CoDing doeSN't WoRK 😡😤😭
I met Matt yesterday.
8 months ago, he was bored with his freelance job.
He had never written a single line of code before. He bought ShipFast/Code and used AI to vibe code http://citesure.com
5 months later, he reached $10K MRR. Solo. Doing UGC marketing on TikTok.
Then, he got a DM from @Davidjpark96.
One month later (July), his startup was acquired for $375,000.
Yes you can vibe code a profitable startup Yes you need to double down on marketing Yes you can change your entire life in a year
Matt literally did the indie journey fastlane https://x.com/Davidjpark96/status/1950208552716407111
Same with Netflix
It used to be $9/month for all you can watch
Now it’s $25/month for 30% of the movies catalogue
Entrepreneur self-care:
✓ Turn off notifications ✓ Build startups ✓ Exercise ✓ Sleep ✓ Smile
It's the little things.
My SaaS conversion rate has grown by 663% since the launch a year ago:
- 0.22% when DataFast was positioned as a web analytics tool - 1.46% after repositioning to a revenue attribution tool (niche)
Words are more powerful than features. https://t.co/Prslm6vD7C
Luck becomes probability when you zoom out.
✨ Introducing custom parameters in @DataFast_ ✨
You can now add parameters to your goals to track specific user actions. You'll see them in the Visitor Journey tab.
For instance, you can add { name: "Elon Musk" } to a <signup> goal.
(use without moderation) https://t.co/jd9pXmySIS
I'm paying $500/month for MongoDB backups.
@tinybirdco does it... for free 😳
Time to finish the migration for DataFast! https://t.co/zqSrPE6lVP
This V02 thing is horrible https://t.co/yPv7NRH9Gi
ShipFast got a little polish today 🧹💨
+ NextJS 15 + React 19 + Tailwind v4 + daisyUI 5 + (pretty much all dependencies) + Rules for AI (Claude Code & Cursor)
Available now on JavaScript & TypeScript repos. https://t.co/BY9eEeIKsA
I found a way to estimate how much $$$ your SEO keywords are worth:
1. Match Google Search Console queries to landing pages where people convert 2. Figure out what percentage of each page's traffic (and revenue) comes from Google vs other sources 3. Revenue gets distributed to search queries based on their click share to high-converting pages
Problem: If 2 keywords drive traffic to the same converting page, it's impossible to know exactly which one brought the sale.
This feature is currently in beta, so if you're using @DataFast_ I'd love your feedback 🙏
ha yes, btw
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
✅ 22% completed https://t.co/R4gp0HFDgk
We're back up 💪
No data was lost, just a 10-minute visual downtime.
Thanks for fixing quickly @tinybirdco. https://t.co/3BhSQvP0D1
Luckily it lasted only 10 minutes 🫠 https://t.co/jwPWQlxm8a
I’ve kept 4 hours empty in my calendar, every single day for 3 years.
•No appointments •No promises • No meetings •No social •No calls
Just uninterrupted time to:
→ Build startups → Make videos → Write
That one habit changed my life.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I'm re-making the Google Search Console in @DataFast_ 🫠 https://t.co/PzaWE0qqmN
Should I make badges like this
"Congrats, your site got 1,000 visitors for the first time 🥇"
Bring back the old Habits Garden time and gamify entrepreneurship? https://t.co/TCaGF3fiKa
still cooking https://t.co/DFiikgmcAK
GPT-5 naming is the only thing they did right
Think different https://t.co/D3ja4o4lPn
This is packaging for 30g of mixed nuts https://t.co/Do9VlyvlT3
The content you consume is everything.
If you grow up surrounded by people who only care about titles, grades, and job security, you start to think that dreaming is a luxury.
That was me.
In my childhood, passion wasn't a thing. Only good grades mattered. I wanted to film World of Warcraft videos. My parents banned it. “Focus on school.”
Nobody taught me how to take risks. Nobody said it was okay to fail. Nobody said it was okay to try.
So I became an adult who did everything “right” …and still felt stuck.
It took me 25 years to unlearn it all.
What changed?
Twitter.
It's the only place I've found where people are actually encouraging.
People share. They ship. They take bets. They fail in public. They show you it’s possible.
Being surrounded by builders made me one. That’s the power of an ecosystem.
If you’re early in your journey, follow people who are doing what you want to do. Unfollow all the others.
Your brain becomes what you consume every day.
I just made a GitHub-like visitor activity heatmap for @DataFast_
🔵 Blue days show activity levels (more events = darker color) 🟠 Orange days indicate a goal completion (payment, signup)
Days are interactive. When you click them, you see everything a user did that day (page visits, custom goals, recurring payments).
Demo below 👇
The goal of this feature is to provide a quick glimpse of a user's journey.
And of course, the dopamine hit! https://t.co/RbEO3YtyNN
The design is inspired by the beautiful Seline analytics from @nstkostya
I'm selling dopamine to @jackfriks 🤩 https://t.co/rm4oPPzOVA
@jackfriks and he approves!! https://t.co/FyBcTm1MVo
I’m back to a 9–5.
Except I work for 378 people.
They all ping me on the customer chat plugin. They ask for features. They file bugs. They need support.
And I say “yes boss” every time. https://t.co/05gm6AWaeb
WHO BOUGHT MY EX-STARTUP DOMAIN AND REDIRECTED IT TO AN AI PORN SITE?!
Whoever you are, congrats 👏 You were getting a free 50+ DR backlink from my portfolio website marclou(dot)com 😁 https://t.co/otk4OWcK1W
Is it me, or GPT-5 is not that good?
It's slow, and it wrote vanilla JavaScript in a <script/> tag in my NextJS project.
Surprisingly, it's the more PR release. My X feed and YouTube are full of clips from the keynote.
I switched back to claude-4-sonnet for now. https://t.co/zAzMuM4GuF
POV it's Sunday, but the grind never stops because work is now play. https://t.co/oeRrO1ulIb
All this to ship a DPA for DataFast 🫠 https://datafa.st/dpa
I launched 30+ startups.
Only 2 made real money.
Luck is math.
More small bets = more chances to win.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I've been traveling a lot this year, so I built myself this little feature. https://t.co/Uib1q19MVu
POV: applying to a dev job after 3 years of failed startups (2021).
Don't give up. https://t.co/yhSlci70s6
wait actually i used this photo to apply and i was 2020, no 2021, am i drunk? https://t.co/ZqcKm3jUtq
95% of people who signed up for my SaaS never became customers.
So I rebuilt the entire onboarding.
Revenue per visitor went from $0.04 → $0.30.
Tomorrow, I'm sending a newsletter issue about how I fixed the leak in my product's funnel with a better onboarding.
Get it here → https://newsletter.marclou.com/
Training my V02 max today.
I’m following coach @ky__zo’s Norwegian 4x4 interval method:
- 4 min zone 5 (19.5km/h) - 4 min zone 2 (12.5km/h)
Repeat x4 times.
It’s a bit of a learning curve to know which running speed is zone 5, I found that 19-20 km/h is the sweet spot.
Also it’s the first time I see myself running. Please roast me!
i accidentally built a vibe coding tool
How to get better at marketing for free:
→ Watch 10 ads → Pick 1 you love → Rewrite it with your product → Post it as a landing page, tweet, or video script
Start scrolling.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
✅ 21% completed https://t.co/6lLnsQrycR
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
99% of AI tweets are cringe.
But Rob’s tool is different.
First, he built it for himself, so I trust him to build a tool that’ll only get better over time. And he has 20K followers, so he’s definitely up to something.
Second, his marketing strategy is not pushing a generic landing page, it’s him being authentic, showing his face, vibing on acid music while demo-ing his startup.
That’s how you compete in a crowded market: Scratch your own itch and be authentic.
How long it took to grow my little SaaS to...
- $1K MRR → 4 months - $2K MRR → 3 months - $3K MRR → 2 months - $4K MRR → 1 month
Don't give up! https://t.co/20wa5f0MwV
Google Search Console integration just landed on @DataFast_ 🥳
You can now find which SEO keywords drive traffic to your startup!
(keywords revenue estimate is coming soon, cooking) https://t.co/iZ6vnLDPvK
To get started:
1. Go to your site settings > Integrations 2. Go back to your dashboard and add "Google" as a filter 3. Tadaaa 🎉 https://t.co/WwyV60Pow6
You have no idea how fucking amazing this is.
90% of people don’t act on their ideas. And for the few who do, 90% give up too early.
Making $1K/month with little startups built solo is already top 0.1%.
The problem is social media only showing you the top 0.1% (the guys making $100K/month) of the top 0.1% (you).
Now, people see my tweets because I’ve grown a little audience.
But it took me two years to make $1.
Two fucking years of complete void. No support from anyone, no traction, nothing but shit feelings crippling every day. “I’m useless”.
I pushed through. Hell, I even gave up in 2021 and got a job for a while.
But I kept building and eventually everything flipped.
Every now and then, I think about the first 5/6 years of entrepreneurship void and I’m filled with bliss because none of what happened recently could have been possible without the pain and failures.
If you’re building, you’re fucking awesome.
And don’t give up, because it’s all worth it in the end.
And btw your “little” side projects making $1k/month is an asset worth $35,000.
That’s one entire year of salary for a person.
That’s 2,000 hours spent at the office you’ve avoid
I normally don’t curse but fuck this one went straight to my guts 😁
Bullshit I used to believe:
– The more you work, the more you earn – You get rich by buying a house and climbing the ladder – The pie is limited, so your neighbor is your competition – Ideas are precious, don’t share them – Rich people must’ve done something shady
I just shipped better location data on @DataFast_.
Even if you’re from a tiny village, I've got you 🌍✨ https://t.co/efLg1HCrOW
See for yourself: https://datafa.st/share/66bc31d58da3feddf919205e?realtime=1
i8n is a waste of time if you’re solo.
It’s always much harder than expected because you have to translate every words from landing page to dashboard settings.
And browsers and ChatGPT will auto translate anyway.
If I had to pick a time sucker that would be dark mode.
- Niche down - Better pricing - Missing features - Different language
There are so many ways to compete against an established product!
Your startup doesn’t need:
•TypeScript •Prisma •CI/CD •100% test coverage
It needs a Stripe link, one feature, and a lot of marketing.
Everyone around me is buying houses right now. They tell me it’s the smartest thing to do because "real estate always goes up."
But when I mention investing in the S&P 500, they say it's too risky because I could lose everything.
It’s not a perfect comparison, but if you put $100K down on a $500K house, or invest the same amount in the S&P 500, after 20 years—accounting for inflation, taxes, and fees—the stock market historically gives you a much higher return.
I don’t know. Maybe I missed something.
The best way to start entrepreneurship is by building a competitor to a popular product.
80% of first-time entrepreneurs waste months building products nobody wants (I lost 2.5 years).
If there's competition, there's demand and money!
marketing https://t.co/jBswQQRs7b
cooking https://t.co/C77vKZJp6m
The newsletter is back, baby! https://t.co/puJEGmESOC
I had my lowest resting heart rate last night.
AC blasting at 18 degree, a strict sleep schedule, and a proper wind down routine. https://t.co/0qPTcIAjBr
Here we go again today https://t.co/k8vRCUcBwE
locked in for 10 more years https://t.co/KKm5VHC7BG
Boring startup update:
@DataFast_ now supports tracking pageviews when #hash changes.
It's not the default script behavior, so please DM me if you want to give it a try. https://t.co/C4qhMRtM1B
Or update your script source to: https://datafa.st/js/script.hash.js
My startups that made $10,000+ (✅) and that didn't (❌)
❌ TinderForSport ❌ PricePredictor ✅ VirallyBot ❌ GameWidget ❌ GoldenPlumber ❌ Mood2Movie ✅ Habits Garden ❌ Books Calculator ❌ 50 Hacks ❌ Hero Fit ❌ Fake It Till You Make It ❌ Visualize Habit ❌ Decision Game ❌ Buddy Crush ❌ Naval 25 ✅ LaunchViral ❌ Gamify List ✅ Indie Page ❌ WorkbookPDF ✅ MakeLanding ✅ ShipFast ✅ ByeDispute ❌ Insighto ✅ LogoFast ✅ Zenvoice ❌ PoopUp ✅ DataFast ✅ CodeFast ❌ BioAge
Just ship it.
90% are still up & running here: http://marclou.com
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Launch your startups 100 times.
Tomorrow I'm sending a newsletter issue with 3 simple ways to promote your product until it takes off (without adding features).
→ Get it here: https://newsletter.marclou.com/ https://t.co/qVfvJX7HsH
Stripe is listening to customers and shipping crazy fast.
I ranted 2 days ago -> available now to a few beta testers.
Thank you @jrfarr @AzianMike @jeff_weinstein 🙏
cc @levelsio
<div className="hover:translate-y-1/2 duration-200" /> https://t.co/FK1aiZxfqN
I made $48,921 in July 2025.
🧑💻 CodeFast — $20.6K ⚡️ ShipFast — $18.2K 📈 DataFast — $6.1K 🐥 Twitter — $1.5K 🍜 Indie Page — $1.2K 💨 Zenvoice — $394 🚀 LaunchViral — $387 🎞️ YouTube — $215 🛡️ ByeDispute — $96 🌱 HabitsGarden — $96 📚 WorkbookPDF — $67 💩 PoopUp — $66
🔴 Every startup's revenue is down except for DataFast, where I'm currently dedicating most of my focus (+50% revenue vs. last month).
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
YOU DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS BUT I DID IT ANYWAY https://t.co/TXo1cmW1ht
My startup reached $4K MRR so I ran 4km as fast as I could. https://t.co/9Zr4N2maTC
Please stop buying datafast, I’m not doing this horrible thing again
Me building startups in 2018:
- Spend 3 months coding basic SaaS - Send Zoom link to customers - "Zoom?"
Me building startups in 2025:
- Prompt an AI - Publish in free directories - Make $$$
It wasn't easier before. The gold rush is now. Just build the thing, launch it, and repeat until it clicks.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
✅ 20% completed https://t.co/9Jz9M6FMz7
I desperately need this feature to work with the Customer Portal API @stripe
Retention coupons are an excellent way to reduce churn. But right now, it works only if the customer Portal is created via a link, not the API.
I reached out to support, but they said they "don't have an estimated date for it to be released" so I assume it's not for now.
Please, @edwinarbus 🥹
I’m going to the gym everyday for the next 30 days:
- 30min treadmill run - 30 weight lifting (one muscle group)
The goal is to increase V02 max and gain muscles.
I’m also on a low carb + low kcal diet. Will report results when visible. https://t.co/IiJqDfFWAX
What my meals look like https://t.co/xJkbuWD1vO
✨ New in @DataFast_ ✨
You can now add custom fields to goals:
Email, name, job title, favorite pizza topping... Go nuts. https://t.co/MRcT2ugR8l
It works with the client-side script and the API.
How to get started: https://datafa.st/docs/custom-goals
I just moved the startup office in Korea 🇰🇷 for a month.
It's where my indie hacking journey started in 2018 with ₩3,000 돈까스 meals and a $400/month rent.
Time to cook. https://t.co/dNX9Ki8YxA
POV from back then https://t.co/x08S4MO2W9
Avoid people who schedule calls like a plague
I spent a whole week coding this for @DataFast_
And now an algorithm gets to decide if it was worth it.
Please make it go viral, X https://t.co/pijsAtlw5S
If you're a DataFast user > Press "i" on your dashboard
or click this https://t.co/ufDFOP438p
I hope Korea is up to date with what we do here https://t.co/S55rIwy435
Officer asked if I use gemini 2.5 or sonnet 4, all clear
AI hallucinates 90% of the time for this use case.
I wish the image feature gets better because it's such an easy way to debug front-end CSS stuff. https://t.co/uHVScp4NUQ
AirPods' sound level can go up to 110 dB, which is really bad for your hearing.
1. Go to Settings 2. Search "headphone safety" 3. Reduce to 80 dB (safe zone) https://t.co/OxZ0TiW2dC
Trying a little something different today https://t.co/i6VuBQzq54
Such a smart SEO hack by @dr https://t.co/DJ6RrozKMS
Ever wonder where your customers come from?
just add ?ref=, ?utm_source=, or ?via= to your links.
@DataFast_ now shows these on every returning visitor, so you know who sent the traffic. https://t.co/rIeCk4rRsp
I wrote a mini-guide to get better data (aka better decision-making) → https://datafa.st/docs/utm-tracking
I don't want my Twitter to become a testimonial page, but this one hits home.
This is exactly why I built DataFast:
- Dead simple analytics - Revenue as the end-goal (not just pageviews) - Made for entrepreneurs
MRR is growing at 30% MoM now.
The roadmap is just building what users request while keeping the main idea in focus (simple analytics for people trying to grow a startup).
I’m an introvert.
I used to think I’d never win, because the winners were always loud, confident extroverts who could sell anything.
Then I found JavaScript and X.
Now I outsell them without saying a word.
You’re working too hard on the wrong thing.
A short issue about how making more small bets more often helped me escape the valley of despair.
Sending tomorrow at 1 pm UTC: https://newsletter.marclou.com/ https://t.co/yjWPYCMiJm
Entrepreneurs are just hardcore gamers playing with real currency.
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
✅ 19% completed https://t.co/wKu10FDPUH
this thread will be @stripe design archive
i'm already unstoppable https://t.co/p6hQnFJtjC
Weird stuff I think will happen in <20 years:
1. We sleep in pods (like in Japan, but ultra-luxury).
Soundproof, air-filtered, total blackout. The pod’s temperature adapts to your sleep cycle. High-frequency sounds for deeper sleep. It wakes you with soft UV light to regulate melatonin. Maybe even hyperbaric oxygen therapy for faster recovery.
2.We get all essential nutrients via pills.
Cooking takes time, and the supply chain is broken. All nutrients are lab-synthesized. Ratios adapt to your biomarkers, age, and DNA. Cooking becomes a hobby. Eating out is social.
3. Biological age becomes your new ID.
A universal formula calculates your bio age: biomarkers + DNA + strength + more. We flex our bio age on dating apps. Banks decide who qualifies for loans based on biological age acceleration.
I finally added multi-currency support to http://DataFa.st 💵
You can now watch your startup revenue grow in euros, yen, or whatever makes you feel richer.
(Pro tip: Switch to Indonesian rupiah and you’re officially a billionaire.) https://t.co/LdI9QT2m48
There are two kinds of devs:
Those who’ve cried over timezones, and liars.
I lied a little today
Someone copied my Instagram ad word for word.
That’s exactly what you should do.
Ads you see on the internet are proven to work. Just copy them to promote your startup, no need to reinvent the wheel. https://t.co/pxDEDijvnD
Creativity isn’t magic.
Just go for a walk without your phone.
I just added a new way to know where your revenue is coming from if you're using @stripe:
✨ PaymentIntent API support in @DataFast_ ✨
It's nice if you're using Stripe Elements. You just need to pass a metadata key and find out what your best marketing channels are. https://t.co/TGTsc4Azaj
Little guide to know how to attribute revenue with your favorite payment provider: https://datafa.st/docs/revenue-attribution-guide
1. Build a one feature product 2. Make landing page with Stripe link 3. Launch everywhere (hacker news, product hunt, Reddit, X, LinkedIn, etc.)
The amount of VC money funnelled into UGC, ads, and email campaigns in 2025 is unprecedented.
To my dear builders I might have offended by implying "go viral or go home":
I spent 3 years building products in the dark and had a severe burnout because of it.
I wish I had removed my ego and convictions from the equation and instead treated each startup as a small bet (as I do now).
Only 2 of my 26 projects did well. 5-10% hit rate is a common number for entrepreneurs. And when it hits, you can feel you're onto something.
I'm not saying you should quit your idea if it doesn't go viral.
Here's what I'd do instead if my idea didn't take off:
1. Launch everywhere (Reddit, Hacker News, X, Product Hunt). Spend a full week to give my idea its best shot. 2. (if nothing took off) Rebrand. Give it a new name, a new headline, a new landing page. Repeat #1 3. (if nothing took off) Try a different market segment. Repeat #1 & #2. 4. (if it's still not taking off) Pause. Build something else and come back when I feel like it.
I got hurt by my own convictions. Now I'm rolling the dice more often with 0 expectations, and I feel much happier.
I root for you 💪
launch tweet: https://x.com/antonosika/status/1667641038104674306
Lovable's first "zero traction" launch:
- 35K stars on GitHub - 2.6K likes & 600K impressions tweet https://t.co/gpmEkxTR8f
You’ll become the “nice” guy.
People will follow you because of reciprocity.
The fastest way to grow is to build amazing stuff. Something different people haven’t seen before.
The reply guy is how you make friends (and you should). But it’s not a strategy.
Last night, I fought gorillas trying to kidnap my wife for 3 hours. https://t.co/ICMI7yTteE
Successful entrepreneurs aren't geniuses, but frustrated action-takers.
That’s why focus is overrated.
Lovable started as a weekend project (like most successful startups).
Go viral, then focus.
I’ve almost never seen a startup take off when nothing happened for months after launch.
Focusing on the wrong project leads to burnout (been there).
Make more small bets and let the market decide when it’s time to focus.
Massive congrats to Anton and the Lovable team!
Not sure why this got community noted but Lovable’s MVP 1st launch went crazy viral.
This is what I found listening to many of @antonosika’s podcast.
(If it’s me not doing my research properly, I apologize.)
I think Einstein was wrong.
Time doesn’t bend near light speed.
It bends when I'm fixing bugs.
The Clickbait Landing Page:
→ Your headline sounds too good to be true. → Then your landing page proves it isn’t.
I’m sending the full breakdown tomorrow at 1 PM UTC.
Get it here: https://newsletter.marclou.com/ https://t.co/1FOQMPf0f7
I just came back to Bali after spending one month in South Africa.
It's such a magical place. Nature is, of course, stunning, but also, people here are really kind and friendly (note to myself: "Hey, how is it?" is NOT a question, it just means "hi").
95% of the food we ate is sourced locally, and everything tasted delicious (I'm French, so that compliment counts twice).
Now I'm back at the startup office, daily routine on repeat, shipping a new little startup soon.
I've been living under a rock.
@stripe made it much easier to make small bets with their organizations feature:
- Prefill your personal & company profile for new accounts - Aggregate all your accounts' revenue on a page
It saves me 1 hour of boring paperwork per new startup, nice!
Didn’t see that coming https://t.co/vn73HbzCem
I don’t understand this billionaire thing.
My life right now: - 0 obligations - work feels like play - don’t look at the bills
Fuck you money won’t give me more freedom, more impact, or less stress.
A few millions will do just fine.
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
✅ 18% completed https://t.co/Gocp1KyEIL
this one was fast
This is the sole reason I love shipping new startups https://t.co/3UaM8lj15M
First time DataFast overtakes ShipFast and CodeFast in daily revenue.
It took 6 months of relentless focus. https://t.co/dFcFrgV1hG
this is how you identify an entrepreneur https://t.co/I5vmmTSh6P
Sales 101:
1. Make a promise too good to be true 2. Match expectations with an excellent product
Too much of #1 and it's clickbait. Too much of #2 and it's a founder's burnout. Get the balance right and it’s a cash machine.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
> customer ask for feature > prompt AI with context > 10 minutes delivery
building a SaaS with AI is cheating.
btw, you can now exclude wildcard paths with @DataFast_ https://t.co/CheH0YisRQ
Yes!
You just have to start building anything even if it seems pointless.
- you’ll find real problems - you’ll grow an audience - you’ll sharpen your skills
And iterate fast!
4 years ago, I was in my deepest shithole.
Broke, depressed, out of shape, unhappy. I'd look at myself in the mirror and only see failures. I'd be jealous of others because they achieved something. My head was filled with crap.
June 9th, 2021. Anger came out, and I punched my wall while crying and shouting. I hit rock bottom.
The next 4 years that followed were the happiest years of my life.
I started reading books to learn about everything. I started working out every day and prioritizing my sleep. I started building tiny startups and sharing my thoughts online. I started saying "no" when I didn't want to do something (and lost a couple of friends).
Nothing changed overnight. But I kept showing up. And little by little, I built the life I've always dreamed of.
You can reinvent your entire life. It's never too late.
I wrote about my failures here if it helps. You've got this ❤️ https://newsletter.marclou.com/p/solopreneur-rollercoaster
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
✅ 17% completed https://t.co/s1EAcMN6n0
I think you don’t understand how much you can achieve when launching a dead simple app solving a universal need.
I don’t even need a headline to understand what this app does me https://t.co/jTz1NB7xHo
I went to a gym for the first time in 2025.
And noticed 2 things:
1. Half of the people don't actually work out. They browse their phones, chat, and look at themselves in the mirror. 2. It's much easier to get motivated. Once you've pulled your credit card, you've done the hardest.
Full breakdown of your usage, now in @DataFast_ ✨ https://t.co/TDmzTq0K5a
hold on Claude https://t.co/Y6pRlgHUwi
What did I tell her? https://t.co/U0n7mo0CO7
"we don't need to go to that dinner"
Ship fast ≠ ship crap.
Ship fast = remove everything until there's just 1 feature left.
Tomorrow is how dreams disappear. https://t.co/vzlVmx6vrS
I used to hate marketing.
As a developer, it felt cringe and scammy. So I avoided it. I built stuff quietly. And I made $0 online for two years.
Today, I’ve made $2M+. Marketing changed everything.
But not through books or courses. I learned by doing something most people skip:
I watched ads.
If you're curious how to templatize ads and reuse them to promote your startup, I'll send a newsletter issue tomorrow at 1 PM UTC.
Get it here → https://newsletter.marclou.com
As I get older, I realize happiness is a morning coffee and a long walk.
It's never been easier to track your income:
1. Create a checkout with @lmsqueezy Payment Links 2. @DataFast_ automatically attributes revenue to the visitor (✨ NEW)
No code required. Available now! https://t.co/a5tiGZWFGx
Just add ?order_id=[order_id] at the end of the success URL, that's it!
10-second tutorial: https://datafa.st/docs/lemonsqueezy-payment-links
You might not realize it, but if you've built a tiny startup, you're already ahead of the 99%. Make $1 online, and you're employable by any great company.
My newsletter quietly reached 43,248 readers 🤩 https://t.co/RCYIdCHUI6
Read all the previous issues here: http://marclou.com/newsletter
I started building startups in 2016 and made...
$1 → 2018 $1,000 → 2018 $10,000 → 2019 $1,000,000 → 2024 $2,000,000 → 2025
You might not realize it now, but a $0 project is a LEGO block in your million-dollar journey.
This is how I survived in the $0 years:
- Freelance work (2021) - Lived with my parents (2016, 2020) - Wife made money (2022)
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Tiny new feature: Search inside your http://DataFa.st panels.
Also hid an easter egg 🥚 if you type the right magic word:
- I'm ugly - I work on localhost - I crash on launch day
Good luck. https://t.co/RkcPtVLQVq
Found the Easter Egg?
- I am also used in sports
- I’m written in capital letters - I’m used in sports too
useDopamine() https://t.co/u5X3Hphlon
. https://t.co/Nz2VXpVd2R
Here's @jackfriks about to cross $100K revenue in a few months with his little SaaS https://t.co/QcTyRNDigy
Don’t launch a startup.
Build a one-feature product instead.
Let users tell you what’s missing.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Why nobody is following you (yet)
→ https://newsletter.marclou.com/p/why-nobody-is-following-you-yet https://t.co/1pCQtdljaP
Every day, I wake up and...
+ I hit the gym + I code + I do marketing + I eat healthy + I walk 10k steps
I don't have to "think" because I repeat every day.
Habits don’t just change your day — they change who you are.
You become what you repeat. Begin the loop.
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
✅ 16% completed https://t.co/mqQFQPFiVt
If your idea is taken, it’s good.
90% developers fail because they build products for problems that don’t exist.
The fastest way to make money is copying an existing product! They did the hard work and validated the problem.
You just want to make your product different: - for specific customers you care about - a different pricing (subs vs one time) - an untapped marketing channel
The hard part isn’t the competition. The hard part is getting attention.
Go ship that startup!
Ditch financial goals.
I see a lot of people who want to make $$$ in XYZ days, fail, repeat, fail again, burn out, and quit.
You can't control the market, so stop gambling with your happiness.
Instead, do what you CAN control: - ship 3 startups in 3 months - write 1 tweet a day for 30 days - exercise 30 minutes daily
At the end of each day, you're winning, regardless of the outcome.
That's how you stay in the game long enough to win big.
I made $2,191 from ChatGPT recommending my startup 🎉
Traffic started growing in March 2025. Now, 8 to 10 people visit my website every day.
I didn't do anything special to get mentioned. I think it's mostly coming from the number of backlinks ShipFast has. https://t.co/GMyzVpxIzf
http://DataFa.st is tracking the journey from ChatGPT → customer. That's how I know I made $2K.
Sorry.
I didn't send a single newsletter issue in 2025.
But I missed the Saturday morning coffee while writing to you, so... Just Ship It is back, baby!
Sending the first issue of the year in 24 hours (get it below).
I'm going to stick to the weekly pace, focus on marketing topics, and won't stop writing until everybody here is ramen profitable+++
⚠️ Important:
Please add "hi@email.marclou.com" to your contact list so you don't miss the next issue.
(If you're using Gmail, follow the 1-minute tutorial below)
I just added a custom sending domain name, so emails might end up in your spam folder.
Talk to you tomorrow!
I just changed the refunded revenue color on @DataFast_ (right is previous) https://t.co/Y1Cx3fcakK
Thanks for the idea @chrissyinspace.
How to 6x your MRR in 1 minute:
1. Triple the pricing 2. Reduce usage by 50% 3. Add no extra value
I want to leave @beehiiv now. https://t.co/0jvCkfaRgY
When I say "no extra value", it's my view only.
I'm sure @denk_tweets and his team have shipped like crazy, but for my use of Beehiiv, there's nothing new or helpful VS. last year on the legacy plan.
Today is complaining day https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1940665990926274588
the subtle art of charging more while sounding reasonable https://t.co/uH2ZgtOomN
Indonesia VS. South Africa https://t.co/LbD9qVWfAV
There was a storm the other day in Cape Town, and all the people from the village came down to clean the beach.
In Bali, I used to surf with plastic bottles floating around me, sometimes even tied to my leash. I got so used to it, I stopped noticing. When pollution becomes normal, we stop seeing it.
Later means never.
Build your ideas when inspiration strikes, not tomorrow.
The YouTube VLOG returns on Tuesday 🎥 https://t.co/V2QbGLDUZN
And wife is the director.
South Africa is amazing.
My wife and I are here for 30 days in search of a new home, and we are surprised by the number of organic shops, cafes, and farms.
It's also super beautiful and wild. The air is clean around Cape Town, and there are good waves!
There's obviously the security issue, but since we're in a tiny village, people are very friendly and everybody says "hi" to each other when walking their dogs at the beach.
On the downside, there's no startup ecosystem, and it's far from the rest of the world.
P.S. Rooibos is delicious (topped with a cloud of milk)
POV you're a startup founder doing customer support https://t.co/b8nDhYB9lP
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
✅ 15% completed https://t.co/u1ta1H1ReK
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I made $54,746 in June 2025.
🧑💻 CodeFast — $28.4K ⚡️ ShipFast — $19.1K 📈 DataFast — $3.5K 🐥 Twitter — $1.3K 🍜 Indie Page — $1.1K 💨 Zenvoice — $345 🎞️ YouTube — $311 🚀 LaunchViral — $258 🛡️ ByeDispute — $213 🌱 HabitsGarden — $114 💩 PoopUp — $86 📚 WorkbookPDF — $19
🔴 Revenue from the startups' portfolio is down by 11%.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
You no longer need Stripe.
@DataFast_ now tracks revenue from anything that moves money.
PayPal, DodoPayment, Paddle... Use the new Payment API to attribute your startup revenue to your traffic sources and find what makes people buy! https://t.co/u8XcsX923U
Here is how it works → https://datafa.st/docs/payments-api
Lovable's marketing strategy is interesting.
Whenever I search for keywords like "an app for...", "a website to do..." I find Lovable's programmatic SEO pages ranked as #1 result (sponsored results).
The pSEO pages are the same as their homepage, with a different <h1> targeting long-tail keywords.
I can't tell what the ROI is, but I would assume it's high because it's ultra-specific and practical, which Google and LLMs love.
I wrote a free guide about how I get 300+ visitors a day from Google, for free, using programmatic SEO: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-grow-a-micro-startup-with-programmatic-seo
And a failed pSEO project 😂
Google only indexed 5% of the pages.
https://shipfa.st/logo-idea https://t.co/OS9sFKAGah
Being in shape is a cheat code:
- People talk to you - People take you seriously - Improves your sleep - Improves your focus - Makes you happy - Makes you want to eat clean food
The ROI is just too good to snooze.
Before dating a developer, turn off the Wi-Fi.
It’s basically a personality test.
I tried ostrich meat for the first time today and it's delicious. https://t.co/Z9MTzazldd
I just shipped time travel on @DataFast_.
You can now go back to July 3, 1997 and see that nobody visited your site because you hadn’t built it yet.
(but now you can jump through days with ⬅️ ➡️) https://t.co/DpQTpOCpSc
What grew my audience from 0 followers:
- Quirky product launch videos (w/ Joe Rogan) - Screenshots of a viral post on Reddit & Hacker News - "I built X startups in Y days" + takeaway - Brutally honest tweets about {topic} - MRR screenshots with a few hundred $
Also: learning how to format my thoughts into digestible content (listicles, hooks).
Here's how my startups got...
- 100,000 visitors - on autopilot - for free
...using programmatic SEO: https://t.co/FuUQsH1eEm
And now http://DataFa.st shows which of your pSEO pages make money. https://t.co/zV1Z9CeKPs
First time running 10km barefoot.
+ I'm 15% slower than with shoes + I have no pain (shoes hurt my knees/feet) https://t.co/CXbTNTOoo4
If you're using DataFast, I wrote this little article to help you get better insights from your traffic: https://datafa.st/docs/utm-tracking
Most people get this wrong.
It took me over 365 days of relentless tweeting to reach 1K followers.
Then I stopped shipping “vitamin” products with a free plan and learned marketing.
I made a few dollars.
People started to care. My audience grew from 1K to 10K.
I doubled down in marketing, focused on painkillers, and my audience kept growing.
Nobody cares until you win.
Walking is the easiest way to burn body fat.
10k steps is 500kcal, like an intense HIIT session. Meanwhile, you can listen to a podcast, take a call, or write a tweet like this one. https://t.co/fMrbPfj3mx
That's how long it takes for people to subscribe to DataFast from 1st visit. https://t.co/0H6m450lzS
I’m adding this to @DataFast_ for best accuracy.
I used to be jealous of successful founders when I started.
This is a perfectly normal feeling.
But you can learn to channel it into motivation.
Hate is just jealousy in disguise, and neither will make you successful.
So just be more positive! https://x.com/iamfra5er/status/1937854552969252968
“Mom, why are we so rich?”
Because daddy is selling internet dopamine
https://x.com/stemonteduro/status/1937903637256397095 https://t.co/TLKWFABSOm
7 figures in my broker account.
Thanks JavaScript 🥹 https://t.co/XLFvVeIykz
Even if YouTube Premium were free, I wouldn't subscribe.
I watch ads until the end, that's how I learn marketing.
Sometimes I don't even watch the actual video because the ad gave me a better angle for my startup.
Ideas are hidden in the stuff everyone skips.
Big wins are built in boring days. https://t.co/73qCiEpErQ
My current Airbnb host just asked to switch to WhatsApp.
Is this a thing now?
> For ongoing stay communication like questions, etc.
Navigating into uncharted territories https://t.co/FlEQ0aQ4Wc
I just invested in my health https://t.co/sO13dgUPYm
Sponsored by Airbnb https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1936406011268722774
We've got @thepatwalls building a startup in public with DataFast 🤩 https://t.co/BhOJuwCPRf
He's documenting the journey from 0 → $100K in his new YouTube channel (because one is never enough) https://www.youtube.com/@StarterStoryBuild
Ship your startup today. https://t.co/T7lI4hwnXr
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Most people ignore this, but it works:
→ OG images are how you get more clicks when sharing your site.
I just made it automatic in @DataFast_, now your public analytics dashboard link actually looks clickable. https://t.co/BMOx6ifqvr
When I started building tiny startups in 2016, I had no idea how to get customers. It took me two years to finally make $1 online.
I wish I had this book in my hands.
@AlexHormozi explains 4 ways to get people interested in what you have to sell, and it's much easier than I thought when I got started. He also teaches you the right mindset to start the journey.
If you're an entrepreneur, especially a developer, read it.
"You cannot lose if you do not quit."
If you want to visit the porcelain throne more often, try this: https://t.co/muc8ydej6N
Airbnb just blew my mind.
Last month, my wife and I booked a place ($277 per night) for 4 weeks in the south of France.
The place was nice, but we kept having issues: slow wifi, broken appliances, noisy neighbors. We messaged the hosts every time something happened (this is important). They were kind and fixed everything they could.
I didn't leave a review after the stay because I'm a labrador and I don't like to share negative stuff. If I had to, it would be 3 out of 5.
Airbnb reached out by email asking what went wrong. They knew we had constant issues. I think they analyze threads between hosts and guests using AI.
I didn't reply to the first email. A few days later, they refunded the ENTIRE stay ($7,756) without us asking anything.
Some context about the place:
- We could hear every step from the upstairs neighbor. - The dishwasher broke because of a thunderstorm; I spent 2 hours with the host trying to fix it. - The fire alarm went off in the middle of the night. - The WiFi was only 3 Mbps with a 100 ms ping, despite assurances it was fast before booking. - The shower clogged every two days. - The host walked through the house with shoes on, leaving it dirty. - The toilet seat was broken. - All the furniture was cheap; the sofa moved when you sat down, and the shower cap didn’t hold, among other issues.
The host was responsive and helpful, but some problems, like poor ceiling insulation, couldn't be easily resolved.
At $150 per night, the place would have met expectations. Not at $277.
I don't know if the refund is covered by Airbnb, the host, or both. I think 50% would have been fair.
And I'm not saying if it’s right or wrong, just sharing what happened.
Nobody regrets taking a shot.
- Ship that startup - Write that tweet - Post that video
The only failure is never hitting publish.
Hey Polar users, I heard you loud and clear.
“Can I use DataFast with @polar_sh?”
Yes, now you can! 🎉 https://t.co/9iLG9wEXnj
1. Go to your site settings (top left on your dashboard) on @DataFast_ 2. Select "Revenue" tab > "Polar" 3. Taadaa! https://t.co/EIDrVtXaUA
Big thanks to @birk (Polar founder) for shipping a new API endpoint in <24hrs for an easy integration with DataFast https://t.co/HpwyTYzgqQ
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
✅ 14% completed https://t.co/HnOoeI3dt4
New startup office for a month: Cape Town 🇿🇦 https://t.co/IXSLSkFFaZ
I stopped drinking tap water.
Even in countries where they say it's "safe".
I'm in France now and I've tried:
- 1 week of tap water - 1 week of bottled water
My forehead is full of pimples after the tap water week. And clean when I drink water bottles.
I moved to a new Airbnb 600km away, same story.
For now, I prefer microplastics and will get a reverse osmosis filter when (if) I buy a house.
They seriously upgraded 3D flight maps https://t.co/n9VoMKIuJG
how? https://t.co/6EvjJw7oJ2
This is my Thread profile: https://www.threads.com/@marclouvion
Airbnb in France is terrible.
Everybody wants to make a few extra bucks by renting a room or a place they inherited but have 0 sense of hospitality.
Last month, I spent $10,000 on a place where appliances kept breaking, the WiFi was unusable, and there was constant noise from neighbors. The owner offered us one free cleaning as a "kind" gesture.
Airbnb in Korea, Australia, and New Zealand was much better.
Honored to receive this year’s award for “most unexpected YouTube underdog story that somehow hit 500K views”.
Thanks for the shirt @thepatwalls 🫶 https://t.co/uZ2i2VXZnc
The video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGVxAmmJUmY
I'm building a new startup.
I worked hard for 7 years to enjoy passive income for 7 days. https://t.co/kQ9oj8HgFT
Nobody changed the world with a plan B. https://t.co/jr3fkWmM4r
2 unexpected side effects:
- Fewer wake-up events to go pee because I sleep more deeply - No dry mouth in the morning
I still can't believe how much mouth taping improved my sleep quality.
Hot take: Make $1,000 online once, and you’ll never need a job again.
In the journey, you'll learn about marketing, building, psychology, copywriting, sales, pricing, politics, learning to learn, positioning, consistency, focus.
It might take a year or five. It's a cheap price for freedom.
Launching your startup on a new Twitter account will flop.
Here’s what to do instead:
• Launch on HN, Reddit, ProductHunt, TAAFT, Uneed, TinyLaunch, etc. • These platforms don’t care about follower count • It’s fast and usually free
Then:
• Share the results on Twitter • Grow your audience • Leverage it for your next launch
Winning is how you build momentum.
• How to launch a startup on Reddit: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-launch-a-startup-on-reddit • How to launch a startup on Product Hunt: [marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-launc…](https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-launch-a-startup-on-product-hunt) • How to launch a startup on Hacker News: [marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-launc…](https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-launch-a-startup-on-hacker-news)
2 indie alternatives to Product Hunt:
- https://www.tinylaun.ch/ - [uneed.best](https://www.uneed.best/)
"Ship your startup in days, not weeks"
2 years ago, people called me crazy for coming up with this headline for my boilerplate.
AI has improved so much. Now it takes me a few hours to turn an idea into a business with Cursor + ShipFast.
The codebase provides the LLM with all the context it needs to build features exactly as I would code them, but does it 100 times faster.
I've updated the ShipFast landing page to reflect that.
Cursor light mode enabled this view https://t.co/qbIXoFXm2F
It’s already possible with a smart TV:
1. On Chrome go to View > Cast 2. Taadaa! Watch your traffic (not the news)
The new lofi radio station will play on your TV speakers 🎵 https://t.co/2RmDiB9SE7
Should I build an button to cast like the YouTube player?
Or overthinking?
nobody:
literally nobody:
me: let’s add a lofi radio to my analytics dashboard
vibes > bounce rate https://t.co/Nz1VZ6ohxm
available now on your http://DataFa.st real-time globe 🌍
Building au audience is a byproduct of building cool shit.
vibe breakfast https://t.co/KjkJt0MXmQ
I’ve slept in 30 different places over the last 6 months while tracking my sleep data obsessively.
The #1 factor that affects my sleep is temperature.
18°C is the sweet spot:
+ Lower RHR + Higher HRV + Fewer wake-ups
It's more impactful than light, noise, food, or hydration (for me), and I can't sleep well without an AC.
Instead of buying another domain name...
1. Write a killer headline for your startup 2. Send it to a friend
24 hours later, ask if they remember it.
❌ If they don't, you save $20/year ✅ If they do, just ship it
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I just added these 2 to my health stack:
🪸 Spirulina is a nutrient-rich algae used for energy and immunity 🌾 Psyllium husk is a fiber that helps digestion https://t.co/guRXcuDFnf
This is dangerously delicious @bryan_johnson https://t.co/pjBaJzsTfX
One thing I noticed in France is that everybody has ongoing home problems.
Rusty pipes, broken dishwasher, flaking walls, etc.
People fix it themselves because services (plumbers/electricians) are relatively slow and expensive.
Bali is nice for that because
- everything happens on WhatsApp; you can just text a repair business and have someone help you out within 24 hours (+ a smile). - it's cheap (if you get foreign income), so you outsource almost everything and make the economy work
I guess I'll never own a home 🥹
Your mom just made it to your top 5 visitors.
(She was checking if the button looked “nice”)
Exclude IPs and paths that mess with your startup data. Live now on @DataFast_. https://t.co/Xra5conIWT
Wearing shoes isn't natural.
The big toe is pushed inward toward the second toe. The constant pressure shifts the joint outwards and creates a bunion over time.
Now that most of my friends are in their 30s, I see a lot of them getting bunions.
I've walked barefoot for 8+ years now. People think I'm weird or something, but at least I have no pain or injury in my foot (despite working out intensely every day).
I also realized that some of my foot muscles were extremely weak when I removed my shoes, because they weren't used naturally. I used to sprain my ankle all the time.
Walking barefoot isn't fashionable, but it's an investment in your health.
I only wear shoes: - when I run long distances - in places where I just can't be barefoot (airports)
This is how I organize the codebase for all my 30+ startups.
I ship fast because:
- I reuse the same boilerplate over and over - I don't upgrade libraries unless necessary - I know exactly where everything is
Once you've built 2/3 startups, take a day off to set a minimalist boilerplate for yourself. It'll 10x your productivity, especially now with AI.
This post is inspired by @melvynxdev, who came up with this cool design!
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I just shipped Viral Alerts for @DataFast_
→ If your site has 20+ unique visitors in the last 10 minutes → And traffic last 10 minutes > 5x average traffic last 60 minutes → Then send an email
It's currently in beta to test. I'd love your thoughts. https://t.co/NZoosIkWkM
If you're using DataFast:
Mark previous emails as important to make sure the viral alerts don't end up in spam.
Bonus point if you reply.
A video without a thumbnail is bland.
So this is YouTube: https://youtu.be/r45n3Jsqu6o
All the people who scanned me → https://datafa.st/share/66d5711aa2f1fb254ce42c0b?campaign=yolo
The sale's time: https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1921626297832464614
Find a product where marketing is obvious.
You don't need to "think" about how to sell; it comes naturally.
This is how you leverage your natural skills and 10x the chance of building a profitable startup.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
If you told me 2 years ago that I’d sell $500,000+ to people who barely spent an hour on my site, I’d have laughed.
But here we are.
Just keep shipping. https://t.co/R7U6B41AYG
This is ShipFast data in @DataFast_ btw
How to make $100,000...
...as an employee:
1. Find a $9,000/month job 2. Work for 12 months 3. Don't get fired.
...as an entrepreneur:
1. Build a $3,000/month product 2. Sell.
Wealth isn’t about salary but ownership.
I finally migrated DataFast's database to @tinybirdco and...
HOLY SHIT IT'S F FAST!
In the video, it takes ~1 second to fetch and display 100,000 pageviews. It would take ~1.5 seconds for 12 months of data (1M+ pageviews).
If you're a DataFast user, you can now enjoy much faster analytics.
Last year, when I told @dannypostmaa I was building an analytics tool with MongoDB, he said it won't scale, it's too slow for large datasets.
I was too dumb to listen.
And I regret so badly because it took 2 months to migrate the whole database 🥹
I just got the @WHOOP HydroSleeve so I can track my surf sessions.
It’s much more intense than I thought and pretty good for V02 max:
- 24 minutes in zone 4/5 - 1,234 kcal burned - 127 bpm average heart beat
So yeah don’t die can be fun 😁 https://t.co/0rDBv2jf9Q
This is how it looks
I lose my whoop tracker the first time I went surfing with it last year https://t.co/5DFI1jZYOR
I will do anything to prove you right 🫡
> spend 9 months building a startup > wake up to this 🤩
Why startup founders fail:
1. Build something nobody wants 2. Don’t know how to get customers 3. Give up too early
And how to fix it:
• Build one feature • Ship fast • Kill faster
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
claude-4-opus MAX is amazing.
I pulled my hair yesterday with sonnet to pin tooltips when a bar is clicked.
Opus fixed it in one prompt in the same chat context 🥹
It's my new AI stack now.
https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1928827817564975337 https://t.co/tehT34xI33
So now you can make screenshots of your @DataFast_ dashboard https://t.co/VEbuor7dEZ
ChatGPT is now sending significant traffic to my little startup.
At $3.34 revenue per visitor, it's also one of the top converting marketing channels. https://t.co/lOa7DfGw3u
The site: http://ShipFa.st The analytics: [DataFa.st](http://DataFa.st)
I made $61,544 in May 2025.
🧑💻 CodeFast — $34.9K ⚡️ ShipFast — $19.3K 📈 DataFast — $3.3K 🐥 Twitter — $1.5K 🍜 Indie Page — $870 💨 Zenvoice — $463 🚀 LaunchViral — $387 🎞️ YouTube — $352 🛡️ ByeDispute — $227 🌱 HabitsGarden — $134 💩 PoopUp — $92 📚 WorkbookPDF — $19
Revenue source breakdown for CodeFast https://t.co/Xm1Glb1U0C
Revenue source breakdown for ShipFast https://t.co/DTZiBMdHgv
→ Data from @DataFast_
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
TikTok gave us ADHD. AI made us bipolar. https://t.co/DFo5GKlvn1
I've never loved and hated AI so extremely
A startup headquarters in 2025. https://t.co/iLaHIQYp68
Being a startup founder is fun until:
• customer initiates a chargeback • you realize you shipped a bug… 3 weeks ago • wifi dies • one update breaks 17 dependencies • someone asks “so… what’s your job again?” • and now you have to write documentation 💀 https://t.co/TVY0km1d7o
I've just released a new SEO module on http://CodeFa.st!
🤨 SEO 101 🕷️ Crawling 🔎 Indexing 🥇 Ranking
If you're new to SEO and planning to launch your startup, this is for you! https://t.co/qAU1zb8XtC
this is too addictive 😭 https://t.co/tdlAv17vuT
According to my fitness tracker, I now qualify for posting "I sold my startup for millions as a teenager." https://t.co/qY3CJZj3Gt
Forget about:
- GDPR - Clean code - A/B testing - User feedback - Dot-com domain - Professional logo - Optimized legal setup
None of the above matters until you've found people begging to give you money (aka. Product Market Fit)
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
All my 50+ biomarkers are now public at http://marclou.com/biohack
My focus is lowering my cholesterol (I was breastfed with camembert, it's hard to stop).
I started taking spirulina 🪸 and psyllium husk 🌾, and reduced my intake of saturated fats.
Today:
<slept 8hrs 12min>
- 20 min walk w/ wife - reading ($100M Leads by @AlexHormozi) - 1 hour Hyrox - 20 min sauna - berries & nuts breakfast - 1 hour writing - shipping - fish & veggies lunch - shipping - 4pm: turn ON phone and check socials - light dinner, beach walk, stretch
Tomorrow, same.
I spent the last 48 hours improving the onboarding flow for my SaaS.
👋 Added an onboarding popup with key features (only) 📧 Set up email drip sequence with @resend ✏️ Wrote a bunch of docs for SEO & LLMs
The goal is to get the most users from signup → "HAHA". https://t.co/JdJo0mzYlg
This is the onboarding popup I just made for http://DataFa.st https://t.co/n0LrOGYglY
I'm 31, but my body is 23.
When I was a student, I had the worst lifestyle:
- Smoked 20 cigarettes a day - Ate fast food every day - Got drunk 3x a week
In 2021, I read "Why We Sleep" by @sleepdiplomat.
I started getting 8 hours of sleep, and my life changed:
I realized I was always tired without even knowing it...
Fixing my sleep unlocked everything else: motivation, productivity, happiness, etc.
In 2022, @bryan_johnson pushed my health to the next level. I followed everything he preaches:
+ Treat sleep religiously + Eat clean food + Exercise daily
The past 3 years have been the best years of my life, and the most productive as an entrepreneur.
Last month, I tested 50+ biomarkers with the health startup @lucis_life (YC X25). Almost every marker is in optimal range, and my biological age is 22.9.
90% of health is Sleep + Diet + Exercise.
Take care of your body ❤️
The health insights startup (Lucis) that did my blood test also gave me an action plan to improve my borderline biomarkers.
It's a French startup run by @gm_maxg and now incubated in YC25. Bravo! https://t.co/g9Mp6RMXrA
POV building a portfolio of small startups https://t.co/PSHOTZlTtx
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I love YouTube's viewers heatmap, so I made the same for my startups:
This one is for CodeFast's purchases over days and time.
It checks when a Stripe checkout is completed. Available for all @DataFast_ users with revenue attribution (press "I"). https://t.co/44xtiHsmlV
I just set up @crisp_im for my startup and I get 7x more requests than a typical email "support" button.
This is gold if you're building a product where users return daily.
The chat box is hidden from the landing page to avoid spam. https://t.co/MvTqtkwltv
Today, do hard things:
- Say "no" - Hit the gym - Do marketing - Take the stairs - Eat cauliflower - Build something - Go to bed on time - Keep the phone off
Tomorrow will be 1% better. Next year will be 3,778% better.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
✅ 13% completed https://t.co/ztRh2MVr8x
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
If you ever want to quit https://t.co/zON5QWxcqJ
the book: https://t.co/u6OUtwWjFq
POV doing customer support for my little startup https://t.co/bzHCDhbBsq
Anyone can get 1,000 followers in 30 days by doing this:
Step 1:
+ Pick one skill [coding, design, marketing] + Brand your profile around that
Step 2:
+ Post this format once a day "Day {{number}} of {{skill}}. I {{learn/made}} this." with a screenshot for proof-of-work + Follow and comment on 3 skill-related accounts
Try to be 1% more interesting each day. The compound effect will kick in. See you at 1,000 followers.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I just tried these magnetic nose strips, and it's SO good.
The difference with regular nose patches:
+ opens nostrils way more + less contact with the skin https://t.co/uo0IyO74lm
If explaining your startup idea takes a minute, think twice.
• Uber: tap a button, get a ride • Airbnb: rent a stranger’s home instead of a hotel • Stripe: accept payments online with a few lines of code
Make your idea simple, clear, and instantly make you go "oh, that makes sense".
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Entrepreneurship mindfuck:
It took me 7 years to make $1M It took me 0.7 year to make $2M
Don't give up.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I moved the startup office to Hossegor, France 🇫🇷
It's been a few days, and we love it.
It has the vibes of Canggu, Bali. Young and good-looking people everywhere. Bunch of coffee shops and gyms. Surf / laid back vibes.
+ It's incredibly beautiful, like New Zealand. There are Pyrenees mountains and the Atlantic ocean. It's very green and peaceful.
++ It's France, so the food is delicious (of course).
Vive la France 🥹
SP500 is up 20% since that post.
I accidentally made a good investment.
Now I have enough confidence to double down and lose 40%.
https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1909927021830128066?t=4XjH2hgxJJt1kHBbxSS7eQ&s=19 https://t.co/QnXqz2qe2i
I just sent this to my wife https://t.co/mccg0Ckx15
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Hacker News is a gold mine for your startup.
I drove 25,000+ visitors to my websites when I didn't have an audience.
But most people don't use it right... Here's how to get customers: https://t.co/m9xGVmlUqw
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
A credit card.
That's all you need to validate your startup idea.
- Stop looking for feedback - Stop doing market research - Stop thinking whether it's a good idea
The market will decide. Just shit it.
I just shit this tweet
I added these features to @DataFast_ in the last 3 months:
🔗 API 🧩 Widgets 🌍 Live visitors 🤝 Team members 📢 Real-time event 🔁 Renewal revenue 🔀 Reorder websites 🌟 Public dashboard 🧠 Revenue prediction 🔎 SEO revenue attribution
Ship fast or die trying.
I log everything here: https://datafa.st/changelog
.gitignore IRL
/life/ ⤷ morning.clock ⤷ your_phone_before_4pm.js /food/ ⤷*.alcohol ⤷ *.sugar /people/ ⤷ /haters ⤷ /pessimistics /fears/ ⤷ what_if_i_fail.txt ⤷ imaginary_critics.json ⤷ delay_until_ready.html
Don’t let junk files write your story.
That's how you get 1,000,000 startup ideas:
- Browsing Twitter - Listening to customers - Building stuff - Going for walks - 8 hours of sleep
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Tell me you’re rich without telling me (dev edition) https://t.co/5yKcuCM5tr
You don’t lose if you don’t quit. https://t.co/W9ckJ53Mt3
Don't know how to price your startup?
Use Popcorn Pricing:
- $10 for 10 credits - $25 for 30 credits - $30 for 50 credits
The medium tier is priced to make the large seem like a better deal.
✅ It's much easier to sell than subscriptions ✅ Most customers will end up buying the highest tier ✅ It works with almost anything: AI image generators (credit = image generation), mobile apps (credit = weekly/monthly/yearly pass), etc.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I see my French friends using Mouse Jigglers to pretend they're working when they're not.
That’s what happens when companies make work so pointless you need circus tricks to look productive. https://t.co/0GPhkw7wCi
Actually they use this because companies run on Windows https://t.co/pqJUV27nt2
Now you don’t have to share your password with your cofounder, intern, or your dog.
✨ Invite your team to @DataFast_ ✨
Live now! https://t.co/MsaHe2souq
Most startup founders stop at step #3:
1. Build something 2. Market it 3. Build something else
Winners loop forever until it works.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
✅ 12% completed https://t.co/PCkG6skPrT
I made $50,000 from affiliate marketing.
Here's how...
⚙️ To get started 💰 Convert affiliates 🔊 Promote your program https://t.co/aeA8fHASoJ
I use @rewardful for all my affiliate programs
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I just added filters to @DataFast_ real-time map 🌍 https://t.co/xeTDj0ehs2
On the way back home, something unexpected happened...
My taxi driver, Erman, was curious about the billboard, so I pitched my coding course (CodeFast). He said he always wanted to learn coding and would buy the course.
I thought he was being nice and didn't believe he actually would.
We moved on and talked about his pork farm in Benin. He bought it for $100,000 and makes ~$50,000/year.
When we arrived at my place, he asked again about my course, hmmm...
I told him to scan the QR code for a discount, and he pulled out his credit card. He bought it in front of me!!
So today I got 2 customers ($299 + $169) with my stupid marketing experiment.
It cost me $10 for a t-shirt, $12 for the coins, and $33 for the Uber ride.
That's $413 in profit, without having an online presence!
Marketing is wild.
I track who scans and buys using @DataFast_
Here are the analytics data for CodeFast, you can filter Referrers by "yolo" (the QR code link) → https://datafa.st/share/66d5711aa2f1fb254ce42c0b
I think the payment from the other person (not Erman the taxi driver) was made online, probably by scanning the QR code on one of my previous tweets.
Still a really fun experiment 😁
@DataFast_ Definitely YouTube video coming up
I’m running a stupid marketing experiment now.
Come make fun of me (location below) https://t.co/gLd9J3gVID
HOLY SHIT SOMEONE BOUGHT!! 🤩🤩🤩 https://t.co/FjYhwoNlq2
The only productivity hack is putting this damn phone away .
Apparently you can tweet and gather 200 like-minded people.
Thanks for the hospitality, India ❤️
Thanks to @coderabbitai for making this possible 🤝
Thanks for helping with everything and showing me around @iwahabshaikh & @the_mcnaveen 🫶
Thanks for the video @nikolaspetrouu 🤩
A thousand steps A hundred lines of code A dozen minutes of exercise A few social media posts One cold outreach Zero all-nighters
Do these every day of the year.
By the end of 2025, you'll be wealthier, healthier, and more fulfilled.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
✅ Done
You can now reorder your startups in @DataFast_ ✨
It was harder than I thought because of the grid system, and gemini-2.5 decided to be dumb today. https://t.co/0Pg3Aw5trs
I'm back to France 🇫🇷 after 6 crazy days in India 🇮🇳
Mumbai was intense. I took a bunch of selfies of strangers, ate delicious food, and still have no idea why everyone honks nonstop 😂
Now it’s so quiet here… and I’ve already eaten enough cheese for a month. https://t.co/zdassMTpuU
I traveled to Bali, Singapore, India, and France with this t-shirt. I'll keep wearing it until at least 1 person buys the course.
To increase the conversion rate, I added a modal for people who scan the QR code.
Once I get a customer, I'll make a YouTube video. https://t.co/SD0b3MGcNk
Treat these like temples— • your desk • your bed • the gym
Once you enter, no distractions. Full focus. Commit 100%.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Canceled for using long dash
There are only 3 things that matter for startup founders:
1. Caffeine 2. Eight hours of sleep 3. Your landing page headline
Start with the second.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
✅ 11% completed https://t.co/t5UGcdaXq0
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
From my worst-performing YouTube video...
to suddenly taking off with thousands of views.
I only changed the title on Day 2 to make it more "intriguing". https://t.co/rT5OvZtoNX
That created a little party on http://DataFa.st https://t.co/CgLrAQKdV9
Sorry forgot this
How to make $10,000 for your startup with Free Tools Marketing.
- It costs $0 - It's addictive - It can make ur app go viral
As a developer, this is my way of doing marketing without doing marketing. https://t.co/MQbQvy2kFf
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
For instance this made $30,000
It’s a roadmap to learn to code from 0.
It gets words of mouths easily because it’s free and useful. Meanwhile I use it as a billboard for my paid course. https://codefa.st/roadmap
After watching Bryan Johnson's last video about air quality in India, I was a little worried traveling to Mumbai, so we asked our hotel to provide us with an air filter.
They didn't think it was weird at all, and they came back 5 minutes later with this!
Room air quality is 5µg/m³ PM2.5 (very good) 😮💨
Still showing the same PM2.5 level so this is unlikely the actual number ☠️ https://t.co/hwX1kuKQ4W
This is how I grew my Twitter account to 170K followers:
1. Launch tiny startups 2. Share results 3. Repeat
People pay attention when you start winning.
So, I've added a new feature to @DataFast_ → Share your analytics with a link. To enable this, go to the General tab in your site settings.
You can directly show the real-time globe when you add ?realtime=1 at the end of your public URL.
For instance, that's CodeFast analytics (revenue, traffic, real-time events): https://datafa.st/share/66d5711aa2f1fb254ce42c0b?realtime=1
This guy dropped a free course to build a SaaS from 0 using AI. https://t.co/8p1PpnJQFz
I think it's the roadmap he's talking about: https://codefa.st/roadmap
This was the craziest meetup.
200 people joined. Half of them took a flight or a train to come here.
This meetup was the same as my first impressions of Mumbai: people are very welcoming, it’s intense, alive.
It’s awesome what can happen when you build side projects and share your thoughts on the internet.
Thanks for the warm welcome, India ❤️
Here’s the replay
My friend @iwahabshaikh gifted the Kurta (traditional Indian clothe) I wore during the meetup. https://t.co/Fpyulrbxqp
Indie Hacker Mumbai Meetup https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1YqKDZALnBwJV
I wanted to ship this on the plane yesterday, but the Wi-Fi was down 😭
Now I'm in Mumbai, and it's shipped ✅ https://t.co/Ja4ChlQB8U
CodeFast 1 year ago: > An idea
CodeFast today: > 3,000 students 🥹
Build your ideas. https://t.co/MWNg4lZOXk
I scrape all public reviews and put them here.
If you write about it, I will find you, and I will... https://codefa.st/review
You can’t go wrong if you build your ideas.
Forgive me Father @bryan_johnson, for I have sinned.
I had Shake Shack. https://t.co/J2FQjtFPwk
Making $1 online teaches skills no university can match.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
How to market your startup and hit 10K daily steps: https://t.co/2PffXWinuN
Fishing in Singapore https://t.co/ateCxHQ1Xl
Almost 1,000 people signed up for the meetup in Mumbai 🤯
I had no idea how to "handle" all this...
Until @coderabbitai reached out and offered to sponsor the event!
I asked for $3,000. They sent the money within 24 hours. Now we've got a proper venue!
📍 WeWork Raheja Platinum 📆 Sunday, May 4 from 3 pm to 5 pm
There was a bit of money left, so I hired a videographer (maybe I could even live stream the event?)
Thanks @coderabbitai for making this possible 🙏 and excited to meet you all!!
I don't make a single $ from the event btw.
I'm already super grateful that people sign up to come hang out.
But after being kicked out of a park in Paris because there were too many people, it made sense to get a proper venue. Especially under 32°C Mumbai weather.
And big thanks @aravindputrevu for helping with the sponsorship, and thanks @florinpop1705 for connecting us!
All the details about the meetup here https://lu.ma/ifxf45ue
We even got featured on @LumaHQ
Can AI Predict When I’ll Get Rich? https://t.co/ntB6vWtD3B
Or watch in 4K with chapters on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wETKa9xtxFQ&ab_channel=MarcLou
Oh and here are the visitor prediction scores on the world map: https://datafa.st/share/66bc31d58da3feddf919205e?realtime=1
Here.
An opportunity to make millions.
You can now bypass the Apple 30% tax with a web payment.
- Wrap an HTML app with @capacitorjs - Add a buy button with @stripe - Push to app stores
Go build something.
And fuck yeah Tim 💪👊
My feed is full of solo entrepreneurs who make a living+++ with a computer.
We did it 🥹 https://x.com/arthuryuzbashew/status/1917569534061322692
LinkedIn😂 https://t.co/7XRPExBPyA
I made $68,530 in April 2025.
🧑💻 CodeFast — $39.6K ⚡️ ShipFast — $22.3K 📈 DataFast — $2.4K 🐥 Twitter — $1.1K 🍜 Indie Page — $1K 💨 Zenvoice — $729 🛡️ ByeDispute — $488 🌱 HabitsGarden — $334 🎞️ YouTube — $268 🧬 BioAge — $197 💩 PoopUp — $85 📚 WorkbookPDF — $29
➖ I lost 1 source of income (LaunchViral) 🔴 Total startup revenue is down by 25% (vs. last month)
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
The new startup founder's tech stack:
• Ideation: Cursor • Design: Cursor • Coding: Cursor • Marketing: Cursor • Psychiatrist: Cursor
Just open your code editor and build.
Video editing in 2025 reminds me of coding in 2023. https://t.co/m6Fs4JFg9E
I’ve seen specialists for this.
“how did you hurt your nose?” the last one asked, after seeing my nasal strip.
She didn’t know about mouth taping either.
Instead she prescribed: - cortisol - an appointment with another specialist
And used a bunch of words I couldn’t understand without ChatGPT. I left perplex.
