Lifelog

I've imagined and written about what a perfect morning or perfect day looks like for me. But being the new dad I am, I've never thought about a perfect morning with my kid.

Until today. When it happened for real, organically:

I woke up at 3am for a quick pee, but ended up not being able to sleep, so I woke by 4:50am to get a headstart on my side project. Sunday mornings are great for deep work. Everything's sooo quiet. Then by 8am my toddler wakes. My wife's still asleep – we let her sleep in some more. He opens the door, peeks out. I walk over, picks him up, and we walk around the house and chat for a bit. After a leisurely moring stroll around the house carrying him, we wash up. I let him brush his own teeth for the first time, with him standing on the toilet bowl. He usually refuses his teeth-brushing, but with the newfound autonomy, he did it with glee. I finish up the parts he missed. Then we're off to the kitchen. He asked for cherries, and I asked him to help me with it. He takes the stalks off, while I remove the cores. We throw in a few of his favourite mini sponge cakes, and a dollop of Greek yoghurt. He asks to eat standing up on a wooden stool at the pantry. I agree. We chit chat while he eats. For a three year old, he's pretty chatty when he wants to. I start eating my yoghurt with blueberries and pecans, and he starts joking about how pecans look like cockroaches. It's true, isn't it? Have you ever thought about pecans are cockroaches? I didn't. We laugh, then proceed to crush some 'cockroaches' into his yoghurt, and he had fun playing along with the joke. We giggle some more. In time, he finishes his breakfast, all by himself, without any nudging needed, without drama, without fighting, without power struggles, without any tears and crying that's often typical of breakfast. *What changed?* I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing it's got to do with the autonomy he got, the full participation he had in starting his day, and (hopefully) the full presence of a parent attending to him.

Sunday 25 June 2023. A perfect Sunday morning with my kiddo.

New core memory created... for me.

[Earlier this month](https://golifelog.com/posts/not-all-features-are-created-equal-1685873032170) I questioned if the features I've been building for Lifelog recently is pushing the envelope enough. I wanted to pivot Lifelog, but I didn't know what.

I wanted to rethink, research and re-explore this side project.

I *thought* I wanted that.

But it woefully failed.

I got stuck by over-thinking, and couldn't figure out what to do. I ended up shipping slow, most of the time unsure what features I should be building, and that killed all my momentum.

The end result is nothing got shipped.

I thought I needed a higher purpose. But it seems like I was so damn wrong. I simply needed momentum. By building what I wanted, what gave me joy, it kept me building, kept me going weekend after weekend.

True, I wasn't always building what people wanted (sorry guys), but look what happened when I tried to solely build based external feedback? Nothing. At least by following my momentum, I shipped. I iterated. I learned.

Perhaps when I just build, I will eventually get to place where it *becomes* purposeful. But I'm not there yet. I just need to keep building first.

Momentum-driven development, not purpose-driven.

A bit of an inside, dark humour sort of joke I have with my wife is how I basically "asked for it" by choosing to go serious on indie solopreneurship right around the same time as having a kid for the first time, and during a global pandemic crisis, and a recession after.

Making a huge career change, from ground up, right around the when everyone's trying to protect their own jobs, businesses shutting down, is just silly. Top that off with sleep-deprived nights and the teething issues of beocming a new dad (mind you, not the baby's teething issues).

My sense of timing couldn't be more off on this occasion, to say the least.

Why make things doubly, triply hard on myself when the smart thing is to lay low for a bit, put the ambition aside, and just get through it with as little drama and stress as possible? If I went back to a government job during the pandemic, I'd have a stable salary, be able to work from home anyway and be a present dad, and wouldn't be as stressed. I could have avoided all that drama, and then when the conditions are ripe again, quit and start over as an indie. Like now.

*Why? Why then? Why now?*

I asked myself those questions pretty often.

I don't know but I feel my path often has a life of its own. First, the soul does what it needs for growth, for reinvention. Then the mind and other worldly needs follow.

I'll find a way to survive and feed the family.

But the growth process doesn't stop.

