In this episode, I catch you up on the latest life and business updates. I reflect on the privilege and challenges of being an indie entrepreneur, especially as my co-founder João becomes a new father and takes parental leave. I discuss how we’re managing business operations at Podsqueeze with just one active founder, and share thoughts about the perks and compromises of the indie hacker lifestyle.

Links and mentions:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiago-ferreira-48562095/

Twitter: https://x.com/wbetiago

Podsqueeze – https://podsqueeze.com

WeTransfer – https://wetransfer.com

Meetup – https://www.meetup.com

Evernote – https://evernote.com

Bending Spoons – https://bendingspoons.com

AppSumo – https://appsumo.com

HubSpot – https://hubspot.com

G2G (Reddit accounts) – https://www.g2g.com

Startup Stories (Pat Walls) – [YouTube channel reference]

Audio Announcer, Flarecut (other projects mentioned)

Timestamps:

01:10 Catching up, recording in Lisbon, and life updates

05:30 Joel’s parental leave and how we manage as a small team

07:50 Indie perks: flexibility, travel, and lifestyle challenges when kids arrive

10:55 Handling business solo and what changes when you’re down a founder

14:10 Methods and “cookbooks” for indie founders; audience-first, SEO, content, etc.

15:40 My “three phases” framework: launch, growth, plateau

18:20 Bending Spoons and the idea of managing multiple products

20:40 How AI changes indie hacking and lean bootstrapping

21:30 The grind of phase one, community tools, and growth difficulties

23:55 Automations, AI processes, and where human attention is still crucial

26:35 Where marketing and distribution bottlenecks are for us now

28:25 Content creation as a missing skillset and finding the right partners

30:50 Final thoughts: building indie businesses, inviting feedback, and a call to action