Turns out that a guy dipping his head into ice water solved my problem. Thanks @AshtonHallofc
This video finally reached 100K+ views.
Compared to my best-performing video: + 10x more work + 100x more value + 7x fewer views
A great reminder that input and output aren't linear.
If you're stuck somewhere, iterate. https://t.co/aI96DrpAX6
This changed my life.
Mouth taping increased my deep sleep by 30+ minutes, every single night.
I waited for 10 days to post this to make sure it was real, and it is.
Context: I snore a lot. My typical deep sleep used to be 1 to 1.5 hours a night, regardless of my sleeping position (side or back). As a result, I woke up groggy. It took 30 minutes to get out of bed.
So I recorded myself sleeping to understand what's going on: every 15 minutes, I'd make a gasping sound. Mouth breathing creates airway collapse → tiny blockages → micro-wakeups → less deep sleep.
My nose is big but useless. I can't breathe with it. Nasal stripes made me rediscover nose breathing, but I'm still trained to breathe with my mouth.
That's where mouth tape comes in: It forces me to breathe through my nose (which is now working, thanks to nasal strips). Now:
- I get an extra 30 minutes of deep sleep per night - I wake up in 10 seconds
I'm not a doctor, but seriously, if you snore, try this. It feels like cheating.
My sleep stack https://t.co/2uvHOzo7h5
I’ve never ever since this in my data before
I feel so good when I wake up
Can’t believe it’s real 😭🥹 https://t.co/kBNzzKDjNv
Real software engineers won't approve, but hear me out:
Front-end first, back-end second.
If you can't make a good design, that feature shouldn't be in your app. At least you saved yourself the backend time.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I guess it's time for a coming out...
Just added light mode ☀️ to http://DataFa.st World Map https://t.co/DOP8wAOgJ5
49% of CodeFast students purchased on their 1st visit. https://t.co/hY8Pt1zVqP
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Offline is the new wealth.
This is one of the best metered pricing UX I've seen 🤩
@tinybirdco shows the number of CPUs you get on the scroll label. That's nice! https://t.co/A5Ht2VlxKH
A simple copywriting framework to get more customers for your startup:
→ The headline promises an almost impossible outcome → The rest of the copy delivers on the promise
Start with the headline first.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
If you want people to care about your ideas, read this book.
Especially if you:
• Write online • Make content • Run a business
Banger.
(my notes are on the right) https://t.co/f3yr8I5otU
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I grew a SaaS from 0 to $80,000+ using cold emails ONLY.
It costs $0, yet most developers won't even ever try...
How you can do it too:
1. Pull B2B leads using TripAdvisor, Yelp, etc. 2. Collect lead details (owner's name, city, last post on Instagram, etc.) 3. Add information to a CRM pipeline, like Streak 4. Send a first email using a template like the one below 5. Jump on a call with the biz owner, explain how you can help them achieve <outcome> with your startup 6. Set up 2/3 automated drip emails for recovery
It's boring.
But you will make money faster than with any other marketing channel.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I'm back in Bali for 10 days and going to repeat this 10 times:
🏄 Surf (2 hrs) ☕️ Coffee + book (30 min) 🧑💻 Deep work (6 hrs) 👩❤️👨 Dinner + walk with wife (2 hrs)
Some people find it boring, but routine is how I built 30 tiny startups. https://t.co/GSLOKVnEDV
1 month ago:
"AI is insane, I don't even code anymore."
Now:
"this LLM sucks, i have to repeat myself 😭😭😭" https://t.co/l9jUiSMLjx
Getting rich:
• 1% luck • 99% sticking to your damn goals
Don't quit.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Done ✅ https://t.co/MzW3NQdxmp
Do this tomorrow:
1. Wake up, coffee, no phone. 2. Take 30 minutes to write the hero section of your idea: Headline + Subheadline + CTA. Use less than 280 characters. No image. 3. Deploy and reply below with the URL for proof-of-work (bookmark this).
Getting the ball rolling will get you further than thinking.
You got this!
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
How it started - How it's going https://t.co/If7u640fVH
There's no such thing as bad marketing, right?
Spotted in Seoul, South Korea. https://t.co/zkW3M5GIRZ
This will teach you more about marketing than any other course:
1. Cold-call local businesses. 2. Pitch your AI startup. 3. Stop when you get a "yes."
There's no better way to learn marketing than through rejection.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
This lead magnet made $20,000 in 2 months for CodeFast.
But I had no idea—until I tracked it.
So I added a new feature to @DataFast_
→ Track revenue by the first page your visitors see
It's a great way to know your ROI if you're doing SEO or lead magnets. https://t.co/CtzuHdpCtw
The lead magnet: https://codefa.st/roadmap
The biggest mistake I made as an entrepreneur was thinking product-first:
I wasted years building apps that made $0.
Instead, do this:
1. Pick a problem 2. Build a feature to solve it 3. Write a headline to sell it 4. Add a buy button 5. Share it
Validate your ideas ASAP.
You'll get profitable 10x faster!
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
In 2018 I felt lonely building startups in Korea because there weren’t many indie hackers.
Today 30 solo founders showed up for the meetup 🤩
Seoul is such a great place to build tiny startups because it’s super convenient, tons of coffee shops and now there’s a community of builders!
Thanks for coming ❤️ 대한민국 만세!
Of course we did a sauna after https://t.co/LwGYqfPGzm
I left the meetup and people are having dinner together, so nice!! https://t.co/aPAFsyAcjv
FREAKING DID IT
I finished the last 2km barefoot because I felt there was a screw in my right feet
Damn I feel alive https://t.co/B2TydJTtwM
https://t.co/2KAbcYjTNn
Fuck it.
I’m running a half marathon, right now.
I run 5km occasionally, 12km is my PR. This is a dumb experiment because I’m bored.
Watch me fail miserably 👇 https://t.co/Wf481W5a40
I already regret
Go https://t.co/XvTYBjGZkO
Can’t feel my feet already https://t.co/4I1fTSNsNQ
Heavy metal is cheat code
12kn
Never been this far
Had to stop, feet are burning like there’s no blood https://t.co/4zt5i4xDf0
If you're in Korea, let's meet at 3 pm today!
take the stairs today https://t.co/OyE2uDitxi
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
✅ 10% completed https://t.co/hw7Ah0Iv5N
Holy smokes
I vibe coded a logistic regression algorithm (machine learning) with Cursor + gemini in 15 minutes, and it completely obliterated my previous prediction model 🤯
- AUC = 0.76 for hardcoded visitor>customer prediction - AUC = 0.85 for machine learning visitor>customer prediction
It makes me want to train 1 AI per website on @DataFast_
Such a smart way to collect user feedback from @stripe.
I bet they'd 2x reviews if they added a female profile photo (I don't make the rules). https://t.co/2Qj91P4rvs
What won't make you financially free:
🚫 Your .com domain 🚫 Your startup name 🚫 Your expensive logo
What will make you financially free:
✅ Your speed-to-market ✅ Your headline ✅ Your pricing
Fix one painful problem with one feature, an emotional headline, and a good pricing strategy. You can do it!
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
This is DataFast's revenue prediction for CodeFast (last 30 days, n=50,000 pageviews).
For each visitor, it generates a "score":
🥶 0 = unlikely to buy 🫥 50 = baseline, average 🥵 100 = more likely to buy
I plotted the data to see how accurate it is.
The AUC is 0.76, which I think isn't bad for a first try?
For now, the conversion prediction algorithm is trained on a few datapoints (referrer, country, visit counts etc...) and the weights are hardcoded.
I finally set up a lead magnet 🧲 for CodeFast — but with a twist:
It ONLY shows up for low-converting visitors (according to @DataFast_ predictions)
That way, I don't disturb warm traffic and increase cold traffic conversion.
Shipped 12h ago: 60 popups → 4 emails → 3 clicks.
@theandreboso told me to do this 4 months ago, but I always delay marketing 😅
I made this available through an API.
You can now ask: "How likely is this visitor to purchase my product?"
DataFast replies with:
+ A score: 0 = unlikely to convert | 100 = high chance to convert + A confidence rate: 0 = not enough data to evaluate | 1 = trustworthy + An estimated conversion rate (% chance a visitor makes a purchase)
Right now, the algorithm is trained on ~10 data points like visitor identity (OS, country, referrer) and behavior (pages visited, goals completed) to make the predictions.
It's in beta, and I'm working on benchmarks to assess its accuracy across different markets and products.
Get started here: https://datafa.st/docs/api-introduction
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
2 years ago...
Back then, I had a very tiny audience and barely any income.
So I tried a bunch of random stuff: + Build tiny startups + Make quirky launch videos + Share my thoughts on Twitter
I put my DNA into each of these experiments, and it eventually took off (the trigger was the fake podcast with Joe Rogan).
Showing up is important, but showing you is what makes it work.
I'm reading old tweet replies and want to thank all of you who have followed the journey since Habits Garden ❤️
workout is NON-NEGOCIABLE.
so is sleep so is coding https://t.co/5l7byTs8Ry
The API gates are... open!
You can now try the 2 new @DataFast_ API endpoints:
1. Create goals (newsletter signup, onboarding completed, etc.) 2. Get visitor data to know their identity, activity, and predicted conversion rate (revenue attribution required)
You can use the 2nd endpoint to update your landing page and increase revenue:
🥵 Visitor high likely to convert? Create urgency or exclusivity 🥶 Cold visitor? Show a lead magnet or coupon
I opened the gates. What you do next is up to you.
Get started here: https://datafa.st/docs/api-introduction
How to grow an audience with ChatGPT's latest update:
1. Ask: "What makes me special based on all our chats?" 2. Build a personal brand around that ONE thing.
AI knows you so well (if you use it often) that it will find what makes you different. This is what you need in 2025 to grow an audience: Be unique, be different, be you.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Dead-simple way to find profitable startup ideas:
1. Build random project 2. Find real problems 3. Build real solutions
After being hammered with disputes on MakeLanding (AI landing page generator sold for $35K), I created ByeDispute.
It makes $1K/month, operates 100% on autopilot, and protects both me and other founders from chargebacks.
Just build something, even if it doesn't make sense.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Korean taxis have WiFi on board so I can vibe code, pretty cool
Booked with Kakao T app https://t.co/nLmC7pqfmR
https://t.co/Fwt7tiFTRE
I'm French.
If I follow what society tells me, I’d have to wait until I turn 70 to retire, have free time, no boss, no worries about money.
70 years old... No fucking way.
People say entrepreneurship is hard and risky. True. Nothing happened to me for 7 years. But like most entrepreneurs who push through void and silence, the dots have connected and I should be retired before I turn 40.
Bet on yourself.
Today:
- I added a UTMs filter to @DataFast_ - I got my ass kicked by a pro wrestler
One is made with AI; the other hurts. https://t.co/iNHGnvc0uO
@DataFast_ just added the missing UTMs https://t.co/tKTH8WmFdL
Health has become so cool now
I stopped using sonnet.
It felt like coding with a drunk friend—fun until he installs new packages or edits other components “for fun.”
My prompt used to be 50% instructions and 50% dont-dos.
Switched to gemini-2.5. Finally, some peace. https://t.co/9aPyBOxq8C
How to live a happy life in two simple steps:
1. Be an optimist. 2. Hang out with optimists.
What you believe, see, and hear becomes your reality.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
sunday, 10:12am. hungover. 5 hours of sleep. head pounding. nothing makes sense.
…in another life.
in this one, I got a 100% sleep score, did the morning workout, and I’m building my startup. https://t.co/eX1Gfks611
I'm not afraid AI will take over my job. I'm afraid AI is making me addicted at my job.
Cooking something... https://t.co/o6iAWgMdEB
Workout is the 2nd most powerful drug* available (after sleep).
Take one dose daily.
*Side effects may include feeling unstoppable, looking amazing, and accidentally flexing in every mirror. https://t.co/FWORzfA6vG
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
You don't need a brilliant startup idea.
Go find:
• A skill you enjoy practicing • A group of people you care about • A marketing channel that doesn't feel like marketing
Because enjoying the process is the only way to stay consistent long enough to succeed.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
All my health data is now public at http://bioa.ge/marclou
😴 Sleep pulled from wearable 💦 Exercises pulled from wearable 🥦 Food intake tracked from a photo + AI analysis
The long-term goal is to fine-tune an AI on all my health data so I can ask questions like "I feel down today, why?" and hopefully it will find food+sleep+workout patterns.
nobody asked for this, I know
I built 30+ startups with this simple tech stack.
They will make you feel like you SHOULD try the latest npm killer or this new UI component library... It's a trap.
Pick one tech stack and stick to it. https://t.co/9epPetWQMP
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Download this app now.
50% of the world's population will become nearsighted in 2050 because we spend too much time looking at screens.
The app (LookAway) blocks your screen for 20 seconds every 20 minutes, so you must look away and rest your eyes.
I don't want to be blind. It's the best $20 I've spent in a while.
Made by @kushsolitary
while writing this tweet 🥹 https://t.co/aPzIcHcyWN
Your customers lie to you.
Here’s the translation guide: https://t.co/VwCF3BB2cW
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I added a kashing sound 🤑 when your startup gets a customer 🔊 https://t.co/SIHrfF56EI
It's @DataFast_ real-time map
just bought the dip
so i have nothing left
when the real dip happens 🥲 https://t.co/3I0cOpLcqJ
I built a real-time events log for my websites:
👀 See what visitors do in real time (pageviews, payments, etc.) 🔎 Filter event logs by visitor
World of Warcraft chat box, but for startup founders.
Available now on @DataFast_ (press "M" on your analytics page) https://t.co/feBKqNRBCL
i was jealous of you all vibe coding games so i had to gamify my day
How I would learn to code startups FAST (if I could start over):
1. Learn the internet fundamentals 2. Build a SaaS from scratch 3. Use AI to 10x speed
Full coding roadmap: https://t.co/B7qBxj60mz
I made this 160-minute video to walk you through step by step:
And the only roadmap in vector version (no low res, thanks twitter)
Building AI wrappers now is like buying dotcom domains in the 90s.
Those who show up will get rich.
Any hackathon venue in Mumbai? 🇮🇳
cooking something…
Future You is wondering why the heck you didn’t lock in during the AI gold rush.
Don’t let this happen.
Sleep score flex is the new MRR flex https://t.co/1YUnVckjvT
Greatness comes from saying "no" to impulsive desires.
- I wanted to check my phone when I woke up, but I didn't. - I wanted to skip the daily workout, but I didn't. - I wanted the cinnamon roll at the coffee shop, but I didn't. - I wanted to watch YouTube while coding, but I didn't.
Tonight, I'm going to bed healthier, happier, and more fulfilled than yesterday because I didn't let my monkey brain hijack me.
*I wanted to watch YouTube while [AI coded for me], but I didn't.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
today
- up at 6:49 am - ignore my phone - ignore the stock market - ignore the haters - 20 min. of coffee + book (Made to Stick) - run 2km, gym for 45 min, run 2km again - breakfast w/ wife - lock the F in for 6 hours - brocolli & chicken for diner - walk w/ wife - read again - sleep at 10pm
tomorrow, even less noise, more signal.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Holy... 517 people registered in 2 days 🤯
Anyone know how to organize proper events?
I have no idea how to handle this. Maybe I should look for sponsors and a proper venue?
everyone's revenue: usa: 💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰 uk: 💰💰💰💰💰 rest of world: 💰
No, not all startup ideas are taken. No, it's not too late. No, it's not hard.
It's the opposite.
30 years from now, people will remember the 2020s as the golden era of building internet startups.
You're one of the luckiest, so build something now.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Apple Keynote, but for web analytics?
I tried my best... and it's now available to all @DataFast_ users 🤩
→ This new page summarizes 180 days of revenue attribution:
- Time to conversion - Revenue per visitor growth - Top performing referrers, countries, OS - And a bunch of other revenue-driven KPIs.
Just press "I" for Insights on your website dashboard.
Your startup needs to have 1,000+ visitors and 10+ payments attributed. Data is refreshed daily at 3 am.
Enjoy 🍿
If I die, I want my wife to get 100% of what I own because nothing would have been possible without her.
So I hired a lawyer to make a will.
It's weird to think about the end, but knowing that everything is taken care of if anything happens is relieving. https://t.co/N3kOqquKdf
It costs ~$500
I finally got to see the real-time visitor map while going viral 🤩
I just had to pour $500 in Facebook ads, and Zuckerberg decided to spend the daily budget in a few minutes. https://t.co/PeIe5iN008
India, I'm coming to meet you! 🇮🇳🤝
Let's do a meetup on Sunday, May 4th, in Mumbai.
Please RSVP below so I know how many people to expect and can reserve a space. I'm excited to meet you!! https://t.co/AzARutKl5u
RSVP here: https://lu.ma/ifxf45ue
It will be in Mumbai center, the exact location will be sent to your email about a week before.
it's been 1 hour it's gonna be fun https://t.co/f6nBcJwsKJ
I wrote a new headline for Zenvoice (right).
The previous headline (left) was too generic/not concrete.
Your headline is your most important marketing endeavor. Refine it until it clicks with your customers. https://t.co/zw6AXQ3IWX
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
This guy makes $10,000/month with...
- an idea that’s already taken - in an oversaturated market - without adding AI features everywhere - and he only started coding two years ago
Stop over-engineering your startup.
→ @jackfriks https://t.co/4ptIvDpeMQ
@jackfriks Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
ChatGPT makes spicy ads 🥵 https://t.co/N7c5kXdm25
Anyone can get 1,000 visitors for $0 by doing this:
- Post in r/SideProject - Post in Show Hacker News - Launch on Uneed - Launch on TinyLaunch - Launch on Product Hunt - Make a short video for Instagram - Make a longer video for YouTube - Write 280 characters for a tweet - Write your story on IndieHackers - Cold outreach an influencer, give your product for free
No visitors yet?
Build a free tool (aka. your own advertising board) and repeat all the above.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
✅ 9% completed https://t.co/EKU9bPjSJM
npm i march@2025 https://t.co/UMXf22Suyk
I made $90,790 in March 2025.
🧑💻 CodeFast — $59.8K ⚡️ ShipFast — $23.4K 📈 DataFast — $2K 🍜 Indie Page — $1.5K 🧬 BioAge — $1K 🛡️ ByeDispute — $716 🎞️ YouTube — $712 💨 Zenvoice — $581 🌱 HabitsGarden — $354 🚀 LaunchViral — $258 🐥 Twitter — $244 💩 PoopUp — $187 📚 WorkbookPDF — $38
I added one source of income this month with my new startup, BioAge.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
This tweet created a little party 🎉 https://t.co/dPldKdDyJ3
I asked the Cursor AI Agent to recreate this Material Design time picker.
- It created the React component based on my design constraints - It automatically installed the npm package - It created the API endpoint
1 minute later, I had a time picker in my side project.
There's never been a better time to build a 1-person startup.
This was my dirty prompt https://t.co/A2DwdWKvJz
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
When I go to Korea, my iPhone makes a "click" sound when I take photos (even in silent mode).
There's a local privacy law forcing the camera shutter sound to play.
So every time I track my calories at a restaurant, it sounds like I’m doing a photoshoot: click… click… click… 미안해요, sorry everyone, just counting carbs.
Unfiltered thoughts:
- Comments like these make my head spin for hours - I think I don't work enough, but I work all day - I feel like an imposter, sometimes - I'm afraid to lose everything - I feel guilty if I eat sugar
I used to think life would be easy when I reached <follower_count> or <bank_account> or <body_fat>.
It doesn't.
No matter where you are, learn to enjoy the journey and turn doubt into strength.
2035:
“They were lucky; they had just discovered AI, free reach on TikTok, and unlimited ideas.”
That’s us—right now.
This is the gold rush.
Start building.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Please @stripe kill my startup ByeDispute and make a better Radar system.
How can a person make 1 successful payment after 6 "blocked for card testing" payments?
I've seen this pattern happen over and over. Maybe we missed something? I dunno https://x.com/DanKulkov/status/1905907635750048096
@stripe https://t.co/CxRsRL2R0p
I added this rule to http://ByeDispute.com, but I'd be so happy to shut down the project once (if) Stripe takes over https://t.co/uvb6KS0VdK
Another one
I can’t sleep.
AI has made us hyper-creative and hyper-productive.
100 startup ideas are running through my mind, and I can build all of them in 24 hours.
In 10 years, the world will look back and realize how lucky we were to discover this tech.
There’s never been a better time to start.
Just ship it.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Now’s the time to make money online with AI arbitrage.
OpenAI released a new image-generation banger, but most people won’t catch on until next year.
Here’s what I'd do:
1/ Create a dead simple AI wrapper
- Create a 1-feature product: upload a photo to generate images in <studio_ghibli,pixar,simpson> style (any style the model is good at). - Write a landing page your grandma could understand, no jargon, lots of photo examples, simple design. - Use Popcorn Pricing ($5 for 10 photos | $10 for 30 | $15 for 50). Paywall before login. Add an "Offer as a gift" option.
2/ Market to Mainstream
- Create a branded TikTok/IG account and crosspost photos of celebrities in <style>. Turn the news into <style>. Turn this new artist's album in <style>. Leverage what the mainstream is talking about and create visuals about it. - Pay influencers on TikTok/IG to promote your app. - Open an affiliate program if it takes off.
This is the gold rush.
And it’s wide open.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
While you’re all busy making Japanese anime photos, I’m having Korean food 음~ https://t.co/SvDeFosfVc
YouTube thumbnails, in the style of Studio Ghibli https://t.co/IbMO7uSY33
I hate working on this startup...
But Stripe disputes now cost $30, so I added a new rule to ByeDispute:
1. If a customer makes a successful payment 💳 2. BUT had recent payments blocked by Radar 🚫 3. Choose any <email_alert, refund> to avoid a dispute ✅
If you're a startup founder with Stripe disputes, please let me know what would be helpful based on previous patterns.
I hate working on ByeDispute because:
1. Stripe can kill it instantly with an update 2. I need to do fear-based marketing to grow it
Reason behind this feature:
today:
- "turn this into studio Ghibli style" - cmd+N - "turn this into studio Ghibli style" - cmd+N - "turn this into studio Ghibli style" - cmd+N - "turn this into studio Ghibli style" - cmd+N https://t.co/ALoBGq8uZl
please someone go viral on show us how's the map with 100 people in it 🤤🍿
Try this:
1. https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-launch-a-startup-on-product-hunt 2. [marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-launc…](https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-launch-a-startup-on-reddit) 3. [marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-launc…](https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-launch-a-startup-on-hacker-news)
I've created a monster...
DataFast Realtime Map now shows the likelihood of a visitor making a purchase 🤑
The algorithm analyzes 10 metadata points (browser, country, referrer, etc.) from your previous purchase patterns to make predictions.
🥵 Warmer color = higher chance to become a customer 🥶 Cooler color = cold traffic...
I also added a confidence score (not all segments have enough data) and an estimated value for this visitor (predicted conversion rate X average purchase for a similar segment).
Your startup needs at least 1,000 visitors and 10 attributed payments to see the prediction data (the more data, the better the accuracy)
Available now!
Just press "M" on your site analytics to pop the world map
ho no no no no no https://t.co/fKg8gfoMCh
posting this while claude is working https://t.co/jrpXDE99wY
How to get customers without getting lucky.
If I had to start again, I’d follow Jack’s blueprint.
- Study his journey - Replicate - Add your touch
Not all traffic is equal.
People who discover my websites from YouTube are 300% more likely to become customers than if they discover them from X.
If I had to build startups in public again, I'd start a YouTube channel from day 0 and make one video per week. https://t.co/LayL7lo7TO
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Entrepreneurs,
I know it's hard sometimes, but remember...
- You own an asset - You're building the future - Your income can 10x tomorrow - You learn something new every week - You work on projects you choose and love - You can take a day off, right here, right now
That's worth all the hurdles. Keep pushing!
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Cursor AI chat box real estate evolution:
- 0% in 2023 - 20% in 2024 - 50% in 2025 https://t.co/dc0nSYdKNH
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I just moved the startup office to Korea for a month 🇰🇷
Upon landing, it's always a bit of a shock: Everything is sparkling clean, fast, and organized. It feels like living in the future.
I'm spending 3 weeks with my in-laws in the south (제주) and I already ate too much kimchi.
If you're in Seoul in April, let's meet https://lu.ma/4d59nlwp
Life hack:
The small arrow next to the fuel pump icon on a car’s dashboard indicates which side your gas tank is on. https://t.co/E9KBP2zyEo
Internet is leverage for distribution.
AI is leverage for yourself.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
✅ 1,000+ days without drinking alcohol.
Life has never tasted better!
"Everybody is better than me"
That's what I used to think when I was making $0 online.
But remember, social media algorithms show you the top 1% of the top 1%.
The fact that you’re here, learning and getting inspired, already puts you ahead of 99% of people.
Now, keep pushing.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
✅ 8% completed https://t.co/doCy0VIsjv
Today, I paid my corporate taxes for 2024 🇸🇬
That's ~$115,000 or more than I earned in my first 6 years of entrepreneurship. https://t.co/QWOvXQMzu7
Why don't customers pay to file a dispute?
It's too easy to screw a startup founder: Make a payment + file a dispute. It takes a few seconds, it's free, and the customer has nothing to lose.
Meanwhile the startup founder:
- Loses $15 instantly - Loses another $15 to fight back - 20% chances to win - Risk of getting banned from card networks
The risk is asymmetric.
POV you just enabled Cursor YOLO mode https://t.co/mojpYLunJK
Me in 2024: > Write JavaScript
Me in 2025: > Pick up random fights with an AI for not writing perfect code https://t.co/FmtyC48EqR
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I'm having too much fun coding this 🥹
Introducing the Real-time World Map 🌍 on DataFast!
👀 See your visitors on a 3D globe 💡 Referrer, country, visit counts, etc... 🌓 Light/dark mode, and mobile responsive
If your site goes viral, just press "M" (for Map) and enjoy 🍿 https://t.co/diz6cpIVuQ
Orange color = Visitor is a Customer
Now on @DataFast_ https://t.co/0ueJH9N6Vt
little party happening in Europe right now https://t.co/WesiNFFP9r
1 dispute in Stripe now costs -$30 🥲 https://t.co/FYpuP1IPrV
DataFast Journeys help me find who cheats my affiliate program (so I can ban them).
For instance, this is the journey of Charles, a customer of ShipFast:
🔎 Found the site through my YouTube videos 🔄 Came back 24 hours later through Google 💰 Purchased the next day
But then I realized the link on Google is an affiliate bidding on the "ShipFast" keyword (against TOS).
💀 So I banned the affiliate from the program and avoided losing some $.
To make $1M, you need:
- $50M in revenue with a grocery store - $20M in revenue with a restaurant - $10M in revenue with an e-commerce brand - $5M in revenue with a real estate agency - $3M in revenue with a mobile gaming app - $1.2M in revenue with a SaaS
Revenue ≠ Profit
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
The next one happens in Korea! RSVP https://lu.ma/4d59nlwp
I built 24 startups in 3 years.
- I don't plan - I don't do calls - I don't drink alcohol - I don't do small talks - I don't sacrifice my sleep - I don't use productivity apps - I don't change my tech stack - I don't check my phone before 4 pm
I sit at my desk every day and ship. Less is more.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Korean entrepreneurs, let's do a meetup 🇰🇷🍜
📆 Sunday, April 20 🤝 3 pm we do the meetup at Hullyeonwon Park ♨️ 5 pm we do a jimjilbang at Sparex
RSVP & links below ⬇️ https://t.co/kPtTM0HMn9
modern anxiety https://t.co/hJw2d7RLiM
I get a culture shock every time my Korean wife jumps off a call with her parents.
1 person speaks. Others listen. Then another person speaks. Others listen.
In France, there are as many conversations as there are people around the table.
Koreans have so much respect for the "group" they never cut or intervene (unless they drank too much soju).
Sometimes I stare at them, silent, admiring what a conversation is supposed to be.
Modern World Paradox:
It's never been easier to go to extremes.
- It's never been easier to get rich or go broke. - It's never been easier to create or to consume. - It's never been easier to be healthy or be in bad shape.
The steering wheel is your discipline.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Yesterday's meetup was wild...
30 entrepreneurs gathered in a sauna (and watched me getting whipped by a Russian dude with eucalyptus leaves) 🥵
And 60 people talked about startups under the Bali rain at Green Bowl beach 🌧️
Thank you all for coming, IT WAS AWESOME!!
The next meetup will be in Korea on Sunday, 20 April. RSVP below.
haaaa finally a proper photo! https://t.co/vYPr4rpkXw
The best productivity hacks are unproductive:
- Work less - Sleep more - Take a break - Take a day off - Use fewer tools - Say no more often - Do one thing at a time - Stop optimizing every minute - Delete most of your to-do list
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Remove ego from the equation.
Earlier this year, I decided to stop building random features on my tiny SaaS but instead prioritized what my users requested.
-37% churn in 2 months. https://t.co/F1D4kqdwVg
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I added these to my health stack:
- Inulin for gut health - Fish oil (omega-3) for brain
These are recommendations from my wife—our couple's CHO (Chief Health Officer). https://t.co/SC7313X0qm
I just finished this book and it was so good!
It explains how our thoughts impact our lives (for good or bad). It covers many topics like finding the motivation to grind, reducing stress, performing at your best, etc...
Thanks for the reco @AlexAndBooks_.
Here are my notes. https://t.co/Ac3JCYmBXl
@AlexAndBooks_ Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Building a startup in 1995:
- Buy & run a server - Code everything from scratch - Handle payments manually - Market with print ads
Building a startup in 2025:
- Click to deploy - AI writes code for you - 1 line of JavaScript to charge any credit card - 1 tweet goes viral = thousands of visitors
There's never been a better time in history to build an online business.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
SP500 is down ~10% vs. last month
So I've been shopping today 🛍️🛒🤑
"Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful" https://t.co/qOdjrgQseL
BioAge daily update:
✍️ Edit food items quantity > AI refreshes macro 🪂 Drag & drop food photo for desktop people
Next: I want to calculate my biological age using 5/10 free tests (grip strength, max pushups, etc.). https://t.co/MOnnYzwYWi
Update for Bali Meetup (Sunday, March 16):
Let's make it spicy!
🍜 12:00 PM - Lunch at Izakaya by Oku 🧖 2:30 PM - Sauna at Aura Sauna 🤝 4:30 PM - Meetup at Green Bowl Beach
For those coming from Canggu, spending the whole day in Bukit might be best! Feel free to join any or all of the activities.
(All links are below)
Meetup link, activities and location:
that's going to be fun
MVPing IRL https://t.co/KywENlDNV3
Coding in 2025 is wild.
All I do is prompt in English and AI...
- Build UI components - Create API endpoints - Query the database - Check error logs
Meanwhile, I'm sipping coffee.
Imagine 2026... https://t.co/YJBxSaUnkw
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
CodeFast crossed half a million dollars in 4 months 🥳
Some people say I'm not a real entrepreneur.
Maybe?
I just build websites.
No matter if it's a SaaS, a course, or a free tool, all I care about is:
1. How many startups do I ship 2. How satisfied my customers are
Creating makes me happy > Happiness is how I find motivation to grind > Grinding is how I'm financially independent.
No matter what business idea you have, discard labels and just ship it.
Objection Handling:
1/ "You only make money teaching people how to make money"
No I don't.
- I teach people how to code with CodeFast - I help people code faster with ShipFast
I make money helping people do what I've done over and over (http://marclou.com)
What I teach about marketing is 100% free in my newsletter.
2/ "You've never built a SaaS"
BioAge update:
🔁 Select previous meal for calorie tracking 💦 Manually add a workout ✨ Finally added a landing page
It's 99% built with AI. I want to see how far I can build a startup using English only. https://t.co/gJhscYRmOX
- Your new game won't go viral - You won't get media coverage - You won't earn a million dollars
BUT
- You'll get some players - You'll grow a following - You'll make a few bucks if you outreach businesses to advertise
Dismiss the critics and ship it.
Builders always win.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
The ultimate goal in life is to make work feel like play.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
don't look at the comments don't look at the comments don't look at the comments don't... https://t.co/vp7N1lLBzI
The Success Paradox:
It looks like this:
- Lamborghini & Gucci - Many rich friends - Travel in business - Hard work
But it's actually:
- Freedom from ownership - Few deep relationships - Healthy routine - Quiet mind
Success isn’t what you own, it’s what you can walk away from.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
It's not vibe coding.
It's ADHD coding.
- prompt - tweet - prompt - snack - prompt - watch a video - prompt - ??? - prompt
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I'm back in Bali ☀️
New Zealand was so nice but nothing beats Bali waves. I'm working on my vibe coding project BioAge (biohacker dashboard 🧬) and got a few sales overnight!
If you're in Bali this Sunday, join us! I organize a mini outdoor meetup. 54 people are coming already (link below)
See you on Sunday! https://lu.ma/cb6jjint
Yeeees! It’s working.
I coded the integration with @WHOOP during Auckland > Bali flight ✈️
🔗 Connect Whoop tracker 🤖 Sync data in background 🌟 Show exercise and sleep on profile
97% made with AI in Cursor.
coding in 2025 is just so much fun https://t.co/6m0Jyefe0h
Deployment error, will finish this home
OK it's working in prod now!
If you connect Whoop you'll see your workout & sleep data on your /public-page https://t.co/vNpdSlf9HA
New Zealand airline has the best and the worst business class I’ve tried.
👍 Best for business: there are 30 seats when a typical airline would have 20
👎 Bad for customers: no privacy, the person next to me can peek at my .env file
(tweeting this from window seat 6A)
OK, I was so dumb about launching an MVP with subscriptions...
🤩 873 begin_checkout 😑 3 customers
So I removed it!
Now http://BioA.ge has a lifetime deal of $49 until it's out of beta. https://t.co/AtGHnQCsZL
If you're a customer:
I've cancelled your subscription, refunded the difference and set your account with the lifetime deal. Thanks for being early ❤️
Once again, @DanKulkov was right.
Salty, but right.
posting this while claude is working https://t.co/JelPKQY7F8
brushing my teeth while Claude is cooking https://t.co/CiAXGzBvMO
In 2021 I invested my life savings in $BTC
...and lost everything because I used FTX.
3 years later, I finally got my money back 🥹 https://t.co/PsfPjbKDh8
That extra hour of sleep will 2x your productivity.
Invest in your health = Invest in your startup
WE'RE SO BACK
I made a BioHacker dashboard: https://marclou.com/health 🧬
✅ Track food (calorie, nutrients) ⬜️ Connect to sleep & workout tracker ⬜️ Upload blood test ⬜️ Calculate biomarkers and give health insights
Goal: Understand how sleep/food/exercise impact each other using data.
Still a loooong way to go but I've built my first mini health startup 😌
I've added a pay button at the bottom if you want to join early (50% off for now).
You'll get access to a /dashboard page where you can upload photos of your meals 📸
It calculates calories, proteins, carbs, fat, etc using AI and shows your intake for today.
+ you get a public profile link + you'll shape the product with me
damn i've been slacking hard in the last weeks...
but not today.
if i don't launch an MVP by the end of day i send $500 to @florinpop1705
morning workout done, 3 coffees, ellie goulding dubstep remix in my ears, LFG baby https://t.co/nYCKIW5xAb
DataFast now shows a breakdown of your usage in /billing 🔎
Thanks for the idea @magiobus https://t.co/YIHlZ1bNKI
I have 12 sources of income 😵💫
6 tools I use every day to juggle between startups:
1. Cursor AI Agent
It's not just my AI co-founder.
- It's my designer (uploading photos) - It's my product manager - It's my marketing (copywriting in the code)
Now with MCP, 90% of my code output is written by AI.
All I do is prompt engineering & code review. https://t.co/hC75DeO9qA
2. @DataFast_
It's my go-to analytics dashboard.
It tells me where my revenue comes from.
So I know what works, what doesn't, and where to focus. https://t.co/TgOei7KdMK
3. CleanShotX
Super easy screenshot app. I use it to:
- write posts like this - easily annotate images for my YouTube videos - improve my documentation - counter Stripe chargebacks with better screenshots https://t.co/YSKw7RRSiH
4. TickTick
The best to-do list. I use it for personal stuff and startup tasks. https://t.co/zQrzO909UJ
5. @typefully
That's how I write, rewrite, and schedule all my text content.
I don't write directly on X, LinkedIn & Threads because: - I'm always tempted to binge the feed - I always re-read & polish my draft - Their schedulers suck https://t.co/vjfEqEiFrt
6. Magnet
I work on 9 projects at the same time + write content + make YouTube videos so my laptop can get messy.
So I use Magnet to organize my apps (macOS app). https://t.co/r0zEQIaOVX
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I added [Refunds] to @DataFast_.
Your startup KPIs (revenue/visitor and conversion rate) won't include refunded payments for better accuracy 🤌 https://t.co/HTX9pndqfb
How to find startup ideas:
1. Open ChatGPT app 2. Search for "app to <verb>" 3. Ship 4. Ship 5. Ship https://t.co/3l9ySf5aCt
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I just added a lower-opacity-effect when hovering charts on DataFast.
Yes? 👍 No? 👎 https://t.co/nyAZxz04zX
WOW so good 🤩
You can use QuickTime Player to export videos in lower quality and reduce size.
I used to do it in FCPX or with web apps. https://t.co/8WCPmVY52e
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I set a PR in running yesterday 🤩
Well, not exactly a record, as I'd never run more than 6 km before. But I was stressed, so I just kept going and doubled my usual distance. https://t.co/tviMZczdCP
Being an entrepreneur is the 2nd best decision I've made (after marrying my wife).
In the beginning, it felt like I was swimming against the current. Insane efforts for minimum reward... That's what I thought.
Years later, these struggles have compounded.
- They serve as a valuable lesson I needed to make money online. - And they allow me to enjoy the reward.
The stress, the silence, the uncertainty—it's necessary. Without struggle, there is no reward.
Keep pushing.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
- You can feel broke with a pile of money - You can feel lonely with 1M followers - You can feel empty in a mansion - You can feel unloved with a diamond ring - You can feel unfulfilled with the perfect job title
Happiness is in your head, not in your hands.
Growing a SaaS to $1M valuation:
✅ 7% completed
https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1893318592382542314 https://t.co/QUXbVOBZJ6
There are 2 ways to make money online:
- Build ambitious startups and earn millions in years - Copy an existing business and get profitable in weeks
Pay the bills first, and go big later.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I was exposed today 🙈 https://t.co/pBmVSd7EkA
Context: - Customer bought 7 months ago - I'm normally open with refunds, but this was instant denial
I did my first body scan!
💪 11% body fat 🧬 27 bio age (I'm 31) 🥇 Top 10% of men my age (all categories)
All this health stuff makes me want to build a new startup so bad... https://t.co/85tWddqBGU
Here's a stupid photo of me:
- To get your attention - To tell you you're awesome and - To remind you to close this app and build your idea
GO! https://t.co/zpDzd4t2Mt
CodeFast affiliate program made $10,000+ in 3 months 💰 https://t.co/eBMINPCPln
it's not too late to join https://codefa.st/affiliates
Since I made nearly $2M as a solo developer, some say "it doesn't count because it's not SaaS".
- I've built 10 SaaS solo - Currently making $5,395/month - And made $237,000 in total (90%+ profit) - I've automated everything, I'm paid to sleep
Since 2018, I've been paying the bills with my SaaS startups.
This is not a tweet to brag, but a reminder that some will only see the tip of the iceberg and convince themselves that’s the whole story.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I've spent all of February in New Zealand, repeating the same day over and over:
☕️ Morning coffee and reading 💦 2 hours of exercise 🧑💻 6 hours of deep work ☀️ Enjoy time with my wife (hiking, surfing)
NZ is stunning and such a great place to build tiny startups in the nature. https://t.co/YTDUFbXsO7
I made $111,567 in February 2025.
🧑💻 CodeFast — $73.8K ⚡️ ShipFast — $31.5K 🍜 Indie Page — $2K 📈 DataFast — $1.7K 🎞️ YouTube — $589 💨 Zenvoice — $512 🛡️ ByeDispute — $510 🌱 HabitsGarden — $334 🚀 LaunchViral — $258 🐥 Twitter — $208 📚 WorkbookPDF — $128 💩 PoopUp — $28
DataFast is the startup where I focus 90% of my efforts now.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
This is a TERRIBLE launch tweet...
...hiding an excellent product.
Nico generated $30,000 of revenue for my startups using Meta ads.
The hardest part is coming up with good creative. So Nico made a library of 50 ad templates you can just copy/paste:
👀 Eye-catchy images ✅ Battle-tested creative with high ROI ✍️ Videos to help you write copy that sells
If you want to grow your startup instead of paying for Zuck's dinner, grab the pre-order offer.
(+ why this tweet is terrible below 👇)
1. It starts with "My [product]" +0 benefit = 💀 2. THERE IS SO MUCH TEXT. It's X, not a blog post. 3. Ads are sexy. HUGE opportunity missed to plug a nice bento grid (below) 4. You need a PhD to understand the CTA 5. Last sentence: "It won't magically scale your startup to millions of $". It's obvious and could be seen as a lack of confidence (and I know for a fact his product is excellent) 6. Typo
PS. Nico is my friend.
I roast my friends.
That's what @DanKulkov taught me.
I was tired of snacking between meals... so I created The Snack Box 📦
Before eating breakfast, I prepare a plate with healthy snacks:
🍫 100% dark chocolate 🥜 Mixed nuts 🍉 Fruits
I can add anything I want and I'm allowed to eat the entire plate during the day.
⛔️ But I can't touch any other snack at home ⛔️
Now I eat only what my human brain planned in the morning and my monkey mind can't hijack me 🙈
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
10 marketing channels to grow your startup for $0:
- SEO - pSEO - Audience building - Lead magnet (ebook) - Subreddits (/SideProject) - Launch platforms (Product Hunt, Hacker News) - Branded videos (see @jackfriks content) - Cold emails - Cold DMs - Cold calls - Free tools
Bonus point: Try them all to become a great marketer.
I go in-depth in some channels here: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-get-your-1st-customer-for-a-micro-saas
3 levels of entrepreneurs:
- Buy domain names - Buy domains, ship apps - Buy domains, ship apps, do marketing
What ‘overnight success’ actually looks like: https://t.co/d4H5wOQpPe
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
11 am breakfast:
+ 12 mixed nuts (60g of macadamia, walnuts, chia, etc.) + Ceylon cinnamon + Cocoa powder (blueprint) + Plain yogurt (organic) + EVOO + Berries mix (strawberry, blueberry, raspberry)
x 365 days per year https://t.co/TGc2acJErU
Learn how to code a SaaS from 0 using AI.
I made this free course for beginners to build an internet startup:
1. Learn the coding fundamentals 2. Build a SaaS with a modern tech stack 3. Code and design 10x faster with AI
(the video is 3 hours long, bookmark this) https://t.co/wY5Vf9nelO
🗺️ The Roadmap: https://codefa.st/roadmap/?ref=tweet_course
- I wake up without an alarm - And earn money while I slept - I’ve never met 99% of my customers in person - I've never seen a $1 bill, yet I own a million of them - I can instantly share my thoughts with 250,000 lovely people - AI handles 50% of my work; all I do is think
If someone told me this would be my life 10 years ago, I'd never believe it.
What a great time to be alive.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
DataFast now splits your startup revenue into 2 categories:
🤝 New customers 💸 Revenal payments
You can also exclude recurring revenue from being computed in your KPIs (revenue/visitor and conversion rate) https://t.co/z6zvaZfGNI
Grow your startup with data, not guesses: https://datafa.st/
Losing weight:
• 1% diet • 1% exercise • 1% good sleep • 97% sticking to your damn goals
Don't quit.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
wait what?!
shift + option + volume up/down
try this now, it's better than AI https://t.co/dpClZXYumF
Dreaming big won’t make you $1M.
Mastering one simple skill will.
Do it over and over until it works.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
There's nothing more inspiring than an entrepreneur going from 0 to $1,000.
You can do it too 💪
SaaS to $1M:
✅ 6% completed
https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1882771589823135826 https://t.co/FoRgdnxMOz
The SaaS: http://DataFa.st
My wife and I approach our marriage like a VC startup
We've never been happier.
1/ Vision
We share the same vision for our life in 10 years: - Free - Happy - Healthy - Financially independent
We align our daily actions with this vision.
2/ Roles
We divide tasks and take full responsibility for their completion.
For example: - My wife is the Chief Health Officer (CHO) — She ensures we have all the necessary supplements, nutrients, and a healthy diet. - I'm the Chief Legal Officer (CLO) — I ensure our taxes are filed correctly and our bank and ID documents are up-to-date.
We used to split everything 50/50, but we realized we progress faster when we focus on our strengths and take full responsibility.
3/ Feedback
We touch base every month to discuss: - Are we moving in the right direction? - Do we still share the same vision? - Do we need to reassess our roles?
If something is off, we update the vision, the roles, or both.
We've been doing this for 3 years, and we rarely fight anymore.
When we do, it's brief (usually my fault, and it's resolved by saying, "Sorry, I let my monkey out").
All my life, I believed Kiwis were from New Zealand.
So, I moved here, and this is what I found. https://t.co/fH49mSkiI1
This is my favorite marketing hack.
All my websites combined get ~10,000 visitors/day thanks to SEO, audience building, ads, affiliates, listings, etc.
So I cross-promote startups to leverage the traffic. It's like having my own mini ad network!
Build free tools and launch them to create your internet estate.
Now with AI, it's easier than ever!
This widget thingy is now available (in beta) with your http://DataFa.st analytics btw https://t.co/rFiy0GfPzk
Startups in 2015:
- VC funded - 12hrs workday - Pizza diet - Team of 5 employees - $1,000,000,000 ideas
Startups in 2025:
- Bootstrapped - 6hrs deep work - Brain food diet - Team of 100 AI agents - $1,000,000 revenue
Healthy founder, healthy business.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
New Zealand is so, so, so nice!
My wife and I have been here for 3 weeks and we already want to move.
Nature is stunning. There are sheep everywhere. It's quiet AF and the air is pure (PM2.5 <3µg/m³ everywhere).
You can surf, ski, mountain bike, trail, or hike pretty much anywhere. It's a little paradise if you like outdoor activities. Next to my Airbnb, there's a 6-meter bridge and I can jump in the river after work. This is life.
People are kind and open. I'm not a small-talk person but people make it so normal so I've talked to lots of people! Maybe it's like that in the US/Canada too?
New Zealand produces a lot of food like milk, vegetables, and berries. It's easy to find delicious, organic, and healthy food.
My wife & I are looking for a new home after Bali. We rarely have a crush on a place. But New Zealand feels special.
Flip side: - Entrepreneur ecosystem is absent (we're South) - It's far from everything
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
SaaS is the worst business to start entrepreneurship.
You need to deliver so much value + build insane trust + solve a painful problem—it's like playing a new game in hardcore mode.
Instead, start with:
- A blog - A book - An agency - A free tool - A directory - A newsletter - A community - A marketplace - A one-time payment product
You'll discover real problems while building trust with your market.
Then, build the SaaS.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I was curious about where people find my site so I added referrers to Journeys in @DataFast_.
For instance, this visitor...
- initially found my startups on YouTube, - then search for it on Google, - and came back 3 days later from YouTube, before making a purchase.
The goal is to find patterns so I know where to double down my marketing efforts.
I just changed my diet and added more carbs.
It's been 2 months and my body fat is at its lowest but sometimes I get a little tired. If I eat a fruit, boom I'm back up.
So now: - I eat quinoa/sweet potatoes/full-grain bread/fruits with my meal - I added a mini-meal around 5 pm
Entrepreneurs underestimate this dead-simple marketing strategy:
1. Build tiny apps to solve your own problems 2. Find new problems on the way 3. Build tiny apps to solve these new problems
@jackfriks did that for 1 year and now makes $10K/month.
It works if you're disciplined and iterate often.
This is so smart.
Many people will get scammed. Gmail marked the email as "Important".
Beware of phishing. https://t.co/4zR3U7RQq6
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I just realized there's a CSS property to avoid navigating backward when the user scrolls horizontally.
(sorry previous users 🥲) https://t.co/1c8vGUtc9a
my use case: https://t.co/oeVZ51QAx7
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
"But entrepreneurship is risky"
The alternative: https://t.co/dnSP77aa9m
Startup World Tour — Day 23
We're in Christchurch, the biggest city in the south. 🏝️
I don't like metropolis life but this city feels good. We're in Sumner Beach, it's quiet. There's a long walk along the coast, and we can even walk to the surf spot! https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1890419556868583723 https://t.co/ytP8DYQS0z
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
This ad makes 1,400% ROAS.
$136 spent = $1,960 in revenue (last 7 days)
Don't overengineer your marketing. https://t.co/o112hwyCLY
you know what, copy my ad and send me your results https://t.co/EOMDlyxmv9
@nico_jeannen wrote the copy and handled all the publishing on Meta ads.
Check out his MakerAdsGuide book, it's great.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Day 2 of deadlifting 🏋️♀️
I'm following @_MaxBlade & @ben_woodward advice + my wife is coaching.
How's my form now?
https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1890781933753499689 https://t.co/a5xfadVqni
@_MaxBlade @ben_woodward Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
What's the best book you read recently? 📚
I'm looking for something to read with my morning coffee ☕️
I get ~10 years worth of reading now, thanks y'all ❤️
I'm French.
- My wife is South Korean - My bed is 12,000 km from where I was born - My friends are Russians, Indians, and Australians - My cleaning lady speaks Indonesian, and I read French on my phone - I learned how to code from a faceless YouTuber - I think in English
If someone told me this would be my life 10 years ago, I'd never believe it.
What a great time to be alive.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Trying deadlift for the first time today!
How's my form? https://t.co/Z1bdQ0wGRR
8 hours of sleep is the best investment for:
- Your focus - Your health - Your wealth - Your creativity - Your happiness - Your motivation - Your inner peace - Your productivity - Your relationships
The hardest is going to bed on time. Treat bedtime religiously.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Startup World Tour — Day 21
We're in Akaroa, New Zealand 🇳🇿 and it's one of the most beautiful places I've visited.
It's a holiday spot so it's super quiet off-season. There's the ocean where you can SUP, do dolphin tours, etc... and the mountains for hiking and biking.
Typical day:
Wake up, do mobility exercises, grab coffee in the only coffee shops in town, and walk for 30 minutes. Then workout + work until 6 pm. We end the day with a 1 to 2 hours hike on the hills behind our place.
For the record when it started: https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1882639502306656399
If you don't fail, you don't learn.
If you don't learn, you don't earn.
Tai Lopez mode activated
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I finished this book in 3 days.
It's the story of Furious Pete — a competitive eater, YouTuber, and cancer survivor.
The first part is about his life, fighting anorexia and eating 4kg burgers. It was interesting because he lives a novelty life. Every chapter I was like WTF?
In the second part, he reminds us that life is short and we should always try to make the most out of it. It's the self-help lesson we all know, but it hits differently after reading Pete's story.
Don't eat too much though, it's not good for your health.
"Learn to sell. Learn to build. If you can do both, you will be unstoppable." https://t.co/dhExZw7318
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I was bored today, so I made this ad in 45 minutes.
1. I got inspired by an ad on French Instagram (proven format) 2. AI rewrote the script for my startup 3. AI generated subtitles (SubMagic) 4. @nico_jeannen is going to run the campaign on Meta
I'll report the ROI in a few days ✌️
I asked AI to go a little crazier and it came up with this.
Luckily my AirBnB had a robe in the closet https://t.co/GrMkaIjhPY
@nico_jeannen Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I could never get a job at FAANG.
But who cares?
- 3M+ people visited my websites - 100,000 people used my apps - I don't have to commute - I earn $1.2M/year - I can't get fired
I don't build resumes; I build startups.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I spend most of my time behind a computer...
But I think I've found my perfect fitness routine:
- That is easy - That costs almost $0 - That gets me energized
Here are 6 rules I follow every day: https://t.co/6XAu7eUFNp
1/ Sleep 8 hours
This is the most important part.
A good night of sleep:
- Motivates me to exercise - Reduce my food cravings - Help my body build muscles
3/ Exercise in the morning
I exercise with an empty belly, 1 hour after waking up.
Not sure what science says about that, but I think my body burns more fat because it lacks glucose energy.
Early morning is also when I have the most energy/motivation.
4/ No days off
I exercise 340+ days per year.
That's how I built an identity as a "fit person". Now, I can't skip a day.
I rotate workouts so I'm never exhausted:
- Light weight lifting (10kg dumbbells) - Calisthenics - Skate - Surf - HIIT
Each session is about 1-hour long.
I don't go to the gym. I do it at home so I don't have a good excuse.
5/ Workout religion
I don't enjoy working out in itself.
But once I'm on the mat, nothing else matters.
- No pause - No phone, no distractions - Do more reps than the teacher
My fitness teacher is @CarolineGirvan's free YouTube videos.
I listen to heavy metal.
6/ Daily movement
I used to believe you only burn fat if you workout like crazy but this is not true.
Low-intensity movement will do just fine.
Every day, I do:
- 10,000+ steps - 20 squats after 30 minutes of sitting at my desk - 20 minutes of full-body stretching at the end of the day
Just move your body!
Genetics also play a part in body shape results.
So here are the results of my wife (32yo Asian) who follows a similar fitness routine:
(so proud of you wifey!) https://t.co/gvf3ADUeSq
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I just added 4 Widgets to @DataFast_ 🧩
A little piece of code that can be embedded on any site to showcase your web analytics anywhere ✨
<80%_of_the_code_was_generated_by_AI> https://t.co/ypbdtRHcun
I also add create a /changelog for all new features: https://datafa.st/changelog/widgets
Pattern I noticed across all my startups:
macOS users are twice as likely to buy my products as Windows users. https://t.co/splYmNva3b
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
If you're in your 20s, fuck around:
• Build stuff • Read books • Try jobs fast • Quit even faster • Learn new skills • Start a side hustle • Use AI all the time • Question everything • Travel where people don't go • Do what your friends don’t do • Meet people outside your circle • Move to a new country for 1 year
Random experiences in your 20s will turn into stories and learnings in your 30s.
just don't sacrifice health
People who lack sleep VS. people who sleep 8 hours
Working out won’t get you ripped fast.
Your diet will.
Less is more.
Thanks, LLMs, for letting me ship startups from anywhere in the world. https://t.co/cbu0wCwH7O
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
1 hour of coding 1 hour of marketing 1 hour of exercising
Do these every day this year.
By 2026, you'll have built a profitable side project.
Exercising is a proxy for great decision-making, the #1 skill to build profitable side projects
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
"Today is gonna be a good day" https://t.co/orXK0o0SR9
I wish this book would never end...
- If you're thinking all startup ideas are taken, read it. - If you're not into tech, read it. - If you're an optimist, read it.
Kevin Kelly makes 12 predictions about how new technology will impact our lives and what the future could look like.
TLDR; We are at the beginning of something way bigger (e/acc).
The book was published in 2016 and so much is already happening with AI and crypto!
Here are the notes I took (right). But seriously, read the book!
So good @kevin2kelly 🙏
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
today
<slept 7hrs 49min>
up 06:12 am 5min mobility morning coffee with book 30min walk w/ wife 30min HIIT w/ wife breakfast w/ wife (berries + yogurt + nuts) 3hrs making a YouTube video scheduled 4 tweets lunch with wife (chicken, sweet potato, veggies) 2hrs designing stuff on DataFast found 1 new startup idea call with family dinner with wife (salad + omelet) 30min walk with wife stretching, shower, book
tomorrow, same.
Still reading this book https://t.co/fNi0LGwN84
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
This domain is 2 months old.
It has a better rating and more backlinks than all my sites in the first 2 years of building startups.
3 lessons:
1/ Get backlinks
- List your site for free on platforms like ProductHunt - Email people for a backlink when relevant - Purchase a directory of backlinks, like Backl(dot)io by @philkellr
2/ Set an affiliate program
Affiliates make money. You make money and get free backlinks.
I use @getRewardful for my program.
Note: your product must have a good conversion rate.
3/ Build your own backlink directory
Build free tools, link back to the main domain, launch & repeat.
Some tools will take off and get referenced in popular newsletters or sites.
Months later, you'll have built an ecosystem of high-ranked sites you can use to kickstart new projects.
Finally, be patient. SEO is a long-term game; results take 3-6 months to appear.
A good example of a free tool is http://LogoFa.st
It gets thousands of monthly visitors and has been referenced in popular design websites.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I just added Exit Links to @DataFast_ to find out what people clicked last before leaving my websites. https://t.co/SNHgiGrh0m
Hustle culture is dying.
6-hour sleep Me:
- Built 5 startups - Made $100,000 - Frequent burnouts
8-hour sleep Me:
- Built 24 startups - Made $1,600,000 - Steady mood and happy
Sleep well is the new work hard.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Only 14% of people use macOS.
Yet, 67% of my customers are on macOS.
Apple users don’t just browse 😏 https://t.co/xKb7UxZlP4
https://t.co/CXWS5GHtcW
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Entrepreneurship is risky.
- I was banned from Stripe 2 years ago - I fell into depression in 2021 - I earned $0 for 2 years
But there's always an exit.
And often, you end up better off than where you started.
That's the beauty of entrepreneurship.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
One month ago, the community didn't exist...
Now: - 2,290 entrepreneurs - 30+ country channels - people co-working in voice channels
I want to create the biggest community of entrepreneurs, run by its members like open-source software.
Join us 👉 https://discord.gg/z6j3Xbxvsx https://t.co/31GxUMJRnx
AI won’t replace developers, but it’s making it easier for us to replace entire startups. https://t.co/cVUnND3a2R
Inspiration: https://x.com/naval/status/1875297712993964231
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
This is a good movie about persistence and breaking the rules.
It's the true story about the birth of the Air Jordan ($4B in annual sales for Nike).
Michael Jordan was among the first athletes to receive a % cut from the sale (if not the first?), making him the first billionaire player in NBA history.
Maybe consider finding an influencer with skin-in-the-game for your SaaS? 😏
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
How to quit sugar:
+ Remove all sweets from your house + Find a replacement (carrots work) + Don't go out until you're detoxed + Pay a friend $100 if you fail
You can use the same steps to quit smoking.
My YouTube channel 1 year ago:
- 2,000 subscribers - No idea what to talk about - 0 knowledge about Youtube
My YouTube channel now:
- 30+ videos - 110,000 subscribers - $10K++/month in revenue for my startups
It started as a New Year resolution.
You can do it too! 💪 https://t.co/vns83E9c3P
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Happiness is simple, actually.
- Instead of talking about politics, build that idea - Instead of watching Netflix, go for a walk - Instead of eating candy, eat broccoli
Replace what feels good in the short term with what feels good in the long term, then you will feel good right now.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
npm install january https://t.co/4iGmR4arTW
I made $124,772 in January 2025.
🧑💻 CodeFast — $82.6K ⚡️ ShipFast — $36.2K 🍜 Indie Page — $1.3K 📈 DataFast — $1.2K 🚀 LaunchViral — $903 💨 Zenvoice — $699 🛡️ ByeDispute — $580 🎞️ YouTube — $440 🌱 HabitsGarden — $374 🐥 Twitter — $287 💩 PoopUp — $122 📚 WorkbookPDF — $67
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Someone stole the 1st place on IndiePage Leaderboards...
@Davidjpark96 will break $10M in ~2 weeks with his AI startup.
Mental 🤯 https://t.co/5i12PWcNlc
All the startups listed have their revenue verified with Stripe/LemonSqueezy:
I bumped it to $15,000/week.
Reason: Idle money loses value.
They see: • $1.2M/year
I see: • 1,000+ tweets • 2,000 git commits • 100+ Figma designs • 30+ YouTube videos • 365 days doubting every decision • A drive to prove anyone can build a tiny Internet business
The process is the result.
Start building—freedom starts with one small step.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I spend $60,000/year for @stripe.
Yet, it's the service in my tech stack causing me the most headaches and keeping me awake at night.
Stripe considers a 0.75% dispute rate excessive. If I get banned, all my 9 Stripe accounts are frozen and I might have to close all my tiny startups.
The dispute below should have never happened:
1/ Credit card marked as fraudulent and blocked. 30 seconds later, the same credit card goes through.
2/ Early Fraud Warning event triggered > my API tries to refund the payment instantly > 20 minutes later "payment disputed"
To discover what you love, start doing what you hate.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
POV: you've built an evergreen traffic source for your startups https://t.co/XhU1XLiVPD
It's this YouTube video: https://youtu.be/hCMEGQfLIEM
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
People who joined:
Do you have any video of the guards kicking us out of the park?
I would love to include this in the VLOG to make it more sensational 😁 https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1876256484826440157
coding loading screens is oddly satisfying 🤤 https://t.co/iy1nc8Nt8f
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
If you're a developer addicted to coding, pSEO is how you grow your startup for free and on autopilot. https://t.co/mp5gr15D9B
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I was bored of Russian Twists so I created a variation:
1. Hold plank position 2. Do 8-shapes with a dumbbell
It burns abs faster and it's good for mobility and balance.
The dumbbell is light (7.5kg) just in case my landlord sees this. https://t.co/HPTnwBWxEK
Russian Twist with a Twist
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
The biggest mistake I made as a developer:
Follow my intuition.
I spent weeks building features my customers didn't care about...
So I've created a custom-made feedback board for DataFast and just added 3 features:
❤️ Users can "like" a reply (like GitHub) 👀 Auto-suggest related feedback to avoid duplicates 📈 Sorting algorithm gives more weight to posts with recent upvotes
✍️ Customer feedback = 🤩 Happy users = 📈 SaaS Growth
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
My daily health stack:
- Creatine (5g) had a crazy impact: I barely have post-work muscle pain and my mind feels sharper. - Collagen peptides (10g): I had ligament pain in my wrist for years, but now it's gone. - Pea protein (30g): I try to eat 2x my weight in protein. - Blueprint stack (supplements, EVOO, longevity mix): I didn't feel a noticeable change after 6 months but I guess it's a long-term game.
+ rainy Sunday morning + hip-hop jazz in my ears + shipped changelogs for DataFast
it took 2 hours to build everything with AI agents (design, code, markdown) — link below
this AI thing is insane https://t.co/y2U68G1hhn
Changelog made 90% with AI: https://datafa.st/changelog
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
12 months ago this was just an idea 9 months ago I started building 2 months ago I launched Today 2,000 people learned to code.
Build 👏 Your 👏 Ideas 👏 https://t.co/UkMzic6JBx
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
"you just have an audience"
Building the audience: https://t.co/V4DtuX7q63
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I realized people crave offline experiences after this meetup.
So I've created a community on Discord for indie hackers to meet anywhere in the world.
It's free, public, and community-managed. Once you join you can become an admin and organize your own meetup. I try to leverage my audience to connect entrepreneurs ✌️
Join us ➡️ https://discord.gg/z6j3Xbxvsx
i just went to bed https://t.co/xZPWOI7zHi
2 byproducts of daily habits https://t.co/Fako2BZFy7
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
SaaS to $1M:
✅ 5% completed
It took 4 months.
If entrepreneurship is linear, DataFast will hit $1M valuation in August 2031.
https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1854543089538588919 https://t.co/toqmEGiDx6
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Startup World Tour 🌎 has started!
My wife and I are looking for a new place to live because Bali no longer fits.
So we're slowly traveling the world until we find a place that clicks.
We just landed in New Zealand (south). Next will be Japan, South Korea, India, and later this year, Europe and America.
We'll also organize 1 meetup per country 🤝 To get informed about the upcoming events, join my Discord below!
Join Discord: https://discord.gg/dexJcj7cBY
Still not 100% sure but it looks like I might get back the $4,000 worth of crypto I invested in FTX in 2022 👀 https://t.co/J7ffE75H3L
small bets https://t.co/frcoWuy53d
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
My sister struggles to exercise consistently.
So I'm sending her $30 per week when she does.
Every Sunday 23:59 pm she must have completed 3 workouts in the last 7 days (with Apple Watch proof):
💰 She earns $30 if she's on track 💸 She owes me $30 if she doesn't
It's an unlimited offer, so she could make $1500/year. But if she stops the game, the offer is gone, forever.
I smell 50% churn and an abandoned product soon though 😅
Your attention is a currency—spend it wisely:
- Learn instead of scrolling - Build instead of watching - Move instead of sitting
Wealth starts with where you invest your focus.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Wait, what? 😳
@kirkleaks was one of the first beta students for CodeFast.
I remember at first he was just hacking random pieces of code given by ChatGPT without really understanding what was happening.
We returned to the basics (React, Tailwind, etc.) before learning to use AI.
Bakir showed up consistently. He built multiple tiny projects while having a full-time job. He didn't give up even though it wasn't pretty every day.
And somehow the skills he acquired while learning to code allowed him to earn $60,000 for one project—bravo 👏
So proud of you Bakir!
today
<slept 8h 14m>
up at 5:49 am 5min mobility exercise 1h 47m surf session (+313 stairs) 1 cup of coffee reading The Inevitable breakfast (strawberry, yogurt, nuts) + health stack 10min walk 3hrs deep work (code) bought a domain name lunch with wife (beef, veggies, sweet potato) 10min walk 2hrs deep work (marketing) dinner with wife (eggs, temple, veggies) 45min walk with wife 20min stretching shower, book, sleep at 9 pm
tomorrow, same.
I built the CodeFast e-learning platform from scratch.
🎨 First I picked my design constraints (colors, borders, font)
I wanted a friendly "everybody can do it" vibe.