I think this about sums it up:

> "One of the great balancing acts in life is to be cautious and daring at the same time.
Cautious enough to avoid stupid mistakes, prevent burnout, and maintain a margin of safety.
>
> Daring enough to bet on yourself, to do the things you would regret leaving undone, and to be willing to be uncomfortable in the short term so you can learn and grow in the long term." – [James Clear](https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1/june-22-2023)

I did what was needed to be cautious enough, even though I was taking a daring leap of faith into the unknown of indie hacking. I continued consulting, I opened myself up for coaching and training, I did random gigs, a few hundred dollars here, another thousand there. I survived. My family survived. I did what was temporary, to get towards what was permanent.

Cautious *and* daring.

Now, to just keep the faith, stay the path.

Career switches I made in the past 2 decades:

2003 - Cable tv
2007 - Social welfare
2011 - Web design (self-employed)
2012 - Service design in gov
2015 - Design consultancy agency
2018 - Started indie hacking
2020 - 1st SaaS and MRR
2023 - Still no ramen profitability.. 😕

Indie solopreneurship definitely takes the cake when it comes to how hard it is to "make it"...

In most of my other careers it took 1-2 years, 3 years max to hit my desired goal.

I'm year 5 in indie hacking and still nowhere close!

It got me thinking: WHY?

- It's not due to not having the required skills, knowledge or training. I didn't study media communications, but joined cable tv as my first job. I never studied any web design, but started a web design gig in 2011, and did design consultancy inside government in 2012. In all occasions I learned on the job, picked things up as I went. It was stressful at times, hard all the time, but I learn fast and usually within 1-2 years I hit my stride.

- It's can't be due to running a business, because I started my first business in 2011 in web design, and another in 2015 for a design agency. The only difference is both are services and more analog/in real life, while indie hacking is product-based and more abstract due to being online.

- The key difference is having to learn more about distribution and marketing. And learning how to code (way harder skill to learn than others).

- Season of life. I was single, younger, more energetic. Now, I have family, older, more tired, sleep-deprived. Just energy levels alone to hustle is significantly lower. Risk appetite had also changed - I can't take irrational risks anymore because I got 4 other individuals to feed (being sole breadwinner).

- Timing. The global crisis like the pandemic didn't help. It definitely threw a spanner in the works and added 2 years delay at least.

*What other barriers did you experience yourself when it comes to indie hacking?*

I've always struggled to practice gratitude. The gratitude journaling exercises and other ways of saying thanks for small to huge things in my life right now always felt forced and artificial. If I'm not feeling it, saying I am grateful feels fake at best, self-deceptive at worst.

But recently I've found a way to do that genuinely. It's a thing making its circles in parenting social media. It goes a bit like this:

Imagine you're 90 and you've got a chance to time travel back in time to just one moment in the past to relive it. That moment is right now. Whatever tantrums your kid is throwing, chaos you're going through, heated emotions you feel... all starts to fade away and ceases to matter. Because one year from this moment you'd forgot why were you even upset to start with. And as a time-travelling 90-year-old, I would just want to enjoy the moment with my child all over again, no matter how chaotic it is or how mad I feel.

Visualising and imagining that always helped me not get too caught up in the emotions of the moment. And thinking that one day all the toys, the toddler antics, the hugs will be gone, never fails to trigger an upswelling of emotions.

This period of time is so precious. Once gone, can never be relived.

Money, stress, career, products, revenue, followers, impressions – it matters but also doesn't matter.

This right now, matters.

And for the first time, I can say:

I'm grateful for this moment in time.

Saw an intriguing, thought-provoking thread on why folks with ADHD struggle to complete projects:

> For people who do not have ADHD, dopamine is released *at the moment a goal is accomplished*... For people who do have ADHD things are a bit more complicated. There are various ways to frame this argument, but the one that I tend to prefer is just: we seem to get dopamine from satisfying curiosity rather than completing goals...
>
> Your projects are your way of asking the universe a question, and then digging and digging and digging until the universe answers. You are motivated by curiosity, and that is a blessed gift, not a source of shame. Your unfinished work is the testament to your growth. Those aren't abandoned projects -- those are the remaining scaffolds from the the space ships that they launched. It was never about finishing the thing. Forgive yourself for that. – [@mykola](https://twitter.com/mykola/status/1666274476621803522)

Projects as a way to ask the universe a question. I love that.

