High Signal founder on the state of indie hacking and building in public in 2025 - Pete Codes
Jan 8, 2025
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Pete Codes, founder of the High Signal newsletter, shares insights from the indie hacking realm. He discusses how social media transitions affect indie entrepreneurs and questions if 'building in public' is still relevant. Pete highlights remarkable success stories, like a Vietnamese creator earning a million with an AI app and an indie founder thriving with an AI tools directory. He also emphasizes the importance of product-market fit and innovative growth strategies for newsletters, ensuring listeners stay ahead in the rapidly changing landscape.
Pete Codes emphasizes the importance of adapting newsletter strategies to capture timely indie hacking stories from various social media platforms like Twitter and Blue Sky.
The evolving indie hacking community has shifted perceptions around building in public, requiring founders to share insights on personal growth rather than specific revenue metrics.
Deep dives
The Evolution of Indie News Curation
Maintaining a relevant and engaging newsletter requires constant adaptation to the changing landscape of social media platforms. An individual heavily involved in the indie community, Pete Coates curates content for his High Signal newsletter primarily from Twitter, Blue Sky, and LinkedIn. He shares that he has cultivated a system that involves bookmarking interesting posts and compiling them directly into the newsletter editor. This hands-on approach allows him to capture timely stories reflecting the evolution of indie hacking and provide insights into the successes of various founders over time.
Shifts in the Building Public Movement
The novelty of the building public movement has diminished as the indie hacking community grows, leading to mixed feelings about sharing business metrics openly. While this practice was once revolutionary, many now find it less impactful due to increased competition and the prevalence of copycats among new entrants to the space. Despite still being beneficial for garnering publicity, the movement requires a fresh approach to maintain its relevance. Some founders have shifted to sharing less specific information about revenue or projects, focusing instead on personal growth and behind-the-scenes progress.
Success Stories and Strategic Growth
Several notable indie founders have made a significant impact in recent years, showcasing the potential for success through innovative and early entry into the market. For instance, Tony Din developed an AI app, Typing Mind, achieving impressive revenue milestones through persistent effort and strategic execution. Additionally, Andre's AI tools directory has gained millions of visits monthly, emphasizing the importance of timing in the competitive landscape. These success stories illustrate that while the indie scene evolves, there remain ample opportunities for founders who can effectively identify and fill market gaps.
Recently I’ve been reviewing my catalogue of previous guests and have been intrigued to see where they are now, so expect to see a few more returning guests over the next few weeks.
Today is a chap who was last on the podcast 3 years ago, and is still ever present in the indie community. Pete Codes is writes the High Signal newsletter, sharing all the best indie hacking news every week. He’s making his main living through Ghostwriting for Twitter, Bluesky and LinkedIn, but he’s still launching new projects and keeping his previous projects live.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:25 How Pete stays up to date with indie hacking news
03:21 Twitter, Bluesky or LinkedIn
04:36 Is building in public dead?
07:30 Who is still building in public
09:40 Big news stories of 2024 / who has been successful
12:06 Pete's plan for his newsletter, High Signal
12:48 Recommendations
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