- Bright colors - Super rounded buttons - Lots of white space - Popular font (Noto Sans) - Cute icons
🪜 Then I built the structure (layout)
- Scrollable menu with chapters on the left - Video in the center - Video summary just below - User account and misc on the right
▶️ I added UX
- User's last lesson auto-saves, and loads if the page is closed - Gamified elements (progress bar, radial completion) - Previous / Next buttons to easily navigate - Auto-generated English captions with Mux (I'm French, after all) - Focus mode that hides the menu and header - Video summary for easy memorization
And because I like to procrastinate (also because my beta students requested) I added dark mode 🌚
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
HELL YEAH!
My weekend project made $1,000,000.
• in 1.5 year • at 85% margin • 0 all-nighters
A little story about money-printing startup ideas... 🧵👇 https://t.co/CV7Ua6n5eD
When I started building startups in 2016:
. I had a grand vision . I was working 12hrs/day . I believed ideas were priceless
The results after 4 years?
I made $70,000 with a SaaS.
Not bad. But with all the sacrifices I made, it's not worth it.
And with all the stress, I burned out in 2020...
COVID killed my SaaS.
I had $0, no idea what to build next, and no motivation to restart.
I spent a year wondering why I was an entrepreneur in the first place... So I got a job as a software engineer for 9 months.
But it didn't take long for Mr. Freedom to call me back. https://t.co/U1ILvdccEZ
In November 2021, it was time to restart entrepreneurship.
I did it differently this time:
• Weekend projects w/ a paywall • Share everything on Twitter • Launch and quit fast • Prioritize sleep (no overwork)
The goal? Build a massive portfolio of websites (something I control).
The results after 12 months? Nothing sexy.
I made $10,000 with my SaaS and grew an audience of 5k people on Twitter.
It's decent but my life was centered around work and I was in the game for 5 years already...
But it didn't matter, because I was having fun!
I shipped 10 mini startups and had no intent to slow down. So I built myself a tool that changed everything...
I launched http://ShipFa.st on 31st, August 2023.
It's a codebase for developers to build websites faster—a tool I needed to fulfill my goal of building a massive portfolio of websites.
- 48 hours after, it made $6,000 - 18 months later, it made $1,000,000
I still can't believe this is happening...
On paper, it was (yet) another $0 project. No business plan, no marketing strategy, no big dream.
But it taught me something crucial:
A great startup idea isn’t found—it’s crafted from your own story.
Instead of waiting for a good idea to strike, do this:
Fuck around and find out:
Build stuff. Do it fast. Tweet. Repeat. Make it different. Don't quit.
Create as much noise as possible.
When it's time, the signal will find you.
Keep creating 🫡
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I just added custom date ranges to @DataFast_ 📆✨
This type of design is hard for me as a developer so I went to Stripe and used their time picker for inspiration.
- 80% of the code is written by an AI (Cursor + Claude 3.5) - 20% is me polishing the AI work
When you're stuck with a design, get inspired by MacOS UI/UX, or other popular OS/SaaS 💄
@DataFast_ Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
My iPhone reminds me that choosing the right partner was the best decision ever. https://t.co/LON3KMiv7E
Enjoy your sabbath day ☀️ https://t.co/EzLAHmGF5R
by @kevin2kelly
it's so good I'm reading it a 3rd time https://t.co/k1H4CWDONp
this thing is dangerously addictive https://t.co/TjZjkY9pEn
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Goals for Q1:
• Launch 3 free tools • Make 3 YouTube videos • Spend 30min/day writing • Add SEO basics lessons to CodeFast • Add most requested features to DataFast • Find a recurring marketing channel for CodeFast
What are yours?
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I just set up recovery emails for CodeFast 🛒
This code runs in my Stripe webhook event handler — 24 hours after a checkout expires (customer didn't buy):
✏️ Retrieve the person's email 🔂 Check if I already sent an email 📧 If email + not_sent already > email customer
Usually, businesses offer discounts, like $20 OFF. But I want to collect feedback to understand why they didn't purchase, so it's an open email.
By default, Stripe checkouts expire after 24 hours. This code will run one day after the abandoned checkout.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I made $28,352 this week.
🧑💻 Work 8hrs/day 💤 Sleep 8hrs/night 💪 Exercise 2hrs/day
Yes, you can build startups and be healthy.
Actually, the latter makes the former easier. https://t.co/uJS0BoOoRA
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
My first startup idea was Mood2Movie(dot)com.
It was 2021, I was just getting started and had no idea what to build...
My wife was searching for something to watch when we realized we often picked the movie based on how we felt.
Boom, a random idea was born. On paper, it's another movie recommendation app with a 99.9% chance of making $0.
But it didn't matter. It was the first domino.
After building and launching Mood2Movie:
- I discovered problems - I learned how to fix them - I received user feedback - I grew a little following
I used all that momentum to build the next project, and the next, and the next.
One thing led to another, and now I have an endless list of startup ideas. Each has a chance to make money because they're solving real problems.
Less thinking, more shipping!
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
How's my new ad for CodeFast?
I suck at making ads so...
- I got inspired by a popular ad - My friend @nico_jeannen wrote the script - I added my signature to the mix
It's now running on YouTube—will report the results ASAP.
(sound ON 🔉) https://t.co/BHQFsUaR2t
http://codefast.now redirects to [codefa.st/?ref=dotnow](http://codefa.st?ref=dotnow) for internal tracking, so I know how the campaign performs.
Look at what you made me do 😁 https://t.co/HsQ4WkAsEG
@nico_jeannen I didn't know @clemmihai was on X!
He's the one who created the masterpiece ad I got inspired from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83PPkZzwh2w
3 years ago, I was watching his Google Coding Interview videos. Then I saw his ad and thought "I need to save this for later"
Huge fan and thanks for the inspiration, Clement!
Let's meet again! 🌍
My wife and I will travel the world in 2025 and organize 1 meetup a month. Here are the next ones:
🇳🇿 Wānaka, New Zealand — February, 2nd 🇮🇩 Bali, Indonesia — March, 16th
Use the links under this post to register ⬇️
Excited to meet y'all!
Register for 🇳🇿 Wānaka, New Zealand — February, 2nd: https://lu.ma/id8wm5by
Register for 🇮🇩 Bali, Indonesia — March, 16th: https://lu.ma/cb6jjint
Next: Japan, South Korea, India.
Join my Discord to know when the new meetups drop: https://discord.gg/dexJcj7cBY
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
git commit is cheaper than therapy https://t.co/6XuwTK9Kgk
This is a great ad for the leash company https://t.co/Do3FpZRb0U
“So strong, your board will wish it could keep up.”
“The leash that holds on when nothing else can.”
OK, I increased the recurring investment to $10,000/week.
The only reason I don't go all-in with $600,000 is this:
This money is the fruit of 7 years of entrepreneurship failures. If the market crashes tomorrow, I won't be able to sleep.
I'm going to invest almost everything I earn in the SP500 because it's proven to pay off after years. I'll just do it over the course of 365 days to lift the risk off.
My psychiatrist talked to me https://t.co/0f1ThwVusf
eat. sleep. code. repeat. https://t.co/pCNy4bVjqH
it's my @DataFast_ dashboard
My first indie project gets 350 daily visitors.
In 2021 I was just FAFO-ing (Fuck Around and Find Out) and built a movie recommendation app based on your mood.
It wasn't sexy but:
- It grew a little following on Twitter - It helped find real startup ideas - It gave me confidence
FAFO more!
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
After traveling ✈️ it takes me 2 days to get back to a perfect sleep score (8 hours of jet lag) 😴
This is what I do:
1. Day of overnight flight:
- Sync with future timezone: If it's sleep time where I'm going, I ditch the meal and try to sleep. If everybody sleeps in the plane but it's daytime where I'm going, I work. - Sleep with earbuds/AirPods + good sleep mask + 2mg of melatonin. Even if I can't sleep, I keep the mask on for the circadian rhythm - Coffee & meals based on future timezone, not current - Use the blue light on my laptop if I need to wake up
2. Next three days:
- 1hr daily workout - 1hr dim lights before bed - 2mg melatonin 45 minutes before bed - Stay in bed / dark room even if I can't sleep - Morning alarm to not oversleep
Twitter algorithm is made for success stories — but I'll try my luck:
Entrepreneurship is hard.
- My brain works 24/7 - I'm afraid to lose what I created - 1 reply can make me question my work
It gets a little easier but it's never easy.
Know what it takes. Commit. Trust the process.
I emptied my Wise account after reading the replies...
@frankdilo told me @IBKR (broker) also pays ~4% on USD so I moved everything there.
Now, most of my money is there. I raised the recurring investment to $7.5K/week and the cash is earning interest while waiting, nice!
Sorry Wise, I love you but I can't unsee what I've read
I've received many positive reviews for CodeFast, but I still see people skeptical if learning to code fast is possible.
So I added:
1. A section on the landing page called "Wait... is it possible to learn that fast?" to answer that objection 2. A dedicated page /review with all the public reviews & case studies for social proof
Objections answered = Improved conversion rate
here: https://codefa.st/review
One of those Saturdays https://t.co/8fsv6HcMbc
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I generated 🇫🇷 French captions for a CodeFast video automatically 🫰
I use Mux, a SaaS to stream videos for my course. It can also generate captions using AI.
But we can't do it retroactively for videos older than 7 days...
@muxhq would love to generate subtitles in 10+ languages for my entire course (250 videos) 🙏🙄
Hear me out:
1. Connect your sleep tracker to Twitter 2. Automatically add <slept X hours> badge to posts 3. Posts written under 6 hours of sleep are marked sensitive
<slept 8h 12m>
someone build this plz
I've been using @Wise for 6 years and love it, but I lost trust instantly after reading all the comments.
I'm considering moving all my assets now 🥲
Whoever is doing PR for Wise missed an opportunity to show data/trust and lost dozens of customers.
https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1877335772795408788 https://t.co/37s4U5CTsN
I'm not sure which tracker to trust.
There's a ~30% discrepancy in sleep cycles (REM & deep). It happens almost every night.
@WHOOP tells me to pay attention, @ouraring shows I slept well.
Has anyone done a polysomnography to see how accurate wearables are? https://t.co/ulD5xmnxWV
* https://t.co/DEu0xLvAJA
I'm slowly investing in the SP500 ($5K/week)
But I don't want to all in because:
1. I'll freak out if it crashes 2. I want to have some leftovers to buy the dip
Meanwhile, the money is sitting on @Wise and I use their Interest feature.
It pays 3.91% (after the fee). The money is credited daily so I earn about +$68/day or $2,640/month doing nothing.
I just finished Never Enough by @awilkinson.
It's the perfect reminder that entrepreneurship compounds.
10 years of hard work suddenly turns into an overnight success.
Anyone can do it as long as you want something badly enough not to quit. https://t.co/8r62EWtwju
@awilkinson Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
me and my AI agents building startups https://t.co/uEmKtNWWY2
This guy made $3.4M in 2024 and did 0 marketing.
I met Erikas @malisauskasLT at a meetup in Paris and his story blew my mind...
In 2016, he was building Shopify websites as a freelancer. He was making enough money not to stress about it but felt the itch to build a product where his income wouldn't be tied to his input.
In 2018, he started building tiny startups with his co-founder. None of them really took off but they made just enough money to sell & repeat.
In 2021, they focused on Shopify apps. The 1st app took off and paid more than the bills ($6.5K MRR at peak). They sold it in 2023 for $250K and built a new app with all the experience acquired.
In 2024, their 2nd app grew to a 6-figure MRR (in a year 🤯) How? Shopify recommends the app to its customers because it has excellent ratings. Free, organic, and high-converting marketing channel.
Erikas' story is the perfect reminder that:
- You can make money even if you hate marketing—leverage app stores and build a killer app - Pivot when things don't take off after a while - Patience and daily grind are king
Go build that idea!
@thepatwalls It's an inspiring Underdog story with a unique angle: 0 marketing.
@malisauskasLT Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Your customers don't care about:
❌ SQL vs. NoSQL ❌ The trendy UI library ❌ The number of React hooks you use
Your customers care about:
✅ Your headline (is it worth my time?) ✅ The problem you solve (what do I get?) ✅ Your pricing table (is it worth my money?)
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I thought 10 people would join...
In the end, we were a group of 100+ 🤩
There is an energy when you meet people IRL that social media can't reproduce. Interesting facts:
- 90% made $1+ online - 50% built a startup that pays the bills - Some people flew from abroad to attend 🤯
Thanks for coming and let's do it again! Details below 👇
I've created a Discord for anyone who wants to meet IRL or just hangout: https://discord.gg/dexJcj7cBY
- You can chat with people who joined the meetups - You'll be notified when I open a new meetup (Bali, New Zealand, Japan next, stay tuned!) - You can build relationships with other entrepreneurs and organize your own meetups in your local community
Thanks to all of you who came yesterday, it was sooo awesome to meet you ❤️
And I'm super excited for the upcoming meetups
It’s happening! See you soon 👋 https://t.co/nGHrQxNseT
Every day discover new people on Twitter making money with tiny startups.
In 2016 I was alone and it took me 2 years to make $1.
What a great time to be alive.
“I want a room full of mirrors so I can be surrounded by winners” https://t.co/5lEqaB9TXX
It feels weird to wear clothes
My entrepreneur revenue after being fired from my software engineer job:
2021 → $4,300 2022 → $9,700 2023 → $263,000 2024 → $1,223,973
Believe in yourself, you can do it too! 💪
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
People from 100+ countries are learning to code with CodeFast 🌎 https://t.co/dTMsm9FxTd
This is the revenue chart map from @DataFast_
OK, it's a first for me...
Let's meet!
📆 Sunday, January 5th, 3PM 📍Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris
It's a free open meetup. We'll gather and talk about:
🧑💻 Building internet startups ✌️ Entrepreneurship 🌍 Remote work
Or anything you want. It's the 1st meetup I organize, so there's no specific plan. We'll figure it out 😁
Link to apply with exact location below ⬇️
I'm excited to meet you! https://forms.gle/iyvS47qxEvBhkaAk7
New wall of love for @DataFast_ ❤️
I'm using the react-tweet library to pull all the tweets and a bit of CSS to match my landing page design. https://t.co/FGgoKi8aAd
Stop looking for a good idea to start.
I find startup ideas that make money because I built random projects.
In 2022, one of my Stripe accounts was banned due to a spike in chargebacks (someone testing credit cards).
So I spent a few days building ByeDispute, a tool to fix it:
- It made $7,000 - It's running on autopilot - It gave me several new startup ideas - It prevented a dispute yesterday when I was on holiday
Build, then think.
Why you won't find good startup ideas: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/why-you-wont-find-good-startup-ideas
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
When I started sharing my journey on Twitter 3 years ago, I could have NEVER believed what I achieved in 2024.
I dreamt of becoming financially independent while working on any project, whenever I wanted. So I made a deal with myself to build startups until my dream came true.
The first idea wasn't promising, but that didn't matter—it was necessary to start the engine. Of course, it failed, just like the next apps I built.
It took months to make $1...
But I didn't give up. Instead, I found a way to make the journey fun with tiny goals and a fast build/launch loop. I also took care of my mental health by working out every day and prioritizing sleep.
My efforts finally compounded a year ago. I got "lucky" and achieved more than I could dream of.
This could be your journey too. If you have an itch for entrepreneurship, don't wait until tomorrow. Start today. Future you will be grateful. I root for you.
Happy New Year 🎉
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Top 4 favorite books of 2024.
My notes for each 🧵 https://t.co/prKKRbUbGb
1. The Power of Now by @EckhartTolle https://t.co/CbwdMJ9PDu
2. Deep Work by Cal Newport https://t.co/f43x8u1djo
3. Same as Ever by @morganhousel https://t.co/x40rSCmA5s
4. Good Energy by @calleymeans https://t.co/EnV47kxKQ9
Most of the books I read: https://indiesread.it/lists/clv55p1f80000mh0czqepto91
(super cool project by @MajorBaguette)
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
13 moments in 2024 I'll never forget:
1. I was awarded Product Hunt Maker of the Year 2023, the same award my heroes received (January)
2. I launched http://Zenvoice.io, a startup I built in 7 days of live streaming on YouTube (February)
The startup is still making $1K/month on autopilot while saving the 0.4% Stripe fee for hundreds of founders.
3. I lost the last paying customer for my 1st SaaS from 2018 (March)
This startup paid my rent for almost 5 years.
4. First mini burnout, I booked a real therapist for 1 month (April)
5. My Twitter reached 100,000 followers after 2.5 years (June).
When I started, It took 8 months to get 1,000 followers.
6. I was lucky to talk about my 6 years of failure on Starter Story (July)
7. I made $1M as a solo entrepreneur (August)
8. I met my hero @levelsio (September)
9. I launched @DataFast_, the web analytics SaaS for founders (September)
10. Burn out (October)
11. My YouTube channel reached 100,000 subscribers (October)
12. I launched CodeFast (November)
Go build that damn idea!
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I made $268,463 in December 2024.
🧑💻 CodeFast — $219.2K ⚡️ ShipFast — $43.1k 🍜 Indie Page — $1.9k 📈 DataFast — $1.1K 🚀 LaunchViral — $1K 💨 Zenvoice — $700 🎞️ YouTube — $455 🐥 Twitter — $353 🛡️ ByeDispute — $270 🌱 HabitsGarden — $253 💩 PoopUp — $84 📚 WorkbookPDF — $48
🟢 Business is up by 118%
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I just got my @WHOOP back 🤩 (lost it while surfing)
My health goal for 2025 is to get 330+ days with:
👟 10,000 steps 🛌 100% sleep score 🚫 No sugar https://t.co/cQ0j07spq1
2024 as an entrepreneur:
💰 Earned $1.2M 🚀 Launched 5 startups 🐦 Got 87K followers on 𝕏 🎥 Got 104K followers on YouTube 📰 Got 24K readers on my newsletter 📚 Read 14 books ✈️ Traveled to 8 countries 📈 Started DCA $5,000/week in SP500 🏋️ Exercised 340+ days 🌙 Sacrificed 0 nights of sleep 🍹 Drunk 0L of alcohol 🤝 Met tons of inspiring entrepreneurs ❤️ Spent 365 days with my wife
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I outsourced my wife & my biomarkers 🧬
There are ~10 important markers that are easy to track. From now on, we get a blood test every 6 months until we are both in the green zone for all key markers.
We rely on the data from doctors, ChatGPT, and @bryan_johnson to decide what's good/enough.
- My wife has high cholesterol despite a very healthy diet. We need to work on that. - I have a bit of cholesterol too (maybe it's a sign) and my AST levels aren't good—either because I exercise too much, didn't drink enough water, or genetics.
Developers are the best customers 🤩
If you're a @DataFast_ user, Ryan's open-source Chrome plugin allows you to exclude your own visits from analytics without coding.
I grew a YouTube channel from 0 to 100K followers in 10 months.
- 3.5M views - $100K+ revenue for my startups - Less than 10 hours/week time invested
Here are 9 lessons I learned 🧵 https://t.co/an2A7WMSz2
But before we start...
I'm not a typical YouTuber.
80% of my time is spent writing code and building startups.
I'm only able to tell stories about my work or my life.
Here's my channel: https://www.youtube.com/@marc-lou Here are the stats:
Now, let's start. https://t.co/B1WzIk1130
1. Be different
YouTube is competitive. The easiest way to stand out is to be unique and challenge the status quo.
If a friend described you, what would they say? “Oh, this is the person who ___.”
My ___ is shipping lots of startups. Here's a simple formula to find yours:
Pick 2 skills you're average at. Combine them and you're unique. For example:
- You can code - You play guitar
"I built a free app to learn open chords in 7 minutes"
2. Find and replicate winning formulas
If you have no idea what to talk about, do what works already.
Study successful videos, find their format, and replicate them with your own uniqueness.
For instance, you can apply a Mr Beast concept to building startups:
"$1 SaaS vs. $1M SaaS"
Don't reinvent the wheel.
http://1of10.com by @richard_yts is an excellent way to find video ideas that could go viral.
3. Make your title & thumbnail first
Start with these before making the video—they give you a clear angle and direction to shape the content.
Spend 50% of your time on them. Packaging is everything:
- Promise something irresistible, make viewers feel like they’ll miss out if they don’t click - Trigger emotions like wtf? LOL or curiosity - Keep titles short, avoid adjectives - Have 1 primary element (i.e. your face) and a few secondary elements (i.e. a computer) - Use vibrant colors with strong contrasts
Check @AprilynneAlter YouTube videos, they're excellent.
4. Know your audience
You can’t talk to everyone.
Find your people, speak their language, and relate to them through your tone, visuals, and style. Make them feel like you’re speaking only to them.
Use YouTube data to know who your niche is. https://t.co/MngKNjvu0l
5. Tell stories
My channel is about my story.
But each startup I build also has a story:
- Someone hacked my site - My SaaS reached $1,000 MRR - I built this website in 12 hours
Every video needs a story.
Introduce a problem, show the actions to solve it, and wrap it up. https://t.co/1YhVjG1HPr
6. Show, don't tell
Keep your intro under 10 seconds.
Don’t waste time explaining—show what the video is about immediately. https://t.co/PrpH3TQylN
7. But don't skip the intro
Many viewers queue up videos, and yours might not be the first they watch.
Remind them of the title and the promise you made in the thumbnail.
Help them remember why they clicked. https://t.co/BKRMfHGS4J
8. Use constraints
Constraints force productivity and creativity.
I work on my videos only on Saturdays. I have no choice but to have the video scheduled by the end of the day.
1. I pick an idea from my list and find a creative angle 2. I create the title & thumbnail 3. I script the intro and outline the rest of the video (bullet points) 4. I shoot the intro at least 2 times and YOLO the rest of the video
This limit keeps me focused and creative.
9. Plant seeds and be patient
Every video is a seed.
The YouTube algorithm needs time to pick one up.
Create consistently, iterate often, and let the seeds grow.
When one video takes off, others will follow. https://t.co/3gpnceDKsy
It's harder to make a YouTube video than writing a tweet.
But YouTube has a unique advantage:
Viewers can see your face and expressions, which builds more trust.
The revenue/visitor metric I get from @DataFast_ is usually 200% higher when traffic is coming from YouTube VS. any other marketing channel.
At first, it's awkward to speak to a camera. Then you get comfortable and wish you'd have done it sooner.
Starting now could be your best investment for 2025 💪
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
If you want to make money online, ride waves:
- @levelsio rode the nomad wave in 2017, and now he's riding the AI wave - I'm riding the "be my own boss" wave
There's another, bigger wave coming: Health.
The food we eat makes us sick. The morning alarm makes us sick.
Being healthy in 2024 is hard. It creates tons of problems (aka. entrepreneurs' opportunities).
It's still early now. It will be obvious in 2034.
Ride the wave.
@levelsio Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Now I attribute revenue on the backend with DataFast, I know exactly who my customers are:
🔗 Referrer/UTM 🌏 Country, city 📱 Device/OS
Customer data is linked to visitor data with nearly 100% accuracy. https://t.co/H7bjMEGz5f
If you're using DataFast, I wrote this tutorial to help you get started: https://datafa.st/docs/server-side-tracking
Make sure to disconnect/reconnect Stripe so DataFast gets the latest permissions.
Here's the winner of the YouTube thumbnail bounty 🥇
✅ Colors are vibrant ✅ Contrast is great ✅ It tells a story
I will remove and replace the text with an arrow before publishing it.
Below are some of my favorite runners-up ⬇️ https://t.co/XL4jlQnpl3
Also great storytelling thumbnails https://t.co/u6RStsBZ8k
I like the mood of these but my body doesn't look like that 😁 https://t.co/RtuPL0xVci
And just because 🥲 https://t.co/6p0NBrnObO
How it started: https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1869035216653922308
139 people applied, thanks everyone for taking the time ❤️
I'm going to play with YouTube ads so I just bought http://CodeFast.now
This TLD is new (2024 I think) and it's pretty actionable:
"Want to learn to code? Go to CodeFast-Dot-Now!"
It redirects to the root domain with ?ref=dotnow for internal tracking. https://t.co/Gm4uaDhCGS
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Merry Christmas 🎄 https://t.co/nTDWLAvkoU
This is the most important book I read in 2024.
I realized that I was hungry all the time because... I was eating the wrong food.
The book explains the food > glucose > energy cycle.
When I eat high-carb food, I get a glucose spike that gives me instant energy.
But what goes up must go down, so a few minutes later...
1. My energy drops 2. I'm hungry (again)
It creates a vicious loop that makes me overeat and get mood swings.
Now I've cut high-carbs—here's what happens:
- I went from 3 meals a day (+ snacking) to 2 - My body fat dropped significantly - My cravings are gone
On top of that, the book is an excellent reminder of the fundamentals of health, like good sleep and daily movement.
Read it, seriously.
I shipped documentation for @DataFast_ and added two new features:
🧱 Server-side tracking to attribute revenue on the back end with nearly 100% accuracy ↔️ Proxy the script with your domain to bypass ad blockers (35% of the web)
Available now! https://t.co/zqIpbe65UR
Portfolio of small bets is working hard when I'm sleeping https://t.co/shG6aWXQpf
24 hours left ⏳
I built Zenvoice on a YouTube livestream in 8 days.
- I used 3 React hooks - I used 79 Tailwind CSS classes - I used 19 JavaScript built-in functions
It makes $1K+/month, full autopilot.
You don't need to learn everything to code like an entrepreneur.
10% of the basics will get you far enough.
✅ Learn just enough ✅ Build an MVP ✅ Launch
Repeat until you get profitable.
https://t.co/W93aus8XrL
The streams: https://www.youtube.com/@marc-lou/streams
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
It will probably never happen again... so I'm posting this for the record:
I made $300,000 in the last 30 days.
3 years ago, my bank account was empty, I didn't believe in myself and had 0 followers.
But that didn't stop me from shipping tiny startups.
- I coded every day - I did marketing every day - I didn't give up when nothing happened for 18 months
Then I got lucky last year.
And I got lucky again last month.
Create something valuable for some people, distribute it, and don't quit—that's the recipe to get lucky.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
My food cravings are gone.
This is the most surprising part about changing my diet a few months ago.
I'm back in Europe and I thought I'd gain 10% body fat from eating delicious food here. I'd hunt for the best almond croissant.
But no, I just want to eat healthy food.
Six months ago, I thought this was a boring way to live, that eating healthy meant making compromises and constantly fighting desires.
I didn't realize my desires would change. I didn't know I could crave vegetables instead of sugar.
The first 2 weeks are hard (sugar is so addictive) but once you cross the line, there's no turning back.
I've noticed 2 patterns after seeing all the people making money on the internet:
1. They show up:
Every day, until something happens. It usually takes months to get results, and years for significant outcomes.
2. They iterate:
When nothing happens for weeks, they do a U-turn. Ditch startup A, build startup Z. That's how you don't burn out and land on something promising.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
UI/UX quiz:
Which testimonial gets the most views?
🔵 or 🟢
(answer below) https://t.co/bgAEIpG5Ol
The blue one gets 50% more views even though it's 3x smaller than the green.
It's a good reminder to always put the most important information at the top-right (that's how we read). https://t.co/LINkdjeAqP
I use @DataFast_ Goal feature to track the views https://t.co/EhrMRAiVR5
To be rich—build the future.
To be healthy—live like in the past.
To be happy—stay present.
There's never been a better time to learn to code. https://x.com/satyanadella/status/1869445091213095140
2 years ago, this tweet changed my life.
- It grew a little audience on Twitter - It motivated me to keep shipping startups - It eventually turned into a $1M/year business
Just ship it.
https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1604748220198191104?lang=en
My daily dose of happiness:
ShipFast members making their first $ online 🤩 https://t.co/QDBWBxDM0X
I think this is this app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/workout-tracker-dumb-gym/id6739130605?ign-itscg=30200&ign-itsct=apps_box_link&mttnsubad=6739130605 by @iamgabrielma
"But you can't learn to code in 14 days..."
✅ Learned in 10 days ✅ Built 3 websites ✅ Did marketing
I met the founders of @typefully ($1.6M ARR SaaS)
It all started 10 years ago, with a tweet...
Fabrizio ( @linuz90 ) & Francesco ( @frankdilo ) found each other on Twitter. Sharing tech and design, no plans for a business.
They're both Italians so they met IRL. It clicked and a few years later, they built their first SaaS—MailBrew.
What surprised me was that both are tech guys.
Yet, they grew MailBrew to $10K+ MRR because: 1. They built an incredible product that users love 2. Users do the marketing (word of mouth)
During that journey, they built a tiny side project: A random tool to share and preview Twitter threads.
Nothing flashy. No grand vision startup. Just solving their own problem.
Then, boom. It went viral on Hacker News.
A few days later, it reached $5,000 MRR.
They sold their previous startup and went all in on that "little" project which is now Typefully, the Saas used by 150K creators to schedule content on X & LinkedIn.
In 4 years, they grew a small team of fewer than 10 people and reached $1.6M ARR, fully bootstrapped.
They didn't hire growth hackers or give equity to an influencer. They just ship features people request and build an incredible product.
Here's what I learned:
1. Do what you're good at. If you're addicted to building features (like me), do that. Just make sure you have initial traction. 2. Talk to your users from day 0. 3. Start more side projects.
(This post was written and sent with TypeFully)
I'll pay you $500 to design 1 thumbnail for my YouTube channel.
Link to apply and guidelines below ⬇️ https://t.co/sEdkqMk5Mi
I built 30+ websites with this tech stack.
- Millions of people visited my sites - http://DataFa.st has 10M+ database records - [HabitsGarden.com](http://HabitsGarden.com) has 17,000+ users tracking their habits
You can do the same with a totally different tech stack —because customers don't care.
So pick one, and never change it.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
CodeFast has 12 hours of video.
It took 10 minutes to make 1 minute of content.
That's 120 hours of deep work (planning, recording, editing, writing).
There were moments when my software was buggy, my mic didn't work, or I repeated the same sentence 5 times.
And that does not even count building the entire platform with user portal, chapters, lessons backup, etc...
Making a course is super hard, even though mine is short. Kudos to all course creators out there 👏
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
ShipFast Perks now include a 30% discount for any of DataFast's yearly plans 💸 https://t.co/5Qv8hpuTnO
Olá, Lisboa! 🇵🇹 https://t.co/wWqaKtMF6n
I'm wondering why @bryan_johnson doesn't talk much about how opening windows impacts sleep quality.
I feel drowsy if I wake up at 1000+ ppm room after 8 hours of sleep (window slightly open)
But I feel pumped and rested if it's below 600 ppm (window 25% open)
Such a simple hack for good sleep.
Mum, I made it 🥹
I have my own little Google Knowledge Graph 🤩
I didn't pay for this, nor did I request it. It appeared not long after my YouTube channel got verified (100K subs) so I guess that was the trigger. https://t.co/xO1m9Oduh8
No, I'm an OnlyFan influencer (yet)
Less than 10% of people finish only courses.
I wanted the 1st lesson of CodeFast to be different — to hook students — so I popped REAL confetti 🎉 in my office.
1. The sound scared the hell out of me (and I had to remember what to say) 2. The room was filled with confetti strips
I hope it was worth it 😁
how do it tell my parents this is legal 🤯 https://t.co/U1BOvsvCUy
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
You don’t become a millionaire by chasing money.
I never had a financial goal.
Instead, I learned how to tame my monkey mind and how to ship startups fast. I became a millionaire because I offered that knowledge to the market.
Money follows value, not the other way around.
Find what makes you special. If you can't, leave your comfort zone until you do.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
With the launch of CodeFast, I've received lots of questions about using Cursor, V0, or Bolt to code.
Using AI to code without knowing how to code is like buying a Ferrari without knowing how to drive.
AI can give you a feeling of progressing super fast because you can build an entire landing page using English.
But the moment you have a bug or want something specific, you won't be able to connect the dots and get stuck in the AI loop.
Coding is easier than ever, but there's no cheat sheet:
1. Learn the basics of coding first (use AI to explain everything) 2. Then use AI to code faster
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Part of this $18M is for ShipFast customers who can now enjoy $100/month off for 6 months 🤑
If you're a member, go to /perks and submit your entry. I'll select 10 lucky winners by the end of each month.
Send emails—that get delivered—for free!
I created ShipFast perks a few weeks ago: https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1854142952156848181
This is what my diet looks like.
I always walk fast for 10 minutes post-meal. https://t.co/9BkKa7AmHt
And yes I didn't "cut carbs completely" because carbs are everywhere.
But I reduced it to the minimum. No bread, pasta, pizza, or any other carbs-rich food.
How I would learn to code in 2024 (if I could start over):
(WARNING this is NOT for people who want to get a 9-5 but for those who want to learn to code fast, build a business, and quit their 9-5)
🧵
What I did wrong:
I learned to code in 2016 to build my dream startup (I believed I was the next Mark Zuckerberg).
So I bought Udemy courses. My cart looked like this:
- React: 64 hours - JavaScript: 52 hours - Node.js: 41 hours https://t.co/UiR5pyWAZ5
150 hours of content and 2 years later, I still couldn’t create an online business (payments, user login, dashboard, emails — nothing fancy).
I felt defeated. I thought coding wasn’t for me. I almost gave up…
In 2018, I met @andrey_seas in South Korea and he told me:
Sell your SaaS before you make it.
I was broke, so I tried, and after sending 20 cold emails… I got my first customer!
When the money landed on PayPal, I had no other choice:
Build the product ASAP.
I spent the next 7 days learning and coding only what was necessary to deliver the MVP.
It was scrappy and slow because most of what I had learned previously was useless.
The MVP was a Facebook Messenger Bot (no UI, no dashboard, just an API) https://t.co/3v0Jujog3w
Once I delivered the product, the customer was happy.
They used it for 4 years, spending over $4,000 ($99/month for 48 months).
That’s how my first online business started: VirallyBot — A SaaS that made over $75,000 in revenue, let me move to Bali, and most importantly, made me fall in love with coding (which I hated just 2 years ago)
Here’s the red pill: Coding courses are made for people who want a 9-5.
🍰 Employment is a zero-sum game—If you get the job, someone else won’t. You increase the odds of winning (getting hired) with a degree and advanced skills. 🕳️ Entrepreneurship is a different beast—The pie is infinite, and customers don’t care about your JavaScript expertise. They want their problems to be solved.
So here’s exactly what I’d do (in 3 steps) if I were to learn to code in 2024:
Step #1 — Learn the Fundamentals:
AI is making a lot of tools and jobs obsolete at warp speed.
But chances are, in 20 years you’ll still receive HTML files over HTTP to read Twitter or see your friends’ posts on Instagram.
Infrastructures evolve much more slowly. The internet is likely to work in the same fashion years from now.
Learn how the internet works using ChatGPT. Ask about what you do on the internet:
• What happens when you click the like button on YouTube? • What happens when you type “twitter(dot)com” in Google Chrome?
When you discover a new term, ask the AI to go deeper. You’ll discover the foundations that power the internet.
Here are some core concepts I think are crucial:
• HTML/CSS/JS webpage • Internet browser • IP address • HTTP protocol • DNS and domain name • “Backend VS. Frontend” • API endpoint
Don’t spend more than a few days on this. Stop when you have an overview of how the internet works.
I have 2 mini-projects for you:
1. Go to your favorite site, open the developer console, and inspect the code. 2. Build your first webpage using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It could be the sales page for your business idea or just a portfolio page. Create the HTML file and send it over to a friend. You’ll be surprised how simple it is.
Important: Don’t skip step #1. Coding apps without knowing how the internet works is like buying a Ferrari without knowing how to drive.
Step #2 — Pick a tech stack, and stick to it.
When you run an online business, you need tools. For instance:
💻 Your server sends HTML files to your users 🔐 Your database saves your user’s information 💳 Your payment processor charges your customers’ credit cards
The tech stack is a set of tools used to build and run your web application. There are millions of combinations. Here’s mine:
🎨 Frontend: - React (components) - NextJS (pages) - TailwindCSS + daisyUI (styling)
🔒 Backend: - NextJS (API) - MongoDB (database) - Vercel (hosting)
🔧 Additional tools: - Stripe (payments) - Resend (emails) - AWS (image hosting)
⌨️ Programming language: - JavaScript
I built 30+ websites (http://marclou.com) with this tech stack.
- Millions of people visited my sites - http://DataFa.st has 10M+ database records - [HabitsGarden.com](http://HabitsGarden.com) has 17,000+ users tracking their habits.
Here’s the red pill: Tech stacks don’t matter. You can do everything you need as an entrepreneur with any tech stack.
Pick one. Never change it.
Step #3 — Build, ship, learn (in this order)
A. Build 🧑💻
You’ve got the map and the tools, now we’re entering the fun part: Coding.
Build the smallest version of your idea. Whatever product you have in mind, start building the landing page to “present” your product. Use the tech stack you just picked.
Learn just what you need to build the static page. With my tech stack, you need to know:
• 10% of NextJS • 10% of React • 10% of TailwindCSS
Here’s another red pill: You don’t need to know everything. For instance, React has 15 hooks, I use only 2 in all my 30+ projects. You can ditch 85% of the tech stack features because you’ll likely never use them.
Learning gives us a feeling of being productive but it’s an illusion. You want to get users/customers/testers ASAP.
-> Add a Call-To-Action (CTA) to your static page.
For instance, a Stripe payment link (no-code) or a Google Form to collect beta testers’ emails. It will take you a few days or weeks at max.
B. Ship 🚀
You might think it’s early but it’s not: Launch your site.
- First, you’ll have to buy a domain name (I use NameCheap or Netim) - Then, deploy your site on the internet (I use Vercel) - And put your offer online: Send cold emails, ask friends, make a post on Reddit https://t.co/XbjGFNN0AS
🎯 Your goal is to get 1 customer or 1 beta tester—This is key because these are the next steps:
1. You’ll get instant motivation to build the product (I’ll never forget my first customer, the feeling is insane). Coding will suddenly become fun, you will naturally want to spend more time learning/coding.
2. You won’t overthink about what to learn. Pick just what you need to deliver the product.
3. You will get real feedback. The #1 mistake in entrepreneurship is building a product people don’t need. If nobody is interested in your idea, at least you saved yourself 6 months of coding and a nasty burnout.
C. Learn 📚
Once you get a person on board, your goal is to build the smallest version of your product.
You might have to learn about user authentication, API, and databases on the way. Once again, learn just enough to make something and show it to your customers/users. Ask AI when you’re stuck and make sure you understand “why” you do something.
Do things that don’t scale. For instance, you don’t have to set up an entire Stripe subscription flow. You can turn on/off subscriptions manually at first, and automate them later.
D. Repeat 🔁
You will build a learning flywheel: Build, ship, learn, repeat.
Once you’re comfortable with the tech stack, start using AI to code for you. Now, I barely code anymore (and yet, I ship more code than ever). I write in English and review the AI-generated code.
⚠️ Important: Resist the temptation of using AI too early. V0, Bolt, etc… are great tools, but using them without understanding the code is like buying a Ferrari without knowing… Yep, you got it.
And remember, you don’t need a brilliant idea to start. Mine was a free movie recommendation app http://Mood2Movie.com
150,000+ tech employees have been laid off in 2024.
Meanwhile, my Twitter feed is filled with entrepreneurs making a living with their apps.
More people want the freedom to work on their own projects, according to their own terms. Coding enables that. It’s not too late to learn. And it’s easier than ever because:
- You just need to know the minimum to build your idea - You have a superintelligence at your fingertip
You got this, friend!
If you want to learn how to code in weeks, not months — I created http://CodeFa.st.
It’s the course I wish I had when I started. It follows the 3-step we talked about previously.
1,132 students joined already, some already launched their businesses! https://t.co/Zoc4hVfLSJ
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
another bet on the wall https://t.co/tZEOFJz6HN
This domain went from 0 to 43 DR in 10 days 🤯
There are 2 factors at play here:
1. I own 3 domains with 50+ Domain Rating
I cross-link all my domain names in footers. One of them shipfa(dot)st is above 70. So whatever domain I launch, I'm almost guaranteed to get 25+ DR in a few days.
2. Affiliates are pushing the reputation to the next level
CodeFast offers a 30% to 50% commission for each referral. The program converts like crazy. Affiliates add their unique links to high-reputation domains for more $$$, and my domain reputation increases.
TLDR; Build good products and be patient. Efforts compound.
btw the affiliate program is no joke: https://codefa.st/affiliates
My new desk so I get 10k daily steps https://t.co/aW038jb9i7
I've been sharing my revenue on Twitter since December 2021.
Back then I was making $0 to $100/month, so nobody questioned the numbers.
Most of my startups failed. I shared that too.
But after reaching $50K/month in 2023, some people said I was faking numbers.
Some even came up with conspiracy theories—like I created @IndiePageApp just to fake revenue.
Now, I have countless friends making $10K/month with their tiny internet businesses.
And IndiePage Leaderboard is filled with indie hackers making way more money than they need (verified with Stripe)
If you want to get rich, ditch the conspiracy mindset and be more optimistic.
Lewis found the post in Reddit https://x.com/lewisbuildsai/status/1865835675951497237
and back in the days https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1641802778992418816
and REAL revenue data:
👋 https://t.co/btnk96IBZV
$10 in ad spent ➡️ $149 in revenue.
The first days of Meta ads are promising for CodeFast.
@nico_jeannen is running my ads (again) and doing wonders. https://t.co/aal9QFhP3Q
npm i solopreneur https://t.co/wOV1ZHCvgP
Bali in 2024 is Blade Runner 2049.
My wife and I are considering moving out because of the air pollution. https://t.co/IcZ2aOYNCk
I added the top 25 startups (most revenue) to the ShipFast homepage.
There's a ?ref=shipfast_leaderboard to track outbound links (to makers' websites)
Curious to see how much traffic that'll send! https://t.co/q3o26brEng
I built the free logo maker http://LogoFa.st in 3 days:
🤑 Made $5,000+ in revenue for ShipFast 🤝 Helped 50,000+ people design logos in seconds 🤖 Runs 100% on autopilot (built once, never touched)
Build more free tools! https://t.co/B19eZmINSJ
How to get free tool ideas to promote your startup:
https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/marketing-for-product-obsessed-developers
Reminder you don't need to know everything to build your idea.
- React has 15 hooks. I use 3. - Tailwind CSS has 1,000+ classes. I use 100. - JavaScript has 300+ built-in functions. I use 30. https://t.co/oCtS65CZBu
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I added the CodeFast bundle to ShipFast too.
What do you think, UI-wise?
Should I remove the starter plan? https://t.co/c7p4n5DJU2
CodeFast launch 7-day recap:
📈 45K visitors ❤️ 1,022 students 💰 $200,000+ in revenue
Coding changed my life.
And I want the same for my students.
So I hired someone full-time to answer any tech questions on Discord to help them go from 0 to SaaS.
Keep shipping startups and messing around, you never know what you'll land on.
The traffic & revenue chart is http://DataFa.st
Affiliates of CodeFast are printing 🤑
The program is brand new and by far the best I've seen (conversion).
- I use @getRewardful which makes everything as simple as adding a script - I set up a landing page /affiliates with social proof - I show the referral program in the course - I offer up to 50% commission - And make a few tweets
That's it.
You can join here: https://codefa.st/affiliates
It took 3 years to recover from depression and cross $1M/year.
- I built 29 websites - I wrote 22,532 tweets - I made 96 YouTube videos - I wrote 48 newsletter issues - I worked out every single day - I never sacrificed a night of sleep
Keep shipping and take care of your health ❤️
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I like clean and minimalist design 🌬️
So now DataFast only shows KPI comparisons on hover.
(it was shown permanently before) https://t.co/MQhtAE1LMX
The tool: http://DataFa.st
My friend @montakaoh just 3x his revenue after adding a one-time payment option to his SaaS.
Not every business needs a subscription.
In fact, it's probably slowing your revenue down. https://t.co/WAWl0qO2mJ
Monta's SaaS is an AI translation tool for social media: https://www.translate.mom/
And why subscriptions aren't always good: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/ditch-your-subscription
Shipped too fast? https://t.co/mvmyEkFoRl
I made $100,000...
- in 2 years with all my SaaS - in 2 months with ShipFast - in 2 days with CodeFast
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Every time someone impersonates my X account, I have to:
1. Verify my ID 2. Pray it doesn't crash (50% chance)
❌ It takes 5 minutes to report a fake account ✅ It takes 5 seconds to create a fake account
Please fix @elonmusk https://t.co/DYFHW2PI9g
@elonmusk Meanwhile if you want to join my premium Telegram chat and earn 10 Bitcoins:
CodeFast landing page converts like crazy:
- $4.74 revenue per visitor - 2.2% conversion rate
But one week ago when I sent the landing page to my friends @DanKulkov and @nico_jeannen... I got ROASTED.
So I did a U-turn and rebuilt the website from scratch.
Now I'm not "in my head" anymore, I can confidently say: The first version would have never worked as well as the current one.
💡 Two takeaways:
1. Always ask for feedback (and listen).
It's painful, but it helps break the disillusion we create when we want something to succeed.
2. Encourage your friends to roast you.
People are naturally kind and may hold back negative feedback. Let them know it's helpful if they focus more on the bad than the good.
And this is the best $$$ invested.
I never launch without Dan's roasting: https://www.makerbox.club/landing-page-roasting
november https://t.co/7OsRgebx1k
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Cyber Monday deal is ON 💸
Last chance to grab CodeFast at this price. https://t.co/lckfC0pepq
Good morning ☀️
1. Close this app 2. Exercise for 20 minutes 3. Do that 1 thing you've postponed recently
See you tomorrow 🫡 https://t.co/vMV1jytdz7
I made $123,120 in November 2024:
🧑💻 CodeFast — $88.5K ⚡️ ShipFast — $27.9k 🍜 Indie Page — $3.6k 💨 Zenvoice — $1.1K 📈 DataFast — $941 🎞️ YouTube — $461 💩 PoopUp — $226 🌱 HabitsGarden — $112 🐥 Twitter — $136 🛡️ ByeDispute — $96 📚 WorkbookPDF — $48
🟢 Business is up by 118% ➕ I added a new income source with CodeFast ➖ I lost a source of income with LaunchViral
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
CodeFast affiliate program is 1 day old and...
Some are already printing money 🤩
Join the program: https://codefa.st/affiliates https://t.co/0M3IfTQW2e
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
My high school teachers told me I’d never go anywhere because I couldn’t sit still in their classes.
I still have nightmares about not being prepared for a school exam.
Now, I teach people how to code.
And ironically, it's the best product I've built (Product-Market-Fit wise)
Funny how life works.
If you visited CodeFast but didn't purchase... Why?
I'm trying to understand objections to make a better course.
Be brutal please (I've removed ego from the equation for the next 48 minutes)
As always, this kind of tweet hurts but it's so valuable.
Thanks for all the replies, I updated the landing page when possible 🙏
I just set up an affiliate program for CodeFast 🤑
✅ 3 tiers (30% to 50% commission) ✅ Up to 60 days of cookie tracking
Grow your revenue → https://codefa.st/affiliates https://t.co/I6CpAWoZUh
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
This is the most insane product launch I've done... 🤯
$32,000+ in 24 hours.
That's $3.36/visitor which is 2x what ShipFast did at best. I'm blown away.
For the future coders/entrepreneurs: Thanks for your trust ❤️ Excited to see your journey ahead. https://t.co/23wp8qN3lH
The course: http://CodeFa.st
And some data from http://DataFa.st: https://t.co/b4w9mOPYqy
this is insane, i don't even know if it's real or someone playing a trick on me https://t.co/TVIs2sL4mT
I spent 9 months working on this...
Introducing http://CodeFa.st — Build your SaaS in 14 days 🧑💻
✅ Learn to code from 0 ✅ Even if you're a complete beginner ✅ Everything to create an online business
It's 50% off for Black Friday — 48 hours left.
Enjoy! https://t.co/50yRtpwkBI
👀 https://t.co/xG0WghMHqd
I started documenting my SaaS journey to $1M.
Video coming, someday. https://t.co/5d6qv8t3q8
something is cooking… https://t.co/cEof1YAdfj
Read the worn books, not the shiny ones.
Productive day ahead https://t.co/TRbfDfSalK
What's stopping you from coding like this? https://t.co/PhUF5UuCUg
Just set up compound indexes on @DataFast_ so your analytics should load much faster, especially for the 7+ days range ⚡️ https://t.co/nUf8Uc1rad
30 minutes of entrepreneurship a day keeps the 9-to-5 away
How to ship fast https://t.co/DTFwTqUbJK
"Thanks for keeping me accountable"
The AI is more human than ever 🤣 https://t.co/nOBGrbcjiy
This book is too good it should be illegal.
I always wondered why I was always thinking too much. Why can’t I focus on the present?
The brain is hardwired to think about (1) the past or (2) the future. That's how we evolved as humans. This "thinking" is how we remember who we are, learn from mistakes, etc.
The happiness part of the book is bliss. Especially if you're building startups and most of your inputs are aimed at tomorrow’s output, this book is a must-read.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I went surfing with 2 startup founders this morning.
@adriaandotcom & @IronBrands16 grew SimpleAnalytics from 0 to $40K MRR.
It started with another small bet from Adriaan, after failing other projects.
He launched the product on Hacker News, went viral, and got to $10K MRR solo.
Iron joined him to handle the marketing, and together, they built a startup that is likely worth well over $1M.
Now they're living the good life, bringing the startup office where they want, and shipping features when they want.
Also, I asked them for a cookie but they didn't have any, so I bet they're GDPR-compliant
I used to hate marketing.
I felt like an imposter, pushing something people didn’t need.
But after 2 years of making $0, I decided to listen to my friend @andrey_seas.
He told me that when a client says, "It's too expensive," it means, "I don't see the value."
In 2018, I was selling a B2B SaaS for $199/month using cold outreach (email & DM). When a lead had an objection:
1. Understand the real meaning of the objection 2. Reply with a counterargument
It worked so well. And after signing up, clients saw 3x to 5x ROI with my product.
Marketing isn’t just good for you; it’s also a way for customers to discover solutions they might never have found otherwise.
I made a new friend in Korea 🇰🇷 https://t.co/dNvBuc7MYS
South Korea pays its citizens $100 to be healthy 🫀
The government built this fitness app (2M+ downloads). It pays users ~$1 per goal completed:
🚶 Walk 10k steps = $1 🧘 Do 30 minutes of yoga = $1 etc...
It's capped at $100 per account and people can redeem their points at local coffee shops, marts, etc.
writing this after seating for 8 hours straight
"Don't buy my product"
I've received dozens of similar emails asking if it's worth buying ShipFast to improve an existing product.
Of course, my marketing mind wants to say "YES," but the truth is—you don't need another tool.
Build, ship, and get your ideas out there; your own effort is your best tool.
I want to eat 2x more when I don't workout.
So when you exercise daily, you get fit + improve your diet.
You don't need an intense gym session. 20 minutes of HIIT at home does the job.
When I say "improve diet" it's because, on average, we eat more calories than we need https://t.co/6bthJWs7vI
I shipped a new feature for @DataFast_ ✨
Every Monday, it sends an email report of your analytics in the past 7 days:
📈 Visitors, revenue, KPIs 🔎 Traffic sources 🌎 Demographics
🤑 And if you've connected Stripe or LemonSqueezy, you'll receive insight to grow your startup (based on your data).
It's in beta so your feedback matters! Let me know what's missing, or what could be improved, please 🙏
There's no better productivity hack than a morning run and cold shower.
Ha no there's a better one: 8 hours of sleep
Here we go! 🤩
My .ge domain finally reached 60 authority after 2 years.
I didn't do SEO.
Instead: - I built a link-in-bio people use - I added a feature to connect with your domain - I offered a dofollow link for premium users
More users = higher authority
I haven't raised the price for @IndiePageApp in a while, might change soon.
The video editing contest is over...
Here's the winner! By Leon from @LeagueOfEditing 🥇
Thanks to everyone who applied, it was awesome watching your teasers 🤩 https://t.co/ktJj5fUMbj
How it started: https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1853382438980137262
Back in running shoes after 5 months of walking barefoot 🦶
The last time I did this, I lost my big toenail, but it feels good to be running against the clock again. https://t.co/gCTLmZ82Kc
I realized I was doing sleep apnea because I recorded my sleep.
1. Use the Memo app on your phone 2. Binge for 8 hours of recordings in the morning (iOS has a "skip silence" + fast speed feature) and listen for gasping sounds
I snore for 5 minutes, and then a weird out-of-breath sound comes out. It's funny how I never realized this my entire life.
Another way to find out is to use a sleep tracker and look for your deep sleep. <15% of your night signals something is off.
YouTube verified 🎉 https://t.co/7VlumJvpv7
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
This changed my life.
I have a massive nose but it’s useless — I can’t breathe with it.
Doctor says I have a deviated septum (the wall between nostrils is off-center).
I'm not sure yet if I want to do the surgery (septoplasty) so I tried these nasal strips. It lifts and opens the nasal passages and makes breathing with my nose... possible.
Now, I can walk up stairs, surf, and sleep, all using just my nose. It's surreal.
It's amazing how good it feels to inhale deeply through the nose. I believe science says it's healthier because nose hair filters and warms the air.
My deep sleep also improved, going from an average of 1 hour to 2 hours! (I started sleeping on my side, so I'm not sure which change had the most impact.)
On the flip side:
My nose is even bigger; I can smoke under the shower. https://t.co/8MK8KNQpQo
I’m shipping from Korea 🇰🇷 until I overdose on kimchi https://t.co/z8OinjVYxO
One year ago already 🥹
24 hours left:
When I started the journey, I struggled to find the motivation to work.
Now, it's the opposite: I can't disconnect, so...
- I don't spend much time in the present - I can't think clearly
After 3 years of working 24/7, I'm finally taking a recurring day off:
Saturday = no computer.
new bet on the wall https://t.co/heiwMthbma
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
POV you finally launched that startup https://t.co/ep9ynhJIeI
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I was always curious about what visitors do on my site before purchasing.
So I added a new feature to @DataFast_ called Journey 🧙🗺️
1. Create a <goal> 🎯 2. View the journey to <goal> (pageviews, clicks, etc.) 👀 3. Discover patterns and insights 💡
What should I build next? https://t.co/qxTWvnjqJ7
ShipFast helped 5,000+ builders ship startups, fast.
Next: 1,000 profitable startups on the Leaderboards 🤑🏆 https://t.co/8jS0Ycu1HB
I changed how the leaderboards work.
Now it shows the top 25 startups (revenue-wise) to the public.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Happy birthday, Wife ❤️🎉 https://t.co/0rBbk6wtmg
This is the aquarium restaurant in Bali called Koral.
It's a wonderful experience and the seafood is delicious. https://t.co/wk0x7NEGJ8
Thank you solopreneurship for
- Wearing underwear all day - Working next to my wife - Not asking permission - The daily surf session - 0 meetings
Unsolicited testimonial that made my day 🥹 https://t.co/QMQEgOJaJY
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Helps you make $1,000 online:
❌ A premium logo ❌ Another course ❌ A new UI library
✅ A good headline ✅ A smart pricing ✅ A cold email
0 → 20,000 followers on LinkedIn in 1 year.
I just cross-posted my tweets using @typefully https://t.co/VYcIfcveCv
@typefully Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
SaaS to $1M — 2% completed https://t.co/M2xEJUUQyV
The SaaS https://datafa.st/
1 year later
The air quality in Bali is no good https://t.co/IUMXbAyIJ9
I just finished this book by @EckhartTolle and boy...
I realized how little I live in the present.
It's a great read, especially for entrepreneurs who tend to overthink.
My notes are on the right. https://t.co/L4RLPi1ab9
Introducing... ShipFast Perks 🎁
$1,090 in discounts on top products like @vercel, @typefully, @getRewardful and more!
My goal is to help 1,000 makers make $1,000 online.
So I handpicked products that help you save money (like hosting) or make more money (ads credits, courses, etc.)
Just log in to your ShipFast dashboard to redeem them 🙌
These discounts are exclusive to http://ShipFa.st customers.
I don’t get any commission—it’s all 100% yours!
Anytime @zenorocha 👀
When I launched @IndiePageApp in March 2023, it made less than $1,000/month for a year.
The domain authority grew from 0 to 58 because customers connected their domain names (more backlinks).
I was surprised, so I tweeted.
More people bought IndiePage for the backlink.
The domain authority grew even more.
Now it's like a little flywheel, it's not stopping:
Higher domain rating → More value for customers → More revenue → More backlinks → Higher domain rating.
A perfect example of: - How entrepreneurship is unpredictable (keep shipping) - How easier it is to make money with painkillers (vs. vitamins)
Security + AI is dope.
Certainly not bulletproof but it makes security a bit easier when you can speak English with your entire codebase. https://t.co/yVgKLEDgqL
I'll send you $1,000 to edit a 15-second video.
Link to apply and guidelines below ↓ https://t.co/IoaDyhEM0V
I need your help to make a mini teaser video for my YouTube channel 🎥
1. Read the script 2. Download the brolls 3. Submit your video
The bounty is $1,000. I’ll select 1 (or more) winners on November 14th.
I'm excited to see what you come up with!
Start here: ➡️ https://docs.google.com/document/d/17FaeOc0pluFVpbKzS8VVMg8SPX_gIQKzmr7diZprl5M/edit?tab=t.0
Product Market Fit https://t.co/4pU10OuNrn
Looks like the application link is hidden so: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17FaeOc0pluFVpbKzS8VVMg8SPX_gIQKzmr7diZprl5M/edit?tab=t.0
18,342 persons track their daily habits with @HabitsGarden.
Top 5 most wanted habits:
💪 Workout 🧠 Learning 📚 Reading 🧘 Meditation 🚭 No smoking https://t.co/ia7d2kIVE5
This site is 1-month old.
When I started the journey 3 years ago, I struggled to get 100 visitors.
Now, my new SaaS gets 1,500 visitors in 28 days from Google only.
This is what happens when:
- You show up daily - You build a portfolio of small bets - You share your work online and don't give up
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
> I'm buying $1,000 worth of your product <
@soeckly DM'ed me after the video I posted last week. He apologized for the aftermath of the episode.
He's very good at security so I asked if he could audit the ShipFast codebase. He said, "I won't take any money". I insisted, but he refused.
A few days later, he sent me the security audit. While he didn't find anything critical, he took the time to suggest improvements for security and code quality.
So I'm investing $1,000 in indie startups to express my gratitude for his work.
Link your startup below 👇 and let me do some shopping 🛒🛍️
And if you don't want to ship bugs to prod, let Simon audit your code.
He just launched http://ShipSecu.re. https://t.co/7ekzLbETig
It's a great reminder that we talk through algorithms, but we're real humans behind the keyboard.
Algorithms are made for engagement, but this episode would have never happened IRL.
Thanks for the audit, Simon!
Indie shopping
I'm impressed by how many use LemonSqueezy, I think it's 50% of the shops I visited
Good move from Stripe to buy them https://t.co/xEOkKlXYwi
how do i explain this to my accountant now 🤨
So close to making $10,000/month with my 7 tiny SaaS.
90% of the revenue is made through one-time payments. https://t.co/WA6SrTSpT1
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
4 days in Australia 🇦🇺 and all I want now is a farm in the middle of nowhere 🚜
My wife and I stayed in Kalamunda (Perth). It's so beautiful and quiet.
Australians enjoy lots of organic and locally sourced food. They even have a "meter" to show the percentage of ingredients produced locally.
I turned off the computer and focused on meditation, workouts, and hikes. It's so wild you're more likely to meet kangaroos than humans.
Back to Bali now, batteries recharged and ready to ship 🧑💻
The Australian « meter » https://t.co/sXyykTmm9r
npm install october https://t.co/fYIUsmqHGw
I made $56,436 in October 2024:
⚡️ ShipFast — $46.4k 🍜 Indie Page — $6.2k 💨 Zenvoice — $817 🚀 LaunchViral — $774 📈 DataFast — $749 🎞️ YouTube — $590 🌱 HabitsGarden — $378 🐥 Twitter — $212 🛡️ ByeDispute — $165 💩 PoopUp — $132 📚 WorkbookPDF — $19
🔻 Business is down by 11% ➕ I added a new income source with @DataFast_
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I started investing today:
- $5,000/week - in $VOO ETF - every Monday at market open
It's a recurring investment, so I don't pay attention to the current price or predictions.
I trust tech and have a 20+ year window.
So I dollar cost average (DCA) and hope there won't be a WW3.
I need to rest so I'm taking 4 days off in Australia 🦘
AFK https://t.co/fcBn2cjkMC
Today is my 3rd anniversary of building startups in public 🎂🎉
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
You can purchase data in 150+ countries with @RevolutApp.
It's expensive but it is so efficient when traveling. https://t.co/YRAD1iWITx
2019: I borrowed $7,000 from my parents to pay my rent.
2024: I invest my startups' profits in the stock market.
Keep shipping. https://t.co/MmTV68qpOp
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I hired someone after the recent episode.
- Short term: Audit and improve the security of all the codebase of my 9 businesses - Long term: Help me grow @DataFast_ to $1M.
No calls, we work full async using Trello. https://t.co/xfZdvLAIhQ
@DataFast_ Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Just found out you need a visa for Australia… and missed my flight 🤦♂️
Shipping startups from the airport today 😂 https://t.co/FzpD6WHNaG
THAT WAS FAST ⚡️ https://t.co/6nFIPjwWa7
It’s happening https://t.co/6mf7AhTGYd
I'll never stop sharing my thoughts on the internet. You guys are awesome ❤️ https://t.co/cMHPjk8Bmn
I need to clarify a few things:
1. IndiePage has NEVER leaked a restricted API key.
2. IndiePage and ShipFast leaderboard revenues are accurate.
The reason @nico_jeannen (and a few handy indie makers) had more revenue is because he had multi-currency enabled and I didn't cover this use case. It's fixed now.
3. IndiePage returns your revenue if you connect with Stripe and make it public.
The "payout" variable returns the total amount of revenue you earned for <month>. Nothing more.
It used to return the ID of the Stripe account and my own Stripe Price ID. None are confidential, both are intended to be used client-side. I removed them.
I understand that, during recent events, some reports have been amplified, or are just not accurate.
I appreciate everyone’s feedback and hope this clears things up.
The legit list of essential bug reports is here:
so this is what happens when you don't quit https://t.co/z5McqExZdk
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Recap about the ShipFast invites spree:
When I built the site 14 months ago, I thought it would make $300.
So I designed the paywall like this:
1. Pay first 2. Get a unique link (?userId=unique_id) to request access to GitHub repo
No login was required. I thought "If someone buys the codebase and shares it with a friend, I can't do much anyway".
But I built my own Trojan Horse when I added the leaderboards.
It's a public page where you can see what the makers of ShipFast build.
1. Inspect the page and retrieve a user ID 2. Make a call to the /username API endpoint to request access to the GitHub repo for <github_username>
Back then, each user could send invites to the repo 3 times (in case you make a typo or change your GH account)
150 profiles on the leaderboard + 0 to 2 invites left per account = up to 300 invites.
People who did that are smart because they sent the invites to big Twitter accounts so they would RT and spread the word.
Now my tweets have a bigger reach, I can't make tradeoffs like I used to.
So each startup has a paywall + login required.
So, a quick recap of security fixes so far:
- Secured Mailgun webhook - Hard paywall for LaunchViral - No more GitHub invitation spree for ShipFast - Added security recommendation for ShipFast docs - Bunch of other minor fixes
Next:
- Audit ShipFast codebase by a security expert
🫡
Entrepreneurship is a real emotional rollercoaster.
Maybe this is a boring tweet, but I wanted to share how I felt going from 0 to “Mum, I made it” to the fear of losing everything.
CONTEXT: - 2017 > 2021: Building startups making $0 - 2021 > 2023: Building startups making $1k/month - 2023 > 2024: building startups making $1M/year and 250k followers
1. The first phase (2017 > 2021) was tough.
I was impatient, entitled, and arrogant. I thought I was the next Mark Zuckerberg and expected the world to give me back way more than I had to offer.
I burned out multiple times.
And it wasn't pretty. I'd ditch my life (friends, startups) and start over somewhere else. I had a depression once.
These times taught me patience and humility.
2. The second phase (2021 > 2023) was calm.
After 4 years of nothingness, I lost hope I'd ever "make it".
And that was a good thing. With 0 expectations, I couldn’t be disappointed.
So when I discovered the community of developers building in public on Twitter (thanks @levelsio), I built apps for fun.
I'd look at my work as art—a collection of tiny startups. I didn't care about the revenue, I cared about how many art pieces I'd add to my portfolio.
This taught me to enjoy the process more than the outcome.
3. The third phase (2023 > 2024) was insane.
In September 2023, one of my small bets (ShipFast) took off. So did my following.
A year later, I made $1M and grew an audience of 250,000 people.
It feels freaking amazing, especially after 6 years of nothingness.
I also experienced new challenges:
- I feel like an imposter when people ask me if they should quit their jobs - I feel stressed and insecure when people try to hack my apps - I feel I could lose everything if my "motivation" runs away
It's new for me. A part of my brain is still in stray-dog mode.
The recent episode taught me about security and responsibility.
Chapter 3 is closed now, and a new one just opened.
I'm doing a few more security checks and taking a week off to come back stronger.
Thanks again for all your support messages. I'm beyond grateful.
I simplified a bit the 2017 > 2021 phase for the story:
2017 > 2018: the void 2018 > 2020: made a SaaS ($4K/month at best) 2020 > 2021: lost all because of COVID
Sorry friends, my DMs are rekt at the moment.
I'll be back as soon as I've inspected all my code.
Thanks again for all the support 🫶
Twitter, let's talk? https://t.co/Bqu51tU8Rw
"Ethical hacking for the good of the community"
BS.
- My server logs are on fire - Hundreds of bots crawl my API endpoints all-day - They abuse my support, pretending to be customers
So
- I fixed the ShipFast paywall (you can't get it for free, sorry) - I hired someone to help me full-time and ensure no REAL vulnerability issue.