Is that why I struggle to finish projects sometimes?
Do I have ADHD?

I'm not so sure about the ADHD part... assigning the condition might be convenient but not always true (as conditions are always more complex than a single facet of behaviour). But the root was what resonated deeply – satisfying curiosity. Because that's exactly how I feel when making my Carrd plugins. Someone asks a question about how to do something on Carrd, in Reddit or Facebook. I get curious. I can see it being possible but I don't know for sure. I wonder if it can be done. I try it, solve it, and in the process, create a plugin.

It's *literally* someone asking a question to the universe, which I happened to see, and that became my own question to ask the universe.

And the most revealing part that it's more about satisfying curiosity than reaching completion, is how I struggle—truly struggle—to launch it. Even to just put it on my site is a barrier. Writing a tutorial and publishing on my stores for sale is a doubly difficult. In most cases, I make it and I feel like my work's done. Sometimes I share it on social media, most of the time, it's just another thing done and left on the shelf.

Now I know why.

Satisfying curiosity had always been the main mission, not completing goals, not making money, not running a business.

In general, that's why I make things too. Curiosity. Satisfying that builder itch is why I build in the first place.

Now I know why I struggle with all other aspects of indie hacking.

Should I go with my base form *ala* just building for curiosity?
Or should I force myself to achieve all these other things with the output of my curiosity, even though I've never intended to?

Whose game am I really playing?

Turned 44 today. Another year, another trip round the sun.

Some birthday wishes:

🏋️‍♂️ Stay healthy
👪 Give the best to my family
💵 Earn enough to do that
🗓 Have time freedom, and be present
🚀 Build a profitable product

Simple wishes. But not-so-simple execution.

It's easy to wish and dream. But to make wishes real, a whole different game. A whole different universe, in fact.

Staying healthy and lean in an era of middle age dad bods and junk food makes food, sleep and exercise choices a daily uphill struggle.

Giving the best to family is great and all, but best is costly. And it wouldn't be possible if I'm just scraping by most months. I got to earn more. I got to provide.

Being a present and calm dad had always been my aim. Being able to work from home, work on consulting and indie projects of my own choosing had been pivotal to that. But I'm far from being present. Time freedom is just the first key. The second key is the quality of my presence during that free time.

Most of all, my work aspiration to have a profitable product that's lifestyle-sustaining. I have profitable products but none that's even close to feeding the fam.

It's all hard af. But I feel the mindset has got to switch. Something more fundamental, at the root.

Aspiring is fine. But actualising is better.

This new birth year, I ~~hope to~~ will stop aspiring and start actualising.

A few thoughts on being an indie dad for three years now:

- Mums have it harder, but it sure ain't easy being a dad too. Both struggle in their own ways. Just want to acknowledge the work that dads do too.
- To provide and protect, yet to also be present. That's a tough juggle only dads will know. It's harder when being an entrepreneur means you're thinking about the business all the time. Learning to switch back to the little human before you is a skill that has to be learned and nurtured.
- It's funny how life goals change as an indie dad. Indie single: $1M ARR! Be the best! Indie dad: Time freedom to play with my kid! Give the best to family. Success in life becomes a different animal. Not to say one is better than the other. There's pros and cons, but there's something natural about bringing up a child that aligns to how the seasons unfold through the year.
- There's a lot less support and resources for dads in general. Many dads might not want to even talk about the challenges they face. Many are silently struggling. Hearts out to those dads.

Happy Father's Day, indie dads!

In the latest episode of @indielifepod, @dagorenouf and @jmckinven talk about Dago's burnout and failed business:

"If you don't look at the risks, you're vulnerable. The reason we failed and we got exhausted, and I burned out, is that we were constantly swimming against the fact that it wasn't a good business." – via [@mijustin](https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1669783225928138753)

That resonated so much, it hurt. Because it was so effing true.

Previously, I assumed that hard work will truimph everything. But I've learned a lot in the past 2-3 years since going serious on indie hacking. One of the most painful lessons was exactly what Dago just shared.

