- TwindiePoint | AI Startup Ideas
- Posts
- Pieter Levels on Programming, AI Startups, and the Digital Nomad Lifestyle
Pieter Levels on Programming, AI Startups, and the Digital Nomad Lifestyle
Hey 👋
You’re reading the weekly wrap-up Sunday newsletter of what’s going on in the Indie-Hacking community on X.
This is our 11th edition of TwindiePoint.
If you’re building a new product, the first thing you should do is create awareness about what you're building. Use platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, Threads/Instagram, Facebook Groups, Hacker News, and relevant Subreddits. After that, you can submit your product to directories to gain SEO juice. Next, do a Product Hunt launch, sponsor a newsletter or influencer, and start writing BOFU (Bottom of Funnel) SEO-focused articles.
Got 10 alpha users trying out my new product rn and giving valuable feedback (and paying 🤭)
Most of them through -
- X
- LI
- Thr3ads/IGAlso trying cold emails
Next -
I'll post in communities I'm part of.
Then FB groups, HN and Subreddits (if I feel confident 😅)
Then..
— Ayush 🙏 (@ayushtweetshere)
12:15 PM • Aug 22, 2024
This guy tweeted about which AI tools are worth purchasing a subscription for: OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Perplexity AI, Anthropic AI, Cursor AI, Vercel’s V0, and Claude AI. I personally felt that, ChatGPT’s quality goes down, In my opinion, Perplexity and Claude is great for content creation as well coding.
guys wtf please help me figure out what to pay for
- @OpenAI chatgpt subscription
- @perplexity_ai pro
- @AnthropicAI claude subscription
- @cursor_ai
- @vercel@v0— Dhravya Shah (@DhravyaShah)
12:06 AM • Aug 21, 2024
If you're looking to promote your business for free, consider engaging with various online communities where submissions are allowed. Here’s a curated list of 42 startup-focused Subreddits, Discord, and Slack communities that can help you connect with potential customers and receive valuable feedback.
Reddit Communities 👇
r/RoastMyStartup
r/AlphaandBetausers
r/GrowthHacking
r/Digitalnomad
r/Promotereddit
r/Entrepreneur
r/EntrepreneurRideAlong
r/IMadeThis
r/IndieBiz
r/SideProject
r/SmallBusiness
r/Startups
r/Growmybusiness
r/Linkbuilding
r/SEO
r/Freepromote
r/SocialMediaMarketing
r/Analytics
r/Content_marketing
r/Advertising
r/PPC
r/AskMarketing
Discord Communities 👇
Hack2skill
GCES
Tech Startup Community
Everything Startup
Startup Growth Hub
Furlough
Startups and Entrepreneurship
Starthub
Art Code
Million Dollar Weekend
Slack Communities 👇
Posting Tips 🚀
For optimal engagement, the best time to post on business-related subreddits is between 5 PM and 10 PM CET, particularly on Mondays and Wednesdays.
If you want to promote your business for free, here is a list of 42 startup Subreddits, Discord and Slack communities where submissions are allowed:
Reddit Communities
1. r/RoastMyStartup
2. r/AlphaandBetausers
3. r/GrowthHacking
4. r/Digitalnomad
5. r/Promotereddit
6.… x.com/i/web/status/1…— Natia Kurdadze (@natiakourdadze)
4:56 PM • Aug 22, 2024
Baretto from tiny.host shares valuable lessons on launching and pricing a startup. He emphasizes the importance of introducing a paid plan early based on user feedback, building features that users request, and releasing them exclusively for Pro plans. He advises not to shy away from pricing higher than expected, as perceived value often correlates with price, and a higher price can validate your value proposition.
Baretto also highlights the effectiveness of promo codes for market testing, sharing his success of offering a 50% discount during a Product Hunt launch, which led to their first sale. He stresses the need for a balanced marketing approach, utilizing both short-term strategies (like leveraging platforms such as Hacker News and Product Hunt) for immediate visibility and long-term strategies (like SEO and content marketing) to establish a sustainable online presence.
He points out the importance of actively promoting marketing materials, as even great content can get overlooked without proper visibility. Finally, Baretto encourages founders to keep pushing forward, learning, and listening to user feedback, as this is key to achieving success in their entrepreneurial journey.