Indie Hacking became a witch hunt—everyone’s pointing out bugs to burn each other.
Back to shipping.
We launched our SaaS at the same time:
- I've got 15x more followers than him - He's got 300% more MRR than me
Jack will reach $10K MRR before me because it's a pain to upload videos to TikTok + YouTube + Instagram + Twitter.
It's not followers, luck, or money.
It's building a good product and solving a real problem.
I was a virgin, an hour ago.
I've never blocked anyone after 3 years on Twitter.
But my feed in the past 30 days is made of developers who think the world can be fixed with more tests.
Dozens of people try to screw my sites every day. And they claim a CRITICAL VULNERABILITY ISSUE because they could bypass a paywall or add a special character to their username 👏
So fuck it.
I blocked people who yap instead of shipping.
I want to see posts of indie makers who build and print money.
KEEP SHIPPING 🔥🚀
Is this product market fit? https://t.co/imHBsOTlzp
What's wrong Europe?
I launch a new startup that uses cookies and there's an army of cookieless soy boys who think I'm a criminal.
If you want to use my SaaS and be GDPR compliant, show a cookie banner. Period.
Give them more power and every knife will have a disclaimer "WARNING — PEEL POTATOES, NOT PEOPLE"
My inbox after this tweet:
- CRITICAL BUG FOUND IN YOUR SITE 😱 - Security Vulnerability Report – IndiePage at risk - [Vulnerability Disclosure]... - - -
Cooking something for @datafast_ 🧑🏻🍳 https://t.co/PGwArWY5bV
I turned 31 today.
5 lessons I wish I knew at 21: https://t.co/X3ZpH88cNo
1/ Do it today, because you'll die tomorrow.
I failed 27 businesses.
I lived with cockroaches, ran out of money, and returned to my parents' house.
But I regret nothing. If I had to do it again, I would.
Each failure is a lesson.
2/ Your habits today define who you'll be tomorrow.
I'm happy to get old.
Because I'll be a better person tomorrow.
I've built a system I repeat every day:
- read - sleep - workout - ship startups
And dozens of other daily habits that make me look forward to the future version of myself.
3/ Protect yourself from the world of abundance.
Humans evolved in the jungle where food, sex, and dopamine were scarce.
Now I can push a button and get all 3 instantly.
Life is a constant battle against your monkey mind and technological progress.
Create rules so your human mind is always in charge.
4/ Embrace AI, or be left behind.
Knowledge is a commodity. Degrees are obsolete.
One year ago, I was coding using JavaScript. Now I use English.
ChatGPT is my co-founder, psychiatrist, creative brain, scribe, and programmer. And it's just the beginning.
Get good at prompting.
Get good at taking action.
5/ Don't follow the pack.
I used to behave like my friends, just to feel accepted.
It’s hard to be confident in who you really are.
But following others gets you nowhere.
I made $1M by telling MY story.
Be weird. Be shy. Be you.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Reading your messages is touching.
I never thought the internet could be such a warm place (let's forget the GDPR mafia for a moment)
Thanks for all your wishes ❤️
Stop looking for startup ideas.
1. Find a market you care about 2. Copy a product people already pay for 3. Add your signature to make it yours
That's how I made my first $1 online.
I built a gamified (3) marketing tool (2) for escape rooms (1).
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I just set up a Twitter for DataFast > @DataFast_
+ Features updates + Revenue milestones
(tweets are 100% cookie-free, no consent required) https://t.co/TylqYoJmzA
Too many use this objection to avoid one-time payments.
But it's an illusion.
Unless you're Netflix, 90% of users won't use your app after day 1.
Infrastructure costs are negligible.
My startup, @IndiePageApp ($6,000/month), costs < $50/month to run (database, bandwidth, etc.).
My great great great children would still profit with the one-time payment.
Of course, if you have high recurring costs (AI, storage) a subscription/credit pricing makes sense.
More details: https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1846481970274168929
@IndiePageApp Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Health is the new rich
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Ditch your subscription. I killed 3 startups because of recurring payments:
1. IndiePage: ✅ It makes $4,000/month on autopilot ($45 for lifetime access). ❌ It made $0/month when I priced it at $15/year. 2. MakeLanding: ✅ It made $100/day when I launched ($19 per landing page generated). ❌ It made $0 with a $5/month subscription. 3. HabitsGarden: ✅ 100% of users chose the $47 lifetime deal. ❌ Nobody buys the $5/month plan.
Business owners love subscriptions. Customers hate them. Here’s the invisible cost of charging recurring payments: - Conversion rate drop: People are reluctant to commit to another subscription, which triggers objections and hesitation. - Fighting churn: People lose interest soon after signing up. Instead of a steady income, you’re constantly replacing customers who cancel.
Selling a $10/month monthly subscription is as hard as selling a $100 one-time payment. Let’s assume you built an excellent SaaS (10% churn = 10% of your customers cancel at the end of the month).
Imagine you get 100 customers today: - You’ll earn $7,176 with subscriptions, after 365 days. - You earn $10,000 with one-time payments, right now. Subscription doesn’t mean recurring revenue. If you’re working solo, in 99% of cases you’re better off financially with one-time payments.
One-time payments alternative Sometimes, your business has recurring costs, and you can’t afford one-time payments. I’m not talking about bandwidth (that’s negligible) but things like AI credits or database costs. Then try credits-based pricing: - Let your customers pay upfront for what they’ll use. Generate 10 AI photos for $5. - Then, add a Good-Better-Best package. 100 AI photos for $20 ($.2/photo looks cheap now). This removes the subscription friction (which boosts your conversion rate) and helps you avoid constantly fighting churn.
When subscriptions make sense 👔 B2B: If you’re selling to businesses, subscriptions make sense because the end goal of any business is to make money. 🤕 Complex credits: When tracking credits is too complex or it’s hard to quantify what your customers use. Subscriptions serve a specific purpose. Recurring payment = Recurring value according to my friend @DanKulkov.
Just because competitors charge recurring payments doesn’t mean you should. Remember, people are tired of subscriptions, and purchase behavior is changing. Not charging a subscription can be a competitive edge. Oh, and entrepreneurs flex on each other with MRR charts. It’s a status game, don’t fall for it. In the end, the customer is king.
POV crafting my startup <h1> https://t.co/Y3Kc1oBcl6
I suspect @DanKulkov's work at V4
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
6 months later:
📈 416 visitors 🤝 45 customers 🤑 $8,955 in revenue
So I made +$3,955 so far.
I track the traffic from .com > .st using a redirect ( ?ref=dotcom ).
I haven't shared the link anywhere but once on Twitter.
It's interesting how committed the .com visitors are—10% conversion rate compared to the usual ~1%.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I offended Lord Zuckerberg by not using TypeScript https://t.co/sjlCOrusrD
I just shipped a new feature on DataFast ✨
🎯 Custom goal — signups, initiate_checkout, etc... Track any event and visualize your conversions.
The goal is to collect crucial information so I can later generate actionable reports on how to grow your startup. https://t.co/UkNER7PvUQ
Actionable analytics tool for founders: http://DataFa.st
You don't need:
- Another course - Another video - Another tweet
You need:
- To work on that project
Close this app, and ship something.
He hacked my site... So I paid him $300.
@JonasScholz19 emailed me yesterday about potential security issues on DataFast.
- He didn't ask anything - He didn't post it publicly - It was legit
So I sent him $300.
We are a small community of ambitious people trying to never work for a boss again while working on projects we love.
We aren't perfect, we ship bugs sometimes.
Help each other out:
- Praise in public - Roast in private
(and keep shipping)
Thank you, Jonas.
Trying to find the perfect work/life balance https://t.co/iGXY675dxQ
Please stop trying to DDoS my startups
My parents want to see Bali, not server logs 🥲 https://t.co/hG4cvYglfu
Road to $1M SaaS:
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️🟩
1% completed https://t.co/raCOa451DM
The startup: http://datafa.st
Here you go mate: https://datafa.st/gdpr
On a serious note:
DataFast was never meant to be a Google Analytics alternative.
DataFast is a marketing tool to grow your startup.
It tracks everything from visitor to customer and gives you insights on how to get more business.
Revenue attribution is impossible without cookies.
Growing a startup is impossible without revenue attribution.
At first, I built DataFast without cookies:
- Data was 25% inaccurate for digital products - And much worse for products where purchase doesn't happen on the first visit.
To track users in line with the GDPR (no cookies, anonymized data, etc.) you have to do advanced puzzles like IP/user agent hashing and ID rotation every 24 hours.
Compliance costs accuracy.
I chose the latter by using cookies. It's stated in the FAQ & the TOS https://datafa.st/.
If you want to use DataFast and be GDPR compliant: show a cookie banner.
But keep in mind that cookies are the tip of the iceberg when you run a business.
Being GDPR, CCPA, and PECR compliant is far more complicated than that.
Excellent read by @andrewchen.
He explains why users leave your app/site, and how to get them to stay, with a simple framework (psych score).
I'm applying all the knowledge to @HabitsGarden and hope to add a 0 to the MRR.
https://andrewchen.com/psychd-funnel-conversion/ https://t.co/wdASe0Seuh
And big thanks to @vriusgil for telling me about this 🙏
This backlink thing is crazy
the site is 9-day old https://t.co/8t7sMESDJM
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Cursor is my new AI designer 🧑🎨
"Redesign this time picker component in the same way it's designed for the iOS Clock app"
And yep, the new onboarding for @HabitsGarden is now live!
- Remove half of the steps (less friction, earlier aha moment) - Simpler design (less thinking required)
Goal: Add another 0 to the current MRR
Next: Free trial with credit card
@HabitsGarden Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I just shipped a new feature to http://DataFa.st:
👋 External link tracking — it automatically tracks outbound links to help you understand why visitors leave your website.
Here are the top 10 links people click on when they exit ShipFast. I'm surprised by how much traffic the leaderboard still generates, even months after its launch.
I own 8 shops.
- They are open 24/7 - They are available in 195 countries - They sell products with an 85% margin - They run by themselves, with no need for any employee - Their rent price combined is cheaper than a maid's room in Paris
Building tiny startups for the internet is freaking awesome.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I opened an affiliate program for my new startup DataFast.
25 people joined already. You get 50% MRR for 12 months 🤑
Join here: https://datafa.st/affiliates https://t.co/V2IrDWiMYU
solopreneur.js https://t.co/utvUayP9ac
Entrepreneurship is a long-term game played 90% in your head.
Good sleep is how you win or lose the game.
You don't need to work 16 hours a day ❌
You need to be patient. You need to trust the process. You need to make better decisions.
8 hours of sleep unlocks these.
My little startup @IndiePageApp ($4K/month) decided to do a rave party yesterday https://t.co/6X6GRVdcZM
If you ever want to quit https://t.co/kCp5XNGJvF
These are @ThisIsSethsBlog words if I'm not mistaken
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
In 72 hours, my domain rating went from 0 → 23 and ranked #1 for its branded keyword.
I remember @dannypostmaa said
"Every developer should have a side project with a high domain rating to rank any new project on Google"
So when I launch a new startup, I add a backlink to my 25+ sites.
ShipFast has a 67 rating. @IndiePageApp has 58 (you can use it too btw).
3 days later, I'm #1 on Google.
Built your own launchpad!
A free pSEO project is a great way to get started.
Here's what I know: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-grow-a-micro-startup-with-programmatic-seo
@dannypostmaa Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
On the road to $20,000 MRR 🐜 https://t.co/dX7uqqzkDV
2021 < 2022 < 2023 < 2024
shipping startups, the indie way https://t.co/Xrw33HqTUK
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Can't build startups in public without being DDoS 24hrs later 🥹 https://t.co/b6ipW84eS1
Control center for the human body:
🥵 Hot = relax, chill, lazy 🥶 Cold = alert, active, energized
Want to focus? 🧑💻 > Take a cold shower
Want to sleep? 😴 > Take a hot shower
What else?
7 years of entrepreneurship.
1 startup found product-market-fit.
That's a 3% hit rate.
Keep shipping 🫡 https://t.co/cBpWvb6U1I
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
24-hour launch recap for DataFast:
📈 6,685 visitors ❤️ 192 users 💳 21 trials with cc
If you visited the site but did not sign up — Why?
I'm trying to understand objections to make a better product.
Be blunt please 🙏 https://t.co/tx6cM73h5r
I launched this little overthought startup https://datafa.st/
I can't reply to all but this is 10000% valuable, thank you for the bluntness ❤️
Well, this is a much bigger beta launch than I expected 🤩
Time to ship 🫡 https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1840694924452520247 https://t.co/df56qHd5O4
There's no better feeling than dogfooding my startups.
I'm launching DataFast today so:
1. Get chargeback protection from ByeDispute 2. Ditch 0.4% Stripe with Zenvoice 3. Get a backlink from IndiePage
Now I can track data for all my startups through DataFast. It's addictive 🤤 https://t.co/SpMhgRVYb1
Chargeback protection with ByeDispute: https://byedispute.com/
No 0.4% stripe fee with Zenvoice: https://zenvoice.io/
Rank my new startups with IndiePage: https://indiepa.ge/
Track data that matter with DataFast: https://datafa.st/
I made $63,247 in September 2024:
⚡️ ShipFast — 55.3k 🍜 Indie Page — $4k 💨 Zenvoice — $1.4k 🚀 LaunchViral — $645 🛡️ByeDispute — $516 🌱 HabitsGarden — $412 🎞️ YouTube — $375 💩 PoopUp — $310 🐥 Twitter — $203 📚 WorkbookPDF — $86
🔴 Business is down by 7%
🔹 New income source: I got my gamified habit tracker @habitsgarden back.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I'M OVERTHINKING I'M OVERTHINKING I'M OV...
I'M LAUNCHING AN EARLY VERSION OF MY NEW SAAS:
📈 http://DataFa.st — Grow your startup with data (not guesses).
It's an analytics tool for founders to:
• Analyze your traffic • Find your best marketing channels • Decide which product to focus on
Early version = Cheaper pricing. You'll be grandfathered forever if you subscribe before the official launch day.
overthinking POV https://t.co/AFcrymKo7J
This is a perfect example of free tool marketing 👏
With a bit of pSEO 👏
Every great entrepreneur says that Hard Work is key to success...
But nobody talks about Pivoting.
- In 2017, my friend @dumay_sacha asked me to join his AI startup in Korea. The next day I quit my life in France and flew to Seoul
- In 2018, my friend @andrey_seas told me to sell my SaaS before coding it. The next day I became a marketer and sent cold emails.
- In 2022, my friend @DanKulkov told me to focus on painkillers and not vitamins. The next day, I ditched my startup and moved on to the next one.
Focusing (hard work) feels good. Pivoting (massive U-turn) feels extremely uncomfortable.
When nothing takes off for too long — a big change has 100x more impact than tiny increments.
That's how I made $1M.
Also, great example of how friendships play a crucial role in entrepreneurship (and life)
@dumay_sacha @andrey_seas Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I'm trying a new format for YouTube.
More behind the scenes of shipping tiny startups.
@nikolaspetrouu is teaching me how to set up the camera 🎥 https://t.co/E6EsR6Y5ZC
I've created a new series for my YouTube: Solopreneur Diary.
A monthly recap of everything I do/learn.
I'll keep tweaking the format until one clicks with the algo.
Here's the playlist so far https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTmOFnEwhv3U7gCkwMk8vNnDfC9tbfCGB https://t.co/Eg3JTODHZZ
Why TypeScript when you can do this? https://t.co/qUphNRnHIO
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Top 3 decisions that most impact your startup revenue:
- Your pricing - Your headline - 8 hours of sleep
If you live in bali, let’s ship together.
I’ll join the next Hackawatu by James.
Register here:
That's why so few entrepreneurs succeed.
You need:
- To show up - To show up every day - To show up every day even if you fail - To show up every day even if you fail and nobody supports you - To show up every day even if you fail and nobody supports you for years
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
10 days ago @jackfriks told me he'd love to try UGC to promote my gamified habits tracker.
He published 1 video/day on Instagram and this happened:
Half a million views and hundreds of sign-ups.
$0 spent. Faceless. Just a screenshot of the product. https://t.co/lgqVQKDtyo
The IG account: https://www.instagram.com/habitsgarden.app/
@jackfriks Update: 2M views https://t.co/ico5QY3LKq
My newsletter just crossed 30,000 readers 🤩
I started writing 1 year ago about what I learned as an entrepreneur because I received similar "How to XYZ" DMs.
169,000 people have visited the blog. Hope it's been a bit helpful 🫡 https://t.co/kY9IPezJgq
The newsletter/blog: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/
It's 80% of what I know about entrepreneurship and 100% free.
There's never been a better time in humanity to learn to code.
AI is the best teacher:
- Gives you a roadmap - Explains everything - Tailored to your need
You only need the fundamentals of programming to stir the AI.
Then you can buy a domain name, build a little website with a buy button, and call it a startup.
You'll be amazed at how impressed non-coders will be by your coding skills.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
There's a new AI feature in the Google Chrome console to help debug.
I don't know if it's in beta or permanent but it's awesome. https://t.co/uHD5tDLYBH
People called me crazy when I bought exotic TLDs.
I'm proud to say that my .st and .ge are the highest-rated domain names I own 😁 https://t.co/GmcQj2fQuy
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Me doing SEO:
My affiliates doing SEO: https://t.co/gco7wAZLcX
Big thanks to @getRewardful for the easy setup for the ShipFast affiliate program: https://shipfa.st/affiliates
So I met the final boss of the game @levelsio 🤩
His tweets resonated with me when I was at my lowest. He's why I jumped into the solopreneurship journey and built tiny startups.
We had dinner, and he's incredibly kind, humble, and fun.
And boy he speaks Portuguese too.
Now with half a million followers and half a million dollars a month, he keeps inspiring an entire generation of awesome people chasing freedom with a keyboard.
Back to shipping 🫡
POV not building a startup https://t.co/TTrSdQn4iE
I met my hero @bryan_johnson in Singapore.
He's just as you'd expect from watching his videos. Warm and sharp.
The world is full of over-stimulants (food, social media) and our brains are naturally prone to consume.
Bryan has 2M+ followers and it's the first time I see a big influencer telling me you basically do "less".
I've followed what he preaches for the past 2 years and this happened:
✅ I work out daily ✅ I prioritize my sleep ✅ I don't binge on social media anymore ✅ I eat healthy food (90% of the time, working on the last 10%)
Overall, I'm the happiest I've ever been.
I am also the most productive (counter-intuitive because I work less) and have shipped 20+ startups.
I’m here 🤘 https://t.co/eynPizwyrB
+ workout + short goal
productivity goes brrr https://t.co/GCwZ0WQzYb
I just found this cool tool by @ImSh4yy
⬅️ Input: Type your email as you read it ➡️ Output: The HTML code with CSS
100% free https://issuemailer.com/ https://t.co/Lo8GAaJI8q
pSEO and patience did that https://t.co/ZfCBcqAzZj
the site: https://workbookpdf.com/
and how you can do the same: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-grow-a-micro-startup-with-programmatic-seo
and thanks to @illyism for adding some magic 🪄
I'm shipping from Singapore 🇸🇬 until Monday
To make sure I don't forget important stuff, I refer to my MSR (Minimum Stuff Required) photo when I pack. https://t.co/D1EoPCcRf0
i should probably ship that startup
I believe selling a $10/month subscription is just as difficult as selling a $100 lifetime deal.
So I'm testing a new pricing for @HabitsGarden. https://t.co/TmNf9n52ng
@HabitsGarden Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
why i employed myself https://t.co/XkQO0RrKSh
A new component just dropped in ShipFast 🍫
<Tabs /> — An elegant way to organize your content.
Available now! https://t.co/aBtJwCwbDi
Designed straight in VSCode, as always
I do a terrible job marketing Zenvoice but I think it's the most pain-relieving startup I've built.
It only makes $1K/month because it's very niche:
- One-time payments - Have to make money with Stripe - Enough volume to care about 0.4%. fee - Small enough not to have your entire invoice backend
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
You can ship an iOS + Android app without writing a single line of native code.
I used @capacitorjs to push @HabitsGarden to the app stores in 14 days.
I have no clue how Swift, Java, or even React Native works.
My app is a NextJS project. Capacitor wraps it in a native container for iOS/Android. It just works.
I forgot to mention that I would never have been able to ship fast without the help of my good friend @martindonadieu.
We met on Twitter in 2022 and he came to my house to help me set up everything.
@capacitorjs @HabitsGarden Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Can I join the cool kids' club now? https://t.co/4ObfP7jzsP
POV building a boring startup https://t.co/eS3LTSDTZG
I just added a new quest and a new flower to HabitsGarden 🪻
It's a hardcode mission for serious habits addicts only (10,000 habits completion) 😁 https://t.co/BVKaECLKd9
My brain after 8 hours of sleep + workout:
- Startup idea A - Startup idea B - Startup idea C - Star...
This tweet is written after 8 hours of sleep and a workout.
Hustle culture isn't cool anymore.
We can work 2x less.
And be 2x more productive and healthy. https://t.co/xpDtKGpQK7
Sept 2023: $500 MRR Sept 2024: $200 MRR
Let's see if I can get this back up while juggling with 6 other startups.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I talked to my therapist today https://t.co/HkEyfLwt3b
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I JUST GOT MY FIRST STARTUP BACK 🤩🤩🤩
I sold http://HabitsGarden.com a year ago for $10,000 ($500 MRR) because I ran out of money.
It made sense financially but I felt like I lost a part of me (I worked for 6 months on that gamified habit tracker)
Last week, I reached out to the buyers @ripper234 & @rapoportanat and they said they didn't have enough bandwidth to focus on the product so... they could give it back to me... for free (THANK YOU ❤️)
I just got the iOS/Android/web app back, ready to ship 🧑💻
And a huge thanks to my friend @martindonadieu who helped me turn the web app into an iOS/Android app and got approved on the app stores in 14 days.
I built GamifyList in November 2022.
I knew nothing about SEO. I just wanted to fulfill my developer's craving for coding while promoting my gamified habits tracker.
Google keeps ranking my pages. The site gets ~100 visitors/day.
How would you monetize it? https://t.co/luh6Qz6Aal
My SEO teacher:
The site: https://gamifylist.com/
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I was on the startup idea podcast by @gregisenberg
We jammed about simple businesses to start, and of course, gamified apps (my favorite).
I'm currently shipping a big bet, but I'll ship like a madman again in 2025 — so fired up!
Episode link below https://t.co/atMezvaUP7
I just finished this book by @RyanHoliday
Reading 1 bite-sized chapter every morning before work is a great way to start the day with the right mindset. https://t.co/WVAWLuVDsr
I just revived my first indie project (cringe alert).
It's a SaaS I spent 2 years building. It reached $4K MRR before getting rekt by COVID.
The MVP was a cold email. That's how I made my first $1 online.
The website http://virallybot.com is the last version I worked on before quitting in 2020. The design and copy aren't bad, but it's already two years old.
The first version was a disaster.
It's a good reminder that it doesn't matter where you start, as long as you keep going.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I listen to @Spotify on my Macbook and it eats 50% of my new iPhone 15 battery in less than one day. It's also the most consuming app on my laptop.
They're secretly running a P2P GPU-as-a-Service company for all our AI wrappers out there.
I just want lofi beats 🥲 https://t.co/8t8QHLkrHu
Nice hack for Cursor + Sonnet:
You can set rules to customize how the AI should write code (explicit naming, React server component > client component, use specific UI library, etc..)
Thanks for the tip @iwahabshaikh https://t.co/lifag0We51
@iwahabshaikh Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Random business observation:
📈 Sales are up from Monday/Friday 📉 Sales drop on Sat/Sun
The product is ShipFast (codebase for developers).
I think customers want to escape 9/5 and work on their own projects. The pain of having a boss is stronger on weekdays, so people are more prone to buying.
It's not randomness btw. This pattern repeats every month for 12 months
"How do you get startup ideas?"
I ship.
- PoopUp was born after ZenVoice. - ZenVoice was born after ShipFast. - ShipFast was born after MakeLanding.
Start anywhere, ideas will come.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Long live ByeDispute 🛡️ https://t.co/kmDAyueUqz
Can't not plug this: https://byedispute.com/
My favorite little painkiller startup i built for myself
Any YouTube expert?
My last video has - Higher CTR - Higher AVD - Above typical 0:30 mark
Monetisation was ON at publishing time. Then YouTube realized it wasn't possible so they unmonetized it (exclamation mark).
Right after, big drop in views (never seen that in any other videos).
slowly catching up https://t.co/6fNMjlJc27
wake up baby, shipfast drama-of-the-month just dropped https://x.com/robin_faraj/status/1831790540234305727
6 months later, YouTube keeps showing my videos to more people.
👀 8,000 organic views a day (from best videos) ❤️ 150 new subscribers a day 📈 15,000 new visitors to my sites every month 🤑 $??? extra revenue per month https://t.co/qfmlMbr82Q
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Sponsorships are broken.
- As a creator, I don't want to be told what to say. - As a follower, I don't trust sponsored words (unless there's skin in the game).
Greedy creators will take any sponsor for more $$$ (check @bryan_johnson's video calling out the AG1 influencers program).
Great creators like Theo will take the blame if followers dislike the brand or if the brand fucks up.
I believe self-sponsored creators are the future — creators selling their own products and taking full ownership.
- As a follower, I spent $2,000 on Bryan Johnson's blueprint diet to put the same thing in my body as he does. - As a creator, I promote my products only. If you don't like them, call me out. If you really don't like them, you can punch me in the face at my local beach break in Bali (careful, my wife does jiujitsu though).
Theo has a massive audience of developers. Tons of little startup ideas to explore and make enough money to sponsor his team of 4.
PS i love Theo and use Vercel for all my apps
this is no politics, just my thoughts on the creator economy
PS i love Theo and use Vercel for all my apps
this is no politics, just my thoughts on the creator economy
Some people believe I should focus solely on ShipFast, but that's a mistake.
Its value comes from the learnings I acquired shipping 25 apps.
If I focus 100% on ShipFast, it will become yet another over-engineered boilerplate, which defeats its purpose: shipping fast.
My customers who ship the most @mattmerrick16 @juanjovn have never requested a new feature.
A new component won't help you launch your startup.
Sitting at your desk will.
POV building a mini startup 2 years ago.
I repeated 24x and it changed my life.
Tiny actions compound.
Keep shipping. https://t.co/4dmMkFc6P0
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
"BuT itS nOt RecCrinG"
My one-time payment startup has consistently made $50K/month since its launch 12 months ago. And 90% of my attention goes to building new startups.
Subscriptions don't mean recurring payments.
A good product and the right marketing channel does.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Memento if I wake up with amnesia https://t.co/QRDBCMfjSR
ShipFast ranks #1 on Google for "fast ships"
I'm thinking about starting a new career. https://t.co/hQgdlcQiC0
I married my wife twice.
In 2023 in South Korea. Traditional and cultural wedding.
Today, 4 years ago, in France. Different vibes.
Happy 4th first anniversary, Wifey 🎂 https://t.co/P94EucNLlT
ShipFast affiliates are banking more and more each month 🤑
Top earners promote on channels where I don't:
Reddit, blogs, YouTube (my channel is very small for the market) https://t.co/dbZmR8QCZV
If you want to join: https://shipfa.st/affiliates
I'm using Rewardful for the program, it's great: https://www.rewardful.com/
I changed my email stack from @Mail_Gun to @resend
Mailgun is simple and has great deliverability but marketing emails suck.
I build startups in public so I need to broadcast updates to users.
Resend is super handy. In my Stripe checkout.session.completed event, I add the new customer to a Resend Audience.
Then I use the Resend no-code form to broadcast updates.
All emails ended up in the primary folder for now.
No affiliate, just a new fan.
@Mail_Gun @resend Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
That's the last piece of the puzzle.
I now sleep 8.5 hours without waking up.
(also, no food/water 5 hours before bed)
https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1738903601618292926 https://t.co/TUctLCaU67
Habit tracker for developers ✅🧑💻
Thank you @_MaxBlade. Keep showing us how everything can be built in public. https://t.co/iEITyaZK2R
I used to have chronic wrist pain.
Push-ups, a heavy bag, a little nothing could hurt my wrists for weeks.
Then, I started taking 20g of collagen peptides daily for 6 months.
I never had pain again.
I can pretend to fall and catch myself with a push-up, wrist OK. Insane. https://t.co/QDmx9OMCVP
- I'm not an affiliate - I'm not a doctor
Happy birthday, ShipFast 🎂🎉
(tiny startup that changed my life forever) https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1697165875957449084 https://t.co/SeHPHEeT4P
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I made $68,140 in August 2024:
⚡️ ShipFast — 60.2k 🍜 Indie Page — $5.1k 💨 Zenvoice — $1.1k 🎞️ YouTube — $476 🚀 LaunchViral — $405 💩 PoopUp — $310 🛡️ByeDispute — $228 🐥 Twitter — $206 📚 WorkbookPDF — $115
🟢 Business is up by 2% (July) and highest month for IndiePage
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
WTF my little startup saved me 4 disputes overnight 🤯
I got 4 stolen card events in my sleep. 0 emails from Stripe.
Luckily I've set a rule in ByeDispute:
If [card_stolen] then [refund]
I woke up and checked the suspicious payments that had been refunded. They are all made under a weird email, the customer name and cc name don't match. Indeed fraudulent.
Also, 4 fraudulent payments in a 4 hours window? Looks like someone was trying to rekt me.
Oh boy I'm proud of my little SaaS.
The product: https://byedispute.com/
proof you can build a serious product with a stupid launch video
My sister is a doctor and just finished her thesis.
It's very important for her, so I wanted to read it.
But it's 60,000 words and I understand 10%...
So I ask ChatGPT to make a version for me:
- Simplified - Shorter (3K words) - Using her tone of voice
It returned a printable version so I could read my sister's work.
Vitamin VS. Painkiller
@IndiePageApp is a vitamin startup. The revenue per visitor is ~$0.08.
But, if I tweet about the SEO backlink feature, it becomes a painkiller and shoots the revenue per visitor to $0.45.
Same product, 6x conversion rate.
To grow your revenue:
1. Find the feature that sells the most 2. Write your marketing copy around that 3. 🤑
Each of these tweets brought $1,000 in revenue in 24 hours
https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1828775806623273066 [x.com/marc_louvion/s…](https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1780253573928169780)
@IndiePageApp Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
POV building startups without a paywall: https://t.co/pZrWAunZCQ
Too many startup founders get this wrong...
Start from the bottom.
Each tier is significantly harder than the previous one, like a video game.
Starting from the top is like fighting the final boss when you have 0 equipment and skills.
Learn the foundation of shipping, marketing, pivoting. Try making $100 with a simple product. Complete level 1 and move on to the next.
Don't let the SaaS-only mafia make you feel inferior. These people are:
- Making $0 and need to feel comfortable, or - Made it 5 years ago and feel too comfortable
There is no wrong form of entrepreneurship.
Each level is awesome and teaches you the lesson to complete the next tier.
I'm not saying every first-time founder should do dropshipping or sell their feet.
If you have a SaaS in mind, ship it.
Just don't let opinion leaders dictate your choice because "MRR is cool, selling shovels isn't".
Apart from ChatGPT, no SaaS changed my life.
Books did.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
My feed is full of startup founders building in public through videos.
Mission completed ✅ https://t.co/aQPFgRG9JW
4 months later: https://t.co/gCcpFdlScS
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Just got this new board.
My surf stack is now more expensive than the tech stack for my 24 websites (600K pageviews/month)
https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1826963866636755384 https://t.co/50iMyc4r0C
You can verify your @lmsqueezy revenue on IndiePage 🎉
📈 Automated MRR charts 🏆 Compete for the leaderboard 📢 Get featured on @IndiePageApp Revenue Bot
Join 10,000+ entrepreneurs and showcase your startups: http://IndiePa.ge https://t.co/ttvuPq5kaS
Now I don't need to get a job anymore, my LinkedIn is finally honest: https://t.co/bCA3Hwa30Y
I can use my Sony ZV-E1 camera as a webcam 🤯
USB-C cable, that's it.
Now I can pretend to work from a VC-funded startup office https://t.co/GQrQ4aHEXn
How I spend my startup money:
🥩 Good food, organic, grass-fed, etc ✈️ Business flights 🏝️ Better hotels 🤝 Delegate tasks
I buy mostly experience and business painkillers.
I don't like to own stuff so I don't purchase anything (apart from broken surfboards).
90% of the money is still in the bank, unsure where to invest it.
POV building my 28th startup* https://t.co/d07HTYwvhI
*small bet
"You just got lucky"
The luck: https://t.co/sEcqzkPHbw
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I think it'll happen this year 🥹 https://t.co/eBKcFd2pEg
I know what's missing:
transform: rotate(-5deg);
I'm considering using TypeScript to stop breaking my tech stack https://t.co/pjmh09SzGu
PaywallScreens(dot)com — A free app with 7,000+ paywall UI.
Startups are ranked by monthly revenue. Not sure if it's accurate but pretty cool for design inspiration. https://t.co/9szwbnXhTl
The state of indie hacking in 2024:
- @dannypostmaa makes $106,000 in 24 hours - @tibo_maker sold his SaaS for $10M - and this
How did my little website reach 50 DR in 6 months?
I was built in a few days during a YouTube livestream I didn't do any SEO 🤷 https://t.co/z2EPkRJzcO
Best $20/month invested https://t.co/IOAhXZKoCx
Why I employed myself https://t.co/hYXoJMAior
1 month later review:
@ouraring is just good at sleep tracking.
@WHOOP is the real deal if you're into fitness and gamification.
Unfortunately, I lost my Whoop surfing so I'm data-less from now on.
75% of startup founders don't care about GDPR.
And reading the comments, it looks like being 100% compliant is an illusion.
https://x.com/emmetgibney/status/1825157409616150771 https://t.co/jVffXbfn5X
You can test your GDPR compliance here: https://insites.com/free-website-gdpr-check/
The code to prepopulate permissions for @stripe Restricted API Keys
If you're building a Stripe wrapper, it's a game-changer for security and much simpler for your users. https://t.co/fZdTc83Xql
The rakUrl link above would open the Stripe dashboard on this page https://t.co/M9S5rKDxkN
I like how the indie hacking trend is shifting towards videos.
Building a SaaS startup could be streamed on Twitch just like games.
Imagine a 24-hour live:
- Ideating - Coding - Marketing
If you make a few $, it's inspiring AF.
I just discovered Twitter has a feature for Bots 🤖
I turned it on and it added that label to the @IndiePageApp sales tweets. https://t.co/bTxYjkFLjj
Is your startup GDPR-compliant? 🇪🇺
MVP for my 1st startup.
In 2016, I created Tinder for sports lovers.
After 1 year of coding, I burned out.
0 users. $0 revenue.
But I didn't give up.
I have learned about coding, marketing, and other skills so I never have to start from 0.
Where you start doesn't matter. https://t.co/P7BjO1Nzpr
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
- 3 days ago: Twitter announced Long Form Tweets API - 1 day ago: @typefully ($1.4M ARR) shipped the feature
It would take weeks of testing/versioning for a large corporation to launch.
As a customer, I love the spirit of a small startup team shipping fast. And we talk about it (free marketing).
I just lost the 1st spot...
Only TypeScript and your upvote can save the game: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/startups-leaderboards https://t.co/q8HHL11jE3
Twitter ❤️ https://t.co/nqhtFbYnTS
I wanted to stream the defeat but couldn't get OBS working.
Any, no choice but to use TypeScript and sell shovels now...
Appreciate your support ❤️ https://t.co/zTaPMaxdyW
I just woke up and was about to lose the 🥇 medal 😅
If you have a minute to support: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/startups-leaderboards
(can't let another AI startup win) https://t.co/LVbF4BywFg
Simple hack to sleep fast:
Dim lights 1 hour before bed. https://t.co/2n87cqUOLt
I've been doing that 25+ times for 3 years and that feeling never gets old 🤩 https://t.co/H6cKB0kJTD
"But I hate marketing"
I launched IndiePage 1.5 years ago:
🙋 9,895 pages created 🥇 Product of the day 🤑 $10M Stripe-verified revenue
The link-in-bio tool has been making anywhere from $1K/month to $3K/month and growing.
But I hate marketing.
So I'm forced to find marketing strategies that don't feel like marketing.
Marketing tools are my developer symbiosis.
I built a startup leaderboard for IndiePage and it grew the monthly revenue baseline (spikes below)
In the same spirit, I built @IndiePageApp (Twitter Revenue Bot):
🤑 It tweets when solopreneurs receive @stripe payments 🏆 It tweets weekly and monthly leaderboards
The Bot grew to 700 followers in a few days and added +56% revenue to IndiePage.
And it's adding thousands of impressions a day to entrepreneurs' startups.
It's too early to tell but I like where it's going.
PS: I'm launching the new Indie Page version on @ProductHunt today, and would love your support ❤️
Such a cool way to showcase your startup benefit in the hero section https://t.co/lBfLn2N05a
The Stripe-verified sales bot is now verified 🌟 https://t.co/82RQZrITFB
Your daily dose of MRR porn with @IndiePageApp
z-[999999] is the console.log of CSS https://t.co/qOLqI4gVPn
I noticed an interesting pattern since my revenue 20x last year.
People give me titles:
"Shovel seller" "Selling the dream" "Marketer"
As if I was in control of what happened with my startup growth.
But the truth is:
I had no idea what I was doing.
I'm just a kid who's addicted to building things. Silly videos, startups, free tools.
LEGOs for adults.
Yes, you might see me posting a business flight photo "selling that dream".
I lived like a cockroach for 7 years and I still can't believe I'll never have to beg for money. It's unreal so I want to share this.
But there's no master plan.
Depression, running ads on porn websites, I've been tweeting whatever happens in my life.
I just happened to be lucky recently so there are more positive/successful tweets.
So if you really need a title:
- I'm not an entrepreneur, I don't have big ideas or a vision - I'm not a marketer, I couldn't sell a pen - I'm not a technician, I'm not skilled - I'm not a manager, I don't work with people
I just love building stuff, so I guess we need a new title:
Creator?
Nothing against Andrew btw.
I've just noticed a pattern and his post made me want to tweet.
The downside of shipping fast:
Yearly domain renewals become a weekly membership 😅 https://t.co/cVCd1LcVw4
I just upgraded my tech stack 📸
For all the camera nerds out there, this is the new setup: - Sony ZV-E1 - Rode NTG - Lens f2.8 16/25mm (no clue what it means)
I upgraded from my iPhone because
- The sound is meh - I can't see what the camera sees so I'd often record half of my face
But I'll miss it for the simplicity and lightness
I waited for 85,000 YouTube subscribers before investing in fancy equipment
it's heavy AF https://t.co/1FRdPMTEJA
True spirit of indie hacking.
Nothing happens for months...
And your life is changed forever within a few hours.
Keep shipping y'all 🧑💻
I felt awkward and shy when I started shooting videos outside my office.
"What do people think about me?"
But I didn't give up.
4 videos later, I give 0 shit about others' judgment.
The best part? People feel it and want to support me.
Get out of that comfort zone. https://t.co/mLUCkX8YlY
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
IndiePage Leaderboard was broken these days.
It's a cron job that fetches all new payments for all startups. It would either time out or create too many database connections
It took 1 hour to fetch payments just for @astrooed startup 🤯
It's fixed now 💪 the numbers are insane https://t.co/ybqcIOX9Hh
The fix:
Run the job locally for ALL initial payments (took hours)
Then only fetch the new payments in the cron.
Next on the list: LemonSqueezy integration
I won my first dispute 🥳
Customer reported Services Not Received. I fought back with these evidence:
- Database records - Emails sent
Disputes suck. But winning them feels good. https://t.co/T2B2vXhlun
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Read the comments.
It's about Habits Garden — my first public startup which peaked at $500 MRR despite working 12hr/day.
Some could say it's a failure but:
- I learned a lot - People REMEMBER
It was a necessary step for the journey.
Keep shipping.
Thanks for all the love ❤️
FUCK YEAH
I made $1M as a 30-year-old solopreneur.
85% is profit. 80% was made in the last 365 days.
It took 7 years, 2 burnouts, 1 depression.
Thanks, hard work. Thanks, JavaScript. Thanks, wife. https://t.co/PlcUMuks0m
About 19% of the profit went to taxes
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I'm testing @bryan_johnson Blueprint Stack.
I already have a fairly healthy lifestyle:
💪 2hrs/day workout 😴 8+hrs/day sleep 🙅 No harmful stuff 🥦 Healthy diet
But I'm curious about how it stacks up. Will report how I feel in a month or two. https://t.co/81GFsJDtQV
Smart pricing here https://t.co/pAAD3WHEGJ
It's simple to build this revenue tracker.
You need a database and + API. I use @MongoDB + @nextjs + @vercel
1. Fetch initial payments 2. Set up cron job (mine runs every hour) 3. Create an API endpoint for the LaMetric tool
The config file has all Stripe API keys in an array https://t.co/c5DLwcaa9R
Finally, add the MyDataDIY app in the LaMetric app.
Poll your endpoint.
Enjoy 🤑 https://t.co/Gd9vUlw7gX
@MongoDB @nextjs @vercel Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
In 2017, I burned hundreds of $ on Facebook Ads.
In 2024, I made $66,000 using Facebook Ads (3.4 ROAS)
Ads are an excellent way to scale a startup — if you know how to use them.
I don't.
But I trust Nico.
I was one of the first to benefit from his guide's knowledge and it's worth every penny.
ShipFast now uses @supabase's SSR package for all auth features ✨ https://t.co/b2gx8up4Vf
@supabase Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I built a revenue tracker. First, I created an API: - Fetch all payments on my 10+ Stripe accounts - Store them in the database - Periodically fetch new payments - Returns total revenue Then I bought LaMetric (no affiliate): - Use the Data DIY app - Poll my API endpoint every hour I put the tracker in my startup home office to get my daily dose of motivation. $1M LFG 🔥
This API endpoint returns how much money I made since I started the solopreneur journey (in USD)
Next, I need to add my GitHub commit grid using @_MaxBlade's DeskHub 👀
@_MaxBlade It’s way too addictive https://t.co/tyGcGURQPl
Product market fit is like relationships.
When it works, you'll know.
Until then, don't get married to the 1st startup.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
"I will be like them"
I watch Starter Story when I need motivation. The stories are inspiring. The founders are legends.
Today, I got a chance to tell my story too.
Being on the other side of the screen feels incredible and surreal. It's even crazier when I realize my life was transformed because of 1 project...
TL;DR; Just ship that startup idea
Thank you, Pat, @marcovbenny, and @nikolaspetrouu.
0 disputes in 3 months.
3 disputes in 14 days.
The product didn't change. The traffic is from the same sources.
Does @stripe batch disputes? https://t.co/ma537FnfO3
Dopamine rush for your startup's customers:
1. npm i canvas-confetti 2. confetti({ particleCount: 200, spread: 400, origin: { y: 0.5 }, }); 3. MRR goes brrrr https://t.co/w4yOs55SQF
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
3 years ago, we were all broke. But we had the dream of becoming financially independent and free. After a few messages on Twitter, we became friends and started hustling. We launched 50+ projects together. Most of them never took off. For 2 years, each failure was a slap in the face: sleepless nights, food binging, gaming on the couch for weeks. We almost gave up. But we supported each other. Each failure became a lesson that made us stronger. Each failure contributed to our financial freedom. None of us expected to become rich quickly. Build, learn, iterate. We trusted the process until we all got lucky. @nico_jeannen @DanKulkov @wonjitos @sveta_bay (left to right)
268 startups are verified with Stripe on http://IndiePa.ge
🪙 30% made $1+ 🤑 18% make $1,000+/month 🖖 $4,551/month average revenue https://t.co/2hlKyzMUlS
The non-logarithmic distribution shows how hard entrepreneurship is https://t.co/TtL8ia6SP5
To get these numbers, I spoke English.
1/ I asked my database to extract all the @stripe-verified users.
2/ I uploaded the file to ChatGPT (anonymously, only revenue data) and it did the math. https://t.co/uhMIUt6Q1C
I'm back home in Bali 🌴
Batteries fully charged.
Building a $1M SaaS for 2025 🫡 https://t.co/Q2iB5Kyr0j
I built the #1 psychiatrist for entrepreneurs:
Introducing IndiePage Revenue Bot — A bot that tweets startups' revenue (verified with @stripe)
🥇 1 monthly leaderboard 🏆 1 weekly leaderboard 🤑 3 daily random sales
If you're already an IndiePage customer:
1. Add your Twitter handle on your dashboard to be tagged 2. Connect your Stripe account 3. Get featured automatically
If you aren't:
This mistake cost me $1,600:
When you create @stripe Checkouts via the API and charge one-time payments, the "invoice_creation" option adds a 0.4% fee.
I realized this after $400k of revenue. The fee is not mentioned in the documentation. https://t.co/36neBRGqKo
I don't want to pay 0.4% for a PDF.
That's how my startup Zenvoice was born.
It made $9,000.
Or 5x what I lost for these PDF invoices.
Frustration ➡️ Great startup idea
I made $66,700 in July 2024:
⚡️ ShipFast — 61.7k 🍜 Indie Page — $1.7k 💨 Zenvoice — $1.1k 🎞️ YouTube — $526 🚀 LaunchViral — $485 💩 PoopUp — $451 🛡️ByeDispute — $447 🐥 Twitter — $236 📚 WorkbookPDF — $57
Business is down by 24% (last month).
I closed my laptop for 2 weeks.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Yeah sex is cool but have you ever skate at the airport? https://t.co/weGWQ1Lcrv
I’m going back home to bali, ready to grind
Update :
Taipei security didn’t like it so they took my board and put it as a checkin in a luggage straight from the future https://t.co/E1sIyclYUt
http://Zenvoice.io now displays the tax name on the invoice. https://t.co/Gx6ObqP10c
Reminder to stop paying 0.4% to Stripe for PDF invoices
In 2019 my mum asked why I was an entrepreneur.
"I want to be free and make people happy"
Back then, I had packed 3 years of failures.
There was no bright future in sight.
But I didn't give up.
In 2024, messages like this remind me of why I started.
Stick to your dream. https://t.co/yamIJ5Icn9
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Creatine is insane.
I work out 2 hours per day and take a day off every 10 days ish
❌ Without creatine, I'm sore 9 days out of 10 ✅ With creatine, I'm never sore
I started taking ~5g/day 4 months ago and I feel like I have superpowers
I'm trying a completely new type of YouTube video:
Startup stories wrapped into lifestyle stories.
- I'm having 3x more fun - YouTube is giving 3x less impressions
What do you think?
Am I boring? Are the topics uninteresting? https://t.co/KDry7ecRYp
Good sleep changed my life.
It's the best medicine & best psychatrist.
It's great to see gamified apps going viral and helping millions of people improve health and mental while having fun.
I added Pokemon Sleep to GamifyList, my repository of 500+ gamified apps:
I took 14 days off for the first time in a year.
I can't help but feel guilty because:
1. Business slows down 2. I love building
But after a few days, my monkey brain accepts and cools down.
Batteries are 100% recharged and I'm back with tons of startup ideas for 2025 🔥 https://t.co/UOlq3bQZ77
ShipFast was born after taking 2 weeks off in South Korea last year
I made the most money with my smallest idea.
Just ship it.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I bought my first paper book
I guess I'm old now https://t.co/dh16cJQIwm
"Poor English level" — my English teacher in high school.
12 years later, I grew an audience of 200,000 people on the internet with my broken English. https://t.co/YKKgvhvZrD
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Entrepreneurship is hard.
This is the MRR distribution for 268 startups. https://t.co/zT9t8Fiiad
Data from http://IndiePa.ge, verified by @stripe
Recharging batteries... 🟩🟩🟩🟧⬜️ https://t.co/J8sgVcGDxv
ShipFast has helped 4,000 developers launch their startups ⛳️
It started 11 months ago. https://t.co/OYrpiiguvq
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I only regret 1 thing.
It's not spending a year on a startup that I never launched...
But going to university.
- I started smoking - I lost self-confidence - I learned stuff I don't need - I sacrificed health (late parties) - I got a degree that's useless in today's world
Telecommunications network at UTT
https://x.com/ograuc/status/1814654987521175621 https://t.co/9qmZxuwTWX
Interesting workout dynamic. I burn:
- 8cals/min doing intense HIIT - 10cals/min for a medium-intensity surf session
I love surfing way more so I can squeeze 2/3 hours in the water and never "have" to work out. https://t.co/6cMirHbYMJ
I found a winner 🥇
189 persons applied. Congrats @farhanrizzvi!
Next time I'll give fewer boundaries for a wider range of outputs.
Design bounties are fun. https://t.co/NU1MssHMbo
I work 351 days per year to get an illusion of passive income when I take 14 days off https://t.co/ryeqqcHDwN
Note: I wish I was making 300k/month but the ShipFast payout is an aggregation of ~3 previous months
I'm turning off my computer for 14 days.
Last time I took a break was a year ago — that's how I created ShipFast.
I struggle to unplug. It feels like I'm losing the momentum.
But sometimes it's essential to come back stronger 💪 https://t.co/RVlO8rTasB
Who said you can’t build startups and be healthy?
https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1812105950607929587?s=46 https://t.co/LlMaLjyGxg
POV you just landed in Europe https://t.co/q2T5EA9tbL
I love the idea.
Join the Indies Leaderboard on @WHOOP with the code: COMM-D8EEE1
1. Open the Community tab 2. Go to Teams 3. Tap 3 dots and enter the code
No idea what's next for the group but it can't be bad to gamify fitness.
When I started my solo journey 3 years ago, I knew nothing about design.
I learned the fundamentals with the free videos from @tailwindcss on YouTube.
And there was this guy, @simonswiss, who turned boring pixel videos into a fun lesson.
It was one of those rare moments I enjoyed listening to a teacher.
Today, my design teacher is launching a workshop, check it out!
Split testing fitness trackers
@ouraring @WHOOP https://t.co/4AbjtyGoAh
Underrated marketing hack:
1. Find a big streamer in your niche 2. Pay a significant amount of $$$ during a stream 3. Pray your product is good
Good or bad, you get raw feedback and instant traction.
No clue if @sobedominik did that.
Just an idea that sparked my mind.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
No waves in Paris but the daily workout never stops https://t.co/IqzktmcKSY
1 year ago, I made the best decision of my life.
How to connect 1 MacBook to 2+ Airpods:
1. Pair both AirPods 2. Open the Audio MIDI Setup app, create a new channel, and aggregate the 2 Airpods 3. Open the Settings app > Sound output > select the new channel. 4. Enjoy movie with partner at noisy airport https://t.co/CMJJVLBu7V
👀 400K views ✍️ 188 applications
The design bounty application is closed. I'm reviewing the designs and will announce the winner ASAP.
Thanks to anyone who applied!
Do you know a charity in Bali that cleans plastic? https://t.co/wfS5U9lxY2
Reminder:
Send emails from a subdomain, not the root.
Your domain reputation won't be ruined if your startup gets DDoS. https://t.co/qfzaIqWfSs
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
*reputation with email providers (gmail, etc.)
TypeScript did not pay for this https://t.co/njFIIkBPY8
I'm back in France for 3 weeks 🇫🇷
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I just avoided a dispute thanks to http://ByeDispute.com.
Dogfooding my own products https://t.co/rs2AM8ViFr
One of my first tweets.
There was no plan B.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Avoid burnout:
Write the <H1> before building a startup.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
It took me 2190 days to find product market fit.
Don't give up.
I made a bunch of mistakes tho.
That's why I wrote everything I wish I had known when I started: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/ https://t.co/y3o8nRMqdv
The top-earning solopreneurs are generalists.
2 average skills > 1 great skill.
Be average at everything to earn big:
- Ads - Legal - Design - Coding - Storytelling - Copywriting - Audience building
Trying to make $1 online is the best teacher.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
"I don't have a good camera"
Here's my $5 overhead camera setup.
Constraints force creativity.
"but" is just another excuse to procrastinate. https://t.co/MneFn3ml79
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Many are skeptical about the uncertainty of entrepreneurship.
But thinking that being a software engineer is a safe job when VC money is pouring into tools to replace you?
Building a $10K/month startup off the ground is hard.
But you won't wake up unemployed. https://t.co/s44dyGBchs
I'm not saying SWE are going to disappear.
But the gold rush is over.
Meanwhile building tiny internet businesses is easier than ever with AI.
Reminder to ditch free plans when you're getting started
This app didn't exist 2 weeks ago.
You don't need a master plan to build a successful side project.
The MVP? Rik animating ovals
I'll pay you $1,000 to redesign this chart.
Link to apply and guidelines below ↓ https://t.co/WkEg1w7y4m
I'm back to editing videos myself. Control freak 🥲
Guess when we did the interview 😂
Joke aside, no surprise Starter Story got 300K followers in < 2 years.
@thepatwalls was a psychiatrist in another life. Can't hide anything from him. @marcovbenny runs operations like the CEO of a 200-person company.
Thanks for having me! https://t.co/3fHs9Rja9d
If I had to start over, I'd do exactly what Max does.
He had an idea and built an MVP ASAP.
Then he did marketing.
1. Share the building journey with short videos like this (hook, storytelling, everything is perfect) 2. Leverage established Twitter accounts
He'll probably not be retired with this project.
But it doesn't matter.
He's building the foundation.
He's learning hardware, video editing, storytelling, and marketing.
He's building an audience that'll help him kickstart his next product.
And he'll make money soon.
Max, my takes:
1. Keep doing this 2. Leverage other established accounts. Maybe even personalize the tracker for them. @tdinh_me check this out 👀 3. Share more about what's inside the tracker (hardware)
Highest affiliates payout for ShipFast — $2,500 in June
Someone makes $900/month with 1 YouTube video https://t.co/X8UwBHDjxJ
I'm using @getRewardful for the affiliate program and I love it.
If you want to become an affiliate: https://shipfa.st/affiliates
Many people get this wrong.
If you own a $3K/month SaaS, you're richer than a software engineer who makes $10K/month.
Because you also own an asset that's worth $126.000 (3.5 multiple)
Assuming you ship, grow, and sell 1 startup a year, you're making $13,500/month.
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Thumbnail A/B test just landed on YouTube https://t.co/oGuhpVngdJ
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Indie Makers Leaderboards — July 2024
🤖 Only 1 AI startup in top 10 💰 11 founders make 10K+/month 🍜 45 founders are ramen profitable (in Bali)
@la_moquette absolutely crushing it with 2 SaaS and $100K/month https://t.co/TubPytsyJW
Get up the leaderboard in July 🏆 https://indiepa.ge/leaderboard
I tried @bryan_johnson 12 pm dinner for 5 days.
💦 Lost 2.5 kg 🫀 Lowest sleep heart rate ever
But I felt weak and hungry after 6 pm so I gave up.
I'll stick to my 4 pm dinner while building startups and try again when I'm mentally tougher. https://t.co/2zj2lhaPtt
I made $87,570 in June 2024:
⚡️ ShipFast — $80.2k 🚀 LaunchViral — $2k 🍜 Indie Page — $1.9k 💨 Zenvoice — $966 🎞️ YouTube — $842 💩 PoopUp — $505 🐥 Twitter — $337 🛡️ByeDispute — $455 📚 WorkbookPDF — $37
I operate at ~90% margin
Everything I learned as a solopreneur:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Many small bets are necessary to build a startup that'll change your life. https://t.co/tvr9SGsVbV
POV I'm building the next Facebook in 2017
- unicorn startup idea - 1 year of coding - 0 users https://t.co/dpAZS0T93j
0% revenue growth
but 100% satisfaction https://t.co/SjWu8WQ2l1
Bali is magical.
I build tiny startups in the morning.
Walk the dog and work out at the beach in the afternoon.
And get a massage for $10 before falling asleep and restarting the same day tomorrow. https://t.co/kQX49qGZqF
I'm looking for a camera guy/girl in Bali
📆 Wednesday, 3rd at 6:30 am 📍 Ungasan (Bali south) 🎥 2 cameras needed 💰 Good pay $$$
We'll shoot a video with @thepatwalls for Starter Story.
Reply with a link to your portfolio or a video you shot. https://t.co/ep5WkaEFMA
We'll shoot something like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv2fzC96Z40&t=112s&ab_channel=StarterStory
@thepatwalls Get reviewed faster > DM https://twitter.com/marcovbenny
I finished reading the story of Twitter.
And I'm so glad I'm not an ambitious entrepreneur.
Friends betrayal, VC money hunger, status game. No idea how founders enjoy building startups when they have to sacrifice so much.
But I'm glad they did because Twitter changed my life. https://t.co/0uraBpAbul
ShipFast Leaderboard launched 100 startups in 2 months 🏆 https://t.co/mqA2wqRaNP
Man I love @screenstudio
There was a bug and the video wasn't synced with the sound.
So the support team purchased the same mic as mine to fix it. They also fixed my file so I could work on the video.
You're doing it incredibly well @pie6k 🤌 https://t.co/zedNMAm4Ov
The recipe to grow an audience:
(I'm definitely abusing rule #4)
Guerrilla marketing in Bali https://t.co/NrxU1PYsUS
$28 for Facebook ads → $199 in my bank.
It's the highest ROAS I've seen for ShipFast
Either @nico_jeannen is doing magic, or lord Zuck pays him. https://t.co/W6IxyEmNsl
Nico's Ads Guide is worth the few $ spent
Extension to see colors in VSCode https://t.co/xeP4pL2qRo
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
20 years old VS. 30 years old:
💦 7x workouts/week 🥦 Veggy, fish, nuts diet 🛌 8-9 hours of sleep 365days/year 🙅 No alcohol, (almost) no sugar
Aging has never felt this good. https://t.co/vnIFr9Rdg4
Also
❌ no gym ❌ no coach ❌ no deadlift (don't cancel me plz)
Surf or HIIT bodyweight workouts — daily
My first podcast... with a surf session 🏄
Business podcasts aren't fun. So it's good to see a lifestyle approach to entrepreneurship.
This podcast is for you my cheese lovers 🧀🇫🇷 https://t.co/E7UmP0Ul1Z
T'a géré @asyncr0ne 🤙
Some solopreneurs spend years working on a startup until they get lucky.
I did that and burned out.
My monkey brain wants quick results.
So I never spend more than a few weeks building a new product.
No unicorn master plan. Just one feature.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
1. Build startups 2. Get profitable 3. Invest in health 4. To build forever
See you in 2124 @bryan_johnson 👋 https://t.co/8chAGuYB7S
You’ll never see sponsorships on my YouTube/newsletter/X.
I only promote products I build or love.
Skin in the game.
MacOS apps I use daily:
- https://pasteapp.io (clipboard) - [magnet.crowdcafe.com](https://magnet.crowdcafe.com) (window management) - [ticktick.com](https://ticktick.com) (todo list) - [screen.studio](https://www.screen.studio) (video) - [cleanshot.com](https://cleanshot.com) (screenshot)
No affiliate, just pure love for them. https://t.co/120JMy9sO3
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Last 7 days
- broke a surfboard - sent 100k spam emails - (almost) lost a MacBook https://t.co/OmOOnzhpnI
But I went on the best startup podcast by @TakoTreba & @d4m1n so all good
Ship fast — hardware version
Max built a tool to display your GitHub contribution board.
+ he documented everything in this simple video and it makes me want to do stuff with my hands.
That's the spirit.
And instant buy🤑
https://x.com/_MaxBlade/status/1803472250496041302 https://t.co/sNxGGSHXXF
I was mad at @Apple this morning.
My M2 Macbook Pro sound started to sizzle making the speakers useless.
I tried internet tutorials. Nothing worked.
So, I played heavy metal hoping it would do magic.
It did.
The speakers popped. The sound is normal again. wtf https://t.co/Q13LSeLwxF
Thank you @slipknot ❤️
This was hard to write.
I work 365 days a year and I need more time for a big project.
So, I'm taking a short break from my newsletter. But I'll be back with more value. https://t.co/p9HbAqf2o9
Everything I know as a solopreneur: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/
Nobody cared about my work for 6 years (except for you, twitter).
Now I get attention from the people who thought I was doing weird stuff.
They ignored me and now they are suddenly curious.
Losers don't try, they judge. Winners don't speak, they build.
I just got a new GoPro 🤩
Upcoming YouTube videos will be a mix of coding 🧑💻 and Bali 🏄
My goal is to make entrepreneurship more entertaining. https://t.co/fVL2f6cMrn
Design roast of the day 🥞 https://t.co/DOdxlzFLNt
I wrote about designing startup landing pages: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/archive?tags=Design https://t.co/6kOyODqzcW
I'm living the same day over & over for 900 days.
I don't know what day it is.
And I love it. https://t.co/0OdpgQArzV
I only know today is Saturday because I'm writing the newsletter and have the weekly family call.
3 design rules to make beautiful landing pages.
🫸 1024px max width ↔️ 16px horizontal padding ↕️ 80+% of the viewport height per section
45 projects.
1 pays the bills.
Keep shipping. https://t.co/cixiOUD4qX
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Precision:
1 pays much more than the bills 11 paid the bill (minimum required so I could build for 6 years without a real job)
100,000 spam emails later, it's fixed (normally) 😅
Hacking started right after my last build-in-public YouTube video.
Got to keep some stuff private from now.
Thanks @iwahabshaikh for the cybersecurity lesson ❤️ https://t.co/BipdNrh3jr
We are talking about TypeScript, join us
Mobile bezels are thinner than ever.
It’s common to have a finger overlap the viewport.
Add horizontal padding to every section. 16px to 24px does the job. https://t.co/KvclQ9OTUE
They say I make $100K a month just by selling shovels.
So I printed my portfolio of startups on my wall to remind them it’s not that simple. https://t.co/kWT1FnGzsL
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
31,000 emails sent to me overnight...
To whoever tried to hack Insighto: Why? 😂 https://t.co/RYuMPkMDmU
At this rate, I'll have to get a real job soon.
If only it could be a business expense 🥲 https://t.co/DidifIfp2o
ShipSqueezy sounds much better, oops.
"Invalid traffic"
Dear @YouTube & @AdSense
Your creator @nico_jeannen got demonetized after your algorithm made his last video go viral.
Can a real person review his account thoroughly?
Content creation is our life. Show us you care. https://t.co/2HCd1I27TU
Nico is my friend and I bet everything I own I didn't try any shady hack to grow his channel.
He's just talented and unlucky.
They say I'm just selling shovels.
Not true.
I'm also selling ladders with a dreamy promise and scammy pricing. https://t.co/MqXJfc5bKd
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
If a software engineer built my startup: https://shipfa.st/engineer-vs-entrepreneur
Or Marc in 2022 https://t.co/6eT1b6iv72
iOS breaking the #1 design rule? 🤯 https://t.co/RXuB477kTV
The fastest to set up Stripe subscriptions:
1. Customer subscribes with a payment link 2. Grant/revoke access with this webhook code 3. Customer manages subscription with customer portal
Almost a no-code solution. https://t.co/5l0k3ab49Z
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
It's the same for startups.
Start shipping something, anything. https://t.co/eTxNUNkEN9
Book > Excellent Advice for Living by @kevin2kelly
It's excellent
- Do you speak English? - Yes - What's your name? - Yes
Any native could help?
Human only plz https://t.co/k32gju8OJv
I just finished this masterpiece.
High school teachers killed my love for fiction with their ancient French books.
Stephen King revived it.
Here are the notes I took (right) https://t.co/DPMJttnU97
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
The productivity hack no one talks about.
I'm not talking about the coffee. https://t.co/FCCP3822a6
Imagine traveling back to 2018 and being a pioneer building in public on Twitter.
In 2024, it’s happening on YouTube.
First movers get rewarded.
Shot the shot.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I feel like I just discovered how to breathe...
macOS has a built-in feature to reduce video size 🤯
Sonoma 14.5 https://t.co/PSTqxJ5oS1
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Why I love building products for people I care about https://t.co/Hh9Qnmo9uG
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
How it started | How it's going
Tweet that thought, make that video, build that app. https://t.co/JgQxM7fvLB
$400 for 15 seconds of dopamine https://t.co/8EDYMOo7Aa
I tried all these creatives for Meta Ads ($13,000 spent)
1 of them outperforms them all — Which one?
$17 per purchase ($199 value) or 12 ROAS (Return On Ads Spent) https://t.co/3kBrr48Zcu
@nico_jeannen is the mastermind behind the results.
I'm just the puppet.
My mind is set to build-in-public, I forgot the "business secret" part
For some non-obvious-at-all reason, I won't disclose the exact results 🙈 https://x.com/nico_jeannen/status/1798337022312263884
300,000 people watched a developer showing his portfolio.
Probably nothing. https://t.co/hKZlsl1qwU
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
New in http://Zenvoice.io:
→ Your customers can export invoices in PDF format 📄 https://t.co/4XPKKoMSCE
Yes, you can grow a startup with 0 followers and $0.
This is how I get 300 visitors a day from Google, for free, using programmatic SEO ↓ https://t.co/Qd0REvrML1
1/ What’s Programmatic SEO (pSEO)?
pSEO is a marketing strategy to rank on Google for a group of long-tail keywords related to 1 main keyword.
You use code to build a skeleton. And you fill it with content, usually generated programmatically too. https://t.co/nLfRxCX3di
That’s how I got:
• 15,600 visitors on http://BooksCalculator.com • 9,000 visitors on [GamifyList.com](http://GamifyList.com) • 4,500 visitors on WorkbookPDF [WorkbookPDF.com](http://WorkbookPDF.com)
2/ Find 1 keyword
Let’s use a real example.
Our business is a directory of rage rooms — like TripAdvisor — to help people find the best place to smash away stress. https://t.co/ACr9EMzZs6
The business model?