At the start, your ability to smell bullshit on your ideas is simply not there yet. You're not good at telling what's a good business versus a bad one. Everything seems like a good business, just because you're a naive first time founder running on pure optimism and idealism.

But soon with a few failed businesses, you realize at the end they weren't such good businesses after all. The economics just didn't make sense. The amount of investment needed—especially of your time, effort and energy—to keep it going, didn't square with the financial payoffs. You spend 10h marketing a product, just to get 1-2 new customers per month. You're pushing the product uphill. ALL. THE. TIME. A lot of effort, very little reward.

Yet you keep going just because "hard work".

Now I've learned. You got to feel like you're being pulled downhill. Not that you no longer have to work hard, or ship bad products. But being pulled downhill is when your effort can't keep up with the demand. The product seems to be running on its own momentum. You can stop marketing for a week, a month, you still get sales (though maybe less). A lot of effort still, but with outsized rewards too, comparatively.

In both scenarios, hard work was constant. But only in one where there's a happy ending.

You can't outwork a bad business.

- Removed auto-scroll down to keep typing input at vertical center of screen, because it's distracting af.
- Improved performance of typing sounds. There sound be less of a lag now.

"You can be relaxed and dedicated. Just because you worry more, doesn't mean you care more." – [James Clear](https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1/june-15-2023)

That's my goal when it comes to any project or goal in life. Dedicated. But relaxed.

Doing the former part was easy. All the sports training from school came in handy. Discipline was seldom an issue. Throw in an obsessive, competitive, Type A sort of attitude and you got a formula for dedication.

But the same strengths are also my weakness when it comes to the "relaxed" part.

In the past I used to conflate dedication and worrying. I assumed the worrying was part of what made the dedication worked. So just as I put in the reps for my training, I put in the reps for the worrying.

So finite games like sports, it's not so bad. But when you put obsessive worrying over long term into infinite games like life issues and entrepreneurship, your mental health suffers.

Thing is, relaxing isn't hard on its own. It's easy to do when you're on vacation, for example.

It's being relaxed while being dedicated that's hard. And I dare say, hard for most people to do *well* in. Because it's about balancing. Enough tension to matter, enough slack to be happy.

I'm nowhere near that perfect balanced state, and have no answers to how to get better at it.

*Any ideas?*

I saw this tweet the other day and thought it was a brilliant way to find new product ideas to work on:

> how to get a your first mrr
> clone chrome extension with bad reviews but has users
> make it actually work
> have it pay your rent
> – [@codyschneiderxx](https://twitter.com/codyschneiderxx/status/1668015337969778692)

Stepping back, it's not just about Chrome extension, but any sort of software or apps on any app store or marketplace! Go on any marketplace, there's always apps that's popular or used to be popular, have lots of users, but working poorly, have lots of negative reviews about features not working, or simply no longer developed or maintained. Find these apps, add your own spin to it (never clone one for one), publish, and profit.

I did a quick search for Twitter Chrome extensions and found this emoji extension [EmojiPanel](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/emojipanel-for-twitter-pr/jfjmncmbmpnaljmmcmeefmkmionkojmd) with 4000+ users and over 250 reviews:


And it was last updated in 2016!

Their lapse is our opportunity.

The beauty of this approach is that the 1-star apps are the junkyard where we can find treasure. One man's meat is another man's poison. The product's already validated, the users are already there, and it just needs a fresh update (by you). And you're doing a service to the existing users by providing a working alternative!

*What 'junk' apps or app categories did you find that's providing opportunities like this?*

Feeling it with [Dago's raw and honest sharing here](https://twitter.com/dagorenouf/status/1668615338395865089?s=20):

