Courtland Allen and Channing Allen
Courtland and Channing Allen interview the ambitious indie hackers who are turning their ideas and side projects into profitable online businesses. Explore the latest strategies and tools founders are using to capitalize on new opportunities, escape the 9-to-5 grind, and create their own personal revenue-generating machines. The future is indie!
Lukas (@_lhermann) and Liz Hermann (@lizmhermann) talk having ambition as an indie hacker, scratching other people's itches, having kids or spouses to help run your empire, making $8k/month from a simple idea, and charting a course to $100M/yr with (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen).
Steph Smith (@stephsmithio) talks making millions in content subscriptions, working at a16z, putting the AI genie back in the bottle, thread boys on Twitter, educational vs entertainment podcasts, and media companies that monetize aspiring entrepreneurs with Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen).
Seth Godin (@ThisIsSethsBlog) talks indie hacking, finding new business ideas, meaningful jobs vs mechanized jobs, dealing with internet trolls, his secrets to productivity, freelancing vs bootstrapping, writing 9000 blog posts in 20 years, and finding significance in a changing world with Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen).
Alex MacCaw (@maccaw) talks living on a boat, quitting his own 7-figure company, starting over with a lifestyle business, whether free will exists, crowdfunding from your own customers, and gaining a foothold in a crowded market with Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen).
Emma Lawler (@emmaryanlawler) talks whether crypto is dead, VC vs bootstrapping, getting an MBA after a successful exit, why NYC beats SF, trading sleep for work, whether capitalism leads to perverse incentives, and how she plans to disrupt the App Store with Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen).
Danny Postma (@dannypostmaa) talks his rivalry with Pieter Levels, selling his AI startup, using SEO as a moat, how to be an AI first-mover, why he’s not allowed to use ChatGPT, and passing $300k in revenue with Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen).
Lane Wagner (@wagslane) talks hitting $26k/mo in revenue, why A.I. disruption is a good thing, the ethics of addictive products, surviving after a first year of no traction, why most business writing sucks, and how to grow revenue by making your product smaller with Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen).
Rob Walling (@robwalling) talks his new playbook on SaaS, why he launched on Kickstarter, the latest startup trends, how to have a winning mindset, and whether we should build a Kickstarter for Indie Hackers with Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen).
Wes Kao (@wes_kao) talks disrupting traditional education, what it's like to raise $25M, how to stay motivated as a founder, why cohorts are the gold standard of online learning, and how to apply the science of love to product-founder fit with Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen).
Indie Hackers is no longer a part of Stripe! Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen) talk about their history at Stripe, the process of spinning out the company, and future ideas for how to generate revenue now that they're indie hackers themselves starting at $0.
KP (@thisiskp_) talks about why building in public beats mere transparency, whether AI will be the end of no-code, why he's made more money from organizing community than anything else, and how he went from a 9-to-5 job to being a founder with multiple exits with Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen).
Marc Lou (@marc_louvion) talks living in Bali with a private chef, monetizing habit trackers, first date ideas, growing on Twitter, and building over 10 products in a year to finally reach ramen profitability with Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen).
Stas Kulesh (@stas_kulesh) talks about building internal tools as a great hack, why it takes 10 years to understand a new country, the challenging secret of enterprise sales, and slowly growing a SaaS business to $40k/month with Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen).
Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) and Ben Levy (@benmlevy) talk making it big as a content creator, choosing the right business idea, creative ways to monetize, big boy vs small boy stuff, making friends as an adult, growing a newsletter brand, and exiting for millions in under a year with Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen).
Josh Ho (@jlogic) talks raising kids, automating word-of-mouth growth, bouncing back from a previous failed business, and bootstrapping beyond $2M in annual revenue with Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen).
Yahia Bakour (@mynameisyahia) talks trading stocks, quitting a $250k/year job at Amazon to become an indie hacker, how to join an existing project as a late cofounder, marketing via SEO, being a night owl vs an early bird, and bootstrapping his revenue to $20k/month with Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen).
Justin Welsh (@thejustinwelsh) talks setting a high bar for yourself, releasing products without knowing how to code, growing on social media (esp. LinkedIn), selling courses, dealing with burnout, and growing his solopreneur empire to $3M in 3 years with Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen).
Mat De Sousa (@DsMatie) talks having million-dollar ambitions as a child, learning from numerous failed startups, why Shopify apps are great for indie hackers, the proper way to find a business idea, and growing from $0 to $37k/mo in 2.5 years with Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen).
Damon Chen (@damengchen) talks failed side projects, validating your idea, charging higher prices than is comfortable, what makes for a good website testimonial, and growing a bootstrapped startup to $30k/mo with Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen).
Eric Turner (@_etdev) talks living in Japan as a foreigner and visiting Japan as a tourist, finding inspiration to start as an indie hacker, picking a lucrative market, and shares some tips growing a job board with Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen).
Laura Roeder (@lkr) talks life coaching, starting multiple successful businesses (and selling one for millions), early growth via SEO, and designing a company to align with your lifestyle with Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen).
Marko Saric (@markosaric) talks living in Brussels, things he learned working in marketing, joining an existing project as a late co-founder, succeeding on Hacker News, surviving against a behemoth competitor, and learnings from bootstrapping an open-source project to over $1.2M in annual revenue with Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen).
Kapil Kale (@kapil) talks AI-generated art, going through YC, buying out his investors to own 100% of the company, pivoting from an okay idea to a great idea, and growing a profitable business to 8-figures in annual revenue with Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen).
Tony Dinh (@tdinh_me) talks growing up in Vietnam, quitting his job working for the man, failed vs successful side projects, growing via Twitter, and managing multiple projects that add up to $18,000 in monthly revenue with Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen).
Liron Shapira (@liron) talks relationship and dating advice, building a coaching business, marketing via Facebook groups, and growing his revenue to millions of dollars with Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen).
Dashiell Bark-Huss (@DashBarkHuss) talks quitting the fashion industry, living in a van, learning to code, selling to sex workers, lucid dreaming, and growing her first-ever startup to $36k/mo with Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen).
We're talking to Patrick Campbell, an indie founder who just sold his company for $200,000,000. That's an insane nine figure exit for a bootstrapped founder. In this episode, we talk with Patrick about his champagne problems and what indie hackers need to know today to get to where he is more quickly. Follow Patrick on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Patticus Check out ProfitWell: https://www.profitwell.com/
Sahil Lavingia (@shl) and Justin Jackson (@mijustin) join Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen) for a special debate-style episode. It's four dudes talking about Elon Musk. What could go wrong? Follow Sahil on Twitter: https://twitter.com/shl Check out Gumroad: https://gumroad.com/ Follow Justin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mijustin Check out Transistor.fm: https://transistor.fm/
Vincent Woo (@fulligin) sold his company for tens of millions of dollars. He joins the pod to talk to Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen) about advice for fledgling indie hackers trying to make money, the purpose of business, defining principles for one's life, and why he shouldn't have to pay Courtland for a $10,000 bet he lost.
Daniel Vassallo (@dvassallo) and Arvid Kahl (@arvidkahl) have both already made it as indie hackers. They join Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen) to discuss making money as an indie hacker, designing your life after you reach financial freedom, avoiding risk, mitigating inflation, and whether or not college is worth it. Related episodes: #212 – Actionable Steps for Building the Right Business with Arvid Kahl #177 – Mastering the Lifestyle-First Approach to Indie Hacking with Daniel Vassallo #140 – Vital Learnings from Bootstrapping and Selling a $55k a Month Business with Arvid Kahl of FeedbackPanda