1. Get traffic on autopilot 2. Show ads and profit 3. Move to Bali
Let’s skip the last part and focus on getting traffic with pSEO.
First, you need 1 keyword with:
• Keyword Difficulty (KD) lower than 20. It requires 10 backlinks or less required to rank on Google • Search volume superior to 500 per month in 1 country (3x this for worldwide searches)
Ahref's free keyword generator tool shows that.
The keyword “rage room” is perfect.
(KD is a bit high for a start, it's an example)
Second, we need 10+ long-tail keywords.
There’s a high volume for “rage rooms in [city]” and a low KD. Let’s build for these keywords. https://t.co/4whycATMif
3/ Build a webpage empire
We want to create 1 webpage per long tail keyword.
There are 333 cities with over 100,000 people in the USA. Let’s assume there are 1000 rage rooms (random guess).
Here’s what our website structure looks like:
/ → main welcome page (1 webpage) /[city] / → all rage rooms in [city] (1 skeleton, 333 webpages) /rage-room/[rage room name] → a rage room page (1 skeleton, 1000 webpages)
a. Create a skeleton
A skeleton is an HTML mold. Add some data, and you have a unique webpage.
My product WorkbookPDF has 1 skeleton for 25 pages:
workbookpdf(dot)com/free/[language] https://t.co/L7IJwvXXBx
The skeleton for our /[city] route would look like this:
• H1: “The [total] best rage rooms in [city]” • Description: “Explore [city]’s top rage rooms! Find the perfect spot to smash away stress and have a blast. From [district_1] to [district_2], we've got you covered.”
We want to build as many valuable pages as possible. Pretend you’re searching for a rage room in New York. What do you want to see?
• The list of rage rooms, sorted by Google Maps stars • The price per hour and the type of objects you can break • A button to book a rage room
The list goes on. Search for patterns while crafting the experience of the end-user.
By building 3 HTML skeletons, we can have 1334 web pages ranking on Google.
My site BooksCalculator has 100+ pages ranking for “How long to read [pages_number]?” https://t.co/EoENVO7J4h
b. Collect good data
We need rich data to build valuable web pages and rank on Google. For example:
• 333 cities • City name • City photo • Popular districts • 1000 rages rooms • Business name • Starting price • Reviews
Most of our data could be obtained using Google Maps API.
To get richer data, outsource the data collection for a few hundred dollars and/or use ChatGPT for some parts, like the meta description.
For GamifyList, I spent $150 to collect the best 600 gamification apps from a VA https://t.co/A0rwk1yVYy
c. Optimize your SEO
Once you have 1334 webpages built with your skeleton and the data, make them SEO-friendly
• The long tail keyword should be in the title and <h1> tags, at least • The images should have an alt text, good size, and lazy loaded • Links should have titles https://t.co/6hQG4E65og
Google Chrome Lighthouse is your best friend.
Optimize for the long tail keywords, and add them at different strategic locations.
Don’t stuff keywords though. Only add them where it matters for users. https://t.co/JW8P8SFYrH
3. Rank on Google
We need around 10 backlinks to start ranking on Google.
a. Launch
The easiest way to start is to launch on Product Hunt which gives you a follow link, regardless of the upvotes. Nice!
Platforms like Hacker News, Twitter & Reddit work too. It’s a nofollow link, but people might reshare the website in their newsletter or blog. https://t.co/DYRyjG2PtW
c. Submit to Search Console
Verify your domain name in the Google Search Console.
Then manually request for a few page indexing. It makes Google index your website faster.
Search for a URL and click “Request Indexing” https://t.co/vjJXoToKNI
Now, wait. Indexing is fast, but ranking for keywords takes 3 to 6 months.
You will get traffic from Google on autopilot, for free. Monetize it with a product or ads and you make money when you sleep.
If you’re a developer who loves coding too much (like me) check out my guide about growing a startup with free tools marketing.
https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/marketing-for-product-obsessed-developers.
Thanks to @dannypostmaa who taught me everything about pSEO. My article is a wrapper around his knowledge.
Thanks to @illyism who kickstarted the SEO for WorkbookPDF.
Want to learn how to code in 2024?
I'm looking for 10 future programmers (7 spots left).
🎥 Access my new course, 100% free 🏘️ Join 9 other future programmers 🧑🏫 Ask me anything, anytime
Apply here: https://forms.gle/SUwEsHdAesH8Ma6EA https://t.co/qcxv0kXf89
it was actually the right side
i told you it'd be weird
I used to look at 100K followers' accounts as rock stars.
It seemed unachievable.
So I stopped caring about numbers I can't control.
Instead, I built startups for 900 days. This happened:
0 → 1K in 8 months 1K → 10K in 6 months 10K → 100K in 16 months
Thank you discipline https://t.co/tOny8PED80
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
3 design rules to build beautiful landing pages
(margin & padding) https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/spacing-design-to-sell-your-micro-saas
I just wanted to never have a boss.
This is so unexpected...
Thanks for following the journey ❤️ https://t.co/uPHE5NUpav
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
IndiePage Leaderboard Winners — May 2024
🥇 @marc_louvion 🥈 @callmehouck 🥉 @la_moquette 4. @astrooed 5. @illyism 6. @julienlevallois 7. @nico_jeannen 8. @mattmerrick16 9. @colin_mcatee 10. @nico_jeannen https://t.co/ErsAp1XeGQ
Join us https://indiepa.ge/leaderboard
I made $131,520 in May 2024:
⚡️ ShipFast —$123,400 🍜 Indie Page — $3,600 💨 Zenvoice — $1,500 🎞️ YouTube — $1,100 💩 PoopUp — $718 🚀 LaunchViral — $663 🐥 Twitter — $325 🛡️ByeDispute — $166 📚 WorkbookPDF — $57
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Beautiful design is 90% rules.
I'm sending 3 rules for spacing (margin & padding) in a few hours... https://marclou.beehiiv.com/ https://t.co/1t1hHC1V1I
Surfboards are like tech stacks.
Pick one and stick to it.
But sometimes, a bigger board for a big day is like Cloudflare when you get DDoS'ed. https://t.co/H0RBsKWb0P
Every startup has a 24-hour version:
Airbnb is a spreadsheet, and Instagram is a Google Drive.
1. Find yours 2. Ditch all non-critical features 3. Spend a week or two building 4. Write a good headline and ship with a buy button
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
A new component just dropped on ShipFast 🌟
<FeaturesGrid /> displays your product features in an interactive 3x3 grid.
Dynamically showcase your product! Available now: https://shipfa.st/ https://t.co/3pJkRXgO75
Most of my 28 products made at least $1.
I'm tempted to focus and grow each.
But I moved on to the next startup idea quickly (unless it’s a hit like ShipFast).
My monkey brain hates losing.
But I’d rather quit too early and miss an opportunity than quit too late and burn out.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
All traffic on http://shipfast.com redirects to [shipfa.st/?ref=dotcom](http://shipfa.st?ref=dotcom)
The ref is sent to the Stripe Checkout and my database.
The .com gets ~20 visitors/day and 1 purchase/week.
So I should be profitable in 7 months 😁 https://t.co/6BcNPlfcib
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Full focus in Q4 🤩 https://t.co/zeP3WlZFTn
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
"You just got lucky"
The luck: https://t.co/v0Coc0144Q
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Professional filmmaking only https://t.co/hZ2LmycErI
Being first in entrepreneurship is a competitive advantage.
1/ People like new stuff 2/ Competition struggles to catch up (SEO) 3/ Other startups are compared to yours (free marketing)
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I spent 30% of my life here.
So, today I did a little decorating ✨ https://t.co/p83oyVV6jE
Daily design roast
The line between UI & copy is so thin... https://t.co/41yOvt2zrk
Is there a tool like this for our GitHub contribution board? https://t.co/DDLp1edCeO
Like this, but digital and updated daily
My monkey brain wants to play.
So I compare myself with other solopreneurs at the same stage.
No jealousy. Just healthy competition to stay motivated.
We all win in the end.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
5 design tips to write paragraphs people want to read:
https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/design-text-paragraphs-to-sell-your-micro-saas
"How did you build 24 startups?" https://t.co/ebUUjkONeD
UI roast of the day
Also: Remove icons in buttons. It's not needed. https://t.co/gTn2bdsgoT
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I'm sending 5 tips to design better landing pages in a few hours.
Get the issue here → https://marclou.beehiiv.com https://t.co/PPTIeCaooZ
Internet is turning ShipFast into a get-rich-quick-scheme. I built the boilerplate for myself because I was coding the same features over & over. It's a tool to save time and stop overthinking. That's it. Making money also requires: - Marketing - Discipline - Luck Shipping 1 micro SaaS won't make you rich. It took me 2 years and 20 products to make $4,000/month. Except for a few exceptions, customers of ShipFast making good money have been grinding for months AND did marketing.
Also, it's interesting how Twitter & YouTube are different.
The first 6 months of ShipFast were filled with positivity (Twitter only).
When my channel grew on YouTube in the last 2 months, mixed feelings started to show up.
Some people question whether I could code and think I'm a marketer trying to scam developers.
I was a product-obsessed developer for 5 years. It's impressive how little background check people will do. How fast people can get polarized.
The person in the video calls it a failure because:
- Shipped a SaaS in 1 week - Thought the product wasn't good enough and didn't launch
And added a referral link in the description
Quick UI roast of the day https://t.co/VUj1SkucUw
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
My neighbors decided to jackhammer all day...
Luckily I can move my office wherever.
So I booked a hotel 10 minutes away 😁 https://t.co/cWiQ6KGfGd
I just gamified entrepreneurship 🤩
Introducing IndiePage leaderboards:
🎮 Play with 7,084 makers 📢 Feature your products 🧑💻 Stay motivated
Available now! (link below) https://t.co/LDqjAZsfQZ
Join early, just saying
Disclaimer:
If @levelsio joins the party my server goes down
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I am 10% of:
- a writer - a teacher - a designer - a marketer - a programmer
Yet I earn 200% of their salaries combined.
There's room for generalists who show up.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
In 2024, my YouTube channel gained 65,000 subs.
I did almost everything SOLO with a phone + a mic + 1 day of work per week.
The video quality is mediocre. The thumbnails too.
But it doesn't matter — people want authenticity, the truth.
Stand out. Be weird. Tell YOUR story. https://t.co/ErJatXxs2d
If you don't have a story to tell yet, upgrade your life.
Travel, learn stuff, build things, try new experiences.
Buying a boilerplate as a gift 🎁
"Best gift for a dev"
Should I invest in new SEO keywords? 😅 https://t.co/USIXCpBTi2
I built 1 startup/month for 24 months:
- I don't multitask - I don't change my tech stack - I don't build secondary features - I don't check my phone before 4 pm - I don't have the "perfect-morning-routine-every-man-should-do"
Productivity is removing noise, not adding more.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
If you think adding features is addictive...
Try playing with color palettes 🤤 https://t.co/V3bXyUknfr
I wrote about about finding the right colors for landing pages:
https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/design-beautiful-websites-to-sell-your-micro-saas
2-minute design roasting
https://x.com/tomjeannesson/status/1792200607560069525 https://t.co/R6dC2XMYmA
I'm sharing everything I learned making 30+ websites
I did this every day for the past 900 days:
- I launch 1 startup a month - I make 1 YouTube video in a day - I write a newsletter to 20K readers in 4 hours
Start from the tiniest version of your idea.
It works like a charm.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
How to design remarkable headlines:
https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/design-beautiful-headlines-to-sell-your-micro-saas
Jack's revenue tripled in May.
1. Learned to code by doing 2. Scratched his own itches 3. Did marketing 4. Showed up ever-single-day
No masterplan, just discipline.
https://x.com/jackfriks/status/1791299936274788377 https://t.co/JyWkjiaeV2
1 email can make or break an entrepreneur.
Nobody truly understands us.
Look what just dropped 🤩
📈 4,400 visitors 🧑💼 1,100 users
Thanks for the support. Keep shipping! https://t.co/YjHIdytOFo
I wrote about what I learned launching 20+ products on @ProductHunt https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-launch-a-startup-on-product-hunt
I'm launching a free Canny alternative because:
1. Canny has too many features for solo makers 2. $99/month for more than 1 product...
It's called Insighto and it's live on Product Hunt now! https://www.producthunt.com/products/insighto https://t.co/XghqUYTT7t
7 design tips to improve your headlines.
Sending in 23 hours and 53 minutes...
Get it here: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/ https://t.co/q2H2q3J21h
"One day, I'll be like him"
When I started the journey, I binged @tibo_maker tweets.
18 months ago, we met for the first time. He spent hours trying to help me grow my products — pure kindness.
I asked about his revenue. He showed me his Stripe: $2,000+ earned that day (it was 1 pm).
I remember thinking WTF? 2x more than my monthly revenue in 13 hours.
He showed me it's possible to become financially free by making apps. I was more inspired than ever. That's how I grinded daily for 2 years.
Meanwhile, he grew TweetHunter + Taplio to $600K MRR and sold for 7 figures. WTF again.
Engage thoughtfully on social media — That's how you meet your role models.
@tibo_maker 1.5 years ago https://t.co/g87hknD5KS
I'm launching a new micro SaaS on @ProductHunt today 🤩
Introducing Insighto — Ship features users (really) want:
✍️ Collect feedback from customers 💡 Prioritize features 😍 Build a product users love
It's a tiny alternative to Canny, and 100% free → https://www.producthunt.com/posts/insighto https://t.co/aLEuo1E5I4
With the right link, it’s better 😁
1. Schedule the launch 2. Go lunch with @tibo_maker 3. Realise you put the wrong launch link 4. Debug while eating sushi
Here are 7 minutes behind the scenes of the sketchiest Product Hunt launch. https://t.co/8x1p91W89n
What happened to the macOS video features?
- Studio Light - Portrait Mode
They're gone for the past weeks 🥲
I'm on Somona 14.1.2 https://t.co/Va3kgHZQnK
Update:
New macOS version fixed it
My indie project ranks higher than the App Store 🤩 https://t.co/rVufYYM6NW
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I bought it for $5,000.
Seeing the comments, it looks like I made a good deal 😁
Congrats @mtaimoorhas
https://t.co/gRpfs17LO5
@mtaimoorhas I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I grew a SaaS to $4,000 MRR in 2018.
It was a gamified marketing tool for escape rooms businesses.
6 years later, a customer of my customers found my YouTube video breaking down the SaaS, and left this comment 🥹 https://t.co/eA3H4BOtvt
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I just bought http://shipfast.com 🤩
Guess how much — I'll wire $100 to the closest guess. https://t.co/ojr4mLUyZ3
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
my notification tab after this post https://t.co/81H5X20G9F
The only Google Keynote update I care about https://t.co/yoYAzkGeFc
I started using a Twitter tool after 40K followers
1. Show up 2. Find what works 3. Optimize with data
Not the other way. https://t.co/88QpOLKgr4
I only use @typefully to schedule tweets.
Otherwise, you'd get 10 tweets on Monday at 10:32 am and nothing for a week 😅
I didn't ask permission to take Tuesday off.
Thank you, solopreneurship. https://t.co/GYpgwBk4Vs
2 years ago, I borrowed money from my parents to pay the rent.
Today, my monthly salary pays 10 years of rent.
In entrepreneurship, change happens fast.
Keep shipping.
I live in Bali so I forget this.
But when I go to Europe to see my family...
I instantly want to come back home 😅
Free tool marketing at its finest 🤌
You don't need a PhD and the latest tech stack to ship.
Where the weekly YouTube video is made 👨🍳 https://t.co/jELVKvKFX1
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Colors are like beers — things get messy after 3 or 4.
If you're a dev, here's how to set up a beautiful color palette without confusing users:
https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/design-beautiful-websites-to-sell-your-micro-saas
PS: If you're a designer, you'll cringe.
I oversimplify design because it's not my job.
I just use the fundamentals of design to build businesses.
280-character success stories hide years of failures.
The code to add ANNOYING notifications to your site
Please don't use it https://t.co/l6T5jrNnN3
This is what I used for my startup:
If you use no-code (or want to save time), use PoopUp 😏
I'm trying something new for the newsletter:
In the coming weeks, I'll share everything I learned designing 30+ websites.
Tomorrow's issue is about colors, and why less is better. Get it here: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/ https://t.co/s0BlpMX6cE
"but your dispute rate will increase"
The dispute rate, 3 months later: https://t.co/sJrSbuQXwE
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I gave @nico_jeannen $1,866 to play with ads in April 2024.
He gave me back $4,179 worth of sales for ShipFast.
It's not the usual retargeting (easy ROI).
It's a cold audience 🥶
He knows what he's doing.
And made a guide for indie makers: https://makerads.guide/ https://t.co/zxzhIarZZq
@nico_jeannen This was written in April.
This is May:
$44 in > $199 out https://t.co/1ISxeu94Lm
The best investment I made for YouTube is outsourcing video editing.
It's a meticulous (but important) task that drags my energy.
Now I spend my time on what matters to my audience:
- Title/thumbnail - Content
The video editor and I work fully async: https://t.co/pFlEKoDjXV
1. I shot the clips and wrote the guidelines on Drive
2. She uploads the first draft on FrameIO
3. I add comments for edits (usually 1 revision is enough)
4. She uploads the final video on Drive https://t.co/vDInGBl0Sl
Outsourcing video editing is the best $ I spend.
If you can afford it, outsource it.
Here's my video editor contact if you want to kick start your channel: https://www.nxtvids.com/
Something just landed in my mailbox...
3 years ago I was depressed and living with my parents.
Today I received the Product Hunt's Maker of the Year 2024 award.
So much can change when you don't quit. Believe in yourself.
Thank you @ProductHunt, you changed my life. https://t.co/jLRyHy8EF2
@ProductHunt I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I built 21 products using the same tech stack:
💳 Stripe ☁️ Vercel 🔗 NextJS 🎨 daisyUI 👇 ReactJS 📧 Mailgun 📈 Plausible 💿 MongoDB 🖌️ Tailwind CSS 🦾 GitHub Copilot
Pick one. Never change it. Ship fast.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I pushed boring updates to ShipFast to reduce customer support:
🔄 Customers can add up to 3 GitHub usernames 🔄 Customers can get up to 5 Discord invites
80% less customer support.
Or ~2 min/day https://t.co/LKieJYxoaQ
If you have:
- 1 product - 0 audience - $0 for marketing
Here are 4 marketing strategies I use to get customers for all my startups: https://t.co/drPvOXzgYz
1/ Launch
List your product on popular launch platforms like Product Hunt.
It’s the fastest way to get results. And it’s free.
- Launch on Reddit https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-launch-a-startup-on-reddit - Launch on Product Hunt [marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-launc…](https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-launch-a-startup-on-product-hunt) - Launch on Hacker News [marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-launc…](https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-launch-a-startup-on-hacker-news)
Spend at least 1 hour crafting your headline. It’s 80% of a successful launch.
If you’re building an AI tool and have a few bucks to spare, list on AI directories like TIAAIFT & Futurepedia.
2/ Cold outreach
Developers like myself are scared of this task. But it works.
I made my first $1 online and grew a SaaS to $4,000 MRR using cold emails.
Cold DM on Twitter and LinkedIn works — If you do it right.
I get 30 cold outreachs per day. 99% are generic. 99% end up in trash.
Quantity doesn’t matter. Quality does. Spend hours carefully crafting your message:
- Personalised - Benefit-oriented - Short (5 sentences max)
Cold outreach works best if you’re doing high-ticket clients or B2B.
If you can afford it, sponsor niche newsletters (like mine, but I don’t do sponsorships, sorry!). It’s a clever way to do cold outreach at scale without being salesy.
3/ Build an audience
It changed my life.
But unlike the other marketing channels, it takes a lot of time and it’s not for everyone.
This part could be a book, so here’s the 80/20:
1. Pick a platform where you’re comfortable sharing your work: Twitter if you like writing, Instagram if you’re good with photos, YouTube if you prefer videos. 2. Build cool stuff. People need a reason to follow you.
3. Communicate using the platform’s code. Learn from creators who are already successful. 4. Respect people’s time. Too short is better than too long. 5. Find your signature: Start by getting inspired by others, and shine by being you.
4/ Code, code, code
This is for you if you’re a developer who can’t close VSCode.
- Build free tools you can launch anywhere and go viral https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/marketing-for-product-obsessed-developers - Rank hundreds of pages on Google, for free, with pSEO [marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-grow-…](https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-grow-a-micro-startup-with-programmatic-seo)
If you tried all the strategies above but none is working, it’s usually one of these:
1. Your product doesn’t solve a real problem, consider moving on
2. Your landing page copy isn’t converting, improve it https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-write-a-landing-page-that-converts
Your first endeavor won’t magically be a success. But if you show up for long enough, luck will find you.
Good luck 🫡
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I ditched my professional camera.
All my videos are recorded on iPhone using Continuity Camera.
- No more file transfer - Less to pack on holiday - No more battery/cable headache - OK quality for my type of content https://t.co/8qEZtY2ibG
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
My only success metric for a startup:
$ Per Visitor
- Worst: $0.06 - Best: $1.33
I focus if the $ Per Visitor is above $0.5.
Otherwise, I let it run by itself, fix bugs, and move on to the next.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Stripe lets you stimulate the subscription lifecycle now 🤯
1. Create a test subscription 2. Advance time to next month (+31 days) 3. Check your webhook handler works (grant/revoke access)
Back to the future https://t.co/HqTlEfFiqZ
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I made $500,000 with a GitHub repo.
Thanks, Javascript Thanks, marketing Thanks, tiny habits https://t.co/RMyKBAH5nk
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Building a successful startup is a repetition of tiny failures.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable.
Join 20,000+ readers ↓
My newsletter is 9 months old and just hit 20,000 readers.
I write everything I wish I knew when I started building startups.
There will be a big shift in Q3/Q4. Stay tuned! https://t.co/sxqIQaVWCC
If you haven't already:
I just finished Deep Work 📚
A great remember to work offline for X hours/day
My takeaways (right) https://t.co/aeE6fhnc2k
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Oops!…I did it again https://t.co/ITQ4Ra1XkI
6 years of living in the future just ended 🥲
I used Google Fi to get 4G in any country. It would connect automatically upon landing.
But you must live in the US to use it abroad (I've never been there).
Looking forward to a future where I don't have to think about data https://t.co/AhtOhOIt2R
I got Google Fi access in 2018 by signing up under a US friend's name.
He got the SIM delivered to his place and brought it back to me in Korea.
Not sure why Google took so long to turn off my plan since I've never been to the US
Now I'm using Revolut e-sim but
- you don't get a permanent phone number - you still have to "think" because data expires https://t.co/AuymSXnEt0
IndiePage hidden feature:
1. Connect your startup with Stripe 2. Tap "Share" and choose a template 3. Autopublish your last 30 days of revenue https://t.co/1trUIj568A
Which YouTube thumbnail?
Title: "A month in the life of a solopreneur in Japan" https://t.co/0w4EZsd1l4
I made $143,280 in April 2024
ShipFast 💰 $133k
IndiePage 💰 $2.8k
LaunchViral 💰 $2.4k
Zenvoice 💰 $1.8k
YouTube 💰 $1.6k
PoopUp 💰 $1k
ByeDispute 💰 $359
Twitter 💰 $321
I spent $13,006 💸
- $500-ish for the tech stack - $1,800 to outsource tasks - $1,960 for affiliates - $3,741 in ads - $5,005 for Stripe
🤑 Profit: $130,274
All-time high revenue All-time critics All-time love
Thanks for your support ❤️
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Someone made a merch 😂
(not affiliated whatsoever) https://t.co/YKIegvuZ81
Holy... 🤯 https://t.co/IyRNnkQxdN
pSEO done well
My little YouTube channel crossed 50,000 subscribers 🤩
🎬 Started in January 2024 🔄 Recorded 1 video every Saturday 🌟 YouTube pushed my videos in mid-March
Tiny steps compounded. https://t.co/epFmuSOg1I
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I ignore haters.
There are talkers and doers — The former needs the latter.
Grown-up boys bullied me in school.
As a 15-year-old boy with long hair and standing at 1.50m, I was an easy target.
I didn't fight back (and couldn't, anyway).
Instead, I hung out with girls who prefer guys with braids. I was never single.
Those who talk exploit those who act to make themselves feel important.
Don't let anyone tell you how to think or what business to build.
Leeches aren’t remembered. Doers are.
I received tons of support messages. I'm so grateful...
Thanks for your warm messages ❤️
Keep shipping.
I built websites for 900 days without quitting:
https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-stay-motivated-as-a-solopreneur
This trend is getting out of hand https://t.co/OmSK8D0kEp
Probably top 10% highest rated .st TLD 😜 https://t.co/RZAEj6NFgR
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
My solopreneur journey started with
- A vitamin product - No buy button - No audience
It doesn't matter where you start.
What counts is taking that first step. https://t.co/xU2Rg1HV6H
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Introducing... 🥁
ShipFast Leaderboards!
🥇 Compete with 2,000+ makers 🌟 Feature your product 🧑💻 Stay motivated
Available now! (link below) https://t.co/sl60fVFJWr
AWS support 🤌
https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1782790294905471483 https://t.co/Gs9rapAX1w
What I used to grow YouTube from 0 → 45,000 followers in 4 months https://t.co/pMfPUad4F5
I ditched my Canon camera and use iPhone instead (continuity camera feature).
Lower quality but
- Doesn't matter for my type of content - "Studio Light" feature - No audio sync - No external battery or weird cables, just USB-C
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I talked to my real therapist today https://t.co/Zlv1IzVFwo
I launched 1 product every month for the past 2 years.
But before that:
- 1 year to make an app with 0 user - 1 year on a VC startup for $0 revenue - 1 year on a habit tracker for $600 MRR
280-character success stories hide years of failures.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
POV
- Unicorn startup and $0 revenue (left) - Small bet and profitable (right) https://t.co/wHwdlcZK2T
Founder: 0 DDoS: 1
My AWS CloudFront got 30,000,000 requests in 3 days and a $2,000 bill ($10/month usually 😅)
I turned on AWS WAF to prevent this from happening again.
Also, I'm talking with AWS and it seems like they'll remove the spike costs from the bill. https://t.co/upx7FKr5kc
You know a company is doing well when 90% of comments mention their name
If you want to do YouTube in 2024:
❌ Beautiful backgrounds ❌ Expensive camera
✅ Content people haven't watched 100x ✅ Packaging (title/thumbnail) ✅ Good mic
and speak to the right side of your mic
Reading changed my life.
In 3 years I read 30+ books and learned about
- Psychology - Business - Design - Sleep - Life
Dany made a list of books I read + ALL the notes I took:
I fucked up.
I've been talking about money too much recently. I apologize.
I was a fish out of water for 30 years.
School was a pain. University was useless. Entrepreneurship was a movie without sound.
6 months ago, everything changed.
My audience 10x. My income 100x. I felt validated for the first time in my life. I was so happy, I shared every financial outcome.
But it became additive (like smoking a joint before the philosophy course at 2 pm).
Talking about money attracted attention. Attention brought more money and made me feel validated.
I fell into a trap and didn’t realize it.
From now on, I’ll reduce the financial posts to a minimum. And I'll write about apps I build and things I learn.
I’d be smoking pot with my philosophy teacher if you didn’t give me attention in the past 2 years. Thanks for following the journey. I’m forever grateful.
Luckily, people like you pulled the fire alarm without canceling me. I can’t picture this journey without all the friends who made me less stupid.
I read all your messages and feel so grateful.
After entering YouTube, I realized how beautiful our community is.
@levelsio's tweets are the reason I do what I do today.
So I'll keep sharing financial updates. I'll just find the right balance.
Appreciate all the support, friends ❤️
Entrepreneurship is unfair.
Is startup A 10x better than startup B because it makes 10x more revenue?
Probably not.
But that's a game we have to play.
Showing up increases the odds of winning.
Being early too.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I started a newsletter 8 months ago.
Now there's a book-worth of content and 20,000 readers 🥳
I write every Saturday and (almost) never skip a day.
Tiny habits compound 🌱 https://t.co/bGjFOmNyK7
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I never change my tech stack.
My 21 products get 550,000 page views per month using this simple — not fancy — tech stack:
1. Front-end
I use ReactJS, Tailwind CSS, and NextJS.
I also use daisyUI, the awesome Tailwind component library to speed things up.
Design trends give birth to new UI components every day. It’s a distraction. daisyUI has 20+ themes and all the components, that’s enough. https://t.co/cHLNGaUFtC
2. Back-end
I use serverless functions by NextJS. I don’t have to install packages or maintain an OS. I clone a NextJS project and I have a scalable API for my micro SaaS in seconds.
My database is hosted on MongoDB Atlas. I create a free M0 customer for each new project and use daily backups ($10/month). I use mongoose on top to simplify queries. https://t.co/cBYQznOfty
To send emails, I use Mailgun ($4/month). It’s easy and free to start.
Payments are processed via Stripe (3.5%). Getting started is a bit daunting. I wrote this tutorial to handle subscriptions with Stripe: https://byedispute.com/blog/how-to-code-a-stripe-subscription-model-with-react-and-nextjs.
3. Hosting
I host my 21 apps on Vercel ($20/month). I push changes to a GitHub repo and it automatically deploys them. https://t.co/iADhVbcXIf
4. Monitoring
Simple metrics like visitors and pageviews are handled by Plausible ($29/month).
If something goes wrong, I check Vercel deployment logs.
I query the database using relevant filters for advanced monitoring, like split testing. But I rarely do that. https://t.co/sR8SnEqnEf
5. Extras
I hired a junior developer for $10/month. His name is GitHub Copilot.
Some of my products use AI models like GPT-4. Pricing varies on usage, currently, I spend ~$20/month.
And if I need specific features, like image hosting or a CDN, I use AWS (1$/month)
When I learned to code, I struggled to decide on the right tech stack with all the noise out there.
Tech stack doesn’t matter.
Pick one and stick to it. You’ll get comfortable and ship much faster.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I spent 18 months shipping startups in the void.
Although I felt like a failure, I didn’t quit.
In tomorrow's issue, I’ll share how I stay motivated:
https://marclou.beehiiv.com/ https://t.co/qwNJapmHVq
I spent $8,345 on Facebook ads.
And made $23,283 in revenue for ShipFast.
This wouldn't have been possible without @nico_jeannen's excellent ad guide for makers. https://t.co/gWh9CcixYl
Note: ShipFast found product/market fit (good conversion rate).
I wouldn't have tried ads otherwise.
@nico_jeannen I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
@nico_jeannen I'm dumb: here's the ad guide https://makerads.guide/
New day, new office 🤩
I'm visiting Mount Fuji in Japan 🗻 https://t.co/3GpxB7GJNu
Me in April 2022:
• $500/month • 500 followers
Me in April 2023:
• $3,000/month • 10,000 followers
Me in April 2024:
• $120,000/month • 85,000 followers on X • 37,000 followers on YouTube • 18,000 readers on my newsletter
Trust the process.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Stripe lets you create Restricted API keys:
Keys with limited access to the API to build Stripe wrappers without getting full access to the account.
I built ByeDispute, ZenVoice, and IndiePage on top of it. https://t.co/JEML7c3xNz
That opens tons of product possibilities for Stripe apps (i.e. MRR viewer)
My code (right image) opens the Stripe RAK dashboard with prefilled permissions (file_write, customer_read, etc)
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
http://IndiePa.ge gives you a juicy dofollow backlink 🫡 https://t.co/s7Pb2yjCnq
Marketing while traveling ✅ https://t.co/KAMEFnDXqs
What do you think about this ad for ShipFast?
I'm trying YouTube ads for fun. https://t.co/1NdW4enppv
@ethansalves made the video 🤩
I moved my startup office to Japan for a few weeks 🇯🇵
こんにちは https://t.co/5l2HKJ6gsK
When I launched ShipFast, I told my wife we’d be lucky to make $100.
$384,000 and 7 months later, I eat my words.
That's the power of showing up.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Their startup office — My startup office https://t.co/DozxLwIr99
Nutella was an accident.
During World War II, there wasn't enough cacao, so Pietro Ferrero tried making chocolate with hazelnuts instead. He ended up creating the world's biggest chocolate spread.
Here's why you won’t find good startup ideas: https://t.co/rDbPt5xxCt
Successful startups are born by accident too.
It starts with the founder either playing with new technology, solving a problem they have, or listening to what their customers want.
The process of creating will help you discover problems.
Real problems that people would pay you to solve. In the end, you might create a successful business you never even imagined.
Less thinking, more doing.
Put your work out there.
You don’t need an idea to start. Write an article about what you learned last year, rebuild your note-taking app, or send a cold email to a business.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Revenue for 6 years of entrepreneurship and 28 products:
- Most never made money - 1 pays higher than a programmer's hourly rate - 72% of the revenue was generated in the last 6 months https://t.co/6VnbmrpbpF
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
This is me looking at @levelsio for 3 years.
But I shut that little voice down.
And I showed up.
Every-single-day.
My food friends @DanKulkov & @nico_jeannen did the same and now make well over $10K/month.
It's now ShipFast turn to cross $100K/month 🤩
That's 92% of my revenue. https://t.co/ZAW1mlxGPi
Revenue is pulled straight from Stripe, refreshed every 12 hours
A new feature dropped on http://PoopUp.co 💩
→ Each message is now clickable https://t.co/6P1JI2DGP9
Did @beehiiv change the Google Analytics script position in the DOM?
My newsletter isn't verified on the Google Search Console anymore.
It used to work for 6 months. https://t.co/5oJ8pmajFb
7 months ago:
@illyism did some black magic SEO for one of my startups.
Today: https://t.co/VLlhs5iWya
The product is WorkbookPDF
Just finished this amazing book by @morganhousel
Just read it.
Here are my notes. https://t.co/Tf6Tl5NBXx
ShipFast conversion rate 2x in the last 3 weeks:
$0.93 per visitor → $2.11 per visitor
Most of the traffic is now coming from YouTube. I guess video builds more trust than text.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Fuck yeah.
$100,000 in revenue in the last 30 days.
In November 2021, I built a movie recommendation app based on your mood (Mood2Movie).
It made $0... https://t.co/0xZrw9TPJA
So I built more apps.
It took 5 months to make $100.
I learned everything on the fly: coding, marketing, designing, and writing.
For 2.5 years, I shipped every day.
SaaS, AI tools, courses, free tools, I tried everything that crossed my mind.
23 projects later, one finally took off — ShipFast.
Currently, it's making $4,000 per day.
When I started, I dreamt of earning that amount every month, to cover rent and food without worry.
Entrepreneurship is hard.
And the brain struggles to understand non-linear outcomes.
But if you stay in the game long enough (without sacrificing what's important to you), the reward is 1000x worth it.
Just ship it.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
My Korean parents prepared a little surprise 😳🤩 https://t.co/hStcPw8EnV
Shipping another small bet from South Korea 🇰🇷 https://t.co/NRTxzP4hnr
How to get your 1st customer:
https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-get-your-1st-customer-for-a-micro-saas
Javascript paid for this https://t.co/xAUxdCX5q1
If you have an affiliate program...
And your affiliates run ads against your branded keyword (like "ShipFast")
Use this script to nuke the affiliate cookie (code below) https://t.co/h6oE0QyMzo
// Nuke 'em all
useEffect(() => {
let referral_url = new URL(window?.location?.href);
if (
referral_url?.searchParams?.has("gclid") &&
referral_url?.searchParams?.has("via")
) {
setTimeout(function () {
document.cookie =
"rewardful.referral=; expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 UTC; path=/; domain=" +
window.location.hostname;
console.log(
"Deleted referral cookie as visit came from Google Ads (forbidden by Terms of Service)"
);
}, 2000);
}
}, []);
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Product idea I don't have time to build:
An app to generate Apple Keynote bento grids like this.
$19 one-time payment (if your design is top notch) or free with watermark (pay to remove)
Goal: make it easy for anyone to create this https://t.co/ccwkIcsMIR
It's not a unicorn startup but definitely an app I'd build.
Just like LogoFast http://logofa.st
Vercel: our pricing is too high Also Vercel: let's double your monthly bill
Did I miss something? https://t.co/ILOv8JSzqQ
4 marketing channels I used to get the 1st customer:
1. Launch platforms 2. Cold outreach 3. Audience 4. Code
Sending the issue in 24 hours! Get it here: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/ https://t.co/auOl7xSFwX
ShipFast pricing section now shows the latest updates on ShipFast.
Data pulled straight from the last 3 Github commits. https://t.co/sGCaXTtgzR
I hurt my back surfing in November 2023.
Bar hanging 2 x 1.5 min daily is doing magic to soothe the pain.
I also added 15 pull-ups + 15 chin-ups a day, for fun 😁 https://t.co/mR3Xb6nAYa
The pull-up bar was a gift from @DanKulkov.
This man is not here to make friends but is doing charity.
"ShipFast is one-time payment, it's going to 0"
$38K September $44K October $60K November $51K December $50K January $39K February $75K March
Revenue is about product & marketing, not pricing.
Yet, another YouTube post (sorry):
✅ 4 figures revenue ✅ 3 figures daily revenue
Make a monthly recap of your learnings as a solopreneur.
You in 1 year will thank you. https://t.co/QyYAETR01U
And it's not just views https://t.co/RHc0Mu3Ocp
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I am a solo entrepreneur.
But I would NEVER be here without help from my friends:
@DanKulkov @nico_jeannen @dannypostmaa @andrey_seas @martindonadieu @sveta_bay @tibo_maker @melvynxdev
Thank you, for making me less stupid than I am ❤️
And of course, thanks to my wife for being my psychiatrist & best friend, even on bad days.
Treat people on Twitter like you would in physical life.
You'll meet incredible people who will change you forever.
In case I forget how I got here... https://t.co/d68o0HfLaX
Just finished this book.
A great read to learn about:
- The mindset to win - How food impacts life - Healthy and simple recipes
Here are my notes (right) https://t.co/g9qpKjooq5
Thanks for the recommendation @thepatwalls ☺️
I made $83,212 in March 2024 from 10 sources of income
ShipFast 💰 $75.1k
PoopUp 💰 $2.9k
ZenVoice 💰 $1.3k
Indie Page 💰 $1.2k
LaunchViral 💰 $1.1k
YouTube 💰 $798
ByeDispute 💰 $214
VirallyBot 💰 $199
Twitter 💰 $191
WorkbookPDF 💰 $115
83X my salary last year (no april fool)
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I made a video about everything I did last month:
New tiny SaaS, Taiwan travel, health, books, etc...
I got 29,100 visitors from Google, for free, using programmatic SEO.
Here's how you can do it too to grow a startup:
https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-grow-a-micro-startup-with-programmatic-seo
The only things stopping you from finishing your project:
Lack of sleep and this https://t.co/lfzJgOMikQ
And maybe kids but I can't tell 😅
2017: I spent a year building a startup that made $0. 2023: I launched 10 products and made $263,000.
Speed is solopreneurs' best friend.
This is how to get ideas and build them fast: https://t.co/3XjwQXpcGE
1/ An idea, quick
The most successful products were built by solopreneurs scratching their itches.
@levelsio building NomadList while traveling the world is a great example.
There are tons of existing problems gravitating around you.
Build a habit of looking around.
If you’re working 9/5, it’s the best place to explore. Search for experiences that bother you. Or knowledge you wish you had.
When you get started, ideas don’t matter. Building them does. You’ll discover real problems and get tons of promising ideas.
If nothing comes, start something new. Try a new sport, start a new daily routine, or acquire new skills.
You can also solve universal problems: Businesses want more revenue, and people want to be more productive.
Finally, you can upgrade a product you or your friends use.
2/ The 24-hour startup
My 2017 startup failure went like this: I threw away all the code, quit my girlfriend, and moved to a new country.
The more time invested, the higher the expectations.
In the tough world of entrepreneurship where expectations are rarely met, spending months on a product is a recipe for burnout.
Every startup has a 24-hour version: Airbnb is a spreadsheet, and Instagram is a Google Drive.
Find yours. Remove all non-critical features. Spend a week or two building. Write a good headline and ship with a buy button.
TL;DR;
Building a successful startup is a repetition of tiny failures.
Be comfortable being imperfect. Take action. Now is a good time to write some code.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I get 300 visitors a day from Google, for free.
In tomorrow's issue, I'll share everything I know about growing a startup using programmatic SEO.
Grab it here: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/ https://t.co/OJXjyI0cAJ
0 → $3,300 in 14 days.
Maybe shipping fast doesn't work for everyone... But I receive weekly DM from founders who make their first $ online.
Congrats on the launch @Vlad_Smolyanoy https://t.co/yfuH1xD4bT
✅ 20K subscribers ✅ 100K video views ✅ Last YouTube tweet so you don't cancel me https://t.co/ZHFzOX1whi
10,000 followers on LinkedIn 🤩
0 → 10K took:
- 14 months on Twitter - 5 months on LinkedIn - 3 months on YouTube https://t.co/Ai3MLvstVD
Twitter definitely kick-started the growth on YouTube and LinkedIn.
Once you have build a little something, everything is a little easier.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
The only part missing to turn your side project into a profitable startup is what's inside @dankulkov's head.
Book him.
It will hurt. But that's how you fire your developer self and become an entrepreneur.
Don't forget to compliment him.
His cold Russian heart will bug.
51 weeks like this and I'm making $1M/year 😁 https://t.co/YFkNdGMrgK
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
My YouTube subscribers doubled in 7 days.
What I learned:
(ongoing thread) https://t.co/vljG6lSXE1
2. Be remarkable:
Another UI library is the norm.
A developer who didn't fall for the shiny object syndrome is unique.
1. Make your title/thumbnail first:
Nobody watches good content in a bad package.
3. Title/thumbnail should trigger an emotion:
Curiosity, WTF, inspiration.
Just like copywriting for landing pages, emotions drive behaviors.
✅ New milestone:
2,000+ developers shipped, FAST ⚡️ https://t.co/2j5nquz94k
I just upgraded my morning breakfast 💪🍃
CSS bento grid meets @bryan_johnson https://t.co/GZscWUavA4
3 years ago, I spent days creating a meaningless Ikigai.
Recently, I realized these 3 elements are 99% driven by people's reactions:
- What I love - What I'm good at - What I can be paid for
If I had to start again:
- Pick anything the world needs - Do it for weeks - Assess https://t.co/NYjRqOqkFy
@wonjitos started designing 3 months ago with 0 skills and no clue if she'd like it.
But her story got people's attention.
So she spent more time designing.
Her skills improved. Her Twitter following too.
Now she loves designing and gets paid for it.
When I learned to code, I struggled to decide on the right tech stack with all the noise out there.
Tech stack doesn’t matter.
Pick one and stick to it. You’ll get comfortable and ship much faster.
Here's mine: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/the-tech-stack-i-use-to-make-usd-52600-month
YouTube keeps recommending my video after 5 days.
I hope it's evergreen like SEO 🤤 https://t.co/h6tq49DLZw
If you just started building in public:
Spend 1 day a month to turn your progress/learning into a 10-minute video.
The scale on YouTube is huge.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
1. ShipFast documentation for Stripe subscriptions (https://shipfa.st/docs/tutorials/subscriptions) promotes [ByeDispute.com](http://ByeDispute.com)
2. ShipFast documentation to deploy your app (https://shipfa.st/docs/deployment) promotes [IndiePa.ge](http://IndiePa.ge)
Cross-promoting my own startups is the most satisfying marketing hack 🤤 https://t.co/aZnL0AOq8N
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
My solopreneurship journey was an accident.
I was bored so I played with AI and created MakeLanding.
MakeLanding created ShipFast.
ShipFast created ZenVoice.
ZenVoice created PoopUp.
Start somewhere. Then ideas will emerge.
I never change my tech stack.
That's how I built 21 products that get 250,000+ monthly pageviews and make $1,750 a day.
In tomorrow's issue, I'm sharing my simple, non-fancy tech stack. Get it here: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/ https://t.co/clfh3e40WI
Solopreneur perk: My office is wherever I want it to be.
Back in Bali 🌴 ready to ship 🧑💻 https://t.co/A6pMmZdVRX
How to make friends in 2024: Share your thoughts on the internet
Nice to see you, again, @montakaoh.
And 謝謝 for the Taiwanese dinner 🤤 https://t.co/Svfon7YO7i
5 random thoughts, not structured for the algorithm:
1. The game is unfair: When you reach an unusual milestone, you get 10x more attention. It certainly doesn't mean your product/content is 10x better.
2. Making money when you sleep is fucking awesome.
3. Making money is also tricky. The brain gets used to the baseline and feels stressed when it's lower. I'm triggered if I don't reach $1,000 a day. That was my monthly salary 2 years ago — stupid Marc.
4. Competition is healthy. That's how you stay motivated. We all compete somehow. Find people just above or below you.
5. Sleep has by FAR the biggest impact on my entire day. My motivation, productivity, and stress, are all at the mercy of 8 hours of inanimate time.
A ShipFast customer who shipped fast (and did marketing).
Time to add another 0 Juanjo 💪
Startup found did marketing today ✅
(and got lucky on YouTube) https://t.co/QwsvbZyR7i
To put this into perspective:
Today, I earned half my 2021 salary (when I started solopreneurship).
10,000 Subscribers on YouTube 🤩
It was around 8K yesterday, it's crazy. https://t.co/Ne5YsVedQi
me: I don't check my phone before 4 pm
also me: open YouTube at 7:31 am
I share everything I do as a solopreneur (code, life, learnings, etc.)
Product-obsessed developers (like me) can't understand this:
People don’t care about features.
People want money, status, and respect.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
PoopUp made $2,400 in 2 weeks:
- 1 feature - A terrible name - One-time payment - Made in 3 days with AI & http://ShipFa.st
Start too simple. Make a small win.
Once you get momentum, analyze, plan, think. https://t.co/ldea8HDfR5
The micro-micro-SaaS: http://PoopUp.co
The 9 minutes 47 seconds story about this product:
First YouTube video reaching 10,000 views 😇 https://t.co/H8xXyEKodW
Update: Google indexed most pages
ShipFast has 2.4K webpages indexed, 97% were generated by AI and humans for $15/month
https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1761371659913822438?s=20 https://t.co/fUD3Ne8hcw
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
If your product isn’t a painkiller and adds value over time, try free trials instead of free plans:
- Maximum 7 days - User must add a credit card - Subscription starts automatically
You want users to commit. An email isn’t a commitment. A credit card is.
2 other alternatives to free plans ↓
https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/3-alternatives-to-free-plans-for-solopreneurs
Nutella was created by accident.
Successful startups are born the same way.
Why you won't find good startup ideas:
https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/why-you-wont-find-good-startup-ideas
Vercel is sending my money back
Whatever they're doing, they're doing it right https://t.co/8Sl56Jm5rG
https://t.co/pqDR0M1DuJ
Is @AlexHormozi replying to my skit on http://PoopUp.co? 😅 https://t.co/Zy3cu12wZc
From his latest video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxQJ64BNuco&ab_channel=AlexHormozi
Why you won't find good startup ideas.
Sending a new issue to your inbox in 22 hours and 46 minutes.
Get it here: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/ https://t.co/Ateyoo15pQ
Show me your git history, I'll tell you are https://t.co/Fd3f80u8PC
It's not personal, just business
Today I was paid $2,600 to work 4 hours on projects I love, work out, and spend time with my wife.
Go launch that side-project. https://t.co/avgIj9x8uS
I can swap a GitHub repo for a house.
The Internet is beautiful.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I built ZenVoice live on YouTube in 30 hours.
The SaaS made almost $2,000 in 5 days.
The journey from idea to launch ↓
A pain with a money incentive is promising.
I didn't find alternatives. So a new startup idea was born:
A self-serve invoicing tool for Stripe (https://zenvoice.io)
💡 Getting a startup idea
After I realized I paid Stripe $1,600 to create PDF invoices, I turned off the option.
Then, my inbox was full of customers asking for invoices. https://t.co/bNnivnzVp3
🧑💻 Building the MVP
1. Pricing is everything
As a customer, that’s what you look at first, especially when you don’t understand the product. As an entrepreneur, that’s how I pay the rent. So I brainstorm pricing first.
I went with one-time payments:
- $49: Unlimited invoices for 1 Stripe account - $69: Unlimited invoices for unlimited Stripe accounts https://t.co/Y8ejIprsIK
There are 2 plans because people have no clue how much a tool like this costs. Confused customers don't buy.
The first plan is the anchor, so the second one makes sense.
I only pay for bandwidth (<$1/month) and emails ($0.001 per email).
If a customer generates 49,000+ invoices, I’m losing money. But this will never happen for all customers.
2. That ONE feature
I had tons of features in mind. But I also remembered that 90% of startups failed. So I have a rule to avoid wasting time (and eventually burning out):
1 startup = 1 feature
For ZenVoice, customers of my users should be able to generate invoices. That’s it. https://t.co/gmWykaGNtv
There’s no password reset form, invoice preview, or account deletion.
But there’s a feedback button so I know what users need instead of making a blind guess.
3. Landing page is as important as the product
On average, only 1 website visitors out of 100 will see your product.
I spent 11 hours on the landing page (37% of the time) to make sure it converts. Here are the key elements I focused on:
- Problem agitation: Annoying notifications to remind potential customers why they’re here. https://t.co/g3PKXNbK6r
- Headline: A promise with an emotional outcome “Focus on your startup, not the invoices”
- Demo video: I’m not a cold VC startup, so I demo the product and explain why I built it https://t.co/8KmAUlJb7E
- Social proof: I let a few users beta test the product in exchange for a testimonial
- Startup name: ZenVoice is easy to remember because it’s short and related to the pain (in-voice)
For each platform, I try to format the post for the user’s language.
For instance, I use cold tech words on Hacker News, and friendly vibes with emoji on Product Hunt.
I also made a launch skit to kickstart the post on Twitter.
🤑 Getting the 1st customer
To get the first visitors (and customers), I launch everywhere:
Product Hunt, Reddit, Hacker News, and Twitter have the most impact.
After getting 10,000 I look at just one metric: $ Per Visitor.
- The worst I’ve had is $0.06 per visitor. - The best is $0.93 (https://shipfa.st/).
If ZenVoice $ Per Visitor is above $0.5, I focus.
Otherwise, I let it run by itself, fix bugs, and move on to the next.
ShipFast crossed $300,000 in revenue today
- 329,427 people visited http://ShipFa.st - 1,851 solopreneurs shipped - 92% of revenue is profit
I launched the boilerplate on August, 31st 2023 https://t.co/E0bwcKIZpu
And 0 disputes since I removed the refund policy
New on ZenVoice:
Emails sent to customers display your Stripe account name ⭐
The field is prefilled with your Stripe data and editable in your dashboard. https://t.co/9DHJEyUlzW
My 11 streams of income as a solopreneur:
1. ShipFast (product) 2. IndiePage (SaaS) 3. LaunchViral (course) 4. ByeDispute (SaaS) 5. ZenVoice (SaaS) 6. VirallyBot (SaaS) 7. WorkbookPDF (SaaS) 8. PoopUp (?) 9. Affiliate 10. Twitter 11. YouTube
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
PoopUp made $2,000 in 8 days 🤩 https://t.co/5MpK6MNxBt
My new routine in Taiwan
💪 6 am workout 🧑💻 8 am deep work 👫 12 pm visit with @wonjitos
We're in Taitung. The weather is chill 🍃 and the food is delicious 🍜 https://t.co/uEjcJaD6Aa
I received 79 personalized applications 🤯
Hiring when you have an audience is dope!
https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1765695884191531015?s=20 https://t.co/6kTKpOiyJ4
I made $250,000 in 5 months selling JavaScript.
But when I launched ShipFast, I told my wife @wonjitos we’d be lucky to make $100.
Here's what I learned after being 2,500x wrong. https://t.co/QRYUU225dc
Background:
- I joined X in November 2021 - I built ~20 side-projects by August 2023 - I grew an audience of 35,000 likeminded people
Part of the success is luck, but keep in mind that I was in the game for 2 years — with an audience and proof of work. https://t.co/mgreY5EIRl
The 4 elements of success:
1/ First move advantage
Being first in entrepreneurship is a competitive advantage. First, people like new stuff. Second, every other product will be compared to yours — it’s free marketing.
In August 2023, there was no go-to boilerplate for NextJS.
People talked about http://ShipFa.st on Twitter, blogs, and newsletters because it was new.
The website was getting 500 to 1,500 daily visitors without spending a dime on ads.
2/ Emotional outcome
I can’t stress enough how important emotions are in marketing, especially if you’re a product-obsessed developer like me.
People don’t care about features. People want money, status, and respect.
ShipFast is the first boilerplate to tie a product to a goal https://t.co/FZEkYjS8ly
3/ Real social proof
Thanks to the emotional outcome, customers are pumped to get started. Their motivation drives results: they launch startups and make money.
The testimonials on the site reflect that — Makers in their bedrooms who just experienced a life transformation. https://t.co/sRiygYejVW
It’s reinforced by my story.
By shipping fast for 1.5 years, I went from 0 to:
· 35,000 followers · $4,000 monthly revenue · +$50,000 by selling startups
4/ Unfair advantage
You get attention when you make $55,000/month as a solo founder.
Newsletters, retweets from bigger accounts, YouTubers. People spread the word. It brings traffic to my site, which increases revenue and makes more people spread the word.
In hindsight, it’s easy to understand why it worked.
But 5 months ago, I had no clue what I was doing.
Your best bet to become profitable is to show up daily and produce something: a tweet, an app, a video.
You’ll be surprised by what can happen in a few months.
@wonjitos I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
This tracker was a mistake.
I tried to get the "perfect" sleep score for 2 months.
It created anxiety, which, ironically deteriorated my sleep.
I trust my body to tell me what's good enough.
Bye bye @ouraring 👋 https://t.co/Xuw8dhUUpm
There's no magic trick for good sleep.
Here's what helped me:
How I outsmarted myself to be productive: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/i-outsmarted-myself-to-be-productive
This day has finally come...
In 2018, I grew a SaaS to $4,000 MRR. I abandoned it in 2020.
It's been making money for the past 4 years with 0 support — true passive income.
The last paying customer ($199/mo) just churned today.
It paid my bills for years, forever grateful ❤️ https://t.co/N2cNuPuNMj
I documented the journey from:
- Getting the idea - Learning to code - The 1st customer - Growing to $4,000 MRR
Indie Hacking from Taiwan with @wonjitos 🍜
I'm working on a big project that'll take months, not days.
ngl, it's a bit daunting but it's the right thing to do, I guess.
Submarine mode ✅ 🤿 https://t.co/CmQGndNzt2
@wonjitos 1 year ago
2,200% the income
Nothing changed
China Airlines handles errors like this
Your new startup doesn't need Sentry and a 404 page https://t.co/n7HQAtwr04
I’ve quit countless times.
One of these was missing:
1. The right expectations 2. The carrot 3. The tribe
Tomorrow's issue is about making work too good to quit: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/ https://t.co/LopaiYhJdV
A new component just landed on http://ShipFa.st ⚡️
WithOrWithout → 2 cards to compare competitors and your startup.
📱 Responsive 🌙 Light and dark mode 🤑 Improve landing page conversion
Available today! https://t.co/7lTossBcFe
This component is heavily inspired by @nico_jeannen's great guide for FB ads https://makerads.guide/
I'm hiring a Video Editor! 🎞️✂️
We'll grow my YouTube channel from 6K to 1M subscribers (dream big, they say)
Job application link below. Join me! https://t.co/86y2jBALaH
We were supposed to do a podcast...
It turned out to be a startup consulting 😂
Thanks for having me Arvid!
I only track the revenue generated per landing page visitor:
- http://ByeDispute.com $0.06/visitor - [IndiePa.ge](http://IndiePa.ge) $0.08/visitor - [ZenVoice.io](http://ZenVoice.io) $0.15/visitor - [Poopup.co](http://Poopup.co) $0.27/visitor - [ShipFa.st](http://ShipFa.st) $0.93/visitor https://t.co/iSfhjjt0b0
It's my new way to validate any startup.
Oversimplified, but clear and simple.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
My startup http://ZenVoice.io shouldn't exist.
Nor should this @stripe https://t.co/V6bf87uUZj
It took 4 days to build PoopUp with my boilerplate http://ShipFa.st
- I type English, I get React components (Copilot knows the codebase) - @stripe handler grants access to the product with a click of a button - Built-in components to make a landing page hours https://t.co/T8mIKvLZgz
PoopUp launch after 24 hours:
📈 3,400 unique visitors 💰 $922 in profit 🧪 $0.27/visitor
Show me how you're using PoopUp 🤩
And thanks for the support! https://t.co/bcYNdUCood
@martindonadieu shows the pain of shipping updates to iOS/Android app https://t.co/YMPcXKNxXF
Interesting role-play (CFO/Accountant) to remember the pain of tracking finances
Well done @AimenSahnoun 👏 https://t.co/wjYXLkuK5y
Clever way to display a discount, didn't think about this https://t.co/aw02e0SHB0
@SimplyTom makes potential buyers feel the dopamine of getting sales 🤑 https://t.co/Ud2WnEAjhT
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
PoopUp in 2 minutes:
Nudge visitors into buying your product 🤑
🚀 Live now on @ProductHunt → https://www.producthunt.com/posts/poopup https://t.co/g7cnWfUTbX
Solopreneur is a lonely game but:
- @nico_jeannen gave me the original idea - @DanKulkov told me to productize it
Thanks ❤️
Me: "Why did you buy ShipFast?"
Customer: https://t.co/thvNMaJHCp
1. @levelsio tweets 2. @DanKulkov said: "Productize it" 3. PoopUp is live on Product Hunt now (link below)
I would love your support 🤩 https://www.producthunt.com/posts/poopup
are you out of your mind?
https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1764561691218788428?s=20 https://t.co/T7ovh18u57
I have created a monster 🤯
PoopUp — Turn your visitors into customers with wake-up call pop-ups.
Live now on Product Hunt ↓ https://www.producthunt.com/posts/poopup
Needless to say, built the product fast using http://ShipFa.st
From idea to prod in 4 days
I used to be addicted to World of Warcraft.
I played 10 hours a day for 3 years.
After uni, I channeled the energy into coding startups.
- Building a product is the quest - Making money is the reward
Now I'm addicted to playing a game that improves every aspect of my life.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
How I built a SaaS startup in 30 hours:
https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-build-a-saas-micro-startup-in-days https://t.co/8DuqPPAH96
The tech stack I used to build 20+ products:
- Stripe - NextJS - Mailgun - MongoDB - Tailwind CSS - No typescript
I've never changed it in the last 2 years.
NextJS is hosted on Vercel and used for the front-end + API.
MongoDB is the database, hosted on MongoDB Atlas.
I use DaisyUI on top of Tailwind CSS for the UI.
And for edge cases, like a CDN, I use AWS.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Thank you for those mornings, solopreneurship. https://t.co/zzBTCLql99
https://t.co/RcoZzCywXj
Me in 2017:
- 1 startup - Unicorn ambition - $0 revenue + burnout
Me in 2023:
- 10 side-projects - No expectations - $263,000 in revenue
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
On February 5th, 2024, I hit "Start Streaming" and built a micro SaaS live on YouTube in 30 hours.
The product made almost $2,000 in 5 days.
Tomorrow's issue is a summary of the journey from idea to launch: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/ https://t.co/ejwmT4UXjN
I gave $1,600 to Stripe to generate PDF invoices...
After I turned off this option, my inbox got flooded with customers' requests:
"Can I get an invoice plz?"
I built http://ZenVoice.io out of frustration.
And it's helped dozens of startup founders ditch the fee. https://t.co/yxyEmo2mNK
My startup's revenue in February 2024:
ShipFast 💰 $39k
LaunchViral 💰 $2.3k
ZenVoice 💰 $2.1k
Indie Page 💰 $995
Byedispute 💰 $311
VirallyBot 💰 $199
WorkbookPDF 💰 $48
+$252 (Twitter) +45 (YouTube)
I'm working solo and it's ~90% profit margin
My IndiePage is up to date now ✨
I'm turning these tweets into a series on YouTube.
Build in public, video style.
Let me know if you like it!
There's a myth around SaaS subscriptions and passive income.
1. It's much harder to sell a subscription 2. Customers churn
Meanwhile, my one-time product makes $45K/month constantly
The product: https://shipfa.st/
I realized I spent 2 years talking to the back side of my mic...
That explains the echoing sound on ALL my videos.
I feel dumb and relieved at the same time. https://t.co/sbUBPQhW5L
10x french accent incoming
The new way to validate startups:
280 characters + Stripe link
3D chess hiring strategy 🤌 https://t.co/cSvEQIJpus
- 21 products - 13 top product - Maker of the year
Here’s what I learned about launching startups Product Hunt ↓ https://t.co/yr2MaOrOVY
1/ Inbound upvotes
There are 2 ways to get upvotes.
Inbound upvotes are given by Product Hunt users who casually browse the site. Your listing should be on point:
- Your startup name should be crystal clear. I wrote about making names people remember: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-name-a-startup
- Your tagline should be short, straight to the point, and possibly trigger an emotional reaction. You can use trendy tech words like GPT-4 but don’t go too deep. Designers, product managers, and marketers must understand your tagline.
- Animate your logo as a GIF, it’s such an easy way to get attention because few are doing it
- Images in the gallery should be extremely concise, like a YouTube thumbnail. One feature per image. Zoom on the feature until you can’t before taking the screenshot.
When your listing is scheduled, write the first comment.
You’re a solopreneur, not a VC startup — this is inspiring, so write about it.
The comment section supports markdown. Add a link to your product name to maximize traffic.
And plug your Twitter to build an audience. https://t.co/Y7os5bEhRW
Finally, if you learned anything valuable when building your startup, create a Product Hunt conversation on the day of the launch. Plug your launch link at the end. People are already browsing the site, it’s an easy upvote.
2/ Outbound upvotes
You’ll compete against VC startups, so you need help from outside Product Hunt — outbound upvotes.
- Twitter is how you get the most upvotes. Announce your launch with a tweet including the PH link. The tweet needs to stand out.
Each of my launch videos got 300+ likes and my startup got a PH badge — even when I had 1,000 followers. I made http://LaunchVir.al for that. https://t.co/PRskHqt0lQ
Retweet the launch tweet a few hours later.
I also schedule 2 or 3 tweets later in the day — not related to the launch — so that hopefully one goes viral and newcomers discover my profile (don’t forget to pin your launch tweet).
- Add a badge to your landing page which links to your PH launch page.
Share your launch on other sites like:
- Indie Hackers - Reddit — https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-launch-a-startup-on-reddit - Hacker News — [marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-launc…](https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-launch-a-startup-on-hacker-news)
If one of your posts goes well, you’ll upvotes from your landing page badge. https://t.co/S9AzNZkWKC
When should you launch?
Monday to Friday are busier. More traffic, but more competition.
- If you’re chasing for the badge, launch on Sunday. - If you want traffic, launch on Monday (VC startups don’t work on Monday 0:01 AM)
Is it time to launch?
Get social proof first. Ask a few customers/users and add their testimonials to your landing page.
Then, launch as soon as possible, especially if you’re getting started,
The first PH launch is unlikely to be a big hit. And that’s OK. It’s a learning process.
You can re-launch a few months later with new features. Or launch free tools promoting your product (https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/marketing-for-product-obsessed-developers)
Meanwhile, you build an audience, and launching will be easier.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I just pushed a new feature on http://ZenVoice.io ✨
✍️ Update your business details (VAT, address, phone)
It lets you update the prepopulated fields and add/remove other details. https://t.co/ag331mhMS6
5,000 subscribers on YouTube 🤩
It's pretty fun to start from (almost) 0 again.
I'm bullish on the Indie Hacking community doing video content 🎥 https://t.co/QSZM6jXR8a
I share everything I learn, do, and a bit of my life as a solopreneur ↓
This could have been ZenVoice's headline.
Check out Dan's free AI wrapper, it's a banger.
https://x.com/DanKulkov/status/1762025027632091162?s=20 https://t.co/voJsYPeu20
When to launch on Product Hunt?
- If you’re chasing for the badge, launch on Sunday. - If you want traffic, launch on Monday
Monday to Friday are busier. More traffic, more competition.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
4 entrepreneurship lessons from my $50K/month product
→ https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/i-made-250000-usd-selling-javascript
That's why I can't stop building startups https://t.co/MXIpQlj783
It's ZenVoice https://zenvoice.io/
My free users work with my AI and built 2,497 SEO-optimized pages when I slept 😴
To improve my ranking on Google, I used:
+ Programmatic SEO + Human touch + GPT-4
Here's how ↓ https://t.co/D5VQCQ83v9
I built http://LogoFa.st, a free logo maker.
The AI feature lets the user input their business and suggests logos.
Not all results are good. But when the user picks one, it's likely a great one.
Human query + AI suggestion + human selection are then saved in my database https://t.co/Cdq2leCDyQ
When the data is saved, I categorize it with GPT-4.
I add tags — like the type of business (i.e. SaaS). https://t.co/lMDGIYcHON
Then I create pages with programmatic SEO targeting specific keywords, related to the tags:
- /logo-idea/saas - /logo-idea/mobile-app
The logos are displayed according to their relevant tags. https://t.co/Fkf5bMW2pg
Each logo gets a page with the user query.
Anyone browsing Google can find it, download it, or edit it. https://t.co/U5GGf9kn6N
Users might ask my AI to make logos if a new keyword becomes trendy.
For instance: "Logo for a GPT app"
My app would create new logo pages, which could rank on Google within days.
People would discover them by typing that same trendy keyword.
I'm not sure yet how well this will work, but there's a good symbiosis for SEO by doing:
Human query + AI results + human selection
Note: I did this recent experiment because the root domain has 40 DR (http://shipfa.st) which makes it easier to rank
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Anyone in Bali got a C02 detector?
