Indie Interviews
Can you tell us more about yourself and what led you to become an indie maker
At that point, I've been working for myself for most of my adult life. I've created companies alone or with cofounders: agencies, tech startups, and a coworking space. I've also worked on and launched many side projects.
My background is in system/network/security engineering. But I've always been interested in creating products and building stuff.
Today, I'm involved in several companies. One of them is a tech startup providing companies employing non-desk workers with a way to broadcast audio and video messages to their staff. This has been my full-time gig for a few years now, and it grew slowly but nicely before the financial crisis that started in 2022.
While working on this full-time, I completely stopped all side projects. But now, after taking some time "off" on parental leave, I've flipped the indie switch back on!
I'll focus the rest of the year on building several small digital assets. Courses, ebooks, and apps.
These days, I'm building an app called Mosaic, which allows people to share their life stories.
How did you come up with the idea? How do you generate ideas for your apps or projects, and how do you identify the problems or needs your app can address?
For Mosaic, it was an unusual way to get the idea. My dad built sort of a similar app many years ago. He would interview people about their lives, then put it into his software to organize the stories and burn them to a CDROM. I've longed for the day I'd have the time to build my own take on this great idea for years!
Often, it begins with the desire to scratch my own itch. For instance, I'm at the end of a development sprint that lasted two months. I designed, built, and shipped an iOS app during this time.
Ascent, the iOS app in question, allows someone to create a Christian ascetic challenge. Pretty niche, right?
I built this because during the last Lent, a friend and I tracked our practices (Holy hour, fast, etc.) in a spreadsheet. It worked, but an app would have been nicer to use.
So, I decided to build a beautiful app to address this.
But sometimes, the product evolves as I build it or when it meets the market.
Consider this other example. When my youngest was born, I spent time (in the middle of the night, haha) to start building a web app. At first, I envisioned it to be an AI chatbot to teach office workers how to use AI chatbots. Pretty meta.
I built 80%+ of a full-fledged prototype in just a few weeks. Then I showed it to some people I trust. I quickly realized that there were better ways to teach this topic. It also became clear that I had no appetite for maintaining such a web app in the mid/long run.
So, I started thinking: "How can I repurpose what I have?" And I turned the material into an ebook in 3 days.
Products can morph while you build them.
How is your day-to-day app development workflow look like?
It depends on which of my company I'm working on. If I'm in a period working on my tech startup, I have to interact with other people, and that dictates part of my schedule.
I have a very flexible schedule if I'm working on my products. I usually wake up when my kids do (around 7 a.m.), work for a while, and have breakfast with the family. Then, I go back to work until I feel like working out.
After a shower, I'll return to work for a while, then have lunch with the family. Then, I work a few more hours until my daughter returns from school.
I sometimes work a bit more after dinner when my kids are asleep. But only if I feel like it.
How do you launch and market your app?
I've tried different things over the years. I've used PR and ads. I've done direct sales for my SaaS.
Now that I'm spending more time building my own products, I spend a considerable part of my day building distribution (a fancy term to say that I'm tweeting and blogging ☺️).
I'm also building more and more connections with people with an audience that could benefit from what I create.
The latest app I built, Ascent, is an app for Christians. And I want to do something I've never done: a physical launch party! One of my friends suggested this, and I love the idea.
What are the future plans for your app?
For Ascent, Christmas is approaching, and with it, the desire for some people to dedicate more time to their faith. I just finished a press release that I will be sending out shortly.
Do you have any interesting lessons learned or tips for other indie makers?
Don't be like me: get better at resting from the start! It's hard to build a resting habit once you're in the middle of your indie journey.
Are there any indie makers or creators whose work you admire and follow closely?
- @d4m1n is an awesome guy and an impressive maker
- @TheCoppinger brings the show to indie-making through his Twitch channel
- @hakimel - everything he does looks awesome
- @marc_louvion is both funny and talented
Could you recommend any specific tools or resources that you believe are helpful for other indie makers, especially those just starting out?
Tools don't matter. Pick the ones you are comfortable with.
I run most of my personal and work life using Todoist. I've written a short ebook about my whole system
Thanks for reading til the end. Hope you enjoy the interview as much as we did. Below are some useful links mentioned throughout the interview
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