> My wife and I decided to give up on our startup @logologydesign. It was a tough decision to make, especially after spending 5 years and almost all of our savings to bootstrap it. But the reality is that despite our best efforts, we never found a way to grow beyond survival profitability... But after 5 years of fighting, we're exhausted, out of motivation, and out of money. So we decided it's better to call it quits 😞
>
> I feel ashamed to not be one of the "successful founders" I see on twitter every day. I feel stupid that all the time and money spent wasn’t enough to make it. I also feel silly for celebrating that we reached profitability a few months ago... then a couple of months later it was already back below survival level 🤦‍♂️ I stopped tweeting this past few weeks because I feel like a loser and a failure. I’m afraid people will lose interest in me if I stop sharing motivating tweets. But at some point, I had to face the truth that I just can’t do it anymore.
>
> Somewhere on the way to chasing our dreams, we got lost. Instead of trying to live the life we wanted, we started sacrificing everything we cared about just to reach “success” at any cost. The burnout I had was a wake-up call that we can't keep going like this. The glasses I wear will forever remind me of the limits of my body. On my end, I decided to go back to a job. I never thought I'd do this but I really need to put a stop to the crazy hours and constant financial pressure. I hope working on a product without having to worry about money will make work enjoyable again.

A sad day for Indie Hacker Twitter 😔 But from the replies it's clear Dago is well loved. That's no failure, in my books. That's *something*. Strike that – that's *more* than something. And making that decision in itself is an act of courage. It's never an easy decision to call it quits. Painful, in fact. But when health is destroyed to this point, I like to think it's a right one. Health and sanity is always more important. Besides, there’s always an opportunity to come back to building again in future.

I think this experience is a lot more common amongst indie hackers than we realise. I was close to this point myself during the pandemic. Consulting gigs dried up, new baby in the house, money running out in 1-2 months. I actually started looking for job, applied for many jobs. No one called back. Not even a "Thanks for your application" email. It's clear that after being self-employed for a decade, and hitting mid-forties, I'm no longer employable. My products then didn't earn much either (it still doesn't now too). Things got pretty desperate. I was so stressed out, my body started showing signs of giving way. I got injured and sick easily. My sleep was poor as hell. I gained weight, and struggled to keep it off. I was anxious all the time. So I ended up working all the time. I seldom took days off. It was a viscious loop. All signs pointed to an eventual burnout and breakdown, like what Dago went through.

But in the end, I was 'saved' by a consulting gig, just in the nick of time.

I never really talked about it on Twitter then. It was too raw. Too vulnerable. It still stings to share it. Because while not in a survival crisis, I'm not totally in the clear yet. Finances and opportunities aren't back to pre-pandemic levels. That scenario is still a probable reality, if I take my eyes off the wheel. I can't completely relax... yet.

The plot twist is that back then I still appeared jovial on Twitter. Nobody knew.

My point?

That it's a good reminder for us to be nice to one another, support each other. We never know what kind of demons someone is fighting in silence.

Reality is a lot harder and rougher than the polished facade we see often on Twitter.

Watch out for each other, friends.

This tweet got me thinking more favourably of the amount of time I spend on Twitter and other social media channels:

> every time i’m close to shutting myself out from my twitter account because it’s a huge distraction - i remind myself of all the serendipity i have gained from the hours "wasted" on here. god damn. – [@chburdett](https://twitter.com/chburdett/status/1668280169470083078?s=20)

I think social media has a bad rep. Unfortunately. People blame it for lack of productivity, distraction, noise, bluelight, sleep deficiency. It's the poster child for mental health problems. The black sheep of the internet.

Yet, if we recognize it as a tool, we will realise that we can use a tool for distraction, or for serendipity, to bring about more connection, opportunity, learning. Yet no one talks about the latter.

Every phone now has screentime app to track how much time you're on your phone, yet no metric can tell you if that's time well spent or not. It's not about absolute screentime. It's about the quality. If it's time spent on connecting with people you love or want to learn from; if it's for learning and growth; if it's to access more opportunities and capital; then those hours are worthwhile.

If you're using it well, for serendipity, the more screentime the better (of course, within reasonable limits)!

In fact, that's how I've been using my social media lately. All the platforms that I used to use for distraction, are now 99% used for productivity, for my goals. I use Facebook, Reddit for providing informal Carrd support. Telegram groups to form good habits like keto, sleep biohacking. LinkedIn for consulting. Twitter and Substack for building in public, and collective learning from other indie peers.

The only barrier is: The platforms are built for distraction, not serendipity, not learning. It takes effort to curate your feed full of people you can learn from than people you want to argue with or show off to. That alone puts most people off, as they see and use social media for entertainment, not education. They let the algo use them, not use the algo. Most do not even consider it as a useful tool. It's a shame, a huge wasted opportunity.