Mine is showing abnormal outdoor level (normally around 450ppm) https://t.co/s7VESJixPx
A day in the life of a solopreneur
(that video killed my GoPro 🥲)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBmbjH7Rurw https://t.co/hKrZ3n502J
When I launched ShipFast, I told my wife we’d be lucky to make $100.
5 months later, it has made $250,000.
Tomorrow I'm sharing why (I think) my code boilerplate worked.
The wife: @wonjitos
Pat's most viewed videos are mostly about solopreneurs.
Indie Hacking on YouTube in 2024 is like Twitter in 2014.
Early birds are rewarded.
The next Pieter Levels will emerge from YouTube.
https://x.com/thepatwalls/status/1759944180229435856?s=20 https://t.co/daG4Qg0E3Y
9 days of live building a tiny startup were fun 🤩
I'm surprised how YouTube pushed 20,000 views for unedited content.
Indie Hacking + Video Content is my 2024 bet. https://t.co/0Rb2U2WeNa
If you want to see the live streams: https://www.youtube.com/@marc-lou/streams
A new component just landed on http://ShipFa.st ⚡️
TestimonialSmall → Simple and beautiful testimonial from your customers
📱 Responsive 🌙 Light and dark mode 🤑 Improve landing page conversion
Available today! https://t.co/LwjPBMlGnl
Vercel CEO approves http://ZenVoice.io's marketing ✅ https://t.co/j5B81s1cp0
OMG my YouTube is monetized! 🤩
That's my 10th income stream 😅 https://t.co/ViUzHd7hcc
- What I learn as a solopreneur - Building startups live - And a bit of lifestyle
↓ https://youtube.com/@marc-lou https://t.co/1R3fLVSSvf
I've made a quarter of a million dollars selling JavaScript. https://t.co/xI1jHzb7D0
And a little bit of TypeScript too https://shipfa.st/
And... That's a wrap! 🎬
Thanks for having me @arvidkahl 🤩 https://t.co/g5Nte0uEP2
The full breakdown of Jim Carrey's video is now available in http://LaunchVir.al 🌟 https://t.co/ypiIIevNP4
ZenVoice launch 24-hour recap:
📈 3,700 visitors 💰 $760 in revenue ❤️ Countless support (thanks)
Also, nice perks of having multiple products:
💰 + $390 revenue (LaunchViral) 💰 + $2,400 revenue (ShipFast)
ZenVoice: https://zenvoice.io/
It took a few hours to build ZenVoice's landing page using http://ShipFa.st 😁 https://t.co/SVuaFH7t4o
Tomorrow I'll update http://LaunchVir.al to explain how this video was made in 3 hours ⏳
Stay tuned!
My new startup http://ZenVoice.io is live 🎉
→ Let your customers generate, edit, and download invoices themselves.
✅ No 0.4% Stripe fee ✅ No customer support ✅ 1-minute no-code setup
One-time payment for lifetime access. Launch discount is up! 🔥 https://t.co/GsYGzLSHSF
Sorry Germans, I do love tho Kartoffel tho
Would love your support for Product Hunt 🙏
Read all your messages, and I'm blown away by the love.
Thanks for the support <3
Building a SaaS Startup (Day 9) — LAUNCH DAY ? https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1MYxNozOqbpKw
Better quality on YouTube: https://youtube.com/live/ao1sh3ie68o
PRODUCT HUNT IS LIVE https://www.producthunt.com/posts/zenvoice
POV turning 30 https://t.co/bgpMyQPPaw
Confusing... here's the updated version
I built 21 products in the last 2 years.
Here's how I get ideas and ship fast:
https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-build-micro-startups-fast
Prepared the weekly video today.
RIP 💀 https://t.co/RVbPUHQmcw
One-time payment is the fastest way to test the market
Grow with recurring revenue when + market validation + ongoing demand/support/updates https://t.co/TYDfvevgrc
I struggled to sleep well these days...
So I turned my cold office into a playroom:
🧑💻 Work: 10 am to 6 pm 🎮 Play: 6 pm to 9 pm
Trying to work less but more efficiently. https://t.co/CL0DF29g6e
@DanKulkov sold me the PS4 so?
A) He's a good friend B) He's bored of my tweets and this is 7D chess
What if...
❌ Instead of clicking to correct the spelling,
✅ @Grammarly would autocorrect each word within 3 seconds, and clicking would cancel that?
I find that 90% of the time, the autocorrect is right. https://t.co/4hodDfll7H
Don’t marry your startup idea
Out of the 20+ startups I launched, only 1 made good money and grew.
It’s the same pattern for most solopreneurs who made life-changing money.
When it’s time to focus on your startup, you’ll know.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
2017: I spent a year building a startup that made $0. 2023: I launched 10 products and made $263,000.
Tomorrow's issue is about building startups in days, not months:
→ https://marclou.beehiiv.com https://t.co/tUW990GFY4
This is a screenshot of my http://IndiePa.ge with the new 'small cards' UI
Before | After
Your http://IndiePa.ge startups got a fresh new look ✨
Choose 'small' or 'large' startup cards. https://t.co/XgbckUxouf
A free plan is a bad idea disguised as an opportunity.
Only 3% of free users will convert to paid users
To make $5,000 with a $20 plan, you’ll need 8,250 users (100K visitors).
"But free users spread the word..."
If someone refuses to pay for your product, they won’t tell their friends about it.
Less than 5% of my customers for ShipFast ($40K/month) spread the word.
And they spent a few hundred $ on the product, worked with it for hours, and made their $1 online.
Free users testing the water won’t become your marketers. They won’t give you a backlink either.
"But people won’t pay if they can’t try my product..."
Then the problem is probably your landing page copy. It’s either unclear or not speaking to your customers’ emotions.
Alternative 1: Free credits
If your product requires significant time investment for customers, like API-as-a-service, offer limited free credits to test it out.
The user should understand the core of your product without being able to benefit from it.
For instance, it’s free to create a profile on my startup IndiePage. Users pay to deploy their page to show it to others (the real value).
Alternative 2: Free trial with credit card and auto-subscription
If your product isn’t a painkiller and adds value over time, you can try free trials. - Maximum 7 days - The user must add a credit card - Subscription starts automatically
You want users to commit. An email isn’t a commitment. A credit card is.
Alternative 3: Free tools
If a standalone feature of your startup is sharable but not worth paying for, turn it into a free tool.
Ahref gets tons of traffic from their free SEO keyword research tool. I also added +25% daily traffic to ShipFast thanks to LogoFast.
Free tools help you make some noise by launching on Reddit, Product Hunt, Twitter, etc.
For best results, let users try them without signing up.
TL;DR;
Free users slow solopreneurs/bootstrapped startups down.
Avoid freemium and get paid for your work to get profitable faster.
I just unlocked YouTube Supers 🤩 https://t.co/NYtH813YVX
Building a SaaS Startup (Day 8) — Final Touch https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1YqxoDwYWPbKv
Better quality on YouTube: https://youtube.com/live/d0gatrMEXR0
Bali wifi against this stream today 😅
✅ Product ✅ Landing page
Tomorrow, we do marketing and we launch on Monday!
You can watch the previous 7 days here: https://www.youtube.com/@marc-lou/streams https://t.co/Y6yGamCVbA
First impressions matter — The headline of your website, the thumbnail of your YouTube video, or the first sentence of your tweet.
That one sentence has more impact on your conversion rate than anything else.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Building a SaaS Startup (Day 7) — Landing Page https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1yNGaZRbZoVJj
Better quality on YouTube: https://youtube.com/live/5luULK0lkUY
Lunch break 😋 https://t.co/IDSc3SxhNY
I also tried the Apple Vision Pro
https://x.com/pitdesi/status/1757552017042743728?s=20 https://t.co/8V1T2BkLjU
- I hated school - I hated university - I hated my job
All these frustrations made 2023 the happiest year of my life.
Embrace the struggles. Because happiness comes from solving them.
I had no intention of running ads in my newsletter.
And @beehiiv won't change my mind with a $75 nudge
12,000 readers x 53% OR x 8.2% CTR = 521 clicks
= $0.13 per click https://t.co/Vbm9uiftJk
My non-recurring-payment startup doing its recurring thing https://t.co/K0uDfx67Lr
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Building a SaaS Startup — Day 6 https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1BRKjPjPPqgJw
YouTube quality is better:
A ShipFast customer who:
1/ Shipped fast (<2 weeks) 2/ Did marketing 3/ Didn't give up
GG @davidviejodev 🎉 https://t.co/2lGzwchbyo
❌ Free plan ✅ Free credits
The user should understand the core of your product without being able to benefit from it.
You’ll save 97% of useless bandwidth and reach ramen profitability faster. https://t.co/d8TaiSZF3L
2 other alternatives to free plans ↓
https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/3-alternatives-to-free-plans-for-solopreneurs
My 𝕏 account grew by 60,000 followers in 2023.
It’s not earning money, but writing that had the biggest impact.
Here's how I'd rewrite 3 tweets of yours: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/rewriting-3-tweets
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
It feels like starting Twitter again 😅
1 video every Saturday (just posted one)
4,000 followers on YouTube 🤩
Any topics you'd like me to cover in a video? https://t.co/l0bOuRHjzG
ShipFast affiliates are crushing it 🤯 https://t.co/bRn3JCNwQ8
Become an affiliate to start earning today and help developers quit their 9-5
Forget about:
- SaaS - Passive income - The perfect co-founder
Start with:
- 1 feature - One-time payment - Repeated small wins
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Sending the issue in a few hours ⏳
Grab it here: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/
Building a SaaS Startup — Day 5 https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1ynJOyPoDelKR
Better quality on YouTube: https://youtube.com/live/AqWAB_I4nx8
Or if you're a Twitch-type: https://www.twitch.tv/marc_louvion
I never enjoyed marketing.
But I’d never earn $56,000/month without doing some kind of marketing.
I found a better alternative by making free tools that fulfill my inner builder.
↓
Free tool marketing consists of launching free and viral mini-apps promoting your main startup.
- You rank for new SEO keywords - It’s sharable so people spread the word on TikTok - You grow an audience by launching often - Your inner builder is motivated to work https://t.co/qXZ9XUXMZu
Some guidelines for the best results:
- The app must be free, that’s how you create a viral loop. - One feature is enough. It must be super simple. - The name should tell exactly what the app does. That’s how people remember and search on Google.
- The experience must start on the homepage. Visitors shouldn’t sign up or click links. - The app can be hosted on your main website, but it’s best to give it a dedicated domain. https://t.co/aXnaVuV425
To find ideas, take a standalone feature of your main startup and make a free version of it.
Alternatively, think about what customers would need before using your product.
"I can read 19 books a year with a 15-min daily habit? This habit tracker might help me" https://t.co/JACm4cxii2
To convert traffic to customers, promote your startup in a seamless way
A simple ad placement gets up to 10% CTR.
You can pump these numbers up when the free tool seamlessly embeds into your customer’s journey, so the promotion feels like an extension of your free tool. https://t.co/fyZ6qD28rb
The more noise you make, the higher the revenue.
Launch everywhere. Hacker News, Reddit, 𝕏, Product Hunt.
With free tools marketing, it’s common to get media coverage and go viral on TikTok thanks to the embedded virality.
Once you’ve launched, move on to the next free tool.
Each launch will make more noise, increase your daily traffic, and grow your startup — while keeping your inner builder satisfied.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I'm starting a YouTube channel in 2024
Just like I started solopreneurship in 2022
1. No expectations whatsoever 2. Show up daily 3. Start small
🤞
I'll make 1 video every Saturday
And occasionally build startups live ↓
https://youtube.com/@marc-lou https://t.co/Fc2BPEVPyL
Building a SaaS Startup (Day 4) — Today's guest is @nico_jeannen to help us write the copy https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1mrGmyzekoNGy
@nico_jeannen For better quality, join the YouTube live instead: https://youtube.com/live/w7aCo9hEAiE
ShipFast converts more customers WITHOUT the refund policy
1. Explain why it's not refundable 2. Show happy customers
https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1754848670237995488?s=20 https://t.co/RCLisppN4a
✅ Product ✅ Pricing ✅ User account ⬜️ Landing page
Tomorrow, we'll do some copywriting!
Hopefully, legends like @DanKulkov or @nico_jeannen can join? 😏
Building a SaaS Startup — Day 3 https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1mrGmyzWMEMGy
@elonmusk I'm back from lunch 😀
Write 5 headlines
WhatsApp them to 10 friends
After 24 hours, delete them all
Ask which one they remember
That's your new startup's headline
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I've split-tested refund for ShipFast for 1.5 months:
❌ No refund policy - 188 customers - 3 refunds = 185 sales
✅ 7-day refund policy - 185 customers - 14 refunds = 171 sales
$2,800 loss offering refunds.
I removed the policy.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
This man is casually offering a job to my wife.
I love Twitter https://x.com/MrNick_Buzz/status/1754777112211579037?s=20
Building a Micro Startup — Day 2 https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1eaJbgeeEpexX
For a better quality, check YouTube https://youtube.com/live/K_ulrsxK8gQ
Why is stream quality so low compared to YouTube @elonmusk ?
Focus on painkillers:
- 100,000 visitors on my nice-to-have product website made $6,000. - 100,000 visitors on my must-have product website made $100,000.
Unless you have an audience, avoid note-taking apps or habit trackers.
People buy solutions to painful problems.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
All I could afford when I started entrepreneurship
https://x.com/Suhail/status/1754286822837162419?s=20 https://t.co/FmPerANJPL
Building a Micro Startup — Day 1 https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1vAxRvpYVAyxl
If you're a YouTube person:
The best productivity hack is 8 hours of sleep
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
If done right, screenshots get you heaps of attention.
1. Zoom, even too much 2. Center information 3. Use visual explainers 4. Square and portrait format 5. Avoid fancy backgrounds
I wrote about it yesterday: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-make-catchy-screenshots https://t.co/QbK70Xr3ci
I had 0 expectations starting my newsletter — Just Ship It.
This DM alone made the grind worthy. https://t.co/lQfjvpR4w3
If you haven't already https://marclou.beehiiv.com/
Me: Running a Stripe chargeback protection business
Customer Support: https://t.co/YKBAL3pAE3
Customers don't pay you to finish a Javascript course.
But for the app you'll build with it.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
64% of my 20 best-performing tweets have pictures 📸
I'll share my best practices for catchy screenshots in tomorrow's issue of Just Ship It → https://marclou.beehiiv.com
Ditch free plans — turn a feature into a free tool instead.
1. Build an AI wrapper, logo maker, word counter 2. Launch everywhere to get traffic 3. Promote paid products to make $ https://t.co/LemkRrDekb
2 other alternatives to free plans ↓
https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/3-alternatives-to-free-plans-for-solopreneurs
Let's do something new:
→ Share 1 of your tweets that you think deserves more attention.
I'll rewrite 3 of them in the next issue of my newsletter.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
My newsletter went from 0 → 10K readers in 5 months.
What I learned:
- Ask for a reply in your welcome email (increase engagement = reduce spam) - Cut the noise, people won't read 3,000 words on Saturday morning - Have 1 clear goal for each issue and stick to it
- As what people want to read about - Plug your newsletter under some tweets (i.e. a milestone) - Show how many people read it (social proof)
- Avoid links before 1,000 subscribers - Plug relevant articles of yours in new issues - Write today, rewrite tomorrow
- Write 5 headlines, send them to friends, remove the messages after 24 hours, ask which one they remember: That's your winner - Repurpose your content on 𝕏, link back to your newsletter - Post a link to your issue on other platforms (Hacker News works well for me)
- Send a teaser on 𝕏 24 hours before - Send a recap on 𝕏 24 hours after
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
My startups portfolio in January 2024:
ShipFast 💰 $49.7k
LaunchViral 💰 $5.7k
Indie Page 💰 $910
Byedispute 💰 $234
VirallyBot 💰 $199
WorkbookPDF 💰 $77
+ $315 from 𝕏 creator earnings https://t.co/zL9qkyYC7s
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
January 2023 | January 2024 https://t.co/0kE1mJJ7f4
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I coded the entire platform for my 1st course:
1. Content recorded with Screen Studio 2. Videos hosted on AWS S3 3. Customers stored in the database with a unique link to access content 4. Course' chapters organized with Javascript
No maintenance cost, no crazy fee https://t.co/9fMgqklxTc
The course: https://launchvir.al/ The boilerplate: [launchvir.al/template](https://launchvir.al/template)
Me in 2021:
- $0 income - Depressed - Living at my parents
Me in 2024:
- $55,000/month - 69,000 followers - @ProductHunt Maker of the Year
Everything improves when you show up daily https://t.co/4wkGYneiod
@ProductHunt I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
The SaaS is still making money after 5 years.
Tomorrow, I'll share how I made my first $1 online and grew a SaaS to $4K MRR with cold emails: https://youtube.com/@marc-lou https://t.co/Agb6uE2V1H
Teaser 200% inspired by @thepatwalls — but quality is 10% 😅
I got a newsletter's sponsorship offer from... @MorningBrew 👀
But the payout is lame for 10K readers, 57% open rate, and 11% CTR.
Declined instantly again ✅ https://t.co/XjRJtUE60G
The newsletter: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/
How to launch on Product Hunt
— as a solopreneur competing against VC startups
https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-launch-a-startup-on-product-hunt
I updated my story on http://ShipFa.st
And GitHub Copilot roasted me https://t.co/Y4XZ00PRt3
I've given up 2 times in 6 years — but I'm still here.
- 2017: I left my GF, country, and friends after spending 1 year building an app with 0 users — thinking I was Mark Zuckerberg. I started smoking again.
- 2020: After 4 years as an entrepreneur, 0 successful projects, lived with my parents — my head went crazy, I punched the wall 4 times. I spend the next 4 hours crying in my mum's arms.
I restarted the journey in 2021.
Every day has been a blessing, whether I made $0 in months at the beginning, or $50K/month now.
My 2021 mindset was different from the previous 4 years.
1. I never had uncontrollable outcomes, like money or followers:
Instead, I had one tangible goal in mind: How many apps am I going to ship?
If no one uses my app, it's still a success. It adds to my collection of apps, like Pokemon cards you'd collect.
And if I don't ship, I should have learned something.
2. I observed and imitated like a psycho:
How did @dannypostmaa get LandingFolio #1 ranked on Google? Why is the YouTube video going viral? Why is this tweet from @levelsio getting so many likes?
If something is working, there's a reason you can learn from it.
3. I made friends, real friends:
Of course, I commented on big X accounts to get engagement.
But I also looked at my peers —who, back then, didn't have many followers — and genuinely engaged with nothing at stake.
- @nico_jeannen came to my wedding and added $15K of revenue to ShipFast thanks to ads. - @DanKulkov fixed my developer's mind, made me earn 6 figures in 2023, and was my psychiatrist last Tuesday.
A few things I wish I had known in 2021:
- Don't think past 6 pm - Startups should start as 1 feature - Ditch free plans and get paid for your work - Your headline does 80% of the sales process - Lack of sleep is the cause of most bad emotions
Food + Sleep + Workout = Psychiatrist
Solopreneurs wear 10 hats — Burnout is around the corner.
- Eat healthy, low carbs, quit alcohol - Exercise daily, even for 15 minutes - Make sleep your #1 priority
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
- 21 products I launched on @ProductHunt - 13 Top Product badge - 1 Product of the Week - Maker of the Year 2023
Tomorrow, I'm sending everything I learned → https://marclou.beehiiv.com/ https://t.co/Ybap0ZTHyt
This kind of testimonials... 🤤 https://t.co/0yBrh2B0iw
1465 makers built AI tools, SaaS, etc.
Many also made their first $ online with http://ShipFa.st
In 2022, I used to launch startups in the void.
- Post daily on 𝕏 - Make a product demo video - Share the Product Hunt link for support
But I got 0 sales... https://t.co/pAzrhFjWUa
But in October 2022, I launched a startup with a fun short video. The tweet took off...
- People liked and retweeted, creating a viral loop - It got 600+ upvotes on Product Hunt - I got a Golden Kitty Award in 2022
I made the video in just one day with my phone. https://t.co/SZHu0QfwoT
I repeated the strategy 12 times: 1 tweet + 1 video
- Every tweet gets 300+ likes - Every launch gets a Product Hunt badge - Every launch my audience grows by 1,000 followers
These videos helped me stand out from the crowd on 𝕏, drive traffic to my startups and earn $50K/month https://t.co/lWYWAU0S6O
I created http://LaunchVir.al to help you grow a startup with viral launch videos — without being creative
- AI does a lot of heavy lifting (script, embeds) - I break down the most viral videos - The library sparks your creativity
@wonjitos designed the image below ❤️
I just got the first sponsorship offer for the newsletter I started last year.
Automatically declined tho 😅 https://t.co/W03z5gKGsP
If you haven't already... https://marclou.beehiiv.com/
In 2021, I was depressed, living with my parents and 0 income.
One day, I saw a tweet from @levelsio:
A guy building startups with a laptop and no employee — Freedom.
I took the plunge, moved to Bali, and shipped like a madman.
I showed up every day, even when I didn't feel like it.
2 years later, I'm making $50K/month with my 20 products.
Today, I was awarded @ProductHunt Maker of the Year 2023 — just like my idols when I got started.
Go fucking do it.
Thanks, everyone for your support in the past 2 years — I would never be here without you.
This Saturday, I'll send everything I learned about launching on Product Hunt ↓
I can't answer all the comments, but I read them all.
Hard to express my gratitude. Thank you for all the support, really. ❤️
I made it to the Bootstrappers blog by @acquiredotcom 🤩
We talked about how good of a student I was...
And how my bootstrapper journey started.
(link below) https://t.co/7j4b7lzlPx
Planning to launch a course?
You can get LaunchViral's code template for $49:
🧑🏫 Course structure with chapters 💳 Payment processing 👋 Welcome email 🌟 Landing page 🔒 User login
→ https://launchvir.al/template https://t.co/FW1D7kRa5r
For example, here are 2 landing page components — http://launchvir.al https://t.co/W2xg0AkRus
Here's the course — dump your content in a .json file to get chapters/lessons displayed.
- Curriculum is interactive - Video with preload and speed change https://t.co/i8W9hYvyHw
Payments are processed through @stripe
The boilerplate automatically:
1. Create a checkout 2. Listen to webhook events 3. Update the user in the database https://t.co/03GZhslAYs
Steal the course boilerplate → https://launchvir.al/template
Launch your course in days, not weeks — ah!
32 hours of watching time on my first YouTube video 🤩
I posted 16 hours ago and got 17 new subscribers. https://t.co/g4LMRWH88x
In 2024, I'm sharing 1 video a week about my solopreneur journey:
Let me know topics you're interested in please 🙏
YouTube makes it so addictive 🤤 https://t.co/qALN50ZB9U
My newsletter is now sent to 10,000 solopreneurs 🤩
I launched it in August 2023 — just to see.
Every Sunday morning, I sat at my desk and wrote.
I picked any topic I wished I knew before starting the journey.
Hopefully, it's been helpful to some of you. https://t.co/h3eO7NbPsa
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
My new course is live 🥳
http://LaunchVir.al → Grow your startup with ads people enjoy watching
✅ $70 off during the launch https://t.co/hlrITHsq4r
My typical day as a solopreneur:
6 am → Wake up 6:30 am → Surf 8 am → Coffee + book 9 am → Breakfast 9:30 am → Offline work (coding, marketing, video) 12:30 am → Lunch with wife
2 pm → Offline work (coding, marketing, video) 6 pm → Dinner with wife 7:30 pm → Online work (emails, Twitter, support) 9 pm → Stretch 9:30 pm → Sleep
This is my perfect day, but
- There are days I surf for 4 hours - There are days I binge YouTube all afternoon - There are days I check Twitter too early in the am
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Free tool marketing:
- Helped @tibo_maker grow Tweet Hunter to $10M ARR - Increased @DanKulkov's revenue by by 226% - Added 2,000 users to my habit tracker
I wrote about growing a startup while fulfilling your inner builder: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/marketing-for-product-obsessed-developers https://t.co/9RsIC4OzVR
@tibo_maker @DanKulkov I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
3 books that changed my solopreneur journey:
- readMAKE (startups) - RefactoringUI (design) - Why We Sleep (health)
1. https://readmake.com/ by @levelsio 2. [refactoringui.com](https://www.refactoringui.com/) 3. [amazon.com/Why-We-Sleep-U…](https://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Sleep-Unlocking-Dreams/dp/1501144316)
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I'm taking YouTube seriously in 2024
- Monday to Friday: Ship like a madman - Saturday: YouTube - Sunday: Newsletter
First video rolling out on Monday: https://youtube.com/@marc-lou https://t.co/RFFrCJ2wMT
How have you heard about our build-in-public community for the first time?
http://ShipFa.st isn't for developers.
It's for solopreneurs who want to turn code into cash.
I never enjoyed marketing.
But I’d never earn $50K/month without doing some kind of marketing.
Tomorrow's issue is about getting customers as a product-obsessed developer → https://marclou.beehiiv.com/ https://t.co/ibHqnTITzN
My solopreneur revenue:
2021 → $4,300 2022 → $9,700 2023 → $263,000
Keep showing up.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
It took 1 week to build LogoFast...
And it's nominated for the Golden Kitty Awards 2023 🎉
Would love your support — link below https://t.co/HdmMfnwuLA
There must be something going wrong on Hacker News... https://t.co/C0xH13hAwE
$200,000 in profit today ✅
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
7 lessons from building 9 startups in 2023
#1 Don’t marry your idea
Out of the 20+ startups I launched, only 1 made good money and grew.
It’s the same pattern for most solopreneurs who made life-changing money.
When it’s time to focus on your startup, you’ll know.
#2 Emotions sell
Few care about a NextJS boilerplate. But many care about a shortcut to ship startups faster and reach financial independence.
Rephrase your copy to trigger an emotional reaction.
#3 Subscriptions headache is real
I killed a startup by swapping one-time payments for recurring ones.
Monthly passive income is good for business owners only. Users are much more reluctant to recurring payments.
Start with one-time payments. Add subscriptions if needed.
#4 Swap vitamins for painkillers
100,000 visitors on my nice-to-have product website made $6,000. 100,000 visitors on my must-have product website made $100,000.
Unless you have an audience, avoid note-taking apps or habit trackers. People buy solutions to painful problems.
#6 First impressions matter
In our digital world, it’s the headline of your website, the thumbnail of your YouTube video, or the first sentence of your tweet.
That one sentence has more impact on your conversion rate than anything else.
#5 Ditch free plans
Only 3% of users upgrade to paid plans.
You need 10,000 users to make $3,000 ($10/mo subscription). That’s an insane amount of work for a solopreneur.
“Grow first, monetize later” is for VC-backed startups.
#7 Food + Sleep + Workout = Psychiatrist
As a solopreneur, you’re wearing 10 hats (developer + copywriter + accountant…). Burnout is around the corner.
- Eat healthy, avoid carbs, quit sugar and alcohol
- Exercise daily, even if it’s an easy 15-minute workout - Make sleep your #1 priority. Sleep at the same time every day in a dark room at 18°. Don’t drink coffee 10 hours before bed, don’t drink water 3 hours before bed, dim lights 1 hour before bed.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Video testimonials build trust because they're genuine.
So I added this new component to http://ShipFa.st 🎥 https://t.co/WaHP6Feijp
The database of my $45,000/month startup costs $0/month https://t.co/VGV0AYFxWD
The product: http://ShipFa.st
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Holy.. 🤯 https://t.co/DXTQ9jMX8Y
My free logo maker with a touch of AI got nominated for the Golden Kitty Awards 2023 too 🤩
Would love your support → https://www.producthunt.com/golden-kitty-awards/bootstrapped-small-teams https://t.co/Tlgo52OucD
I hope the @ProductHunt Gods hear you all 🙏 https://t.co/yq7KCktumb
No one cares about a NextJS boilerplate.
People care about a shortcut to ship startups faster and get profitable.
Emotions sell — Rephrase your copy to trigger an emotional reaction.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Just launched ShipFast on DevHunt 🚀
I'd would love your support: https://devhunt.org/tool/shipfast https://t.co/nuAbVVPmwF
DevHunt is a really cool niche Product Hunt by @johnrushx
Check it out!
I accidentally created a marketplace for developers
https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1746102085689749930?s=20 https://t.co/0dvYwgAGlk
Come build with us on Discord 🧑💻
FAQ for my new startup.
What's your MRR prediction? https://t.co/Z91DsCzg6P
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
3 profitable alternatives to free plans:
• Free tools • Free credits • Free trial with cc and auto-subscription
I wrote about it yesterday: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/3-alternatives-to-free-plans-for-solopreneurs
My income is much more stable with my one-time purchase startup than with monthly subscriptions.
Subscriptions don't last forever. People churn all the time.
Start with one-time payments to get profitable, and scale with subscriptions (if needed). https://t.co/87DVzobjx0
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I received DMs from solopreneurs making their first $1 online after removing free plans.
In today's issue, I’ll share 3 profitable alternatives to freemium.
Sending in a few hours ↓
https://marclou.beehiiv.com/ https://t.co/the8WsWLAP
5 months ago ShipFast was an idea.
Today it's a bounty marketplace for developers 🤝
I was not sure about the Discord community at first.
But chatting with your customers is a great way to find side business ideas 💡
Customers of http://ShipFa.st learning how to code can get expert help from savvy coders.
And the boilerplate makes support much easier.
ShipFast doesn't get a cut, just connecting developers
Subscriptions headache is real
I killed a startup by swapping one-time payments for recurring ones.
Monthly passive income is good for business owners only. Users are much more reluctant to subscriptions.
Start with one-time payments. Add subscriptions if there’s a demand.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
"How is ShipFast better than other boilerplates?"
Customers do not buy code.
Customers buy a transformation.
They ship startups. Every week. And they make $.
I added a timestamp of the latest launch to the homepage. https://t.co/Hs1g7xuNIM
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I finally got my investment back after 3 years 🌱 https://t.co/KhD9RdLLNU
Next goal: https://t.co/pyuATd9hZR
Step 1: chia seeds https://t.co/hhtKdGhsKh
Sprout profitable in 4 days 🌱 https://t.co/L9GU5Q6iYs
Growing fast ⚡ https://t.co/QkEUV3PpAb
One thing for sure, my MRR cant catch up with the speed https://t.co/sDQg9b7vUe
Before: - 1 startup - 3 founders - 10 employees - $1M investment
Now: - 1 founder - 10 startups - 0 employee - $0 investment
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Going back to Bali after a 3-week holiday.
Plane feels like we're in the middle of a covid wave 😅 https://t.co/V8bjVSn5es
The greatest teacher is called "shipping"
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
"Stop calling a website a startup"
This is so wrong.
A startup is any project that aims to validate a need.
A headline + Buy button is far superior to a 200-page business plan + an LCC.
The real difference lies between tinkerers and action-takers. https://t.co/Dp0N3EO3QI
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Ditch free plans — Only 3% of users upgrade to paid ones.
You need 10,000 users to make $3,000 ($10/mo subscription). That’s an insane amount of work for a solopreneur.
“Grow first, monetize later” is for VC-backed startups.
I wrote about it here: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/ditch-your-free-plan?utm_source=marclou.beehiiv.com&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=7-lessons-from-building-9-startups-in-2023
53 minutes ago
cc @jackfriks https://t.co/6cvH1oPES1
Full solopreneur circle in 5 weeks:
1. Build MVP in 2 weeks 2. Marketing for 3 weeks 3. Reach $2K MRR and sell for 5 figures
That's enough $ to build the next MVP without stress and repeat the next potential 6 figures exit.
Ardit is the first http://ShipFa.st customer to exit for 5 figures — so proud 🤩
Just invested in my health @ouraring https://t.co/uUPBN4P8vv
Been sitting for 3 hours and I burned 100 cal and somehow walked 2k steps
Anyone at @ouraring can explain? https://t.co/LIYlhu0plH
Customer refused to get a refund 😅
Whoever you are, excited to see what you'll ship! https://t.co/V3MtOpRoMK
A checklist to improve email deliverability:
There's nothing worse than sending a "confirm sign-up" email to spam... https://t.co/pa2w1uX3HX
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
VSCode is the only app you want to keep your tabs open.
That's how GitHub Copilot knows your code.
Got this tip from @melvynxdev 💡 https://t.co/ccCzeuSi0Z
@melvynxdev I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
What I learned as a solopreneur building 9 startups in 2023
https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/7-lessons-from-building-9-startups-as-a-solopreneur
Add testimonials where customers don't expect them, like a FAQ https://t.co/UCOO8aCOcO
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Today I made $2,241 to ski with my family — thanks solopreneurship
Took 6 years to get here 🙈 https://t.co/1T2agWVaKb
It's @wonjitos in there!
My simplest startup had the biggest outcome:
$200K in 4 months at 91% profit.
✅ Emotional headline ✅ One-time payment
❌ No user authentication ❌ No $300 logo design ❌ No code testing ❌ No i18n
Don't overthink it — ship one feature and assess. https://t.co/upM71PoKDF
It has a favicon tho
The product: http://ShipFa.st
7 lessons from building 9 startups in 2023
Sending all details in tomorrow's issue of Just Ship It:
→ https://marclou.beehiiv.com/ https://t.co/3foYbDBqI8
Tips for crispy tweets:
- Say “I”, not “you” - Avoid long format - Don’t use ChatGPT - Tell a story in each post - Add visuals to add trust - 1 sentence = 1 paragraph - First sentence is the most important
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
http://LogoFa.st just got the Product Hunt Hall of fame 🌟 https://t.co/AwF7XOHJdU
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Pat's story is why solopreneurship will 10x in 10 years.
1. Get frustrated from 9-5 2. Work on projects scratching your own itch 3. Show up daily for years 4. Get more money, freedom, and satisfaction than any job could get you.
The best marketing hack is selling products you actually use.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Problem Agitation Component just landed on http://ShipFa.st!
It builds trust with customers and increases your conversion rate 🤑
The documentation helps you write the copy. https://t.co/WNZV8wa9pX
Here are some examples
- ShipFast (left) - MakerBox (right) https://t.co/kZ1VRPKKLL
Thanks, Javascript, for letting me pay the bills from anywhere in the world https://t.co/rCDXlxyB4Y
I'm in the French Alps to ⛷️ and finish LaunchViral's course
I earn $55,000/month as a solopreneur.
- I was fired by @tailopez - I was fired from the university - I was fired from high school
Don't let anyone say you can't.
@tailopez I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Instead of New Year's resolutions, I do monthly check-ins.
Each month since 2021, I write down the highlights. Each bullet point is categorized as:
🟨 = Building 🟦 = Learning 🟩 = Resting
My only goal for 2024 is to do more in each category. https://t.co/qd6gy49Eu8
Note: The screenshot is a summary of 2023
What I achieved, not what I plan to achieve
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Happy New Year from @wonjitos and me 🥳
All the best for 2024 — many startups, product-market fit, ramen portability, and health! https://t.co/1DFYgpqCjZ
We sold these couple gloves in South Korea under -15° in 2018 — a few months before I made my first $1 online
My startups portfolio in December 2023:
ShipFast 💰 $51k
LaunchViral 💰 $5.4k
Indie Page 💰 $1.1k
Byedispute 💰 $767
VirallyBot 💰 $199
WorkbookPDF 💰 $19 https://t.co/yU5t8eW7gF
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
2023 in 25 tweets
1. January — Built my 1st mobile app https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1617867755956629505
2. January — Sold my 1st startup for $4,300 https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1620057832585560064
3. February — Built GamifyList https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1622512088706076672
4. March — Built HeroFit live on YouTube https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1635173709140103168
5. March — Quit my main startup (Habits Garden) https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1638165813478694912
6. March — Built NavalAI https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1637710322130911233
7. March — Took a few days off in Vietnam https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1636716010643365890
8. April — Built LandingAI https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1643962761377112065
9. May — Built Fake It Till You Make It
10. May — Built MakeLanding https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1674311989915467782?s=20
12. June — Ditched freemium for good https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1674452736421789696?s=20
11. June — Built IndiePage https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1668151396183547904
13. July — Married @wonjitos in Korea https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1678020135926517761?s=20
14. August — Built WorkbookPDF https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1690619443812896768?s=20
15. August — Built ShipFast https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1697165875957449084
16. September — Met 𝕏 IRL https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1704338067207991431?s=20
17. September — Started a newsletter (Just Ship It) https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1707739502037422191?s=20
19. October — Turned 30 https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1714627794616143925
18. October — Sold Habits Garden for $10,000 https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1711738505934856418
19. October — Holidays in Taiwan with my in-laws https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1721086700183585121
20. November — Launched ByeDispute https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1723974769593499938?s=20
21. November — Made $100,000 with a startup and $11,000 in 24 hours (Black Friday) https://x.com/marc_louvion/status/1724770499560153230?s=20
22. November — Sold MakeLanding https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1727307247473299696
23. December — Prelaunched LaunchViral https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1732015492788089142
24. December — Wrote about my 6-year solopreneur journey https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1733830181285196105
25. December — Launched LogoFast https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1737383470941278325
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Me in January:
- 8 startups - 5,000 followers - $1,500/month
Me in December:
- 17 startups - 57,000 followers - $59,000/month
Show up daily — a lot can change in a year. https://t.co/1KjwAqw6vV
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
A startup office in 2023 https://t.co/KSDhiicayI
I'm working on http://LaunchVir.al
A git commit a day keeps a 9 to 5 away
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
2 years as a solopreneur in 1,261 words:
https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/my-solopreneur-story-0-to-65k-month-in-2-years https://t.co/RKlTsYNLtS
Finding product market fit is hard...
But have you tried explaining what we do to family members? 😅
My 2 most successful startups in 2023 don't use AI.
Start with the problem, not the product.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
The best way to build an audience is to NOT build an audience:
- Build cool stuff - Share learnings - Inspire others
Relationships are organic, not numbers.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
1 month before launching a $50K/month startup
The upside of solopreneurship:
- Empty calendar - Work next to my wife - Never ask for permission - Can take a day off whenever - Only work on the things I care
The downside:
- Loneliness - Hard to sleep at night - Emotional rollercoaster
But the upside makes the journey totally worth it.
I added an affiliate commission calculator for ShipFast https://t.co/H3EKSf0uwx
→ Become an affiliate and start earning today: https://shipfa.st/affiliates
http://LogoFa.st just got an award 🥇 https://t.co/W7mTdtVp0e
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
ByeDispute is now Stripe Partner 🤝 https://t.co/CRxlkiNdFq
The next step is building an app for the Stripe App Marketplace
A $300 MRR startup can be sold for $10,000.
You don't need to go big or go home...
Just grow your side project. It could pay the bills for a year.
I wrote about how to sell micro startups here: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-sell-your-micro-startup
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
macOS feature to remove any background
1. Right click image 2. Quick actions 3. Remove background
Requires a PhD to find it https://t.co/1yj8MnMsEj
Merry Christmas 🎅 https://t.co/P8v0Vuqab0
A good night of sleep:
- dark room - < 1,000 ppm C02 - 18° room temperature - same sleep time every day - dim lights 1 hour before bed - no water 3 hours before bed (avoid toilet) - no coffee after 12 pm - no substances
This C02 device was the missing part of the puzzle.
I now sleep 7 hours without waking up, have no trouble falling asleep, and feel energized all day.
I am not a doctor but: - I don't use pillows - I have a cheap mattress - I don't take any supplement
My solopreneur journey: https://marclou.beehiiv.com/p/my-solopreneur-story-0-to-65k-month-in-2-years
My cutting-edge software powered by AI https://t.co/wEEDC3GjZK
My solopreneurship business 30x this year because I removed ego from the equation:
- a refund - a tweet not performing - a website not converting
It's all my fault. What can I do to fix it?
This mindset turns every negative event into a learning for a brighter future.
The last 2 years changed my life
- I launched 17 startups - I got 55K followers on 𝕏 - I send a newsletter to 7,000 readers - I reached $65,000/month at 91% margin and 0 employee - I met tons of new friends
I'll share my solopreneur story tomorrow → https://marclou.beehiiv.com
Grok roasts better than @DanKulkov
AI finally took over jobs https://t.co/WvTUd3kMTe
I gained 50,000 followers in 2023:
❌ A Twitter analytics tool won't grow your account. ✅ Showing up daily, building things, and engaging with others will.
I started using Typefully at 40k followers for 1 reason:
The Twitter scheduler sucks.
But I still don't look at analytics, performance, or any other stats.
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Santa Claus came early 🎅
- #1 product of the day - 10,000+ visitors - $2,500 revenue
Thanks for all the support! https://t.co/maepYUBnaf
Product Hunt plays GIF on mobile too.
Animate your logo to stand out 🌟 https://t.co/3fiKBYQE6i
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
I spent 3 hours making this component for LogoFast
... But I didn't ship it ❌
Users had to click a button to enter the app, which would reduce the conversion rate.
Instead, users land directly on the logo editor.
Functional > Pretty https://t.co/EV5ThnT9AB
This was an excellent tip by @DanKulkov.
LogoFast is live today on Product Hunt, would love your support: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/logofast
Videos like this kickstarted my solopreneur journey.
It only took 6 hours to create the help of AI.
I'll share everything I do in http://LaunchVir.al's upcoming course. A few presale coupons are still available.
I used OpenAI Assistants for LogoFast and it was a mistake.
- Each call used 4096 tokens because of the file - I had to call OpenAI every 2 seconds until the thread was completed
The results were really good though. Hope it gets more convenient after the beta. https://t.co/ai6h6mtVbr
my code https://t.co/acN4kYlNJS
Getting owned on Reddit https://t.co/XJrJDHeOpz
On Hacker News too https://t.co/GWSQJnKOzg
1. Pick an icon 2. Add colors 3. Download
Make beautiful logos in seconds with LogoFast → https://www.producthunt.com/posts/logofast
Not inspired? Let the AI create logos for your startup ✨ https://t.co/WShiFcjZQw
My new product LogoFast is live now 🚀
Make beautiful logos with AI, fast and free ✨ → https://www.producthunt.com/posts/logofast https://t.co/ZxgtYlzjwN
I made this video in 6 hours.
Sharing everything I do in the upcoming course: https://LaunchVir.al
The GPT-4 assistant is burning my OpenAI credits, use the presets until I fix it 🥲 https://t.co/fGIONYiaUm
AI feature is back 🔥
Using an OpenAI Assistant was a mistake. Each call would use 4096 tokens.
I switched back to a classic chat completion feature & removed the $ limit. https://t.co/ElDmVp0G4f
Did AI auto-reply land on Hacker News too? https://t.co/OS1x9bFq4t
Slowly shipping from France for the next 3 weeks 🎄 https://t.co/pwul9HIVfK
Customer - 30 seconds to initiate dispute - 80% win probability
Business Owner - 30 minutes to fight dispute - 20% win probability https://t.co/tFX1ZDr2IE
That's why I built https://ByeDispute.com
1 minute setup to prevent 80% of headaches
My salary: $65,000
My wallet: https://t.co/W6EzikGmYy
it's waterproof tho
Interesting refund pattern for http://ShipFa.st
How do you interpret this? https://t.co/JW44WNFI78
In other words, if there's a refund request I'm pretty sure it's from the cheaper package.
- Refund rate combined is ~6% - #1 refund reason: "I don't know how to code"
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
Before | After https://t.co/7KDFmmVORK
ByeDispute's dashboard http://ByeDispute.com
I share everything I learn as a solopreneur every Saturday morning:
How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable ↓
2022 as an Indie Hacker:
💰 $12,031 earned 🚀 10 startups shipped ❤️ +7,036 Twitter followers
Today, my startup crossed the $1,000 MRR line 🎉
---
❌ FAILED: Tweet scheduled 8 months ago. Current MRR is $542
I started building in public earlier this year 👨💻
7,000 followers seemed like a dream back then 😶🌫️
But today it became real 🤩
Thanks for following the journey ❤️
We can achieve a lot in a year. 2023 will be awesome 🌟
Startup stats - December 2022
Habits Garden 🌱 💰 $492 revenue (🟢 +36%)
VirallyBot 🤖 💰 $679 revenue
GameWidget 🧩 💰 $76 revenue https://t.co/tqKJ4GIHN2
My startup just crossed $2,000 in revenue 🎉
2023 will be awesome 🚀
@HabitsGarden🌱 https://t.co/isEIvygPAC
@HabitsGarden The man behind the recent growth is @DanKulkov 🙇
50 Hacks is the #1 most Insanely Useful Website of 2022 ✨
Thanks @WebsitesUseful 🙏 https://t.co/JFybfCbL4Y
It's never too late to get a sponsorship spot 😉 https://50hacks.co/advertise
Check the other 6 best insanely useful websites of 2022 https://newsletter.insanelyusefulwebsites.com/p/iuw-53
Buying domains sets you above the 99% who talk but never execute.
Keep grinding 🔥
The goal is to be retired to work without stress
DM me if you want to learn more https://50hacks.co/advertise
If you're selling a productivity tool or service, there's a free spot on 50 Hacks 💎
Reach thousands of visitors to boost your sales in 2023 🚀 https://t.co/0slKyZKGbd
Non-fiction books = 50% reading + 50% thinking
Take your time to get the most out of books
Merry Christmas 🎄 https://t.co/iPrq2FLPgr
How do you politely end a conversation?
90% of people I meet IRL are monologuers wanting to brag, complain, or express their emotions🤦
Workout in the dark by 10° hits different 🥶
But there's no day off 💪
#fitinpublic https://t.co/c9QZXRIeAt
98% of what I own is digital.
I could start a new life in a new country in 2 hours.
That freedom is priceless.
Typical startup customer support https://t.co/SDV0RFYAze
My startup's annual plan =
🤩 72 meals in Bali 🥲 5% of the ticket to see my family https://t.co/XGwlD6Kd1W
Annual plan = price for the subscription for 1 year
My startup crossed 4,000 users 🥳
Looking forward to ramen profitability with @HabitsGarden https://t.co/W2kDGG9F7B
Universities teach advanced coding concepts.
Startups need a well-written <H1> tag.
Founder did marketing today 📢
What's the airport? https://t.co/09NNAo6Ejc
End goal: total freedom
- no VC - no employee - no co-founder
This is how much my tiny habits deliver in 365 days.
Get your habits grid for 2023 👇 (link below) https://t.co/ddg0qA2KqG
My new startup is live on @ProductHunt 📢
@joerogan and I talked about it🎙️
Would love your support ❤️
(link below) https://t.co/NFUjZQ3ewS
➡️ https://www.producthunt.com/posts/visualize-habits
Thank you! https://t.co/rsSny6WkPk
If you're curious about the behind-the-scenes, I wrote about it on Indie Hackers
Not a bad place to celebrate the launch https://t.co/eQgvIJq6PY
Thanks for the support everyone. I'm so grateful for your kind messages ❤️
This community is absolutely incredible 🤩
Go ship your startup! https://t.co/4ev7mLNqzn
Sneak peek of tomorrow's launch video 👀 https://t.co/JdKX9fighU
7 years as an entrepreneur, the best way to relieve my stress and boost motivation is exercising.
Works best when it's short, intense, and before work.
Pets = unlimited source of happiness
Show yours 👇 https://t.co/xZWr1MU5LG
6000 followers so I wrote 6000 "thank you" https://t.co/WLKZmdJOBZ
Books are cheat codes for life
I bought a new domain but I've been slacking for 24 hours... 🙄
So I'm launching on Monday on @ProductHunt 🚀
✅ idea + domain ❌ design/logo ❌ 0 lines of code ❌ marketing assets
3 days to build a startup. No turning back.
Do I have your support at least? 😅 https://t.co/TEm2cx0ewJ
Did you know Instagram could be used for something else than travel pics? 😯 https://t.co/volCm1Nh64
Underrated skill for entrepreneurs: Be emotionless toward your startup.
- Launch with no pressure - Try new features in no time - Cope with failure without difficulty
Treat it like a t-shirt!
What’s your definition of success?
Mine: Number of days off I can take right now.
ChatGPT is supercharging my startup
Curious to see what Google crawlers will say 😆 https://t.co/N08SyQXUIw
Read 10 minutes a day
= 12 books a year
Do the math with https://bookscalculator.com/
📸 1 year in my garden in Bali 🌴 in 15 seconds https://t.co/4Jn6F48IUP
80% done is better than 100% planned
I've been building 9 habits in 2022 on @HabitsGarden
📚 Read 🐥 Tweet 🙆 Stretch 💦 Workout 💭 Daydream 🤓 Write todo 🇰🇷 Learn Korean 🇮🇩 Learn Indonesian ⛔️ No face touching https://t.co/YehqtKRZ2N
📚 Reality is Broken: 7/10
❤️ A must-read to understand why games are addictive. And how to use them for the greater good.
🥱 Too many examples. I wish the book would go deeper into psychology. https://t.co/v3LTg8Ju7T
Recommended if: - you're an (ex-)gamer - you want to be more productive - you use gamification in your product
💭 Here are my action notes https://t.co/vfT8kC0FPy
I used to be jealous of successful entrepreneurs. Why them and not me? 😠
I failed 10+ startups and lost hope 😔
But after finding out how to enjoy the process, I realized it will work for me too, someday 🤗
Jealousy is gone and success stories motivate me now 🤩
Every idea can become a startup in 24h:
1. Simple landing page to highlight the problem 2. One feature to solve it. 3. Stripe checkout 4. Launch
Just finished The Chimp Paradox 📚
An amazing read to understand what's going on in the brain and channel emotions like stress or anxiety.
Here are my notes: https://t.co/ttUJGjQUBr
People: you living the dream in Bali!
Me in my kitchen: https://t.co/YnkwJzRPDv
It's fast https://t.co/We7YbbUkmK
Found her sister in the bathroom
Maybe that's why Bali life is cheap after all https://t.co/ObYmx20M92
What building a startup teaches you:
- legal - design - planning - marketing - persuasion - psychology - commitment - accountability - coping with failure
Anything else?
All your startup need is a good <h1> and a checkout.
The rest is procrastination.
I used to hate coding 🤮
Now it's my work and passion 😍
Don't start with docker. Build an HTML page and let your curiosity teach you.
A bad day in Bali is still better than a good day somewhere else ☀️
.@fryingneurons saw this on a wall.
Totally deserves a tweet!
✨ Added CTR, an ad demo, and a FAQ to 50 Hacks https://t.co/Qs7cEeTW87
The #1 skill for entrepreneurs: Learning how to fall.
90% of our startups fail. To be successful we should stay in the game long enough.
My customer got a customer 🎉
It feels as good as a Stripe notification 🤑 https://t.co/IjfpjQ0VPW
If you want to advertise to people who want to get better every day, check out 50 Hacks.
6.5k unique visitors a month eager to see your product!
100 days of listening in 365 days 🤯
prob more was spent coding startups 🥲 https://t.co/hbnFU2fEGa
steal my favorite songs and show me yours! https://t.co/B2IOEAdNAC
4 years ago, I moved to Bali and sold a $1,000 software to escape room businesses.
I will never forget the first internet $ feeling. Freedom. https://t.co/ZhxZ12mJ2N
Feedback like this is coffee ☕️ for startup founders
https://twitter.com/fjdelarubia/status/1597942262792540160?s=20&t=gCC6zgu-lTHafS0gas6UgQ
Startup stats - November 2022
50 Hacks 🤩 💰 $149 revenue (new)
Habits Garden 🌱 💰 $360 revenue (🟢 +350%)
VirallyBot 🤖 💰 $679 revenue
GameWidget 🧩 💰 $76 revenue https://t.co/SusjZN8I5Q
Building in public saved me from depression 😔
Last year I broke into tears and punched the wall after failing 7 startups built in the dark 😡
I started sharing the entrepreneurship journey on Twitter shortly after ✍️
Now I meet friends, get aspired, and cope with failure 💪 https://t.co/iv0S4HlLN1
You don't need to test your code with the awesome #buildinpublic community
Developers won't believe me 🥲 https://t.co/u9wayXOJ4e
I've never been to the gym, just surf and skate
The outcome 10x when we do things for the sake of it https://t.co/62DpVUuiL9
Living on a budget in Bali: $450/month
🛏️ $200: Private room 🍜 $100: Food 👮🏻♂️ $100: Visa 🛵 $50: Scooter 🏝️ Free: Sun, ocean
Today - won $100k in $BTC - got a job at Amazon - seduced 2 AI-generated ladies
Twitter DMs 🙈
Podcast + video = 🔥
Join @PeterStrelec4 and me for a breakdown of my indie hacking journey.
Shot in my bedroom where I spend 23 hours a day 🤪
Gamified habit tracker: A or B? https://t.co/muOLxJIUa7
Version A is live.
Will share split test results on a month.
Thanks everyone!
After 1 month of testing, the results are the same:
17% conversion rate from landing to /welcome flow
So I added a new headline and social proof 🤞 https://t.co/AjTFf8RShd
My startup just became profitable 💰
Last week I opened an advertising slot on 50 Hacks .co and got a customer.
That's my 4th revenue stream 🤩 https://t.co/ruPDvDpuHe
The downside of this business model:n I can only take 1 customer at a time ($199/month)
The startup: http://50hacks.co
The 3 others: http://virallybot.com $794 MRR [habitsgarden.com](http://habitsgarden.com) $141 MRR [gamewidget.fun](http://gamewidget.fun) $95 MRR
5001x thank you ❤️ https://t.co/i9ZdwxYg3o
Name something more delightful than a happy paying user for your startup?
I'll wait.
🤩 "This tweet will go viral 100%" ➡️ Bummer
🙄 "I'm not gonna tweet this..." ➡️ 100k Impressions
Last week I updated my startup business model:
🤑 10 customers in 5 days (a record) 🤩 motivation to work skyrocketed https://t.co/i8WwYLfa0g
behind-the-scenes with @DanKulkov https://t.co/byFIxTxAN2
Explaining the startup emotional roller coaster to your employed friends is like convincing flat earthers about the truth
Our favorite marketing duo is back, send them some love 🔼
cc @sveta_bay
https://twitter.com/DanKulkov/status/1594601776266678272?s=20&t=Z1Gx0bGSIuheNfpM8nVEFA
I spend 20% of my income on an in-home Chef 👩🍳
📅 Monday to Friday lunch + dinner 🥦 Super healthy food ⌛️ No shopping, no thinking 💰 Cost in Bali: ~$200/mo
Trying a new business model for my startup:
📢 Advertise on 50 Hacks 📈 Show real-time traffic data 📁 Embed ad in 3 strategic places 💰 $199 for 30 days of visibility https://t.co/s3BXokc1Ia
What should I do if there's a sale? Up for a challenge!
The startup: https://50hacks.co/
Customer support: Twitter 🐦
I hear a lot of remote skeptics.
But I never see remote people going back.
To learn to code, build a site To learn Chinese, talk to locals To learn marketing, sell cookies
Books aren't magic. To learn, you have to do.
Spend 5 years learning 1 skill at university
Spend 1 year learning 5 skills at your startup
It all started because @DanKulkov called me (no joke)
Keep them coming 🔥 https://t.co/N2JzpCnBdi
4 customers so far https://t.co/7QGrOD1riP
If you've never built a startup, you can't know how hard it is.
But if you did, you can't go back.
You will build a successful startup by getting ideas from your current startup, rather than working on your current startup.
Major update on my startup. Straight to prod, 0 test (life is short)
🌸 1 new flower 🏆 2 new leaderboards ✅ 3 new achievements 🔥 stats of all users 🍔 improved navigation
#buildinpublic https://t.co/nk4AXkG5UE
The #buildinpublic community is 10 years ahead of entrepreneurs who want to "protect" their ideas
Crossed 4000 followers without the blue check 😮
$800/month in Bali: 🏠 $350: Room with AC and wifi 🥦 $300: Healthy food 👮🏻♂️ $100: Visa 🛵 $50: Scooter 🏝️ Free: Sun, ocean, happy people
That feeling of earning the first $ online is worth fighting for years
I spent 1 year in the dark building "the next Facebook" 🤑
I launched and got 0 users. I was depressed, and couldn't work for 3 months 🙄
I build in public since last year, shipping startups in under 2 weeks 🏗️
I earn $1000/mo and never felt happier 🤩
Rank them by craziness:
- Big waves surfers - Entrepreneurs - Flat earthers
Entrepreneurship taught me to stop trusting my emotions.
Once I realized it's a filter for reality, it became easier to accept good feelings, and reject the bad ones.
Simple and timeless happiness hack:
You never feel bad after a workout
10% of the work of an entrepreneur is convincing herself she's not crazy
New bio. Less talk, more action, same mustache https://t.co/snI5XrzS3t
What's better than making a living with your favorite side project?
The remote/async work non-believers are the same as those who said the internet is pointless in 95.
It's the future. All its drawbacks will be fixed.
My first-ever podcast episode is out!
@Zboozee and I talked about being an Indie Hacker and why I got fired by Tai Lopez 👻
https://www.zerotopointone.com/ https://t.co/i8hJ87Ylkk
The biggest entrepreneur's struggle is not failures or angry customers.
It's the void, the nothingness you go through for months when you start a startup.
USA: My son just broke his arm, sorry I'll do the Zoom at the hospital
France: I need to think, so I take 1 month off to India
Culture shock 😲
What CSS class is applied to my nerd office? https://t.co/TqmzpC4044
There has never been a better time in history to quit your job, travel the world, and start a new life.
Startup Stats—October 2022
Habits Garden 🌱 💰 $81 revenue (🔴 -44%) 📈 9.4k visitors (🟢 +50%)
Decision Game 👻 📈 23.6k visitors
VirallyBot 🤖 💰 $679 revenue
GameWidget 🧩 💰 $76 revenue https://t.co/0Lyvgsiqux
Solving procrastination for Indie Hackers:
You can't shave 🪒 unless you launch on Product Hunt 😼
Added a Halloween teaser to @HabitsGarden
Good luck 🎃 https://t.co/JowL0b9aq3
The biggest obstacle I have to overcome as a solo startup founder is taming my mind.
Marketing, coding, sales... All are trivial when compared with psychology.
Are full-time Indie Hackers a minority? https://t.co/pcCyIVIc2D
Twitter DM - me - me - me https://t.co/YeagkO24i6
90% of startups we build won't get a customer. You can skip:
- testing - fancy logo - dark mode - animations - automation - kubernetes - /about-us page - code reusability - the perfect Lighthouse score - non-happy paths (forgot pwd?)
What's more painful than listening to your own voice?
Anyway, my first-ever podcast was fun! Thanks for having me @Zboozee
A creator disappeared from Twitter... You're sad.
Who is she/he?
If Grammarly was that great, nobody would makes typos
When you push sarcasm too much 🥲
Trying to talk to my customers. Rate my pitch!
#buildinpublic https://t.co/7aQHHM0B6I
So far so good! Thank you, Nikhil 🙏 https://t.co/I3tpKGcRg6
5 calls scheduled within 24h.
👍? 👎?
An entrepreneur without deadlines is retired.
Nobody rings your door and says "you're an entrepreneur now"
Getting started is all it takes and is up to you.
Entrepreneurship took me to the darkest and brightest places.
The intensity of feelings is 10x any other life aspect.
Habits Garden is featured in Chinese media 👀 https://t.co/mwhaxn8hWi
Just added SEO-friendly URLs to 50Hacks .co ✨
If you submit a hack, the slug will be /hack/your-nice-tip.
(thanks @tibo_maker) https://t.co/LzDqW12BFP
12 failed startups in 12 months get you closer to your goals than 1 successful startup.
Just bought a domain for my new startup! 🎉
🥁 I'm building...
A list of the best gamification apps to level up in life Duolingo, Habitica, Habits Garden) 🌟
#buildinpublic
Superfast ⚡️ search by Algolia.
The algorithm recommends gamified apps to improve IRL Skills 🆙 https://t.co/Yocb2aVl23
Becoming a software developer is the best decision I ever made.
I can turn ideas into reality. And that's damn satisfying.
Demo of my gamified decision-making app. Yes, Nah?
💡 Trying to find creative ways to market my startups https://t.co/cdwHjupDb6
➡️ Play the game: https://decisiongame.co/
I was recently invited to a 5-star hotel.
The staff asked me to wear a tee shirt to enter the restaurant.
If spending more money = less freedom, what's the point? 🤨
My startup just crossed a new milestone ⛳️
💰 $0.4 per user 💰 $39 per customer https://t.co/V2dkB7X1c8
New startup idea?
Schedule the Product Hunt launch for next week.
Admire your productivity skyrocket to meet the deadline.
I never expected that many votes my @HabitsGarden
It's all thanks to you, Twitter friends. THANK YOU ❤️ https://t.co/6dJpgRPUYe
Instead of adding features, remove them.
If users complain, congrats, you're onto something.
Launch rhymes with giveaway (right? 🫣)
🎁 Win lifelong access to @HabitsGarden
➡️ Drop a flower 🌹 emoji below to enter. 3 winners will be announced at the end of the PH launch! https://t.co/ASOuK6MK7q
If you support on Product Hunt, well, I'll just love you more ❤️
@HabitsGarden @nico_jeannen @codingbreno @Vishnu_Trader
Can you please DM me? You are the 3 winners! 🎁🎉
Thanks everyone for participating and supporting the launch, so grateful to have you ❤️
Today: my startup is live on @ProductHunt Tomorrow: my birthday can be a bliss/disaster
To support @HabitsGarden use the link below 😻
(Sound ON 🔊) https://t.co/hoTKLQRmBy
Thanks for your support ❤️
And thanks to my wife for playing IRL World of Warcraft 😁
@ProductHunt @HabitsGarden UPDATE: Ranked #29 (flagged as potential spam) with the most upvotes https://t.co/TrnXgSwkVn
UPDATE: We're back on track and #3.
Let's catch up with (another) A.I. copywriting tool 😆 https://t.co/If52CZdmYd
Is it already my birthday? 🤩 https://t.co/mg6yZ8rM88
@ProductHunt @HabitsGarden We lost the #1 rank on Product Hunt... but landed on top of @IndieHackers 🤩
I share the behind-the-scenes building of a startup to ~$150MRR using engineering-as-marketing
https://www.indiehackers.com/post/launching-on-product-hunt-after-9-months-of-work-and-124-mrr-97d539b454 https://t.co/83Q0Y0XWEF
What you do in video games reveals a lot about yourself in the real world.
Play to learn.
Sunday's office 🌴🥥 https://t.co/JKZHzfbG3B
Not every startup has to become a unicorn.
There is a calm alternative, built from home with a laptop, where you stay sane and free.
65% of startups fail due to conflicts between cofounders.
Don't let the perfect cofounder dream slow you down.
I used to admire unicorn startup founders 😲
But after starting the journey, I discovered what it entails 😔
Now I admire Indie Hackers who find the life/work balance while remaining free and sane 🤩
me trying to enjoy life as a software engineer https://t.co/2YQ1NJfEV1
All the startups I launched on Reddit went viral (10k+ visitors in 24h)
Here is a $49 course for free 👇
1. Your product must target a wide audience. It's much harder to get big numbers in a niche
2. Your product must be special, unique, or different. There should be a "wow" or "haha" moment
3. Your product must be free and usable without signing up. The latter turns off most Redditors
4. This helps: a Reddit account with karmas, complying with the subreddit rules, replying quickly to the first wave of comments, speaking the subreddit language
That's it! The purpose is to go viral and get thousands of visitors from Reddit.
This surely isn't the only strategy, just one among others, made for wide-audience & simple products.
Have fun!
I'm finally launching my gamified habit tracker @HabitsGarden on Product Hunt next Monday 🚀
Can I count on your support? 😁
Reply with a plant emoji 🌱 if I should DM you!
#buildinpublic
@HabitsGarden It's LIVE now!
Thanks for your support 😻
My mini-startup went viral on Reddit 🤯
📈 21.7k visitors 🎮 20k game sessions 😻 16k cats rescued
Then the post got banned 🥹
#buildinpublic https://t.co/yoBsan5yJl
Btw, just a few hours left on Product Hunt!
Server in rollercoaster mode 🎢 https://t.co/JGzYWlUbnc
Decision Game 🥇 on one of the biggest subreddits
Catastrophe is about to happen... https://t.co/aLzIJFvIm2
Here we go! https://t.co/TdKJNYkxG4
Thank you. Expect more crazy apps & launches in the next months ❤️🔥 https://t.co/Pu0cAWKjDJ
My mini-game to improve decision-making is live on @ProductHunt for 24 hours! 🚀
✏️ Write 2 options you can't choose between 👻 Make a decision to beat the Overthinking Monster 😻 Save Kitty
Would love your support if you like it! 👇
#buildinpublic https://t.co/pDDcaUmZTU
111 Kittys have been rescued so far!
Well-timed marketing 😆 https://t.co/BmuD34tG9y
Launch is over:
🏆 #6 rank ⬆️ 160 upvotes 📈 830 visitors
Thanks for your support!
People teach the way they want to be taught.
💡 Reddit Marketing Hack: Create a URL that hides ads on your site
➡️ abc .com?ad=no
You can post without getting roasted by Redditors while keeping your ad visible to Google SERP and other visitors. https://t.co/kzmVt5vM1o
Here are my action notes for the book 📚 Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants to Be—Steven Pressfield
Not as good as The War Of Art, but definitely a great read for Indie Hackers looking for motivation. https://t.co/uFULNTTAe4
I'm launching a mini-game 🎮 to improve your decision-making skills 🧠
Hesitate between 2 choices? Decide quickly to save Kitty 😺 from the Overthinking Monster 👻
How could the game be better? (link below) https://t.co/2PGbu9AfLB
➡️ Product Hunt launch on Monday
Indie Hackers cockroach lifestyle:
💰 Rich friends invite you to 5-star hotel
💸 But your prep meal because you can't afford the restaurant with $1k/mo
How to explain I'm "busy" tonight? https://t.co/dLe2Jvhg9X
A few users who installed the PWA for Habits Garden reported being stuck on the loading screen 🐞
- Closing the app won’t fix it - Stack Overflow doesn’t know the answer - To fix it, the user must clear all cached data
Do you know what’s causing this?