41,000 new users signed up for Tiiny in July 🤯
...and thousands in MRR 💸
But how did we acquire our first customers?
Here are some key lessons I learned early on...
A thread 🧵
— Baretto (tiny.host)⚡ (@_baretto)
9:13 AM • Aug 22, 2024
Instant Writing Remixer: Rewrite As
Different Authors
You are my personal "writing remixer."
I am going to give you a sentence. Then you are going to rewrite it in 6 different "authors"
1. Gary Vaynerchuk
2. Maya Angelou
3. George R.R. Martin
4. Winston Churchill
5. Brene Brown
6. J.K. Rowling
7. Ernest Hemingway
Here are the steps:
1. You will ask me for the sentence.
2. Then you will rewrite the sentence in each tone.
3. And finally you will store the output in a table.
Here is the table output:
• Column headers: tone, rewritten sentence
• Rows: each of the authors I listed
• The first row should be the original sentence.
• The "author" for that one should be "Original sentence"
Are you ready for the sentence?
7 authors I've been using ChatGPT to rewrite my writing as:
1. Gary Vaynerchuk
2. Maya Angelou
3. George R.R. Martin
4. Winston Churchill
5. Brene Brown
6. J.K. Rowling
7. Ernest HemingwayThis gives me a 360-degree perspective on how to communicate an idea.
Here's the prompt:
— Dickie Bush 🚢 (@dickiebush)
6:28 PM • Aug 22, 2024
Most controversial podcast between Pieter Levels & Lex fridman. What an amazing journey & philosophy of Pieter.
Here's my conversation with Pieter Levels (@levelsio), self-taught developer and entrepreneur who designed, programmed, shipped, and ran over 40 startups, many of which are hugely successful. In most cases, he did it all by himself, while living the digital nomad life in over 40… x.com/i/web/status/1…
— Lex Fridman (@lexfridman)
8:34 PM • Aug 20, 2024
After exploring alternatives to Stripe following its acquisition of LMSqueezy, I evaluated Paddle as a potential payment processor for a $20K monthly recurring revenue (MRR) scenario. Here’s a detailed analysis:
Fee Structure for $20K MRR:
Paddle: 5% + $0.50 per transaction = $1,050
Stripe: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction = $580
This indicates that using Paddle costs approximately 1.7 times more than Stripe across various MRR levels.
Chargebacks:
Paddle includes chargeback fees, while Stripe charges $15 per chargeback. Estimating 5-10 chargebacks per month, this results in an additional $75-$150 for Stripe.
Additional Fees for Stripe Services:
Stripe requires separate payments for services like fraud protection and subscription management, which are included with Paddle. For small businesses, this can be a significant advantage.
Accountant Costs:
Since Stripe is not a Merchant of Record (MoR), hiring an accountant may cost an additional $750-$1,200 per month. Paddle eliminates this need, simplifying financial management.
Conclusion:
While Paddle incurs higher fees (1.7x more), Stripe's additional costs for services and the need for an accountant can offset this difference. After evaluating for a $100K MRR with increased accountant fees, the net profit remains similar. Using Paddle as an all-in-one MoR solution may reduce headaches and streamline operations.
Overall, while Paddle is more expensive, it offers comprehensive services that could be beneficial for many businesses, especially those looking for a hassle-free payment solution.
After @stripe acquired @lmsqueezy, I began exploring alternatives and discovered @PaddleHQ.
I estimated the fees I would pay for a $20K MRR.
Before proceeding, remember that Stripe is a payment processor, while Paddle is a MoR (Merchant of Record).Detailed analysis: 👇
1-… x.com/i/web/status/1…— Emre Çağlar (@emre__caglar)
5:16 AM • Aug 22, 2024
We hope you enjoyed the updates and stories from the Indie-Hacking community on X.
If you have any questions, feedback, or stories to share, feel free to reach out.
To sponsor our newsletter, reach out to us at our email.
See you again next Sunday!
— Avinash (@avinashvagh)
🌐 www.twindiepoint.com
✉️ [email protected]
📲 Follow us on social media to stay connected!
Powering startup founders, solo product builders, Indie-Hackers.
Reply