Use social media for distraction, or for serendipity: The choice and power is yours.

Jason Cohen wrote an thought-provoking post about ["Satisficing vs Maximizing"](https://longform.asmartbear.com/maximizing/):

> “Maximizing” means finding the best solution. It requires exploration and analysis to ensure “the best” option hasn’t been overlooked, and that we have confidence in our evaluation of the options. “Satisficing” means picking the first or easiest or least-expensive option that satisfies the requirements. Preferring a faster decision to the best decision. It means not getting paralyzed by the pursuit of “perfect,” but as a result, rarely results in the very best solution. People naturally tend to be Maximizers or Satisficers, although it depends on the subject. For example, you might maximize your career, but satisfice your diet.

It's interesting as an indie hacker reading this because you'd think we're all impatient Satisficers shipping scrappy MVPs, launching on Product Hunt on impulse, and leveraging on an opportunity that a viral tweet gave. I definitely thought that way about myself as an indie for sure.

But that's misleading. It's not either/or, it's not all the time everytime. It "depends on the subject", as Cohen said. We could be Satisficers when it comes to shipping fast, but Mazimizers in other things, like say customer support.

So what's some things indies should satisfice, things that indies should maximize? It always depends on context, but I can imagine these generally fall into either:

Satisfice:
- Launch many small bets to find a good one to double down on.
- Shipping fast when you're building something new, unsure of product-market fit.
- Business admin details can wait – logo, business plan, brand, accountant, business plan.
- Tweeting daily. For something that lasts only 48h max, you shouldn't be taking days to write one.

Maximize:
- Shipping slow when you got many customers already, high MRR, and you're way past the scrappy solo startup image.
- Be authentic and thorough in your engagement with customers, especially in customer support.
- Find one repeatable, positive ROI distribution channel, get good in it, before moving on to other channels.
- Write good SEO blog posts, and repeatedly edit them to bring in more traffic.

*What other things do you satisfice vs maximize?*

Saw this on my social feeds:

> "You're not lazy, you only have a certain amount of energy and right now you are using it all to survive."

Reading it, can't help but feel validated for the lack of productivity for the past few months. I wasn't lazy. I wasn't unproductive. I wasn't ill disciplined. I was dealing with stuff. I was just trying to survive and get through the day. And the next day. And the day after.

One long freaking day at a time.

But now I feel better. Thankfully. Realising that it's not due to [anything in my mind that's broken](https://golifelog.com/posts/mind-that-magnesium-1685414275146) was doubly assuring. I can move on without fear and trembling.

Besides, by being "lazy/unproductive" assumes I'm racing to get somewhere... Whose race am I running in? Where am I rushing to? There's no one else in this race other than myself. Everyone's running their own race, with themselves as the only runner.

Wait, it's not even a race. Not even the too-often-used word "journey". It's just me manifesting, unfolding in time and space.

I am enough.

Probably the hardest self-limiting belief any indie entrepreneur can have:

The belief that you need to suffer to succeed.

I saw this on my social feeds the other day and it got me thinking:

> "...Making things hard, believing we need to suffer to achieve or succeed are all signs that we may be unconsciously living out patterns of self-punishment." - @sheleanaaiyana

Do I have a self-punishment tendency?
Is that why the success I seek eludes me?
Or why I always feel I won't achieve without some epic struggle?

An example:

I work hard for Lifelog. I do #100daysofmarketing. Write 100 blog posts in 100 days. And more. I chose the hard challenge, thinking with it, success will come. But most of the time, going hard on distribution makes sense if you're sure of the ROI. When in early stages, it's good to experiment and see which channel works. Smell around for the opportunity first. Be lazy, be opportunistic, be a flaneur. Yet I presumed whichever requires an epic struggle is the solution.

I don't know why, but I'm beginning to see patterns of self-punishment. At least for myself.

And the successful folks whom I look up to, seem to land on opportunities left right centre, like it's nothing. They work hard too though, but I never get a sense that they're seeking to struggle. In fact, very often it's the opposite – they seek to get away with less.

They don't require suffering to succeed.

On the other hand, I seem to get drawn to suffering for success.