#buildinpublic https://t.co/Zt3Xo3KooC
You don't need to move to Silicon Valley with $100k in savings to build a successful startup.
A laptop and your mum's basement will do just fine.
Marketing as an Indie Hacker feels like saying to someone "I'm sexy, want to sleep with me?"
How do you avoid this pushy feeling?
This email is sent 48h after a user signs up for my gamified habit tracker.
96% Open Rate 🤩 9% Click Through Rate 😭
How would you improve the CTR?
#buildinpublic https://t.co/7AIKROQDrL
I just paid for my accommodation ($8k) and visa ($1k) for 1 year.
My startups make just enough to pay for basic daily expenses ($1k/mo)
I have 12 months to build profitable apps and, hopefully, never worry about running out of money 💪
There is no plan B. https://t.co/RsYZnO1XuL
Developers 🧑💻 are like Magicians 🪄
Hours of practice, nothing fancy under the hood, and the audience is always impressed!
You can build a successful startup - alone - from home - without funding.
SaaS breakdown—September 2022
Habits Garden 🌱 💰 $144 revenue 📈 4.6k visitors
50 Hacks 🧘♀️ 📈 18k visitors
VirallyBot 🤖 💰 $596 revenue
GameWidget 🧩 💰 $76 revenue https://t.co/b2dYOCGTaJ
I used to hate marketing 😠
I tried different channels and products but it didn't help ☹️
So I targetted customers I care about and it felt like helping a friend 🥰
Now I genuinely enjoy marketing 🤩
To be a better teacher, let the person teach you something.
You'll know how they want to be taught.
Bug report level 99.
Do you shake your phone when it's buggy? https://t.co/A8h4SLRKQ5
Startup translates to "Start" in French 🇫🇷
It's time to build your 1001 startup ideas 🧑💻 https://t.co/Fi5eB7X4Sg
The new generation of successful entrepreneurs:
- no VC - no alarm - no calendar - working from home - far away from big cities - outsource everything else than work
You can tell how experienced is an entrepreneur by her ability to say no
Remember the time we had to live in big polluted cities to build a successful career?
No one grows on Twitter by just showing up every day.
Fame is a side-effect of a successful story.
How you help people is much more important than the consistency.
Once in a relationship with someone, you realize how much effort you spent avoiding loneliness.
Recharging our phones is getting more important than recharging ourselves 😮💨
Trying something new for my gamified habit tracker:
✨ 1 new tip every day 🥴 my stupid face 💎 reward at the end (7 days)
The goal is to increase user retention with content. Yes? Nah?
#buildinpublic https://t.co/1uKmmaV9pY
The answers lie inside:
- Ego fades with self-confidence - Stress fades with self-awareness - Jealousy fades with self-satisfaction
What if our galaxy is just an atom of a much bigger world?
My books calculator app 📚 is getting SEO juice.
Slow and steady wins the race!
#buildipublic https://t.co/Z2rRwBjIs2
“Start with problems, not solutions”
You don’t have to follow the #1 startup advice to be successful.
“Improve an existing solution”
Here is an easier alternative where you don’t have to find problems you don’t care about.
It's Sunday, it's OK to add useless features to your startup!
What are you working on? 😁 https://t.co/qj0ssrNanQ
I used to trade sleep hours to work more on my startup.
After a few months, I started to lack motivation and creativity and burned out.
Since I canceled my alarm, I get more work done and feel much better.
What do you do to disconnect from work?
I spent 1 year building a startup with tons of features
"What if user clicks here?" "What if user wants that?"
But I forgot to ask "What if no one wants the app?"
The 3 best procrastination proxies:
- thinking - talking - speaking
None of them is valuable unless you start acting.
Android users can install my web app in 1 tap 👆
PWA-haters, come roast me!
#buildinpublic https://t.co/WAHXetm1zD
Motivation comes while working, not before.
Rate the new onboarding checklist for @HabitsGarden
👍 or 👎?
#buildinpublic https://t.co/ZtRTUSC7tW
The new American Dream:
Make $10k/month with your solopreneur business, living where you want, and working when you want.
Launching a startup is like asking someone in the street to go on a date.
It's scary, but the upside is huge.
Happy relationship recipe:
Both partners should be happy by themselves
My new startup just broke 4-figure in revenue 🤩 https://t.co/Hz4Ef40j2H
Made this with CSS https://t.co/wED97T26pz
What do you do to feel better?
Just added new features for @HabitsGarden
🔔 Daily push notification to be reminded ✉️ Automated emails to inactive users 👋 New onboarding flow to show value upfront
This should increase the conversion rate and help users stick to their habits 🌱🪴🌳 https://t.co/TRZZlXZ62B
Pushing 2 weeks of code to production without testing https://t.co/9kWVzSUCbR
Update: app is live, so far so good https://t.co/nyqL11fxAl
Underrated hack by @ChrisCarstens48.
How would you revive tips like this which - are too old to be "Hot" - and don't have enough upvotes to be "Top"?
50Hacks database is full of hidden gems... https://t.co/r8p3Z1TnUh
@ChrisCarstens48 Btw, here is the site http://50hacks.co
Just finished Hooked 📚 by @nireyal. Here are my notes.
An excellent read for indie hackers building "vitamin" products.
This book is the key to making a product that users can't live without (aka. painkiller). https://t.co/gnzDt3TMem
I'll never build an iOS/Android app because I have to "submit" and "get approved".
Asking for permission feels like I'm back to school.
Can you make me change my mind?
I finished the new onboarding flow for my gamified habit tracker—do you want to try it?
Reply with "✅" and I'll DM you the beta link!
🎁 One random better tester will win lifelong access to @HabitsGarden
#buildinpublic https://t.co/YZgW1vd86O
@HabitsGarden JavaScript has chosen @fjdelarubia to be the winner!
Congrats Javier 🥳
DM me once you sign-up, and I'll grant your account lifelong free access!
Thanks everyone for your great feedback. https://t.co/cGPhYYCARa
After starting the entrepreneurship journey, all non-entrepreneurs become boring.
Yes? Nah?
You don't need to write tests when you #buildinpublic 💡
Thank you @anjalbinayak https://t.co/XhY8xNZr0Z
I can't see past tomorrow, but there is one thing I'm sure of:
I'll use a Mac until I die.
(unless @elonmusk builds a laptop)
My first article as a guest writer for @lifehackorg is live ✍️
The whole process was handled perfectly by the editorial team.
If you're an indie hacker looking for an audience & backlinks, give it a try!
I'll update you later about the results. Link below. https://t.co/YDYrywtZNt
What is one thing your customers particularly enjoy about your product?
SaaS breakdown—August 2022
Habits Garden 🌱 💰 $144 revenue (🔴 -33%) 📈 6k visitors
50 Hacks 🧘♀️ 📈 44k visitors
VirallyBot 🤖 💰 $596 revenue
GameWidget 🧩 💰 $76 revenue
(tough month 🥹) #buildinpublic https://t.co/znztndpijk
In case you were thinking to add an annual subscription to your startup https://t.co/ARlrU8WNGY
One of my favorite creators got his hands on 50 Hacks
@jakobgreenfeld how do you like @dagorenouf's 💩🤩 idea?
Up/downvotes used to be simple arrows.
Sugar-addicted brain at 2am: "Let's go groceries to cook crepe with Nutella"
If only I could use this willpower machine to build startups 24/7 🥹
The new onboarding flow for @HabitsGarden 💁
🤓 I greet visitors with my stupid face ☑️ They create a habit 🎮 They discover the daily quests & garden 🔔 They opt-in for notifications (optional)
Then it's the regular signup flow ➡️
#buildinpublic https://t.co/4bMDjK3kG8
Day 1:
The logic for the flow is done and 2 pages are coming alive https://t.co/JGt4WBk0Cx
Day 2:
Most screens are done and it's packed with 🎉
Now it's time to tackle notifications 🔔
Any good reads or resources for that? (web) https://t.co/AgtrjESZk2
Day 3:
To complete the onboarding, the user must promise to complete their habits within 24 hours.
Yes or No? https://t.co/pTGnCY5hch
Day 4:
Smile, you're on camera 📸
Added my stupid face at different stages of the onboarding flow, just to see! https://t.co/gDpIQxoS2d
Added Push Notifications 🔔
Users can choose to receive 1 daily reminder to complete their habits.
Next: Allow user to choose when to get notified Next: Create a CRON job to actually send the reminder https://t.co/gYRIafa90A
Edit notification time ✅ https://t.co/dtE01bnAqm
What MacOS app do you swear by?
I’ll go first: Magnet for window management.
Skills you need to know to build a startup:
- Your text editor - How to buy a domain name - 10% of HTML/CSS/JS - 10% of NodeJS - 1% of Git - 1% of npm
No need to learn everything. Focus on the essential.
My main startup @HabitsGarden has a terrible conversion rate...
25,687 visitors > $981 revenue (4¢/visitor)
Here is what I'm going to try. If it doesn't work, I quit and move on.
Data shows that:
1. 50% of users on the /signup page never sign up 2. 81% of users who sign up never come back the next day https://t.co/iBa1YLjnF3
Strategy to fix this massive bottleneck:
1. Onboarding flow where users can create habits and play before signing up. Inspired by Duolingo. 2. One daily notification 3. One email sent 24 hours after signing up
I'll #buildinpublic every part of this update.
Back to 🧑💻
I wish I’d be clever enough to fully grasp 📚 Skin in the Game (Nassim Taleb)
This masterpiece is recommended if you’re in the front line building a startup!
Here are my notes: https://t.co/owRmDAxCFC
.@attilczuk wrote a great article on how to track habits to break unwanted ones ❎
It's available now on @HabitsGarden's blog (link below 👇)
If you have some insights about how to be productive, find your goals, or build healthy routines, DM me to become a guest writer!
I'm happy to link back to your site 🔗
(looking at your @thePrioritizer 👀) https://habitsgarden.com/blog/break-bad-habits-with-a-habit-tracker
How it started | How it's going
It's time to change the logo. What should it be?
@dagorenouf you genius 🫶
#buildinpublic https://t.co/jqVkTQgmsw
@dagorenouf So I went with that to match the overall design.
My wife disapproves. How do you like it? https://t.co/rL8FRQx605
My Twitter grew to 2,000 followers recently:
- 7x faster than the first 1,000 - Growing organically, consistently - 3x less time spent
Here are 3 things I did:
1. I stopped chasing followers and focused on my signature.
People won’t follow you just because you tweet frequently. They need a reason.
- @DanKulkov writes excellent marketing content for founders - @dagorenouf's memes make you laugh and get back to business
- I hope to inspire you to work on your project by building startups in public
We are all unique.
Find out what makes you special and what you like. Write more about it.
2. I stopped over-engineering tweets
When you have < 500 followers, most tweets will go unnoticed.
If you spend hours crafting tweets that get no engagement, you’ll lose hope and a chance to level up.
3. I cut the chase
There are tons of analytics tools but you don’t need them yet (I still don't use any).
When you start, you’re looking for a recipe. Your recipe. The work is done in your head.
Focus on the essential. Find your signature. Use the tools later to optimize.
Lowering the effort/result ratio is critical if you want to stay in the long run.
Take it easy. Write as you talk. And give yourself a time limit per tweet.
Most importantly, don’t quit. You’re not far from “getting it”.
Once you do, everything will be a little easier.
Thanks for following the journey, and best of luck with yours!
I found an alternative to Head & Shoulders:
In Paris, my scalp was itchy and full of dandruff 😵💫
After 48 hours in Bali, everything is back to normal ✨
1,000 followers: 243 days 2,000 followers: 37 days
Don't give up. https://t.co/ckLldMqIvX
What's your go-to tech stack?
I think I haven't seen 2 same tech stacks, it's mesmerizing
Can't board a plane for 24 hours ✈️ without shipping something...
Introducing Comments & Replies on 50 Hacks 💬
Now you can roast overrated hacks 😉
#buildinpublic https://t.co/8QITELxuJC
The #1 hack of all time is getting roasted https://50hacks.co/hack/62d533545c6e61a0d863db36
Let's go further and add up/down-votes to comments & replies 🔼🔽 https://t.co/N5uNrkKKQU
A wise monk once said:
"Tweets 30,000 feet in the air come true"
Thanks @DanKulkov 🙏 https://t.co/Ag31znKboQ
The Marketing Snowball ⛄️
Create a free app ⬇️ Get press coverage ⬇️ Promote a paid product ⬇️ Tweet data and lessons learned ⬇️ Get feedback and new startup ideas
1st-time founder focus on product.
2nd-time founder focus on marketing.
3rd-time founder focus on founder/market fit.
Happiness grows from the inside.
What you learn or who you hang out with is infinitely more valuable than what you buy.
Just finished The Mom Test 📚—here are my notes.
It offers great systems to get valuable startup feedback.
But I find it quite overrated. It can be summarized with a few bullet points. https://t.co/DcJ90RDxgX
Underrated success recipe:
Just be 100% you.
Anti-stress pill: Nothing in life is as important as you think it is when you are thinking about it.
If you #buildinpublic, a good screenshot app 📸 is one of your best investments.
I use @CleanShot and can't be happier!
Simple, yet powerful https://t.co/KEE8PAEseS
$10 in Paris: 1 drink 🍸
$10 in Bali: 5 meals 🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜
If you beat yourself up, imagine your life as a photo album.
- One blurry picture doesn’t make the collection bad - Photos can be retaken over and over
It's 2030—everything you own fits in a backpack.
If you’re underthinking, read.
If you’re overthinking, exercise.
$5,000/mo in the US gives you the same purchase power as $1,000/mo in south-east Asia
When Batman wears The Joker's mask to help you:
This user hacked my startup, told me how to fix the bug, and gave 5⭐️ review.
The internet is beautiful 😍
#buildinpublic https://t.co/79TzalOATU
I built 75% of these startups in 2022 🚢
The number of startups launched a year is the only metric I track because I have full control over it. https://t.co/4N89Xy17h1
It took 7 years as a JavaScript developer to discover how to avoid 80% of the bugs...
object .undefined .name ❌ error object .undefined ?.name ✅ undefined
My startup is featured in @kevin2kelly's newsletter (56k subscribers) 🌟
Thank you @clauddaws 🙏 https://t.co/S6IVwWD93H
Check the dozen of new productivity hacks!
@kevin2kelly @clauddaws Update: 4,200 visitors so far 🤯
Marketing side effect for @HabitsGarden working well 🌱 https://t.co/4Rh8WGjYxm
You can make purchases inside Gmail 🤯
Who said emails aren't here to stay? https://t.co/1FJKtGVvBK
The Morning Win: a mini-task that sets your mood for the day.
What's yours?
Mine is watering plants in the garden 🌱🪴🌳
Spreading happiness is the best you can do for this world
💡 Analyzing @HabitsGarden database (2100 signups)
😢 only 30% of users try the game 😭 after 3 days, only 6% keep playing 🤯 after 6 days, 42% convert to paid customers!
➡️ It's time to design a kickass onboard flow + notifications to increase retention
#buildinpublic https://t.co/3Vfy2s49jd
Results will happen tomorrow for those who act today.
To grow on Twitter, you have to find your signature.
The crowd smells authenticity and rewards those close to 100%.
This productivity hack is rising fast 👟
So true. Go do something! https://t.co/yDbh1L7GvN
All my productivity apps are featured in the @ProductHunt newsletter 😎
Expect @HabitsGarden—the one that makes money... 🥹
#buildinpublic https://t.co/bMwYbmeWED
Have you heard of git branches?
Apparently, you can build features without obliterating your app...
Not bad for a product built in 24 hours... 😎
Thank you Twitter, it's because of you!
#buildinpublic https://t.co/U6v9Tl3ecj
2 hours to go for 3rd place...🥉 I'm tense 🥲
#buildinpublic send help plz 😆 https://t.co/6jigFMgHWc
$10k savings in Bali gives you 1 year to build a startup while being on holiday 🧑💻🌴
I built apps in the dark for 5 years. I ended up depressed with a broken business.
Since I #buildinpublic, I’m always energized and my apps get daily feedback and bug reports from the fantastic community.
If you see this, thank you.
My new startup Buddy Crush is now LIVE on @ProductHunt 🚀
Turn your friends into accountability partners 🙌
➡️ https://www.producthunt.com/posts/buddy-crush https://t.co/54ogzKcKsq
@ProductHunt Here is the new office proof @DanKulkov 😜
@ProductHunt #3 so far, all thanks to you on Twitter 🫶
Do you understand why is #2 not #1 with 172 upvotes? 🤔 https://t.co/QY0SvGwDyK
@ProductHunt Passed 200 upvotes on Product Hunt and 1500 followers on Twitter 🎉
13 hours to go and the #3 place looks... compromised 😬 https://t.co/A08J56hZdo
New office for 2 weeks 🌲⛰️☀️
I admit I was jealous of @DanKulkov & @sveta_bay... https://t.co/bu1xvhKHLh
Trying something... 🧑🔬🧪
Members of accountability groups can join the Buddy Crush Slack community.
Will users be interested in chatting about habits? 🤔
#buildinpublic https://t.co/CWZxZGnBUq
Living off a backpack is freedom
"What matters isn’t what a person has or doesn’t have; it is what he or she is afraid of losing."
—Nassim Taleb
65k impressions and 2,321 visitors from this tweet 🤯
The asymmetry between effort/result amazes me
https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1555191728256188416?s=20&t=DM6g8lJVRAS8stX4YXCKbA
Today @HabitsGarden just crossed 2,000 users ✅
A few months back, I couldn't even get 100 visitors...
If you believe in your startup, don't give up 💪
#buildinpublic
Tick... Tock... Launching my new startup on @ProductHunt in 4 days! ⏳
Who else is launching next week? 🚀
#buildinpublic https://t.co/zlYv63sjQ1
The fastest way to launch a startup is to go back to your parents’ house:
- Full-time - Free accommodation - Quality time with loved ones
Old fashion people will make fun of you. But it just shows how determined you are.
GitHub or @HabitsGarden? 🙈 https://t.co/dcFa5VFSXc
Accountability groups on Buddy Crush can be public 🌎
You can discover 🔎 active groups and join them!
#buildinpublic https://t.co/VNQSC13nrP
Check the public groups without an account 👇
Things that make no sense today, will do in hindsight.
Added a custom app install trigger on Buddy Crush ✨ (instead of the default one)
Hopefully, it will increase user retention 📈
Next: same for @HabitsGarden 🌱
#buildinpublic https://t.co/R86f4xqgP9
Thinking, Fast and Slow 📚 by Daniel Kahneman is a masterpiece.
Read it if you want to improve your decision-making, stress handling, and overall happiness.
Here are my notes. https://t.co/6MJINJFPcZ
This is genious https://t.co/aq74rwmrG3
My startup is featured in @TheHustle 👀
📈 3,100 visitors in 4 hours
#buildinpublic https://t.co/bwJ32cRfIt
Check the new hot productivity tips http://50hacks.co
Now I can do this 💫 https://t.co/olBTSFJgfJ
You get pumped and tweet your thought right away, but it's a flop... So
1. Draft your tweet.
2. After 24 hours, ask yourself "why would someone bother reading this?". Rewrite, send.
SaaS breakdown—July 2022
Habits Garden 🌱 💰 $216 revenue 📈 6,097 visitors
50 Hacks 🧘♀️ 📈 51,697 visitors
VirallyBot 🤖 💰 $679 revenue
GameWidget 🧩 💰 $95 revenue
Twitter stats for the record https://t.co/2HN2Uy0Ynq
Added cute SVG to Buddy Crush landing page ✨
+ sign up with Twitter 🐦 + sign up with Email 📧
#buildinpublic https://t.co/UKrdIBApHh
She doesn't need to be told, she needs to be listened to.
What would you reply? 😅
#buildinpublic https://t.co/O7K4RYIlKn
Action + authenticity + consistency = success
I completely redesigned Buddy Crush in 30 seconds ✨
Thank you for DaysuiUI @saadeghi https://t.co/XaoZLXb7hN
Having millions of options is nice in theory, but in practice is a paralyzing curse.
Job, food, dev framework—you can easily waste time agonizing over decisions.
The less you own, the happier you are!
1. Items lose value 2. Items make you sedentary 3. Items break, it costs money and stress
Me: "I launch startups from Bali 🌴"
People: "You're so lucky!"
Me: "You can do it too, want help? 😊"
People: [insert 1000 excuses]
🤷
Launching my new startup https://BuddyCrush.co—Accountability groups to crush habits with friends 🙌
➕ Create/join habits 👀 View friends' progress 🏆 Compete for the leaderboard
I built it in 24 hours on a long flight ✈️ so it can be buggy 🐞
Here is the story behind this launch.
Should I keep working on this app? Will you use it?
https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1551797310929383425?s=20&t=8e9m1D3VXd5riT09sSX4yw
My startup 50 Hacks is featured in Russian media 🇷🇺
Thanks @DanKulkov https://t.co/WY7FCP9p2l
✅ Founder did marketing today https://t.co/OHzJilt1JG
Twitter has voted... 🥁
This is the app I should build during my 24h flight back to France ✈️
Only 5 hours on land with data, wish me luck 😅
https://twitter.com/kattrisen/status/1551552051158687744?s=20&t=ahovR79yD-8X2e35bPtLtQ
h-24: I'll make the app a standalone one for simplicity. Wife approves! https://t.co/Q1MMndmaFz
h-22: 1 flight completed, 2 left
✅ Logic ✅ Data models 🟨 API 50% ⬜ Authentification ⬜ Front ⬜ Deployment
4 hours layover to recharge the laptop! https://t.co/gBO3z00l1B
h-19: Burger Kings saved the day!
✅ Logic ✅ Data models 🟨 API 50% 🟨 Authentification 50% ⬜ Front ⬜ Deployment
h-9: it's freezing 🥶 and laptop lasts 3 hours will full charge... 🥺
✅ Logic ✅ Data models ✅ API ✅ Authentification 🟨 Front 10% ⬜ Deployment https://t.co/vquPys9rmv
Just bought the domain http://buddycrush.co before boarding the last flight ✨
h-0: landed in Paris and the app is DONE 🚀✨
I'll deploy it when I can charge my laptop at home 🪫 https://t.co/gMOmz8nk0F
There it is! Thanks for the suggestion @kattrisen.
It's been a fun, tiring, and intense journey. I've learned 2 important things along the way 👇
@kattrisen 1/ Uncomfortable sitting, no wifi, and constant distraction had a surprisingly positive effect on my productivity.
Adding some constraints to your project could do some magic ✨
@kattrisen 2/ I'm not a tech guy. I learned coding at 23 and I still suck... I understand just enough how to combine tools to make them do what I want.
Don't be demotivated by seeing others building cutting-edge apps at the speed of light.
The more you build, the faster it becomes.
Would you swap your life with someone you admire?
About to give up on @HabitsGarden and got this... 🤩
#buildinpublic https://t.co/QxiFj5rnsF
Tomorrow I'm boarding a plane ✈️ for 24 hours to go back to France.
YOU decide what app I should build in the air🧑💻
The reply with the most likes will be my 24h-challenge. Go 👇
#buildinpublic
That masculine urge to explain everything
What brings you the most happiness?
Last week I made a prediction that was completely wrong...
50,000 Redditors saw that! 🤯
Lesson: don't trust a dev with a mustache.
https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1547752186796392450?s=20&t=3g663RyaUkU2xYrvj_75JQ
Loss aversion makes inaction more appealing than action.
Yet, you're losing most opportunities by staying idle.
How does one sleep 8 hours without waking up?
You can apply in the guest writer section on the blog https://habitsgarden.com/blog
New bio ✨ it's just more... me 😊
Hope you like it! https://t.co/BYs5vowrYG
Reckless action beats inaction
99% of startups are never born because founders overthink.
Me: full-stack developer for 7 years
Also me: use pen & paper to see if my <div> are aligned
🌟 Turned 50 Hacks into a macOS app (kinda) for better retention
PWA haters, come roast me!
#buildinpublic https://t.co/6nE2ljWP2K
It's easy to get paralyzed by tons of opportunities.
Doing something, right now, fixes it.
Every idea can become a startup in 24 hours.
Imperfect, but enough to be validated.
Many Indie Hackers overcomplicate their websites.
“A confused mind always says no.”
Use this framework to keep things simple and convert more visitors:
4 elements on the viewport max: headline + media + CTA (+subheadline) https://t.co/BIbnKSR4i2
Jealousy is inversely proportional to self-satisfaction
#2 on @ProductHunt for my startup 🥈
I bet 50% of upvotes are yours, Twitter—so thank you all ❤️
#buildinpublic https://t.co/nV8W7yPCip
Make goals actionable to avoid disappointment.
Get 1k followers ➡️ tweet 3 times a day Find a job ➡️ send 5 applications a day Lose 10kg ➡️ workout 5 times a week
You can't fail if you control the output.
Monday: 8 visitors Wednesday: 42,954 visitors
You never know what's going to happen. Go launch your app!
#buildinpublic https://t.co/I3o2cT0Ipu
Added an embedded promo for @HabitsGarden on 50 Hacks (top hacks only)
Yes or Nah?
#buildinpublic https://t.co/O6Rkq0CG1C
@HabitsGarden After a few days of testing, the new tiny embedded promo perform better than the big bottom banner.
✅ victory! https://t.co/UGlId1T7sS
Users are reporting poor content on 50 Hacks, so only the legit content stands out.
The Internet is wonderful.
#buildinpublic https://t.co/IWLLkAQnXY
New startup idea: Product Hunt night shift assistant.
How do solo founders sleep at night? 😅
I told grandma about that new feature.
She said I should do marketing.
Reddit is absolutely INSANE 🤯
👀 710,000 views 📈 39,700 visitors 🔼 2,588 upvotes
A breakdown of the last 24 hours... 👇 https://t.co/nzpkdpdOeP
4 pm (yesterday): I launch http://50hacks.co on /InternetIBeautiful. No traction.
5pm: first comment "add downvotes". As a feature-obsessed person, I start building... 🚧
7pm: having dinner, looking at traffic, and see 130 current visitors 👀
https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1548991063385206789?s=20&t=6r--joobAR4fouaEKLBedQ
About 2,000 people visited the app and the database is full of garbage (racist stuff) 🗑️ People complain on Reddit
9pm: I ship downvotes and in a few minutes, bad content is pushed lower. I manually delete dozens of hacks in the database.
10pm: I add a profanity filter 🤬 https://t.co/a4Oku1apNJ
10pm: 350 visitors currently on the site 🤯
12pm: the app is crowdsourced, there is no account—I use IPs as a proxy. But I'm also sending thousands of IPs to the website...
2am: IPs fixed. About 20,000 people have visited already. I can't sleep https://t.co/JfUC444DEn
8am: some managed to bypass the swear-words filter. So I write them a cute message 🥰 and rework the filter.
11am: I ship a reporting feature to flag bag tips so I don't have to manually check the database 24/7.
12pm: there is still 1,000 visits/hour 😯 https://t.co/fmKHljd4Ij
The storm is gone, along with the spammers, and the best hacks are rising ☀️
Had I slept without shipping downvotes+filter, none of this would have happened—so stay next to your computer when you launch 🚀
50 Hacks is live NOW on Product Hunt, say hi! https://www.producthunt.com/posts/50-hacks
🚀 My new startup 50 Hacks is now LIVE on @ProductHunt: Top productivity tips chosen by the internet, and you! 👉 https://www.producthunt.com/posts/50-hacks https://t.co/LPeAKgbkgM
👨👩 pop & mom upvoted, now trying to get grandma 🧓
@ProductHunt @ProductHunt how do you like that selfie with me? 📸
I have to go sleep (i didn't last night, thanks Reddit)...
Twitter friends, pls don't let CSS get #2 🥹 https://t.co/xAiSPfGGIn
Good morning ☀️ How is 50 Hacks still #2?
Thanks for holding it up friends! https://t.co/GZnT5JIEhC
Changed the algo for the /hot hacks.
It gives more chance to new ones to rise ✨
#buildinpubilc https://t.co/LvEfSyzMRX
1 hour left ⏳ and still 🥈 but dangerously getting close to losing it...
If you haven't come say hi! https://www.producthunt.com/posts/50-hacks
Everything is temporary. The good and the bad.
Living abroad doesn't mean you'll magically learn a new language ❌
So my Korean wife 🇰🇷 and I 🇫🇷 can't use English 🇬🇧 from Monday to Friday.
It's been the fastest way to learn each other's language. https://t.co/0blevUlRIT
Some Reddit madness is happening right now 👀
#buildinpublic https://t.co/OPIamFjR8Y
#1 on this subreddit
https://www.reddit.com/r/InternetIsBeautiful/comments/w1vgxf/i_made_a_site_that_crowdsources_the_50_best/ https://t.co/TtClYmdtbX
Coming with a bunch of spammers... so I manually replace all bad words with the 💩 emoji.
Will automate this soon~
10,500 visitors so far 🤯 and a bunch of garbage tips so I added:
1. Profanity filter (holala!) 2. Downvotes, so visitors can take down bad posts https://t.co/eAE33DMDSP
I can't sleep 🥹 https://t.co/KbJ1S5KRLp
Writing tests as a solo founder:
Yes or Nah? Why?
I can tell grandma I have 1000 Twitter friends.
Thank you all ❤️
To validate Product-Market fit, share your startup: 🔸 3 subreddits 🔸 1 hacker news post 🔸 1 product hunt launch 🔸 1 indie hackers post 🔸 a few tweets
If it doesn't get traction, you're better off building something else.
Startup ideas don't matter. Value comes from execution.
There is a special place in hell for the person who put Sunday before Monday https://t.co/ZhFjUOvgFj
People selling advice without bearing the consequences should be ignored.
Learning JavaScript doesn't make you a developer.
Creating a website does.
Saturday at 20: Wake up 2pm, play video games, order pizza, party until 6am
Saturday at 30: Wake up 6am, read a book, work out, eat quinoa, sleep 10pm
😈 https://t.co/5q7FTLH9bK
Who else is coding instead of marketing? ✋
#buildinpublic https://t.co/h1eTz2ZAIF
Reply with something you will have achieved by 2023 👇
Launching my crowdsourced productivity tips list on @producthunt on Monday 🚀🌚🌟
Should I DM you when it's live? If so, reply with your BEST emoji!
#buildinpublic https://t.co/iCJWBbPAFk
Here is the app, if you want to see the best tips so far 👀
You can also write yours and link your Twitter ✍️
For the most curious, there's an easter egg...
Only listen to people who've "been there"
- No one should tell you how to build your startup unless they have. - No one should advise you how to fix depression unless they have
Ignore others.
Reddit you'll never cease to surprise me... 🤯
👀 49,000 views 🔼 339 upvotes 🌟 287 karmas
New Reddit course launching soon "How I got lucky?" 😅
#buildinpublic https://t.co/JWeAmoEiTG
I stole my wife's office today https://t.co/8QzhvwUVnB
Go link your Twitter before 10,000 Redditors see this 🙈 https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1547499682728792065?s=20&t=PiX2wXKY25OKKsGGaRd9ww
Are people giving unwanted advice the same as those hitting on girls after hearing "no"?
Those who talk aren't those who do.
Keep grinding.
Launching 50 Hacks—a crowdsourced list of the best productivity tips 💥🚀
✍️ Write a tip and link your Twitter 🔼 Upvote your favorites
#buildinpublic can we blow this up?
(link below) https://t.co/VKllkfzncm
PS: I hid an easter egg... 🥚
If you think the world is unkind:
A user of @HabitsGarden recorded his screen with the exact time to help me fix a timezone-related bug.
Kindness level 99
#buildinpublic https://t.co/C0YoFz7FEX
Ambition is sexier than muscles
Startup customer support level 99
#buildinpublic https://t.co/TKxF6BgcQd
literally no one: Google Photo: make a collage of his wife + ex-girlfriend
Instead of looking for followers:
Create something that will make people want to follow you.
Only developers know the feeling of a sparkling screen ✨ https://t.co/pLfvBXuskG
Who inspires you? Why?
Startups survive with product-market fit.
Founders survive with founder-market fit.
Something is happening... Not sure what exactly 😂
📈 300 visitors 👨🦱 82 signups
谢谢 @decohack
#buildinpublic https://twitter.com/decohack/status/1546322455148384257?s=20&t=OOJbhN9X8FKgZfwudvACfQ
Your phone is 1 tap away from not distracting you: airplane mode
100% of startups with more features than customers fail
Got a new job 🎉 https://t.co/Nv3RqxDT5B
Any recommendations to learn graphic design?
I need to do something on Sundays to avoid getting crazy 🫣
Being healthy in 2022: being offline
80% of users who sign up for @HabitsGarden never show up after 24h... 😱
What would you do?
Kickass onboarding is #1 on the list (thanks @andrey_seas)
#buildinpublic
If you can sleep at night, are you even a startup founder?
This app is finally getting organic traffic 🤩
#buildinpublic https://t.co/Z9C5obfhMa
trying to get acquired, rate my strategy https://t.co/0yxfpyPQr2
I've never worked so much from my bed since I bought a standing desk
Family dinner hypocrisy:
- Watching the news loud on TV—OK - Discreetly glimpsing at smartphone—disrespectful
🤷♂️
font-family: serif font-family: sans-serif https://t.co/4OTyUbfeZ2
I learned more about coding with 1 Udemy course than in 6 years at university.
Don't overcomplicate it—you can change your career in a few days.
It took 30 minutes to turn @HabitsGarden into a progressive web app.
🔸 tap to open, just like native apps 🔸 available offline
#buildinpublic https://t.co/8tWvT9YLpS
Startup idea: Prettier in real life—tidy your room in seconds https://t.co/2CsXSSmw7n
Google is turning SEO into a game 🎮 https://t.co/jM4MapqUP9
Today is the first time I'm getting paid from @HabitsGarden 🎉
It feels sooooo good!
(if I forget it took 5 months 🥹)
#buildinpublic https://t.co/pw87KyQein
The website founder's signature looked boring...
So I added my stupid face 🫠
#buildinpublic https://t.co/AqmsXvnCNe
The more you tweet The more you grow The more you want to tweet The more...
You got it 🙂 Feed the beast!
The money game:
You win once you complete the [stress-free] level.
We are 800... THANK YOU 🎉
You're giving me too much credit—I'm just a guy with a mustache who made a movie recommendation app for horny visitors 🤷♂️
24 hours left... ⌛️
Everyone: I quit my job to build a startup
Me: If only I've ever had a real job to tweet this 🥹
This startup has been covering my expenses for 2 years.
Time spent: 0
Passive income is a true relief for founders without a day job.
#buildinpublic https://t.co/V20JlaabF4
Don't learn to do, learn while doing.
Simple hacks to improve your English as a non-native:
🔸Switch your phone language to English 🔸Browse Google in English 🔸Talk to yourself in English
GIVEAWAY ALERT🎉
Be super productive for the second half of the year ✅
3 winners will win lifelong access to my gamified habit tracker @HabitsGarden 🎁 Retweet and comment “🌱” to enter.
Winners announced Tuesday 5th at 4am UTC. https://t.co/MS1DP2xBR5
It still shocks me customers subscribe to my app because it has "good customer service".
This should be the default for any startup.
Unlike the stock market, it's green on Twitter https://t.co/G55XUBQktw
How can I do this viral tweet
"I quit my 9-5 job to build a startup"
if I never had a job? 🥲
Didn't see that happen 🙈
What content should I do more? less?
I will continue to deliver ✨
Thank you all for being part of the journey ❤️ https://t.co/c1lRc17zPo
If you’re skeptical, do it. If you’re afraid, do it. If you’re overthinking, do it. If you’re excited, do it.
Just do something, luck will find you someday.
How to get valuable feedback for your startup:
When free trials expire, offer users to extend it in exchange for feedback.
1. Users and you are happy. Tit-for-tat 2. Users might reconsider subscribing later
#buildinpublic https://t.co/tvShCJ9SYY
Learning speed = quality and speed of feedback + sufficient opportunity to practice
The cure whenever you lack motivation:
At school, teachers label you as a - scientist - literary - business person
It's written in your DNA—you can't write if you're good at math, sorry.
Startups breakdown—June 2022
Habits Garden 🌱 💰 $207 revenue 📈 2,719 visitors
Books Calculator 📚 📈 12,794 visitors
Mood2Movie 🍿 📈 10,972 visitors
VirallyBot 🤖 💰 $679 revenue
GameWidget 🧩 💰 $76 revenue
#buildinpublic
Just bought another domain… New startup launching soon 🚀
#buildinpublic https://t.co/XDHuHeF2vg
The biggest company in the world... It's time to launch your startup! https://t.co/W2rExxRQpX
Doing will always beat thinking
It took 3 minutes to get 44,000 visitors to my app—here are 5 tips so you can do it too. https://t.co/9g0oCcFVvZ
I launched Mood2Movie—a movie recommendation engine based on your mood, on Hacker News. It went trending for 24 hours (10k visitors).
It started to generate branded searches on Google—people typing “Mood2Movie” https://t.co/IEpWCXWhhU
Media and influencers found the app and made noise about it, generating more branded searches.
https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1537968336960598018?s=20&t=IO4XXfNqcKqe5H_Bay5tpg
Currently, there are ~300 visitors/day on the app. Here is what I think created this traffic loop:
1. Unique offer: media like to impress their audience with new stories—your site should stand out.
2. Memorable name: 50% of traffic is coming from Google—your name should be easy to remember. https://t.co/nWJSomuY9t
3. No friction: people's time is limited, and most won’t go through signup—ditch it unless you need it.
4. Fun: the /horny category is the most visited one—make people laugh, and they will share with their friends. https://t.co/JVf8tamRLA
5. Storytelling: “a guy in Bali with a chick as a pet created this site” is more appealing to media than “big corporate built that”—add your Twitter and #buildinpublic https://t.co/1LwaDnZpt2
That’s it! Should I make more of these? Please let me know.
Follow me (@marc_louvion) to discover behind the scenes of startup founders.
How to be proud in 2022 🥲 https://t.co/zi5A6AbNvf
Here is the decision-making framework I use to avoid overthinking.
Problem: The ease with which we explain the past fosters an illusion of a predictable future. https://t.co/fFljVFXLKr
We value skills, confidence, and intuition when evaluating the outcomes of a decision.
We're missing out on the most influential: Luck
This framework is polarised but will likely outperform a stock market advisor, and save you hours when deciding whether to apply for a new job.
One of my favorite Twitter accounts is talking about my micro-app 😍
Thanks, Alex!
User achievements are now displayed on Habits Garden Profiles 🏅
Is it too much? 🤔
#buildinpublic https://t.co/aZMDzGM0c8
Here is a demo of my profile
Your #1 productivity tip? 👇
Code is free digital LEGO
Startup founders waking up on Monday be like https://t.co/gQEnfymJoA
We overestimate how much effort is required to achieve big milestones:
- Read 10 minutes a day to finish 12 books a year - Learn 2 words a day to hold a basic conversation with a foreigner in a year - Write 1 page a day to publish a book in a year
Start small. Dream big.
10 pages a day = 25 books a year
Is it normal to have nightmares about being unprepared for a school exam?
I'm 29...
Write down your goals in 5 years.
Stick it above your desk.
When you procrastinate, look at it.. 🪄 https://t.co/EeR0fVATP5
When you don't have time to build the user interface 🥲
#buildinpublic https://t.co/iPPtLn7m10
[over]thinking drives [in]action
Made this with CSS https://t.co/7wOUCNa7IO
More Reddit wilderness... 🦁
9 blog articles on Google = 500 views 1 blog post on Reddit = 44,000 views https://t.co/ElgCzKujb7
Just shipped a feature to allow users with public profiles to keep some habits private ✨
It's been requested 3 times from customers!
#buildinpublic https://t.co/fwv9l16EPF
5 tips to build habits you won't quit ✅
On average, it takes 66 days for a new behavior to be automatic.
After that, your new habit will be part of your identity—you won't be able to quit it.
But during the first 2 months, it's easy to abandon it. So...
1. Start small
Every effort we achieve consumes a bit of our finite willpower—habits are no exception.
Set aside your long-term goals and start with very small daily wins: - Do 10 pushups - Read 3 pages - Learn 2 foreign words
“Make it so easy you can't say no”—@zen_habits https://t.co/oSAE2tCOcx
3. Define the goal
A common mistake is to give up too early because you're not seeing results (yet).
10 minutes of reading a day = 12 books a year.
When you pick up a new habit, write down your goal.
When you feel hesitant, read it.
2. Don't break the chain
Missing a day (aka breaking the chain) delays the creation of lasting habits.
Repetition is the key to forming automated behaviors.
Even when life gets busy, try to get things done: do only 20% of what you regularly do.
4. Book your habits
It's tempting to complete your habits when you have time.
But it's easy to get carried away with other tasks.
Add a slot to your calendar to complete your habits. Show up on time.
Doing them early in the morning, before life kicks in, is effective.
You don't need to work hard, just show up every day.
When your habits become part of your identity, the opposite effect happens: not completing them becomes hard.
5. Track your progress
Doing the same thing over and over without seeing great results (at first) can be deceptive.
Tracking your habits solves this: - Visualize your progress since you started - Feel good instantly when ticking the box https://t.co/w0AbsJ28i1
Product Hunt launch is over!
🏆 #6 product of the day 🔼 188 upvotes 📈 459 visitors
It would have NEVER been successful without help from each one of you... I love you all ❤️
Looking forward to seeing your products out there!
#buildinpublic https://t.co/xdlZM8SIOg
Meanwhile, Reddit generated 20x more traffic (~9,000 visitors) for 10x less effort 🙈
+ some media are already writing about Books Calculator https://t.co/lEdiSBdghB
Finally seeing the SEO benefits of the migration to @nextjs 🤩
#buildinpublic https://t.co/sJoUSLMjVF
Entrepreneurship with the @wbepodcast community 💑 https://t.co/YsmfGo1BuD
Free Tweet Thread Scheduler on macOS for broken entrepreneurs 🥹 https://t.co/dtsiYJPmvG
Books Calculator broke the 100 upvotes mark on @ProductHunt ⛳️ https://t.co/P1MczTnbSr
I just hid an easter egg 🥚 in my app...
The first to reply with a screenshot wins free lifelong access to @HabitsGarden 🌱
App with easter egg below 👇 https://t.co/mRHRRUJSWw
Go find that easter egg! https://bookscalculator.com/
WE ARE LIVE ON @ProductHunt ✨🚀🌚 https://t.co/pDB97ndRXJ
If you want to support the launch: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/books-calculator
Thank you ♥️
And if you want to support another hustler, check out this awesome aggregation of freemium tools by @DanKulkov https://www.producthunt.com/posts/makerbox
@ProductHunt No, I'm not refreshing the upvotes every second... https://t.co/MRZkCRc1N1
@ProductHunt As always, traffic data are public https://plausible.io/bookscalculator.com
My Twitter account grew by 10% on Sunday… 🤯
Newcomers, how did you find me?
We are 500! Thanks for joining the journey ❤️
Founders waking up on the @ProductHunt Launch Day https://t.co/U8rJRjuBTP
People always find something to criticize your project, even if there isn't.
Don't feed haters. Only listen to customers.
Tick... Tock... I'm launching Books Calculator on Product Hunt in 24 hours 🤩
Would love to have your support, please reply "🚀" below
I'll message you when the launch is live!
(I can include a private dance video upon request. 10 people only. don't miss out)
Chasing vanity metrics on Sunday 😎
#buildinpublic https://t.co/3FI7No4Zhf
Coming back on Twitter after a few hours on Reddit, and realize...
I love you all!
So much kindness and support going on here ❤️
Reddit is wiiiild! 🦁
I launched Books Calculator there 24h ago:
+ 320k views 👀 + 8,700 unique visitors 📈 + 778 karma ✨ https://t.co/lCvPIlwvob
What is the difference between a new feature for your SaaS & an ice cream?
This guy promoted my app on TikTok (150k views).
In 24 hours, 5700 persons searched for it on Google.
TikTok is underrated. Creators have so much influence 🌟 https://t.co/PBFpnJpge3
The app: http://Mood2Movie.com
Your startup users ignore their power:
1 payment makes your day 🤩
1 churn ruins it 😭
Someone recently asked me:
"What's your startup MRR?"
No clue... I don't look at it.
Because it's not important.
Setting down at my desk, coding, marketing—that matter.
Annual subscription hits differently... 🤩🥳🥰 https://t.co/zzpx1ndWMK
Twitter needs a Show Twitter:
Hats indie hackers are wearing:
- dev - designer - QA - product manager - salesperson - marketer - shrink
Anything missing?
It's happening! Launching Books Calculator on @ProductHunt on Monday 🚀
Should I tell you when it's live? If so, reply with a book emoji 📚 (thanks ❤️) https://t.co/eAqPC1wiHz
With SaaS you can serve the whole world, even when you sleep.
The first Korean user signed up for Habits Garden 🇰🇷
#buildinpublic https://t.co/JMZwDjv9yR
Reddit is wild 😝 https://t.co/5P61Ou0LRi
What’s your biggest frustration these days?
Mine is counting pennies for essential products
Constantly declining meetings with friends makes me feel like a terrible person…
How do you deal with this?
Last week was my 4th anniversary of a tobacco-free life 🎂
I smoked a pack a day for 7 years.
All attempts to quit have failed.
Until I discovered this number...
A smoker's life is worth $10,000 to cigarette makers.
So I did some research about tobacco companies.
The more I learned, the more I realized I was being manipulated.
I felt like a lab rat.
But this was great.
It changed my worldview and my identity.
I wanted to become the type of person who's NOT easily manipulated.
I threw my cigarettes away.
No plan, no tips. It's just me and my belief.
It worked so well that I felt like I cheated the game.
I've never been tempted to smoke after that day.
If you're trying to quit, I wrote more details on my blog—hopefully, it will help.
What the heck is happening on Mood2Movie?! 🤯
📈 3,900 visitors in 24 hours 🔎 traffic from Google 🇮🇶 90% of visitors in Iraq ( 👋 مهلا )
#buildinpublic https://t.co/wXKdc5vXKH
The horny category is not the most visited one for the first time ever 🤣
Congrats Iraqis!
Could it be the @nextjs recent migration?
If you lost faith in your startup, remember your judgment is influenced by the ease with which you retrieve information.
- A plane crashes and we think it’s not safe - Someone makes a donation and seems to be generous - A stock goes up and we think we found the next alpha
1/2
Do not misjudge your startup because a customer just churned.
To be rational, sit down and study the fundamentals.
2/2
trou stori https://t.co/g7AnOgFjrM
If @Grammarly received $0.01 for every typo fixed, it would be the biggest company in the world
Your decisions are easily influenced... Take this little quiz:
1. Was Gandhi over 124 years old when he died? 2. At what age did Gandhi die?
(answer in your head)
Read below to discover how you were tricked, and what's the fix.
Gandhi died at 78 in 1948, which is old for the 20th century.
So why was your guess about 100 years old?
Question #1 triggered the associative memory in your brain.
Unconsciously, you created a “Gandhi = Very old man” connection.
This cognitive bias called the Anchoring Effect, influenced your answer to Question #2.
Your guess was higher than it would be if you didn't see Question #1.
We have a tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information offered.
To outsmart the anchoring effect, delay your decision.
Once you have time to think, the cognitive bias fades away and your logical thinking does the work.
Should I make more of these experiments? Let me know if you liked it!
This trick is commonly used in marketing:
You have no idea if $10 is a good deal for Product A.
But if you're shown a discounted $10 instead of $20, it seems like a steal!
Added DaisyUI to my movie recommendation app (Mood2Movie)
What do you think of the new design? 🤔
#buildinpublic https://t.co/cXmYPBr4md
6 babies are born in sequence at a hospital.
Here are 3 possible sequences of boys (B) and girls (G).
1. BBBGGG 2. BBBBBB 3. BGBGBG
Which one is the most likely?
Workout is the cure for 99% of your worries.
We are 400, thanks everyone!! 🎉🌟❤️
What are you working on?
I'd love to know you more.
Is that too much for a habit tracker landing page? 🤔
Current title: "A habit tracker that gets you out of bed!"
#buildinpublic https://t.co/p56EvqypMJ
@andrey_seas could I steal your brain for this? 🙏🏻
It's live, thanks everyone ❤️ https://t.co/GkxUbZduSg
Saturday 6:33am, reading a book and received this.
Good way to start the weekend 😊 https://t.co/vc5KUFXa83
I stop using Grammarly. Seriously, who neds it?
And you? What's your plan for next week?
😅 https://t.co/SxbKdzFSV1
Generosity: finding happiness in helping others.
If you want to build beautiful apps in no time, DaisyUI is the way to go ✨
I've been using it for the past 6 months and can't imagine living without it...
Thank you @saadeghi https://t.co/zlBljkFOZ0
Reading a summary instead of the book is like watching a trailer instead of the movie.
A book summary is like a trailer.
It draws you into the content, but it's no substitute.
1 week to migrate my react app to @nextjs...
Was it worth it?
#buildinpublic https://t.co/IMiDrwZyfe
You have to read books to understand why books' summaries are pointless.
Startup founders don't know if it's Tuesday or Sunday
Besides software, what prices haven't risen due to inflation?
The best tweets are created in the bathroom and written on the toilets.
Bathrooms are underrated.
If only there could be several "first coffee of the day" in a day...
You can only achieve so many effortful tasks in a day.
But you can increase the threshold with:
- good sleep - enough glucose - a reward
Recipe to get more customers in 7 days:
This book + 25-minute reading habit. https://t.co/wMSPTkgM9u
Just getting started 😎 https://t.co/iClCFS5Bhy
Migrating my React apps to @nextjs—tired of URLs being removed from Google because of bad perf 😡
It's going to take a long time... Hopefully, it will pay back in the future 🙏
#buildinpublic
This is an email in dark mode on macOS—from the biggest tech company in the world.
Your SaaS is perfect with its imperfection. Just ship it. https://t.co/od4aLjeKi0
Read 10 minutes a day ➡️ you’ll binge 12 books a year!
Too many fail to realize life transformation is that simple...
So I built a calculator to discover how many books you will read in 2022 🤓
Reply with any book emoji 📚 and I’ll DM you the beta app!
#buildinpublic https://t.co/hdTrq0BbFK
🦅 The results are based on your reading speed
🔎 The app suggests you best-sellers
Should I DM you the link @AlexAndBooks_?
It'd be very interesting to hear what an avid book reader thinks 📚
Just added this promo banner for Habits Garden 🌱
It shows up 15 seconds after the visitor lands on Mood2Movie 🍿
Do you think it's too long, too short?
The average visit duration is 2 min 16 sec.
(copy by @andrey_seas)
#buildinpublic https://t.co/NumZQDiDx4
How, specifically, do you want your life to be better at this time next year?
Indie Hackers be like https://t.co/Ry8a2MLymC
How many episodes have you watched? 😏 https://t.co/ZyXZcXQy1c
"It should take no more than 5 minutes to add this little feature." https://t.co/hgtqO3MoJc
Meme by @devvnomad, i just added some visuals 😇
Recession won’t kill your company.
Adding too many features will.
Every-single-day 🥹 https://t.co/OQefac4PME
How to get startup ideas:
Turn services for rich people into a mainstream tool.
- Private driver > Uber - Home cinema > Netflix - Media > YouTube
Heroku users: we can finally re-connect GitHub for automatic deploys 🤖
It's been a long wait... 🫣 https://t.co/3IJ6sWJBWO
I started reading 1 year ago and I learned:
- Marketing - Copywriting - Macroeconomics - Microeconomics - Design - Game theory - Game development - Sleep - Psychology
All it takes is a 20 minutes/day reading habit.
Just improved the blog UI🌟
What do you think?
#buildinpublic https://t.co/vJu3Mbjlpy
I'm lazy to work out today... so let's play a game.
1 ❤️ = 1 Push-up
Counter closes today at noon UTC. Video tomorrow.
PS: remember I'm just a mortal plz https://t.co/dLh0QMyHuj
I just gave myself the first push-up 😈
17 push-ups: 8 ❤️ + 9 trolls from @trymicro 😜 https://t.co/HV5N7JvAWz
Your $0 MRR company didn't need dark mode before recession.
And it's even more irrelevant now.
PS: my $50 MRR startup has light & dark modes.
It's OK because it's not 0, right?.. right?
Need motivation? Declare a deadline https://t.co/np3yu8f2xz
Legit procrastination 😅 https://t.co/dCzpD93uel
What sport do you do? Why?
Just finished this book and I recommend anyone to read it.
You'll realize why being selfish is natural and how it serves the greater good.
Below are my notes 👇 https://t.co/ImY85DZHmI
https://t.co/zNBKZSlx5C
What are you doing this weekend? 😅 https://t.co/ORSMVDIoEQ
People invest in assets to make money.
Successful people invest in themselves first.
Drop an emoji that represents your country👇
🧀
How's your day going? 😅 https://t.co/lAasfymyRc
Smart people think.
Successful people do.
Instant gratification is like a short-term investment.
It never pays off.
Smartphone addiction is real 😅 https://t.co/1TvDX4kZdD
Next time you add features to your app, remember... https://t.co/GqiZKjyqup
A (super kind) user of Habits Garden sent me this 😂
This morning I got paid while surfing 🏄♂️ https://t.co/wsNooO2hdS
Users are the best QAs...🔎🐞 https://t.co/mvwei6Sssp
Where are you from? Drop your country flag below!
🇫🇷
I spent a lot of time googling your country flags, not gonna lie 😅
✅ Ship ✅ Get 1,000 users ✅ Ship ⬜️ Get 2,000 users
That's how I force myself to focus on marketing.
See you soon VS Code 👋
#buildinpublic
Added active users' profile links 🔗 on the landing page.
So visitors realize Habits Garden is much more than just a habit tracker 🧑🤝🧑
#buildinpublic https://t.co/JmqHycOfZ1
Another (inexplicable) SEO juice for Mood2Movie.
Horny category still #1 👑 https://t.co/rv7TQTbEpa
Spoiler 2: I closed $50,000 worth of revenue for my SaaS with these sales calls (despite the 💩 quality)
🌟 Just shipped the #1 requested feature to Habits Garden:
You can now tick habits in the past if you miss it ↩️
But there's a catch: at first, it's free, then 💎2, then 💎4...
The goal is to help users be consistent with a game-like reward/punishment system.
#buildinpublic https://t.co/2t7LzO65xN
The magic recipe for founders:
Execution without expectation.
If Elon Musk's account grew as much as mine today, he would get 7.46 million followers in 24 hours 🙈
Something is happening... 👀 https://t.co/yhe1ONHtRC
"In the long-run, prioritization beats efficiency."
–@JamesClear
I hate marketing 💔
I love coding ❤️
So I build marketing features, like this referral system 💡
How do you do marketing for your startup? https://t.co/VaUjXkMs5o
If this tweet reaches 50 likes, I upload a cold call archive from 2017 when I started the entrepreneurship journey.
Spoiler: it is extremely embarrassing.
All Habits Garden customers from April have renewed their monthly subscriptions (besides a failed payment).
All of them complete their habits every day.
Super proud 🤩
#buildinpublic https://t.co/pyp5CnOJSA
New customer VS. Subscription renewal
What's your favorite notification? https://t.co/yaXISB8bP4
Too many founders focus on conversion instead of attention ⛔️
To fix a leak you need to open the tap first 🚿
To split-test your sign-up button color you need data 📈
Get traffic on your site, then optimize 💡
Founders supporting their startups 🥲 https://t.co/gAAwqZWDcE
Fear is 10x more painful than the pain itself.
Don't let it stops you from following your dream.
Last year, I learned how to speak Korean 🇰🇷 while living in France 🇫🇷
I started as a complete beginner. After 3 months, I had friendly conversations with native Koreans on Zoom.
Here are 6 tips to learn a new language efficiently without living abroad:
🧵
4. Think in the new language
5. Only learn the most common 1,000 words
6. Show up every day, even if it's only for 10 minutes.
1. Find out why you want to speak a foreign language because it's the root of your motivation
2. Talk to natives from day 1 (I recommend @italki)
3. Change the language of your phone to the one you're learning
If you want to go into more detail, I wrote an article about effective language learning habits.
#langtwt
https://habitsgarden.com/blog/how-to-learn-a-new-language-without-living-abroad
Trying to get one of my SaaS acquired doesn't mean I'll break the #1 productivity rule: no calls https://t.co/BnitTPB0HQ
Thank you to the 300 people following this account.
Where are you from, and what are you working on? https://t.co/4drpMY7T0e
Another console.log() day
Selfishness pays in the short run.
Selflessness always pays in the long run.
Got my first press interview published today on @AuthorityMgzine 🤩
Definitely a great dip in the pool 🏊
Hopefully, it will get some SEO juice!
Here is the article about the book that changed my life 👇
3 months ago, I started building a free habit tracker just for fun.
Today, it pays some of my bills.
Will it reach ramen profitably before the end of the year?
Bets are on! https://t.co/TqDSUN5z0n
Can I say I finally built an app people want? https://t.co/DkTCHPMwe4
Before: all URLs = same image/title/description
Now: 1 URLs = 1 image/title/description
For instance, this page used to have the same meta as the homepage https://habitsgarden.com/blog
No need to migrate to NextJS, yet 😅
#buildinpublic
Learning X to start Y is another excuse to procrastinate.
Revert the order to get things done: start then learn.
🌟 Added this card to increase sign-ups when users share their Habits Garden Profiles.
#buildinpublic https://t.co/kCZSw9OrwI
You can see a demo here 👇
I keep scratching my scalp until blood when I read/think.
Do you have any trick for that? 😔
What you don't get with 9 to 5 job:
Happiness going back to work after holidays.
The fast way to grow a Twitter account is to join a community of like-minded people.
You create close relationships and boost each other's awareness.
My Twitter was idle for 4 months and grew by 50% in 1 month after joining @wbepodcast. Come on in!
I will turn a simple habit tracker into a community of achievers with maxed-out productivity.
Mark these words 😊
I'd have never expected users to spend this much $ for a game 😮
The Game + Productivity combo is promising 🔥 https://t.co/lwDLMLkgdu
This is the most unexpected side effect of owning SaaS people use daily... 😅
So I shipped an update and users can turn off all sound effects 🔇 https://t.co/NsVBg7QU6H
I get more followers after 1 week in holiday than 2 weeks of work.
What's the lesson?
Welcome newcomers 🤗
These notifications on holidays are so.. 🥰 https://t.co/yt7Jz84hrH
Yeah, sex is cool, but have you tried Googling in English instead of your native language?
What language are you learning?
I'm getting back to Indonesian 🇮🇩 after a 2-year break! https://t.co/lE3DCkarnd
Productivity drops by 50% when traveling but at least I get an office with a view 🌴☀️ https://t.co/6NlApksPfK
The 1,000th User signed up for Habits Garden today 🤩 https://t.co/Yvr33zTBCK
There is a constant traffic growth and I have no idea how it's happening 🤷
99% are people querying "Mood2Movie" on Google.
It's almost like it became a brand 🤨 https://t.co/a0xsAyAO8G
If you want to check the traffic data https://plausible.io/mood2movie.com
Do you also struggle switching off from work on weekends?
I just realized we are closer to ants 🐜 than monkeys 🐒
Our society is like an anthill.
We’re all specialized in our own expertise, creating something much bigger than us.
Yet, 99% of us wouldn’t survive on a desert island.
Fix your addictions with frictions
- Lock junk food in a container and tape the key on the ceiling - Keep your phone 10 meters away from you - Freeze your cigarettes pack
My friend @andrey_seas is launching a coaching business for entrepreneurs.
Should he join the #WBE community to stay accountable?
We all need marketing expertise, don’t we @wbepodcast? 😉 https://t.co/vhTvtIQ4qI
When a small account like mine gains 10 followers overnight, something happened... 🔎
Where there's smoke there's fire.
Welcome, everyone! 👋
💡 Productivity Hack: Keep your phone in a separate room.
You’ll be amazed to see how a little friction makes your phone less distracting.
Last year I read a book that changed my life.
I realized I was tired without knowing it...
Fixing my sleep unlocked everything else (creativity, productivity, happiness).
I just wrote an article about it, so hopefully, it will change your life too.
https://habitsgarden.com/blog/how-to-improve-your-sleep https://t.co/7cfG7zq8pr
I make almost $1,000/month with these 2 projects and work less than 1 hour/week.
True passive income is lit 🔥 https://t.co/7vZ4RrXMuY
Starting a social network from scratch is hard because there is no connection between users.
So I've added a list of suggested users to break the ice 🧨❄️
#buildinpublic https://t.co/Xh8BAWE7px
The Tweeter Syndrome: When your mind frames your thoughts into a 280-character chunk.
🌟 Just upgraded the friends' timeline to show profile pictures.
(no, I did not copy Twitter... 👀)
#buildinpublic https://t.co/VVoI3zRzi5
There has never been a better time to grow your Twitter account.
Keep grinding everyone 🚀 https://t.co/052Rtnw7qG
Remembering someone’s name is the best and cheapest investment to build long relationships.
Here are 2 tricks I use to stop forgetting names after 2 minutes.
1. Don’t just ask “What’s your name?”
Follow up with questions related to the person’s name like “Just like the singer?”
It’s easier to remember what you hear several times.
2. Make it your #1 priority
Before meeting a new person, tell yourself you will remember her name.
You’re more likely to pay attention if you’re prepared.
Just finished this masterpiece, a must-read if you want to elevate your creativity.
Here are my notes:
🧵👇 https://t.co/449inOWvbP
- Resistance is a force inside all of us that sabotage long term goals for instant gratification
- Resistance is fed by 1. Our fears 2. Others' resistance
- Criticism is a form of Resistance. It shows we haven't lived our own authentic selves yet.
- Fear, Self-doubt are indicators: The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it
- No one but us can fight our Resistance
- "I'll do it tomorrow" means "I won't do it"
- Rationalization makes Resistance legitimate so we feel comfortable not pursuing our goals
- Professionals are patient, organized, asking for help when needed.
- They know how to handle their fears and are not expecting anything from their crafts
- Artists are deaf to critics
- We are all creative
- Inner forces guide those who keep creating
- Children are all born with something unique. Finding it usually means finding the artist within.
- Humans are meant to work in small tribes. We are lost in a big hierarchy.
- An artist mustn't be part of a hierarchy. She can't look elsewhere than inside of her. She mustn't try to please anyone else but herself.
- An artist is territorial. She has a place where she's comfortable and it's giving back proportionally to the effort she put in (a gym, a piano, pen & paper)
- An artist does her work for its own sake, not for fortune or attention or applause
What would you do if you were the last human on the planet?
I just paid $2.07 to get a haircut with a head massage.
In my hometown, it's the extra cost of inflation 😅
Just filed the annual tax return and realized...
You don't pay tax when you don't make money 😂 https://t.co/kMv2T6J8w4
There is no turning back. 251 days to go! 🔥 https://t.co/EgrD5Fo11j
Writing turns thoughts into tools
Many people are miserable because they are the drivers of their lives.
Let your inner child steer the wheel while you sit as a passenger.
Your only job is to make sure you got the basics right (food, sleep, exercise).
Procrastination always starts with a good excuse
The Flippening... 👀
Thank you everyone for being part of the journey ❤️🔥 https://t.co/49amzBI6f8
You don't need an account to view users' profiles. Here's mine for instance:
Just made an /update page for users to stay up to date.
#buildinpublic https://t.co/O9JVxBucQp
Someone happy is sexier than a Victoria's Secret model
What the heck is going on? 🤯
200 people search for Mood2Movie on Google every day!
The site even gets traffic for the query "what to watch when horny" 😂 https://t.co/S9OEM80O71
Work by yourself to keep your freedom?
OR
Hire people to grow bigger?
Saying “I will do it tomorrow” is easier than “I won’t do it” 😅 https://t.co/FAYLQ2Y8tN
The biggest mistake is to start with a solution instead of a problem.
What problem is your startup solving?
If you use your own SaaS, you have a competitive advantage.
I loot a rare flower in my habit tracker this morning.
I was pumped and got back to work! https://t.co/5K7J3iWasR
There is a special place in hell for apps that doesn’t let you search emojis
I just got the most followers in 24 hours after spinning my stupid face.
Pls help me understand Twitter.. https://t.co/4KnwkpfHdb
Launching Mood2Movie on Reddit, just for fun 🚀
Thanks for making me discover the /SideProject community @AnthonyCastrio https://t.co/mPlJXA1a4K
I finished writing an article about workout consistency earlier than expected, so… 🎁 https://t.co/ZNdfSrM48V
Why do we become expert procrastinators when working out?
That’s what I cover this week 👇
https://habitsgarden.com/blog/why-we-procrastinate-when-working-out
How about we all drop a selfie to break the ice? ❄️
I'll start 👇
*wearing a t-shirt just for the picture https://t.co/Wza9xfxE8Y
What would you do if money wasn't an issue?
Yesterday, I talked about coding with a 9 years old kid.
He builds servers on Minecraft.
I couldn’t follow up with him.
Internet will be wild in 2040.
Sneak peek of the next update... 👀 https://t.co/77uEX9HOBx
You can buy 1 extra year of life with all your current savings.
Do you do it?
To celebrate the 777th stretch, I connected Habits Garden to YouTube.
The thumbnail updates when I tick my habit.
