Making It as an Indie Developer

Have you considered a life of freelancing, consulting, or solopreneurship? Whatever you want to call it, one thing is certain: you'll be on your own. Let's talk about what it will take to survive, and eventually thrive, as an indie developer. From making the transition, to finding customers and managing projects, to thinking like a business and leveling up. You'll come away with my strongest defense of the indie life and a broad-strokes outline for success.

Transcript

1. Making It as an Indie Developer Secrets of The Fire Swamp ! " " !
7. “Surrender!”
8. “Ah, but how will you capture us? We know the secrets of the Fire Swamp. We can live there quite happily for some time.”
9. Gaining knowledge and building risk tolerance can grant you access to a place most people would consider unlivable.
10. # ! " "! " " " " ! ! ! ! ! "
13. Traditional employment is a default we sometimes accept because the Fire Swamp seems unlivable.
14. Hello! $
21. ❌ 10x Developer
22. ❌ High-Energy, High-Output
23. ❌ Big Risk-Taker
29. The Framework &
30. “Making It”
32. Predictable ' ☔ ➡ Stochastic World World
33. Knowing Your Why Making the Transition Managing Yourself Finding Customers Thinking Like a Business * + , - .
34. Knowing Your Why *
37. Schedule and location Caring for children or elders Building a business Educational or personal goals Tailoring role or tasks
38. Sets a clear direction Provides clear boundaries Clarifies your story Protects your motivation
39. Making the Transition +
47. One Example Strategy
48. 1. Become indispensable
49. 2. Practice missing skills
50. 3. Land long-term client
51. 4. Propose transition
52. Making the Transition +
53. Managing Yourself ,
54. / 0 1
55. 1. Delivering Value
56. 2. Improving Performance
57. 3. Protecting Energy & Emotions
58. Work hard Don’t complain Ignore the pain
59. Work hard Don’t complain Ignore the pain
60. Anxiety Loneliness Fear or Anger Disappointment or Depression Exhaustion
61. Managing Yourself ,
62. Finding Customers -
68. Enough time in the right spots, earning attention authentically. Enough patience and persuasiveness to turn attention into engagement. Ultimately making an invitation that leads to a buying decision.
69. 1. Map Your Skills to Market Needs
70. • Security audits for web applications • Fractional CTO to early-stage startups • Application performance improvement • Developer coaching • Salesforce integrations • Heroku to AWS migrations
71. 2. Go Where Customers Are
72. • Social media • Private communities • Newsletters, Blogs, and Podcasts • Meetups and Conferences • Marketplaces
73. 3. Earn Attention & Build Trust
74. “Permission marketing is the privilege (not the right) of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who actually want to get them. It realizes that treating people with respect is the best way to earn their attention. …when someone chooses to pay attention they are actually paying you with something precious.”
75. • They don’t see it • They don’t understand it • They don’t care about it • They don’t know how to respond • They haven’t been sufficiently persuaded If People Aren’t Responding
76. 4. Make the Pitch
77. Leads Prospects Customers
78. 2 The Good News
79. Your Pipeline Big Co. Pipeline
80. “…you only need to deliver $30/month worth of value to 500 customers to gross $180k/year.”
81. Thinking Like a Business .
87. 3 4 3 3 5 6 # 6 6 4 4 7 7 7 7 7 7
88. First Stage
89. Software Development Bookkeeping Accounting Planning Onboarding Project Management Sales Taxes Forecasting Discovery Marketing Customer Research
90. • Build relationships • Share what you are doing and learning • Craft and make pitches • Stay in touch and over-communicate • Set expectations • Manage time and costs • Forecast and make projections • Celebrate successes • Advise and mentor • Do your own research and discovery • Run your own experiments • Hire and pay for your own services Being Proactive
91. Second Stage
92. “…if you understand the technical work of a business, you understand a business that does that technical work.”
93. “How must the business work?” Business is a system for creating customer outcomes, resulting in profits Starts with vision of the future, and attempts to change present to match Envisions the business as a whole Entrepreneur Technician “What work has to be done?” Business is a place people work creating internal solutions, resulting in income Starts with vision of the present, and intends to keep future much the same Envisions the business in parts
94. Thinking Like a Business .
95. Beyond Making It 8
96. Money 9 Capability : Interest ; Impact ❤ Watch Your Indicators
97. Find Models
98. The Framework Knowing Your Why Making the Transition Managing Yourself Finding Customers Thinking Like a Business * + , - .
99. Takeaways =
100. Why Should I Care? >
101. Recommended Resources
102. Thanks! Jeremy Smith @jeremysmithco jeremy@jeremysmith.co HYBRD hybrd.co IndieRails indierails.com