*Do you feel this way too?*

I just bought my first Google Ads campaign. It's a scary new channel to get into, and the complexity of it had always held me back. But I had a rush of inspiration yesterday, so quickly went and create an ad account and my first campaign. Sometimes, acting on inspiration is better.

As we're speaking, it's now live on Google, being shown to folks who are searching for "carrd". And I'm already past the daily estimated budget. Hopefully it will stay within the monthly budget of $100.


What's an interesting observation about myself to myself is how I'm now doing what I wouldn't usually do when I just started indie hacking. I distinctly recall having such thoughts:

*"Buying ads? That's lame. Or even annoying. I hate ads myself, why do I want to inflict that on others?*

That's my thinking then. And after indie hacking seriously for a few years, I can say that's pretty naive, definitely some form of youthful rebel idealism going on. Fact is, I've clicked on ads myself, *when they are done well, timely and relevant*. Those times I actually like the ads. I remember recently I clicked on an ad for reMarkable tablet. I wasn't looking for it specifically even, but was curious and clicked on it. Now i feel like I want one.

So ads is not the problem. It's just a tool. It's a problem when bad actors overdo it, spam ads in your face when you least expect it. Like a knife – you can use it in the kitchen to prepare a delicious meal for your family, or use it for murder. Same tool, different actors, vastly different use. When it's relevant and not done in a slimey, hardsell way, ads can be pretty useful.

Stepping back, I realised I've been trying many other things I wouldn't have tried. Like newsletter sponsorships. I once tried Twitter ads for Lifelog too, Facebook ads for my Grant Hunt social good project. I'm also trying other channels and platforms, like setting up a new Tumblr page to try it out as a distribution channel for my Carrd plugins. Or creating an affiliate programme on Lemon Squeezy and Gumroad to try affiliate word of mouth. Stuff that I never saw myself doing last year.

So it this personal growth (as an entrepreneur)?

Sad fact is... Hypish products get attention. Boring products don't.

The peer pressure is a real thing. It's a daily struggle to ignore the influence.

[Dmytro](https://twitter.com/DmytroKrasun/status/1665720633441894400) about sums it up for everyone else without an AI product but too scared to say out loud:

> I didn't think that I could say it in public. But let it be. I join a party. They ask what I do? I am building a screenshot API. But everybody is building AI apps. They leave the chat... Not immediately, but you see it in their eyes. I don't understand why this emotion of zero interest from others drives me and what I do daily. Do you understand what I mean? It feels like I need to build an AI thing to impress people, not to solve problems but to get attention and show how "cool" I am. I am a bit ashamed of my current business. It is not hypish, not changing the world, and not super ambitious. One side of me says—it is terrific, keep going 🔥 Another side says—you are not ambitious enough, it is terrible 🫠 I keep going and don't quit 💪

AI is definitely doing the typical hype cycle through Twitter and the news. But anyone remember web3? NFTs? Clubhouse? Nope. Will it still be as hyped without the marketing machine pushing it? As it is, the hype seems to be burning itself out a little now. If it's on such unstable grounds, makes me wonder if all that effort going into building something is worthwhile, especially now that any sort of first mover advantage on the hype train is gone, and everyone and their mother is building wrapper apps for AI.

This is not to throw shade on AI makers, though. An opportunity to make money is an opportunity to make money, hype or not. If it's short term, it's a chance to get rich off it quickly and move on to something else later. No saying it's bad *per se*, just whether it's worthwhile for me personally to pursue.

One thing I find solace in is the Lindy effect. The longer something is around, the longer it will be expected to be around, like how Nassim Taleb defined it in his book *Antifragile*:

> If a book has been in print for forty years, I can expect it to be in print for another forty years. But, and that is the main difference, if it survives another decade, then it will be expected to be in print another fifty years. This, simply, as a rule, tells you why things that have been around for a long time are not "aging" like persons, but "aging" in reverse. Every year that passes without extinction doubles the additional life expectancy. This is an indicator of some robustness. The robustness of an item is proportional to its life!

The ones around longest are usually “boring”, yet they are still around because they provide long term value.

*Short term hype vs long term value – which is your preferred approach?*