Why? I don’t know 🤷 https://t.co/4etLFzCGv3
Working on the most exciting update for Habits Garden 🌱
Beta coming later this week...
#buildinpublic
https://t.co/AynMeamEyq
Google, what's going on?
http://Mood2Movie.com is raising from the hashes 🐦
#buildinpublic https://t.co/9ewiYjq6xb
Making fun of me while setting up a little site to summarize all my projects, current MRR & fun stuff at https://marclou.com
#buildinpublic https://t.co/QVpQVimkcz
You guys broke my site 🙈 https://t.co/xGNJARIZbN
Fear is a sign you’re afraid to do something you love
The good part of having a small number of followers is intimacy.
I know what each of you is doing :)
If you’re reading this: Thank you for being here.
I can close my computer for today
https://twitter.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/1515124657879281664?s=20&t=7ChRPi5lORDIfajD-pjl-Q https://t.co/IuAnwhW8ZN
Every time I read a book, I feel like I level up in life https://t.co/Kmbytzm8Pe
Just bought a new domain so I can think about the next domain I'll buy
Ambition is sexier than abs
Confidence is sexier than a 6-pack
I, Marc Lou, commit to writing 1 blog post per week until 2023 🤚
You choose the punishment. Go! 👇 https://t.co/Xfiyx8f2N0
Watching videos about how to catch monkeys 🐒
Yesterday, one entered my living room and stole a mango...
And I thought making a startup was hard 🥴
Starting this book to find the inner child and be more creative 🌟
I'll tweet a summary once finished. https://t.co/eYZ5xCFyYf
Getting addicted to this 🌟 https://t.co/z61hRk88zM
Why do we compare students with others (through grades) instead of comparing them with themselves?
Serious question.
How to turn bad habits into good ones with 3 examples.
Snacking? Drinking? Procrastinating? Let’s fix it!
🧵👇
1/4
I used to brush my teeth for 10 minutes.
It’s way too long and I knew it.
But I kept doing it for 10 years.
2/4
Last month, I tried something new:
“I can brush my teeth for as long as I can hold this position”
It works like magic:
1. I’m forced to stop brushing after 2/3 minutes 2. I’m growing a 6-pack
3/4 https://t.co/NvZMvId2Yb
Quitting bad habits doesn’t have to be drastic.
With creativity, you can channel unwanted behavior into something good.
- Watch Netflix while stretching - Eat an apple when you drink a glass of alcohol - Snack as long as you can hold a plank
What bad habits are you fixing?
If you want to learn more about the strategy, I wrote an in-depth article on my blog 👇
https://habitsgarden.com/blog/how-to-turn-bad-habits-into-good-ones-with-3-examples https://t.co/4zN39OGK6m
10 days of marketing for Habits Garden:
- 13,200 unique visitors - 817 users - 8 customers - $261 in revenue
Where would you focus at this point? 🤔
Making $1 with your startup feels 10x better than earning $1000
If you feel lonely bootstrapping your startup, consider joining Wannabe Entrepreneur @wbepodcast.
I joined last week and I've already met awesome people (@maxwellcdavis 👀).
Getting closer to having more followers than following.
It took 5 months of consistency to get here 🥲
To my new followers: Hey! 👋 https://t.co/5t6Riw9ZVm
After 3 months of grinding on my app...
8 customers subscribed in the last 3 days (worth $261) 🍾🥂
#buildinpublic https://t.co/Ni6LFU4gCN
Broke the streak for the first time after 3 months...
It was good to be off for 2 days but I missed you, Twitter! https://t.co/QcHQAeyAz2
Waking up to this...
FIRST CUSTOMERS 🥳🎉🍾
I'm like a kid on December 24th 🤩 https://t.co/gZpW51O3Sf
"Walk slowly, but never backward."
–@JamesClear
How to successfully launch your product on Hacker News? 🚀
Takeaways I learned after ranking #1 for the last 2 submissions (20,000 visitors in 24 hours 😮)
Short 🧵👇 https://t.co/MijmPu37Ho
1. Make it personal
Users browsing the Show HN category are looking for the next success story. They want to be inspired by someone they can relate to.
❌ A nice product ✅ I made a nice product
2. Be tech
Hacker News is made of, well, hackers. Show them you're part of the community.
❌ I made a nice product ✅ I made a nice product using Artificial Intelligence
3. Tell the outcome
What makes your product/service special? Is it worth my time?
❌ I made a nice product using AI ✅ I made a nice product using AI to help you sleep better
I hope it helps you kickstart your next launch! 🚀
If I'm missing anything, please add it below 👇
4. Extras
- Keep the title short - Add a comment to explain who you are and why you built this product - Reply to comments
Friends, what do you think? 🤔 https://t.co/K55YfwAOl7
Guess who's making a blog without doing keyword research?
☝️🤣 https://t.co/Who46fvLFU
Here's the link to the first post if you're curious 🧐
https://habitsgarden.com/blog/6-habits-for-entrepreneurs-to-avoid-burnout
Procrastinate without devices. You will be pulled towards your values.
26 people joined Habits Garden's community last week 🙌
Learning from others is a great way to avoid mistakes and grow faster! https://t.co/mosYHptkeN
Google is turning the Search Console into a game 🎮 https://t.co/rK1yiDExqu
If you're building backlinks for SEO, check out HARO (it's free).
It connects reporters (media) with sources (you) to write articles.
If you're selected, you end up on the top page of a high domain authority site like Forbes or BuzzFeed.
New proposals are sent 3 times/day. https://t.co/IetulvLWO7
Indie Hacker on weekdays, YouTuber on weekends.
What's your superpower? 🦸♀️ 🦸♂️
"I started crying without knowing why, and sprained my wrist punching the wall. Here's how I'm trying to stay sane now."
Sharing a personal story about depression and being a solo founder on @IndieHackers 👇
How to know when it's time to quit your project? 🙅
Here is a simple framework to help you make the right decision, at the right time.
🧵👇
1/ Too early
I started making YouTube videos about surfing 🏄 in February 2020.
8 videos and 2 months later, I decided 50 subscribers was not worth it.
6 months after quitting, one of my videos goes viral. 154,000 views, 500 subscribers, and 1 sponsorship proposal.
When you start anything from scratch, getting traction takes months.
To navigate into the ocean of silence and avoid quitting too early, set an ambitious goal you can control:
- 1000 tweets - 50 YouTube videos - 50 blog posts
2/ Too late
The covid pandemic ended my business. $6,000/mo to $0 in a few days.
I was pissed for a few months.
Then I realized I hated doing marketing because I had 0 interest in my target market.
You can't fake genuine interest.
Ask yourself: Do I care about the people I help?
If there is no Founder-Market fit, you can quit.
That's it!
How do you decide when to quit?
Share your experience so we can learn from each other 😃
"If I know how you spend your time, then I know what might become of you.”
Goethe
"You can’t call something a distraction unless you know what it’s distracting you from."
@nireyal in Indistractable 📚
I'll be out of cash in 9 months...
My startup HAS to reach ramen profitability.
It's stressful, but a great source of motivation 💪
How long do you have savings for? https://t.co/bbka7zzmJs
🤫 Features sneak peek 🤫
- Keep your Streak by choosing when to complete your habits (i.e. Monday, Wednesday, Friday)
- Find your friends and grow a garden together
752 users have tried Habits Garden so far (thanks Hacker News)
When the marketing goal of 1,000 users is achieved, new features will be added!
🟩🟩🟩🟨 (80% completed)
“If distraction costs us time, then time management is pain management”
@nireyal - Indistractable 📚
This SEO course is a must for beginners.
Thank you @samsgoh!
If someone took control of your life tomorrow, what’s the first thing they would change?
🚨 (re)Launching on Hacker News 🚨
After a failed launch a few days ago, Habits Garden is live on @newsycombinator and already in 3rd place!!! 🏅
I can't believe it 🫣 https://t.co/x5c16MB5yu
Watch the traffic data in real time:
Well, that was a heck of a launch 🤩🤪
📈 9,471 unique visitors 👤 523 new users 💑 12 new Twitter followers (hey there!)
Do you want me to make a summary of what makes a great Hacker News post? https://t.co/7ugAS6BaEI
🤔Most surprising fact:
10 users (2%) wanted to delete their accounts right after signing up.
What's your take on that?
Do you spend too much time on your phone? Turn on the Grayscale filter (black & white).
“The time you plan to waste is not wasted time”
@nireyal
Finally making 7 figures after 7 years of grinding. https://t.co/7aKKWsvo8u
Behind the scenes 🐟 https://t.co/NqOwHywF8Z
The popular framework “1-week coding / 1-week marketing” by @yongfook is awesome.
However, it does not make sense at this stage for Habits Garden.
Instead, I’ll get 1,000 users on board before coding any additional features.
Currently: 98/1000 https://t.co/O7iY02aUEE
Making fun of FFF (Features-Focus Founders, like me) on Indie Hackers 👇
https://www.indiehackers.com/post/the-scariest-moment-for-an-indie-hacker-154dd0db9f
Let’s read this book together to understand
- Why do we waste so much time on our smartphones? - How to hack back distractions and focus on what we really want?
Daily summaries of my 30-min/day reading habit 👇 https://t.co/eRTkXj4WmZ
- Distraction stops you from achieving your goals.
- Traction leads you closer to your goals.
- Triggers prompt both traction and distraction: External triggers prompt you to action with cues in your environment. Internal triggers prompt you to action with cues within you. https://t.co/U3TGuhETyf
- Anything that stops discomfort is potentially addictive, but that doesn’t make it irresistible. If you know the drivers of your behavior, you can take steps to manage them.
What Motivates Us, Really? 🎯
- Understand the root cause of distraction. Distraction is about more than your devices. Separate proximate causes from the root cause.
- All motivation is a desire to escape discomfort. If a behavior was previously effective at providing relief, we’re likely to continue using it as a tool to escape discomfort.
- Evolution favored dissatisfaction over contentment. Our tendencies toward boredom, negativity bias, rumination, and hedonic adaptation conspire to make sure we’re never satisfied for long.
Time Management Is Pain Management ⏲️
- Time management is pain management. Distractions cost us time, and like all actions, they are spurred by the desire to escape discomfort.
- Dissatisfaction is responsible for our species’ advancements as much as its faults. It is an innate power that can be channeled to help us make things better.
- If we want to master distraction, we must learn to deal with discomfort.
🫀 Deal with Distraction from Within
- Without techniques for disarming temptation, mental abstinence can backfire. Resisting an urge can trigger rumination and make the desire grow stronger.
- We can manage distractions that originate from within by changing how we think about them. We can reimagine the trigger, the task, and our temperament.
💡 Reimagine the Internal Trigger to Disarm It
1. Look for the emotion preceding distraction 2. Write down the internal trigger 3. Explore the negative sensation with curiosity instead of contempt 4. If the temptation is still here, give yourself the right to do it in 10 minutes
🎬 Reimagine the Task to Stay Focus
- We can master internal triggers by reimagining an otherwise boring task. Fun and play can be used as tools to keep us focused - Play doesn’t have to be pleasurable. It just has to hold our attention - Add novelty to any task to make it fun
🪞 Reimagine Your Temperament to Manage Internal Triggers
- We don’t run out of willpower. Believing we do makes us less likely to accomplish our goals by providing a rationale to quit when we could otherwise persist.
- What we say to ourselves matters. Labeling yourself as having poor self-control is self-defeating. - Talk to yourself the way you’d talk to a friend. People who are more self-compassionate are more resilient.
⏳ Turn Your Values into Time
- You can’t call something a distraction unless you know what it is distracting you from. Planning ahead is the only way to know the difference between traction and distraction.
- To be the person you want to be, you have to make time to live your values. Plan how to spend your time.
🔄 Control the Inputs, Not the Outcomes
- Schedule time for yourself first. You are at the center of everything. - You can’t always control what you get out of the time you spend, but you can control how much time you put into a task.
- For instance, you can't force yourself to sleep (outcome) but you can tell yourself your body gets what it needs so you stress less (input)
👩❤️👨 Schedule Important Relationships
- The people you love deserve more than getting whatever time is leftover. If someone is important to you, make regular time for them on your calendar - A lack of close friendships may be hazardous to your health
🤔 Hack Back External Triggers by Asking the Critical Question
- External triggers often lead to distraction. Cues in our environment like the pings, dings, and rings from devices, as well as interruptions from other people, frequently take us off track
- External triggers aren’t always harmful. If an external trigger leads us to traction, it serves us - We must ask ourselves: Is this trigger serving me, or am I serving it?
💼 Hack Back Work Interruptions
- Interruptions lead to mistakes. You can’t do your best work if you’re frequently distracted - Defend your focus. Signal when you do not want to be interrupted
📧 Hack Back Email
- Reduce the number of messages received. Schedule office hours, delay when messages are sent, and reduce time-wasting messages from reaching your inbox
- Spend less time on each message. Label emails by when each message needs a response.
🔕 Hack Back Your Smartphone and Laptop
- Turn off all notifications - Schedule time to check important apps
🐦 Hack Back Feeds
- Feeds, like the ones we scroll through on Twitter (😉), are designed to keep you engaged - Use free browser extensions like News Feed Eradicator for Facebook, Newsfeed Burner, Open Multiple Websites, and DF Tube to remove distracting external triggers
Reading 📚 when you're tired 😴 https://t.co/WJlAsbod1C
Launching on Hacker News in 3... 2... 1...
🚀
#buildinpublic https://t.co/FfUsk6nM2D
What a... 🤯
There is no "Show HN" in the title so it was posted in the wrong category 😢
I somehow managed to fix it (I think?)
If you don't mind checking if you can see the publication? Would really help 🙏 https://news.ycombinator.com/shownew
Walking in the Valley of Shame...
Takeaways: don't ask friends to upvote, it's not OK on Hacker News (I was used to Product Hunt)
It's great to see the HN community being reactive and taking down spammers quickly ✌️ https://t.co/HZ8w9T7ghm
Have you ever seen a worse launch? 🥲
Trying to fix my mistake, somehow. https://t.co/HNSh2l2mHN
From the kindest entrepreneur, it's an honor @arvidkahl 🙏 https://t.co/B2wRUkY6Cp
SaaS I built 4 years ago: ~$1,000/month
Time spent in the last 3 years: < 10 hours
True passive income is wonderful https://t.co/rHxvlFcOZj
Churn will eventually bring the MRR to 0 in a year or two
Anyone else? 😅 https://t.co/Wcq1ATxhbL
After being under construction for 2 months 🏗️ it's time for Habits Garden to be shared with the world 📢
Any tip about how to get started with SEO?
I'm a total newbie and know how to code.
🌟 Added emojis to the Feedback Box so you can rate Habits Garden!
#buildinpublic https://t.co/KgoPiX94k7
“Do Not Live to Satisfy the Expectations of Others” https://t.co/UNSjLejbb2
The only data that will remain private for my SaaS is...
...The drop rate for the Legendary Cactus 🌵😅 https://t.co/awLIHjBcug
🌴 Palm Tree has been unlocked for the first time ever in Habits Garden.
Congrats to the user! Consistency pays 🎉🥳🍾 https://t.co/CXQ9b25LTH
🌟 Added 4 hardcore achievements and 1 new plant for your Habits Garden... 🌲
Go tick those habits!
#buildinpublic https://t.co/0qHaXQOpzj
Add Habits Garden to your Home Screen
✅ don't forget ticking your habits ✅ 1-tap quick access
Quick tutorial https://habitsgarden.com/homescreen
#buildinpublic https://t.co/GvTgk2qVnI
For iOS users too 🤗 https://t.co/wutqhET2ue
Twitter, what happened? 🤨
My heart wasn't ready for a traffic spike... I'm grateful for all of you who signed up recently 🫰 https://t.co/nVO0LeTNUB
✅ Mystery solved
Thanks @scott_bair 🫂
https://twitter.com/scott_bair/status/1507747968782409740?s=20&t=h5WnMx0wG2fD9SvSpOB43w
2⃣ $10,000 MRR: No more counting/thinking about money. It’s financial freedom and time to reinvest some profits into the app/game. Will be achieved in 2023.
Habits Garden is a 3-step company:
1️⃣ $1,000 MRR: Reaching ramen-profitability is the most important because it solves the “how I am gonna pay my rent?” problem. Will be achieved in 2022.
3⃣ $100,000 MRR: Retired. Time to buy a house, support friends/family financially, and give money for ecological transition. Will be achieved in 2025.
#buildinpublic
🌟 3 new flowers added to your Habits Garden, unlockable with a bit of luck from the Daily Reward.
Among them, the Legendary Cactus 🌵...
(I feel like a kid when dropping new features 😅)
#buildinpublic https://t.co/fYDMTvQbR2
What is one of your natural gifts?
Twitter feed right now...
@waitbutwhy 🥲 https://t.co/1JrihMz3OH
“Decide the type of person you want to be. Prove it to yourself with small wins.”
@JamesClear - Atomic Habits 📚
🌟 Added 3 new Achievements to your Habits Garden.
Available now! https://t.co/LUMthB841H
Resolutions after my Best Friend's death on Saturday:
- Say "Hello" to everyone - See the good side of people - No judgment - Say good/kind things - Be humble - Be generous - Respect differences - Live now, not tomorrow - Be 100% me
Legal stuff is boring but has to be done...
✅ Privacy Policy + TOS added to Habits Garden
#buildinpublic https://t.co/gndHdxwzUr
“The purpose of setting goals is to win the game. The purpose of building systems is to continue playing the game.”
@JamesClear - Atomic Habits 📚
"The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves."
My best friend knew it all along...
Just lost my best friend. He was 34...
Life's a bitch, sometimes
🥁 Introducing...
🏆 Achievements: unique missions to reward the most consistent with special rewards.
🌹🌻 2 new flowers for your garden!
Available now at http://HabitsGarden.com
#buildinpublic https://t.co/F9zrETQVQ0
“Your mind makes it real.”
—Morpheus
"Define yourself by your effort, not your suffering."
–@JamesClear
- 30 minutes to craft a Tweet: 0 like
- Write without thinking: 33 likes
🤷 https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1504371417558650880?s=20&t=CQXKUksyioX6Q5DxT2pzaQ
Can you guess what will be the next 2 flowers added to Habits Garden? 🙈 https://t.co/Vv97dsJr0d
🌟 Changed the headline 🌟 Added a demo to show the connection between building habits & growing a garden
#buildinpublic https://t.co/gP0TleiAZS
All teachers will eventually be replaced by games
What are the things you want/have to do to every day?
Here are mines https://t.co/JmYobUz46K
Users of Habits Garden are so creative ❤️🌹
Who said forming habits is boring? 😜 https://t.co/oWAPGEzqwV
What habit (good or bad) do you do everyday without thinking?
Me, scratching my head my nails 💅
Let's read this book together to understand:
1. Why games are so addictive 2. How to use this addiction to do something good (i.e. forming a workout habit)
You'll get the daily takeaway from my 30-minute reading habit 🧵 👇 https://t.co/LSKKwuR2QH
- Nostalgia has the benefit of helping deal with melancholy and sadness. - Nostalgic memories often involve people, usually loved ones. It’s a very social emotion. Feeling nostalgia puts us in the mood to maintain social relationships or create new ones.
- It can also make us feel better by reminding us of who we were in our best moments from the past - An item’s history has heaps of psychological weight. People overvalue what they own relative to people who want to buy the same thing. This is called the “endowment effect.”
How Do Games Get Us to Keep Score and Compete?
- In the absence of objective information, people make social comparisons to determine how well they’re doing. Games facilitate this.
- The “big fish, little pond effect” describes how we feel better about our performance if it puts us near the top of a low-performing group than if the same performance puts us near the bottom of a high-performing group.
- Not all comparisons are equal. We prefer those who are similar to us in ways that are relevant to the task or accomplishment in question.
- Not all rungs on a tournament ladder are equally spaced. The difference between 1st and 2nd place is much larger, psychologically, than the difference between 101st and 102nd.
- The Dunning–Kruger effect describes how people who are bad at something overestimate their performance, and those who are experts underestimate. Single-player campaigns may highlight this effect by making novice players think they’re better prepared than they really are.
How Do Games Get Us to Grind, Complete Side Quests, and Chase Achievements? 📜
- We do it to satisfy needs for “competence, autonomy, and relatedness.”
1. Competence relates to feeling like we’re doing well and getting better.
2. Autonomy is satisfied when we feel we are given meaningful decisions to make.
3. Relatedness happens when we feel that we are important to others.
- The “endowed-progress effect” describes our preoccupation with tasks that are begun but not yet finished.
- “Psychological reactance” is related to how we hate to lose options once we have them.
- Gaming achievements/trophies and in-game possessions can be used to signal our status to other players. This is true even if they’re outlandish and unreasonably difficult to acquire.
How Do Developers Keep Us So Excited about New Loot?
- Well-established theories about the timing of rewards do a pretty good job of explaining why gamers love loot drops.
- The random nature of loot drops is essential. It works because the prediction systems in our brains want us to pay special attention to failed predictions.
- The “post hoc, ergo propter hoc” fallacy describes how we tend to think that two things are related just because we see one happening after the other. This can lead to some amusing superstitions and rituals.
- The Diablo III auction houses hurt the game’s core loot loop because they downplayed the importance of randomness
#Read30for30 ➡️ Joining the reading habit challenge by @AlexAndBooks_
How Do Games Make Us Feel Immersed in Imaginary Worlds?
- Spatial presence (immersion) happens when we stop paying attention to the technology between us and the virtual world of the game.
- It is facilitated by creating a rich and complete mental representation of the game world for us and then by us adopting that as our primary point of reference for where we “are.”
1. Technology can do it by tricking your brain on the same level as reality with visual and auditory cues about the environment. It can also help by providing controls that feel natural and require inputs that are expected for the activity you’re supposedly doing.
- The more vivid, detailed, and familiar the mental model of the world is, the greater the potential for spatial presence. Both technology and game design choices can help this.
2. Game design helps create a rich mental model by using game worlds that our imagination and familiarity with the setting can help fill in. A consistent, unbroken, and interactive presentation of the game world also helps.
Psychology of Game Pricing
- Consumers have irrational attitudes toward sales. Many find value in bargain hunting beyond simply what they’re saving.
- Artificial scarcity is often used to make people want something simply because the “rare means valuable” shortcut we often use for decision-making. For digital goods, this is employed by making the opportunity to buy limited.
- “Psychological reactance” makes us overvalue something when we think we’re about to lose the opportunity to buy it.
- Surprise sales events and digging for bargains is a real-life loot drop. All the same lessons about randomness of rewards apply.
- The “less-is-more bias” describes how we may adopt reference points for the value of something and then have that reference point bias our valuation. - Favoring 6 ounces of frozen yogurt overflowing in a 4-ounce cup versus 8 ounces at the bottom of a 10-ounce cup is an example.
- People don’t like inconsistencies between their stated intentions and actions. Wish lists and preorders use precommitment to buy in order to get more sales.
- “Anchoring” is a robust psychological phenomenon that makes you biased toward the first or most salient number that you see in a sales pitch. This is often used to raise your estimate of how much something is worth or how big a discount is.
How Do Games and Apps Get You with In-Game Purchases?
- People treat a price of zero (that is, free) in a special, particularly irrational way. This may be because it appears to represent no risk or chance of loss in a transaction. We are biased to favor sure things.
- Some theories hold that self-control is a pool of mental energy from which we have to draw to make decisions, perform cognitively demanding tasks, and control our behavior. If it’s depleted, we become susceptible to accepting the status quo or making hedonistic choices.
- Thus the timing of sales pitches matters. You’re more likely to make impulse purchases when your reservoir of self-control is low. This can happen after a series of choices or cognitively demanding tasks.
- Decoupling loss of real money from purchases makes separating us from our money less painful. This happens with credit cards, store credit, and virtual currencies like those found in games.
- Transparency refers to how little the method of payment masks how much you’re spending. Cash is high-transparency; in-game currencies are low-transparency. The latter leads to more spending.
How Do Games Keep Players Paying?
- We are biased in favor of accepting default options when given a set of choices. This is known as the “status quo effect.” This is used to get you to renew subscriptions without thinking about it.
- This is related to the law of diminishing sensitivity. The relationship between pain and cost flattens out as costs increase. For example, the difference between $1 and $2 is more painful than the difference between $1,000 and $1,001.
- People prefer flat rates and all-you-can-eat pricing options because the sum of each individual payment hurts more than one big payment of equal value. This is sometimes called the “taxi meter effect.”
- The fact that we hate to lose things more than we like gaining things of equivalent value is also often used to keep us paying subscriptions
How Do Games Get Players to Market to Each Other?
- Emotional contagion describes how emotional states can be transmitted from one person to another.
- Our judgments and opinions can be influenced by what people around us are reporting. This is known as “social proof.”
- “Reciprocity” is the impulse we feel to repay favors done for us or gifts given to us. Many social games use this as a way of getting us to spread links and invitations.
- “Benign envy” is an emotion I feel when you have something I want, and I want to build myself to get it, too. This is useful for motivating people to achieve goals and keep playing.
- Being envious can also just make us feel more competent, thanks to the social comparison processes it triggers. We’re biased toward making comparisons that do this.
Do Video Games Make You Smarter?
- Many video games are far more demanding of our cognitive skills and resources than people realize.
- There is some evidence that playing these games increases the size of certain parts of players’ brains.
- There are some studies showing that specially designed games can bolster specific skills, such as working memory and reallocation of attention.
Tiny changes can bring remarkable results.
It took 18 days to finish this book with a 30-minute/day reading habit.
I learned so much about game design, my business has been directly impacted.
Read something today 😊
Sleep is the body & mind’s reset button
🌸 Email verification is now available for more security!
Next: offering free trials (better experience for users, less chance of fraud for me)
#buildinpublic https://t.co/UCPaXPXm9w
❤️ This notification is the dream of a founder who starts a new business
💔 Turned out to be a nightmare for me https://t.co/AKg20h5qfj
Fighting back against the person who got my Stripe account banned... 😡
✅ Sign up with Google is available (easier for users, less spam for me)
🚫 New paid subscriptions are prohibited until things are figured out with Stripe https://t.co/hJmC2AYtvc
How to Find your Next Best Headline: What I learned using 20 of my friends as guinea pigs 👇
I was looking for a catchy headline for my new habit tracker.
My friends being nice, would tell me their favorites. But how do I know it's the one they would click on?
I sent them a picture of 5 selected headlines and made sure they could only see them once (I used the "view once" option on WhatsApp)
"Can you please rank these headlines"
#3 was the clear winner. https://t.co/QJmgPIcclC
People are busy and quickly forget about your product.
Make it easy for them to remember it by choosing a memorable headline.
This is what happened the following day:
Most of my friends could only remember headline #3
"Turn your Have-Tos into Want-Tos" https://t.co/Gg2yD89n4L
Champagne is waiting in the fridge... 🍾🥂
I've made over $100,000 with my SaaS.
Getting the first paid user for Habits Garden ($9/mo) would make me the happiest man on earth.
Isn't it completely irrational? 😅
WHAT A... 🤯 5 successful payments overnight!
"That can't be right...", I thought.
Indeed, it's all fraudulent payments.
@stripe banned my account, users can't checkout.
Has anyone been there before? 👋 #buildinpublic (and fail too) https://t.co/77td1i2Uru
PS: the hacker is in Taiwan 🇹🇼 and seems to be following me on Twitter.
Congrats, you just forced all the next users to verify their emails 👏
Also, why? 🤔
Working on a more resilient Checkout process - will be back soon & stronger 💪
If you want to track your habits & grow a garden - DM me.
Sorry for the inconvenience 😟
Update from Stripe: https://t.co/cy0QPmELSb
The pricing page is live! 🥳🎉
Does it make sense to you? Is it clear? https://t.co/4y2JCzUxbQ
Integrated the subscription with @stripe in a few hours ✅ $6 (yearly) or $9 (monthly) per month ✅ 7-day money-back guarantee
Once the landing page is done, I'll chase for the first customer 🤩 #buildinpublic https://t.co/AnhOT2DOP7
☘️ Daily Quest requires you to complete "1 random habit" instead of just "1 habit"
Available now!
#buildinpublic https://t.co/rdHGJmuEfA
Bye bye 🥹 https://t.co/2Hbqo6Varf
Unpopular opinion: Keeping your job does NOT help you work on your side project.
Keeping doors open makes you less skin in the game, thus less likely to succeed.
Found a great movie to watch in less than 1 minute using http://Mood2Movie.com
Yes, I built this app, but I'm still amazed at how well it works 😅 https://t.co/iy7QTcwSHN
Think of something you struggled with in the last year.
Sep back and zoom out, what is one lesson you have learned from the experience?
Dev: @stripe is perfect but I wish I could do [feature] Stripe: Also Stripe: introducing [feature]
Entrepreneur: someone in constant failure who thinks “one day, I’ll make it”
Gamification is the most powerful way to get things done, even when you don’t feel like it.
- Run with Pokemon Go - Train your mind with Wordle - Learn a new language with Duolingo
In 2022, Habits Garden will help 1000 persons form good habits in a fun way (47 users now)
If you are a React dev using VSC, check out the Glean extension.
You can extract JSX into a new component in 1 click 🍾 https://t.co/WQNlaeGW41
Introducing Daily Quests 📜
3 quests to complete every day in order to get more gems 💎 and grow your garden 🌱🪴🌳
Who said forming habits is boring? 🤣
Available now at https://HabitsGarden.com/ https://t.co/Sq7By25Mdq
100 people are now following a french guy with a mustache. THANK YOU ♥️
Why do we keep going back to the unlimited buffet, even when our stomachs are already full? 🤤
Read this book with me: 📖 I read 30 minutes every day 👀 You get the essentials
Deal?
Ongoing thread 🧵👇 https://t.co/jl7b23qzBu
- We don't know what we want unless we see it in context - We are wired to compare everything with everyone: salaries, spouses, cars. It helps us make decisions but can also make us miserable.
1/n
- To sell [A] (i.e. large 🍿), introduce a decoy version of [A] (medium 🍿) - Our decisions are influenced by the first price we see, aka the "anchor" ($3.5 seems cheap because of the $4 ⚓️) https://t.co/4xFmDBWjoj
- We have an irrational urge to jump on a free item, even if it's not what we really want. - Why? Paid item has downsides (what if you don’t like it?) whereas free item only has upsides. - Free is used to appeal to us but it costs time and the deal isn't rationally good (usually) https://t.co/luoUR94f6V
- Keep market norms (do it for the money) separate from social norms (do it for a cause). - You’re dating someone and decide to pay for the dinner. If you mention how much it costs, social norms (dating) leave and market norms enter (prostitution)
We live in 2 states: 🥵 Hot & 🥶 Cold
We fail to predict how we'd react in the hot state and we become irrational (i.e. No condom? No problem. Saying bad things because you’re angry)
1. Be prepared (i.e. carry condom) 2. Wait & think
Procrastination: delaying goals for instant gratification.
- Drinking a coke instead of eating healthy - Playing games rather than working on your side project - Watching Netflix instead of working out
Procrastination is growing because the world has more & more to offer.
To fix it, set yourself deadlines/limits: - Eat 5 healthy meals to drink a coke - Work on your side project for 2 hours before playing games - Can’t watch Netflix before 6 pm
Ownership changes our perspective:
1. We value items we own more because we have feelings for it 2. If we sell it, we focus more on what we can lose rather than gain 3. We expect the buyer to see the item with the same perspective as we do
- We have an irrational compulsion to keep doors open because we can't stand losing opportunities - Those options distract us from what we really want - Keeping the doors open costs time & money
We are constantly influenced by our expectations: - Wine tastes better in a fancy glass - Aspirin works better if you believe it - Movie is nicer if a friend recommended it
Price greatly influences Placebo’s effect 💊
The more expensive, the more expectations we have, the better it works (despite being the same product)
To increase the effect of a cheaper Placebo, dissociate the price from the product.
- Everyone will cheat, if given the opportunity, but not as much as we could - Cheating is increased when not directly related to a currency (stealing a Coke from a shared fridge vs. stealing $1) - People stop cheating completely once thinking about honesty (i.e signing an oath)
That's it!
It takes 2 weeks to read a book with a 30 minutes/day habit.
Imagine how much you can learn in 1 year if you start reading today? 🧠📈
Mood2Movie users: You can't use the app now because the movies provider blocked my access (not sure why?)
I'm on it 💪 https://t.co/ncfR9mBeBr
UPDATE: We're back, thanks for your patience
Happy Sunday movie 🍿
Introducing daily rewards 🎁
After completing at least 1 habit, you can claim your reward and earn some 💎 to grow your garden!
🌟 Available now at http://HabitsGarden.com https://t.co/FSbQISQhl7
If you could take a year off to work on something that probably wouldn't be important but would be really interesting, what would it be?
- Got COVID - Launched an app - Russia attacks Ukraine
That happened today https://t.co/Qk1PZaFDoe
Eat until you're 90% full and you'll never want to nap after the meal.
Can't believe I discovered that last week... Better late than never.
"Incentives can start a habit. Identity sustains a habit.” https://t.co/Nj3nARDUGx
"Time will multiply whatever you feed it. Good habits make time your ally. Bad habits make time your enemy."
@JamesClear in Atomic Habits 📖
“Getting 1 percent better every day counts for a lot in the long-run.”
@JamesClear https://t.co/vtcw8jLrCe
“Faced with a choice between changing one’s mind and proving there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy with the proof.”
J.K. Galbraith
“The only way to become excellent is to be endlessly fascinated by doing the same thing over and over. You have to fall in love with boredom.”
@JamesClear - Atomic Habits 📖
Completing 1 habit sets the direction of your day.
Start early, start small
“If you want better results, then forget about setting goals. Focus on your system instead.”
@JamesClear
Human gasoline ☕(🧊) https://t.co/aPDvRuuzKQ
Would you swap your body with someone you admire?
(you keep your mind)
What's worse than doctors' handwriting?
Don't give pen & paper to developers 😅
#buildinpublic https://t.co/cf98af4eLQ
In-game currency: What's your favorite?
“When you can’t win by being better, you can win by being different.”
@JamesClear https://t.co/WqyXl2kS90
I found 2 tricks to reverse the loop: 1. I create content before I browse Twitter 2. I’m a coder, surfer, passionate about psychology & games. It’s me and I’m unique. There is no point in comparing Twitter performances.
PS: I think #2 is true for anything you do in life
My feed is filled with great Tweets - that get 100x more engagement than mine, - created by people with better writing skills than me
Unconsciously, I compare myself and feel like in a constant failure.
It impacts negatively writing skills & creativity in general
Prediction: 69 persons would have liked this Tweet by 2023
“When you fall in love with the process rather than the product, you don’t have to wait to give yourself permission to be happy. You can be satisfied anytime your system is running.”
@JamesClear - Atomic Habits
Sticky Habits since launch last week: 🧑🤝🧑 44 users 📑 2.2 habits/user ✔️ 1.9 records/habit
🚫 It's obviously a failure since the app claims to help you "build habits you can't quit"
While some people mentioned forgetting ticking, the app does not make you addicted to being consistent
But... some people love the app. So I'm working on the V2 from today!
The reward of completing your habits will 🚀🌚 (it involves in-app currency & gamification).
See you in a few days 🤩
#buildinpublic
API completed!
Time for the fun part now, stay tuned 🤩 https://t.co/DaMijBZkMY
New name (secret, for now 🤫) and new logo (which can help you guess what's coming soon...) https://t.co/XP1iu1ndgo
A hint of Sticky Habits V2...
Available next week 🔥 https://t.co/mVT473BAuj
Launching Habits Garden, the fun and effective way to form habits 🎉🥳
- Earn gems 💎 for being consistent - Buy seeds to grow your garden🌱🪴🌳
Claim your first reward today 🤩👇 https://habitsgarden.com/
PS: if you used Sticky Habits previously, you will be redirected to Habits Garden. All your habits will be there.
"One helpful rule of thumb for knowing where you might have a little extra talent is to consider what you were obsessively doing before you were 10 years old"
@ScottAdamsSays
https://t.co/teRgvFGKjl
Do you want to join a Discord community of people who gets things done & share tips about habits formation?
👉 It's open to anyone, for now. https://discord.gg/fPWanPsDXN https://t.co/BwjoTQWPxp
“Success is the product of daily habits—not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.”
@JamesClear - Atomic Habits
How to build good habits & break bad ones
- Feel guilty not working out - Forget you’ve once been a smoker - Fall asleep like magic
Everything I learned from being consistent for 7+ years
(ongoing 🧵)
1/ But first... It hasn't always been like this
Play games 14h/day, party until 6 am twice a week, smoke 1 pack/day, drink until I vomit...
It's hard to believe this was me, a few years ago.
If I managed to change dramatically & become better, so can you.
Start with one daily habit barely impossible to miss: - Read 1 page - Do 10 pushups - Learn 1 Mandarin word
Later, you’ll learn why this tiny behavior is the seed of something way bigger.
2/ Start very small
It takes 66 days for a new behavior to become automatic.
Like newly hatched turtles on the beach, your habit is fragile during this period.
Stress, work, holidays, anything can make you skip 1 day, then 2... then forever.
🌟 Added this card to Sticky Habits dashboard with 1 purpose:
Are people interested in sharing all things habits w/ others? https://t.co/6z20I9fxcf
Would you like to join a community to chat & learn about habits?
Morning - Create a Youtube video - Tweet - Paint
Afternoon - Watch YouTube - Browse Twitter - Go to the museum
The creativity cycle resets every day after sleeping
Consume before you create and you’re a sheep
Create before you consume and you’re a shepherd
Same input, 10x output
https://t.co/1xzUdW4gdJ
"Success unlocks both opportunities and distractions."
–@JamesClear
1. Create a playlist of ~10 songs you can sleep with 2. Go to bed and listen to the playlist on repeat 3. Do it every day and don’t shuffle the songs (it’s important to hear the same sequence over & over)
The relationship between music and memory is powerful.
You can trick your brain to make you fall asleep whenever you hear a specific song:
Your brain will automatically link your playlist with sleep.
You’re a magician. Close your eyes, turn on the music, and… 💤
PS: You can steal my sleep playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/45g88e2P6X73gYmnPZeJnf?si=1aaf04059ee94d74
“When you can’t win by being better, you can win by being different.”
@JamesClear - Atomic Habits 📖
What is your competitive advantage in life?
What is your favorite daily habit? Why did you start?
🌟 Added "How does it work?" box to the landing page because some people don't understand what they're looking at (58% bounce rate)
#buildinpublic https://t.co/53fDshgM2b
“When you fall in love with the process rather than the product, you don’t have to wait to give yourself permission to be happy. You can be satisfied anytime your system is running.”
@JamesClear - Atomic Habits 📖
*⃣ Launching Sticky Habits on Hackers News to hopefully find other habits freaks like me^^
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30257452 https://t.co/Oj6KU4iVoi
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
@JamesClear - Atomic Habits
Read this 📖 with me
Every day I'll add 1 tweet to this thread with takeaways from my daily 30-minute reading habit 👇 https://t.co/zqOW9GMXq7
Day 1⃣
- Success caused passion more than passion caused success. - Seek opportunities for which you have an advantage - Timing is often the biggest component for success, but hard to get right. Try many times until you get the timing right by luck
Day 2⃣
- Appearance matters - Goals are for losers. A system is what brings success & happiness (losing 10 kg is a goal, eating healthy is a system). Why? With goals, you're in a constant failure, until you (hopefully) reach them.
Day 3⃣
- Find & focus on your competitive advantage - You have to be selfish today to be generous tomorrow
Day 4⃣
- Your energy is the most important metric to track & maximize - Choose simplicity, not optimization, because there is less room for failure & no stress (=maximize your energy)
Day 5⃣
How to grow your energy: - Exercise, eat food and sleep - Smile (even if it's fake) - Do something you're good at - Think about positive things
Day 6️⃣
- To find your talent, remember what you did obsessively when you were 10 years old - When there is a tolerance for risk, there is often a talent - To find how to use your talent for success, try many different things
Day 7⃣
- The success formula: every skill you acquire doubles your odds of success - Everything you learn becomes a shortcut for understanding something else "The more you know, the more you can know"
Day 8⃣
Skills you should learn: - Public speaking - Psychology - Business writing - Accounting - Design - Conversation - Overcoming shyness - Second language - Golf - Proper grammar - Persuasion - Technology - Voice technique
Day 9⃣
Writing: - Remove all unnecessary words - Avoid passive sentences
Relationships: - Ask questions until you find a common interest
Day 🔟
- Success builds confidence, confidence brings success - Decisiveness looks like leadership - Wrap an argument with emotions to persuade so someone (feeling > reason)
Day 1⃣1⃣
Common patterns from successful people: 1. Lack of fear of embarrassment 2. Education 3. Exercise
Day 1⃣2⃣
- Humor touches everything you do positively - People who enjoy humor are more attractive than people who don't - Affirmations work and often bring success
Day 1️⃣3️⃣
- You can attract luck by staying in the game long enough - If your intuition disagrees with the experts, take it seriously - Spend time with the people who represent the change you seek
- Think positive: where you're heading is more important than where you are. - Don't let reality control your imagination, let your imagination be the user interface to steer your reality - Pessimism is the failure of imagination
Day 1️⃣4️⃣
Big 5 sources of happiness: flexible schedule, imagination, sleep, diet, exercise.
- Free your schedule to be able to do what you want, when you want - Choose work, sport, hobbies where you can improve over the years, growth is happiness
Day 1️⃣5️⃣
Diet - Food-is-Mood: carbs make you sleepy - Cravings are programmable, not magic - Tiredness triggers illusion of hunger
Day 1️⃣6️⃣
Fitness - Be active every day - Reduce willpower needed: do short, light & simple exercises - Find a sport you'll miss if you can't do it tomorrow - Trick: when you don't want to work out, put on exercise clothes and give yourself permission to NOT workout.
I’m closing the book with post-holiday blues.
It’s full of simple yet powerful advice you can use right now (no American dream BS)
You can read 22 books a year with a daily 30-minute habit (I finished this book in 1️⃣6️⃣ days and I read slowly)
If not now, then when?
"Drop by drop is the water pot filled."
- Buddha
Leaving Atom for VS Code today
Anything I should know? 🤩 https://t.co/2579KIuXx3
I wouldn't change my tech stack but Atom has too many little bugs here & there, lost so much time
“You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results.”
@JamesClear - Atomic Habits
Perfectionism is the expression of your selfish ego trying to show the world you're the best.
Note to myself when spending too much time adding features instead of marketing a new app
http://marclou.com (my name) was available so I bought it today.
Got to build something now 🚀
#buildinpublic https://t.co/ze6RneXJfT
"You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine."
- John C. Maxwell
Another Brazilian 🇧🇷 media day for Mood2Movie.
There is now 1 media writing article about it every week.
They always talk about the "Horny" category 😅 https://t.co/MThisKoBKH
“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.”
@JamesClear - Atomic Habits
Debugging your mum using your own app is something special 🥰
"Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most."
- Abraham Lincoln
Twitter bio update - more relevant - simpler to reach - achieved 20% already (instead of 10% previously) 😎 https://t.co/yuQVlzd1Px
1 month after listing my SaaS on @microacquire
- 24 buyer requests - 2 calls - no LOI ❌
So I just cut the acquisition price by 50% (Black February? 😅)
#sellinpublic after you #buildinpublic
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
@JamesClear
🌟 Added little hints for first-time users of Sticky Habits https://t.co/zfhhlgGLaj
I've removed these hints and replaced them with a clear intro card
UX > UI
#buildinpublic https://t.co/f7b0kWc9NZ
✅ domain name & deployment DONE
🤩 Go fill your habits grid at https://www.buildstickyhabits.com/
#buildinpublic
🤫 Hack for indie hackers looking for a domain https://t.co/2W8j6NueZb
“Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement”
This quote by James Clear is too good, I added it to Sticky Habits landing page https://t.co/XYksXAoILB
Which one of these burners stove is best designed? Worst? Why?
From The Design of Everyday Things 📖 https://t.co/sDr3DIVKA2
Another media company (@Gizmodo) wrote an article about Mood2Movie
2 months after launching, the site gets ~200 visitors/day.
It's 100% free traffic, I've never done any kind of SEO 😅 https://t.co/6H5unrMLd5
It's the first time one of my projects is being shared without me involved.
I'm not touching anything, just contemplating the SEO compounding effect
#buildinpublic
You can see the traffic compounding here https://plausible.io/mood2movie.com?period=30d
How to know you built a strong habit?
Do don't it for 1 day 🙅
If you feel bad, you're in for the long game!
Joined Twitter 8 years ago Started tweeting 8 weeks ago
😅
#MyTwitterAnniversary https://t.co/Uk0Ye3pW2m
Thoughts on .xyz domains?
.com isn't available, I'm looking for alternatives
After 9 days, the habit tracking app is finally done! 🎉🥳
Next 1. find a name (any suggestions?) 2. build the landing page
#buildinpublic https://t.co/UVu1feqO4u
The app will be called Sticky Habits because it aims to help users build lifelong habits.
Landing page 90% done... ⏳
#buildinpublic https://t.co/Cdipm8aydB
Logo for Sticky Habits ✨
Not feeling very inspired today but that'll do it (otherwise, I'll spend hours working on a logo, you know what I'm talking about... 😅) https://t.co/XxfnsnRWYR
The hardest part of being a founder/creator is
👼 listening to your inner voice saying “one day, it’ll work out” 👿 mutating to the one saying “nobody wants what you do”
Even though the latter has been right for X years
Every day, I'll tweet a summary of my 30-minute reading habit 📚 starting with this book.
I want to show you 1. Reading can be fun & interesting (not like the bs we read in school) 2. Habits are powerful ways to build big castles with small pebbles https://t.co/UEL1xIrMX9
The 2 most important characteristics of good design are:
Discoverability: Is it possible for users to figure out what the possible actions are to use that product?
Understandability: Is it possible for users to figure out how the product can be used? https://t.co/f5DNcGeQCh
The 5 psychological concepts when interacting with a product
1. Affordances: what actions can de done? 2. Signifiers: where can I perform these? 3. Mapping: relationship between control & result 4. Feedback: speaks for itself 5. Conceptual models: how we imagine something works https://t.co/32gBeYu9Cm
- Day 3: The paradox of technology
😎 Humans thrive for more comfort 🥳 We innovate & build more tools 🧐 These tools are getting more complex 🙇♀️ We get out of our comfort zone & learn how to use them https://t.co/ylfwAZ6MZT
Day 4 - When you use a product or a service, you face 2 obstacles between desired outcome (goal) and available options (what actions to perform).
1. How does it operates? (execution) 2. What happened? (evaluation)
The role of the designer is to help you bridge the 2 obstacles. https://t.co/VUFJm7Khuw
- Day 5: How we think
🧠 Consciously when we learn new things 🤖 Subconsciously when we repeatedly perform tasks/actions over a period of time
Do this trick once, then repeat 5 times to observe the process https://t.co/uAbOMEgbwS
Day 6
- Human error? No, bad design (don't blame yourself for misusing a product, it's the designer's fault)
- Poor feedback can be even worse than no feedback (dishwasher beeping 10x at 3am defeats its purpose of not disturbing anyone at night) https://t.co/oVx4OE8CCO
Day 7: There are 3 levels of processing that goes on in the human brain
🐶 Visceral: unconscious & fast reaction 🤖 Behavioural: subconscious, learned and apply without thinking 🧠 Reflective: conscious & slow thinking
🏆 Broke my personal typing record today - 76 Words Per Minute
5 minutes/day habit - started October 2021 at ~50 WPM https://t.co/acKt9JPXuo
Another personal record break today 🧨 https://t.co/JA6T0hMG0I
Am I the only one who gets constantly shocked ⚡️ by my computer when it's charging?
So excited to start the week and share with you what I'm working on 😀
What's going on? 🤔
I moved Mood2Movie app from Heroku (using NameCheap nameserver) to Netlify (w/ their provided nameserver)
Suddenly, direct traffic increases by 800% 🤯 Any idea? https://t.co/UUyLJtyll5
On a side note: Horny 🤤 is the only category that does not fetch movies (static page)
So Google will only display it, even if it's not in the sitemap 😅 https://t.co/YCq03XFh4F
How would you name an app that lets you visualize your habits like this? 🤔
#buildinpublic https://t.co/HmzwJnKjvA
Thanks to this 👆 I can do this 👇 https://t.co/7zp4kQe3JC
worst indie hacker's nightmare was about to happen 😨
#buildinpublic then #failinpublic? https://t.co/bmwcUFjASf
Launching the beta's beta app 😅👇
It's early but you can already track your habits so your board will look awesome 🌟
It's like GitHub's contributions board, for habits
https://magichabit.herokuapp.com/
#buildinpublic https://t.co/seSZr58QK8
npm install --save canvas-confetti
...😍 https://t.co/CFBw1iXDKJ
I feel guilty so I had to share with you 🙄 https://t.co/7Mhj4yh2eh
#1 takeaway for founders:
Improve your marketing by answering this Marketing Worksheet 👇
1/3 https://t.co/BcGC5ix8c4
- Who's your product/service for? - What's it for? - What is the worldview of the audience you're seeking to reach? - What are they afraid of? - What story will you tell? Is it true? - What change are you seeking to make? - How will it change their status?
2/3
- How will you reach the early adopters and neophiliacs? - Why will they tell their friends? - What will they tell their friends? - Where's the network effect that will propel this forward? - What asset are you building? - Are you proud of it?
3/3
"Ship your work. It's good enough. Then make it better."
📖 This is marketing by Seth Godin
There are lots of 💎 for founders who spend too much time building instead of marketing (like myself 🥲)
100% worth the time reading it
I quitted entrepreneurship after 3 years of solving other's problems
After a 6 months break, I'm back, more motivated than ever because I'm solving my own problems.
I just can't fake empathy for people I don't know...
Free boilerplate for any app that requires user authentication + API - React app - Express server
Go build something! 🚀🔥 https://github.com/marclou/minimalist-app-boilerplate https://t.co/miJ4i1LJX4
https://t.co/zDd3flGbxl
you can spend 0.39 seconds with each person on this planet before you die
(assuming you'd live until 100 yo & don't sleep)
Sugar-addicted Brain: "if you cook crepes with Nutella, your will work better on SaaS"
Me: "bullshit, let's code"
Also me: https://t.co/dNNwsyYbow
https://t.co/xgaz5UeJa9
I'm a bit emotional 🥲
Looking forward to the 1000th in 1 year https://t.co/augjIcip5D
Suddenly getting high-quality traffic on http://mood2movie.com 🔼
The Brazilian 🇧🇷 media @nexojornal is talking about Mood2Movie
Thanks, @dfareis for helping me figure out where traffic was coming from 😍 https://t.co/SqNvU2hybR
❌ Silent mode (no sound + see notifications) ✅ Do Not Disturb (no notification)
Each notification on your smartphone is an opportunity to be disturbed & procrastinate
You can whitelist contacts to break through the notification barrier (for me it's family & wife) so you wouldn't miss an emergency
All the rest is mostly noise
Please tell me you too didn't know about the <time> HTML tag?
(I've been coding for 6 years... 😱)
This is what you get with a 5 min/day habit
↩️ I was typing at 50 Words Per Minute 3 months ago (50% faster now) https://t.co/bmwHfJlwLy
I was about to buy $BTC and saw the price didn't move since last week... 🤔
... Then I realized I was looking at the EUR price 😂
so I bought the dip!! #buythedip
What's your secret sauce to stick to your routine(s)? https://t.co/YLGvex9Szo
-$160 MRR... Ouch https://t.co/8MJc5jtw70
This is even more painful after seeing this 😭 https://t.co/g3GK7BRWTJ
API done & deployed ✅
You can programmatically add habits & check in once a day.
⏭️ Time to build the front-end using Next.js for the first time... so excited! https://t.co/zSVLomau9k
Shame on me, i forgot the most important...
#buildinpublic
First acquisition call... failed ❌
But I learned something today 👇 https://t.co/8HVExR58Xk
Minimalist boilerplate for building REST APIs https://github.com/marclou/minimalist-rest-API-boilerplate
Heavily inspired by other public repos, without the unnecessary stuff for MVP
Rainy days are the best for coding
Projects launched in 2021: 4⃣ That made money: 1⃣
In 2022, I'm doubling that ⏫
Starting with a habit tracker app where you can view your consistency like GitHub's contribution board
I find this visual addicting & I'm sure it can help to stick to your habits
I'll #buildinpublic as always https://t.co/3PloUNUtm8
Spotify's Discover Weekly playlist blows my mind every 2 weeks 🤯
I love @Google Nest but it drives me crazy sometimes
How many times should I say "next song" for it to play the next track? https://t.co/8b0OUMi9CG
Hack for your 2022 goals:
Summarize 2021 and highlight what you're the proudest of.
Your 2022 goals are more of these highlights.
Mine: 1. Build more product (4 last year) 2. Learn more skills (6 last year)
Does 1000 followers for 2022 seem reasonable? ☺️
Bye bye 2021 👋
❌No New Year party 🧑🔬🧪 Instead I built this weird thing... https://youtu.be/eUmjkbyD0mo
Happy 2022 everyone! 🍾
Late Christmas 🎁
Next Christmas, lower ETH fees? 😋 https://t.co/WOOXO7ndTf
I received 3 acquisition offers after this Tweet so I listed @GameWidget on @microacquire
It's a $100 MRR SaaS that didn't get marketed, so potentially promising! 👇
https://app.microacquire.com/startup/4IS1iWPJyYajStxfB7lYArmY0vf1/Tp3bDHoLGiXRZjCkyzim
Perk of building a MVP in ✅ 3 days instead of ❌ 3 months:
You don't get emotional & sad when nobody wants what you built
It's easy to move on to the next product
3... 2... 1... Launching Flex'ble! 🚀
It's a habit tracker embedded in YouTube to help you stretch consistent 🙆🙆♂️
previousTweet.replace('consistent', 'consistently')
if only...
People who complain (politics, ecology, life) but don't do anything to change it https://t.co/is9no0CfCn
Yes, I'm complaining & passive rn 🙊
This @theSamParr & @stephsmithio video is so inspiring for indie hackers!
@dannypostmaa check out at 22:15 😀
https://t.co/qC9T8N1PFe
Your 3 favorite macOS apps?
Here are mine 👇 @ticktick @cleanshot Magnet (https://magnet.crowdcafe.com)
2021 highlights: - Jan: sold a pdf to help men prevent dribbling in their panties - Feb: invested $150,000 in $TSLA - Mar: lost $40,000 - Jun: started working for @tailopez - Oct: move back to Bali - Nov: got fired - Dec: shipped 2 apps, 1 went viral on Hacker News
Can I launch this on Product Hunt @rrhoover? 😅
I turned this stretching video into a habit tracker https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y91ahtvPKk
🎯 Goal for 2022: Learn Fast Typing
Keyboards will remain our interface with computers for more than 10 years
The faster you type, the faster you search the web, produce content, engage with people
Before I started the free course on https://www.typingtest.com/trainer/ in Oct 2021, I typed at ~50 WPM (Words Per Minutes) https://t.co/b1mPX5JVB5
I had to re-program how my fingers behave and started at 13 WPM...
Today I'm at ~65 WPM
It's 30% faster than before I started to learn in 2 months. https://t.co/y1oxnISyRU
🔄 I invest $500/week (my current MMR is $1k) > to run out of money quickly > to feel pressure > to be more efficient > to make more $
Merci Christmas 🎄
🎁 Here's a little gift to help you stick to your healthy routines https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y91ahtvPKk
It's a habit tracker on YouTube. I built this last week, what do you think?
Video Editing & Coding have some similar vibes but nothing is as rewarding as finding a bug in your code 👼 https://t.co/DqDn5c7k1W
The branding for this fonts library website is... 😂 https://t.co/YmC3dxUFap
4 hours debugging to realize I forgot an 'await'...
🧑💻 ✅ code is done 🎥 ❌ video shooting & editing in progress https://t.co/Bir6I29tZ4
💡 Hack: go to /pricing page of a website before the main page
It's much easier to understand what the business is doing
Since http://Mood2Movie.com got featured on a Turkish media site, traffic from Google has increased considerably (~300 visitors/day)
Any idea what happened? 🤔 https://t.co/MCZhCj2vbw
The problem with coffee is NOT that it prevents you from sleeping
The problem with coffee is that you don't know you're tired
If you drink coffee everyday, you might have lacked of sleep for the past X years (just like me) and not unlocked your full potential
Don't drink coffee today and see how you feel
If you fall asleep while reading/watching a movie, you're tired
Coffee has been lying to you pretending you're ok with your current sleep schedule 🤥
What's the best way to politely interrupt someone who's be speaking for too long?
Dreaming about @levelsio or when the indie journey goes too far? 😶
Every time you comment "+1" on the daily stretching YouTube video, your counter increases.
1/ the app replies to your comment with your stats (total check-ins, longest streak)
2/ top 3 achievers get featured on the thumbnail (leaderboard)
🎯 Big picture: make YouTube videos more engaging for the viewers
🏁 Video should be live & working before Christmas (Dec 24th) otherwise I'll have to... [ what's my punishment? ]
git commit -m "fix"
http://Mood2Movie.com made it to the Turkish news 🇹🇷
+70 unique visitors in half an hour https://t.co/oWqnK0Pt9d
Update: almost 5,000 unique visitors in 24 hours 🤯
Someone on Reddit shared http://Mood2Movie.com and boom, +718 unique visitors in just a few hours 🤯 https://t.co/kNF9Zznazf
Lesson of the day: broaden your marketing scope
I couldn't get any traffic from Reddit while launching the app (I posted in movie-related subreddits), but random people can (post went viral in r/InternetIsBeautiful)
Just purchased @cleanshot and my mind is... 🤯 https://t.co/BkvmpqxfUQ
Dilemma of the day:
1. Surf perfect waves with good friends 🌊 2. Go home to build something alone 🏗️
I love surfing, but I choose #2.
The process of creating is unbelievability addictive.
I actually ended up playing with @CleanShot all day 😂
Completing a routine feels good
Completing a routine & seeing the YouTube's thumbnail automatically updated feels 🔥💥♥️
https://youtu.be/_mMF-HFFM2M https://t.co/v9J77ZWcFG
🚀 Just finished another app 🚀
It updates automatically the counter on this video's thumbnail every time I stretch.
🎯 The goal is to give anyone following this daily routine some motivation by seeing someone else (me) doing it consistently.
To make new fonts available on Heroku, just add a .fonts/ folder and see the magic happens 🧙♂️🪄 https://t.co/IdlsEVnA1W
me: "Hey Google" google: me: "Hey Google" google: me: "Hey Google!!! Play some music" google: "Ok, I set up a timer for 1 minute" me:
AI in 2021
Looks like a really bad copy of @levelsio 's Remote OK https://www.producthunt.com/posts/gwaber
Building something fun (and probably useless? 🤨)
➡️ a YouTube thumbnail that updates automatically based on XYZ conditions
#buildinginpublic
https://t.co/Kqx4v8I3k6
“I only need 7 hours of sleep”… is the worst mistake I’ve ever made.
I used to set up an alarm every day so I don’t oversleep & I could produce more.
But I was really wrong and here is why 🧵
When you fall asleep while reading a book, or you need coffee to work, you know you’re tired.
These are The Obvious Symptoms of lack of sleep. These are the tip of the iceberg.
What you don’t see are The Imperceptible Symptoms.
These are triggered by lack of sleep too, but it’s not obvious so you don’t know you’re actually tired.
Here are some of them: you’re not creative, you lack motivation, you think you’re worthless, you don’t have the mojo, etc
https://t.co/7Kaz72LdV2
Sleeping isn’t just about resting the body, but also resting the mind.
You won’t believe how much a great night of sleep impacts your day unless you try it.
The earlier you start the better:
- Cancel all your alarms, your body won’t sleep more than it needs
- Don’t give up too early. The first 3 nights won’t feel good and it’s normal because you lack sleep.
- Be smart: do you think you can achieve more with [6h sleep / 18h work] or [8h sleep / 16h efficient work]?
- Don’t drink coffee after midday
Thanks, @sleepdiplomat for enlightening me & making my life better every day.
🏁 Today is my 666th body stretch (15 min/day routine)
What's your most checked-in #habit?
cc @JamesClear https://t.co/gHbGoi0A4O
That's almost 7 days of non-stop stretching 😅
When did you make your first $ online and what did you sell?
I'll start: winter 2017, sold a handcrafted mitten for couples to hold hands together (1 mitten w/ 2 holes)
Built a new app today: a house with 2 🐔
Cost: $20 MMR: 30 eggs🥚 ARR: 360 eggs 🥚
Pure profit, no marketing needed https://t.co/WIeqSwkkUq
Finally getting eggs after 3 months.
It was a long free trial 😜 https://t.co/mLSBb3I1Kf
❌ I'm killing Mood2Movie
It does what it's supposed to & no monetization is intended. I'll keep the app running.
🔥 Time to move on, I'll announce what's next tomorrow. #buildinpublic https://t.co/HYxEsPwwRj
Or 20% of my awake time 🎶 https://t.co/Bx2UxqWnv3
I'm working on an app to let you see the pictures you took at the time you listened to a song, so you can recall memories with 🎵 music + 📸 pictures.
Unfortunately, Spotify does not have enough data points to do it, so I'm moving on ⏭️
🌟 Update: You can hide movies so you'll only see new ones if you refresh
#buildinpublic https://t.co/rBInLcLVCP
3.. 2.. 1.. 💥 Product Hunt launch is live!
Go watch the video of a stupid french guy explaining his product 😅
Just woke up with this... #1 ON SHOW HACKER NEWS 🥳🤩
#buildinpublic https://t.co/EaD0FXUplC
Hacker News launch after 15 hours👇 - 6.2k unique visitors - 17% bounce rate (really? 🤔) - 40% traffic from 🇺🇸 https://t.co/Uc9nIAjMuW
Fun fact: favorite mood is "🤤 Horny"
Should I start a mood-based porn recommendation app?
My app Mood2Movie is going (mini) viral on Hacker News https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29359966
Watch the open traffic data here https://plausible.io/mood2movie.com
#buildinpublic https://t.co/Sa3wLx2YGu
Funny how basic Figma + FCPX can turn an emoji into an animated logo in a few minutes https://t.co/TvnQPJ6ctq
😭 didn't work at all today 🤩 won a cross fit competition with wife & friend 😭 feel guilty I didn't work
Are humans weird or is it just me? 😅 https://t.co/0vqmgOCjIS
Mood2Movie is... LIVE 🥳🎉 https://mood2movie.com
🍿 Discover movies based on your mood 🌟 Shows top-rated movies only ( > 6.7 rating on IMDb) 🕵️ Added an easter egg, can you find it?
#buildinpublic https://t.co/94dGETO4gn
This is all it takes to serve an app to anyone with an internet connection, anywhere in the world, 24/7.
Psst... Mood2Movie will be live tomorrow 🙈
#buildinpublic https://t.co/VoLvbGXkbS
As an Indie Hacker, you can spend $5 for a logo on Fiverr, or make your own.
I chose the latter and it took me 5 minutes. Just mapped a smiley on a popcorn emoji 😅
#indiehackers #buildinpublic https://t.co/1bLRhts6Gr
Btw, app name is Mood2Movie: Discover top-rated movies based on your mood
✅ CSS done, it's not beautiful but it's enough.
Before I deploy the app, I need to paginate the list of movies.
#buildinpublic https://t.co/uAoJxx4WRZ
What's your favorite deployment platform for your apps?
Mine is Heroku, but looking to try something new!
#buildinpublic
💄 Added some CSS to the movie cards (still in progress)
#buildinpublic https://t.co/lYnoVDWsjy
✅ You can now find a list of movies based on your mood. 🏗️ CSS definitely need some work 🏗️ Need to add pagination when fetching movies
I should be on track for release end of next week (otherwise I have to cut my hair...)
#buildinpublic https://t.co/ADirrIX5yk
Any idea how to avoid re-fetching data when clicking on the back button (0:09)? 🤔
The API call is made in the useEffect hook in the MoviesList component & data is saved in the Redux store.
#buildinpublic #react #redux https://t.co/YDX3VFiSD5
✅ Navigation & header ✅ Redux store setup (can't believe I just discovered Redux Toolkit... saved me hours of boilerplate 🙃)
Tomorrow I'll create the [your mood] ➡️ [movie genre recommendation] logic.
Open for suggestions! #buildinpublic https://t.co/8niD4S2paV
Due to inflation eth2 is now eth3
↔️ Playing with media queries for more responsiveness
This is done in pure CSS. Next time, I'll use TailwindCSS, much less code to write 💡
#buildinpublic https://t.co/5Xc3TBraBV
I was stupid... I spent 5 years building apps in the shadow, coding for months to merely ship something and shy away. Today, it's over; here are 3 promises to myself.
1. Only build apps that I'd use.
2. Build fast, ship fast, kill fast
@dannypostmaa 🙏
3. Build in public #buildinpublic
I have to shave a 5x5 cm square of hair ✂️ if I don't ship something within 2 weeks
👉 Join the journey if you want to see the stupid things I'll build (or an idiot cutting his hair)
Better get ready... I'm working on a movie recommendation app based on your mood.
😢 feel sad? watch a comedy 🤓 feel thoughtful? watch a biography
Tick tock... ⏳ #buildinpublic
Thank you 😍 @Suhail @tunesproject https://t.co/ZoUoSW3ib0
Best setup I've had so far. Cheap. 2 in 1. https://t.co/KmWyG5ltQN
Jan 2020: "My SaaS is awesome 😎" Feb 2020: "Covid won't impact software 💪" Mar 2020: 👀 https://t.co/Paz3sL5oea