🗞 What's New: MrBeast linked to $23M in crypto scams

Here's what you'll find in this issue:

• Another day, another MrBeast report. The latest? $23M in crypto scams, uncovered by incriminating social media posts.
• The Indie Hackers team is sharing the stories behind the headlines, from our desks.
• $15K MRR with a countdown timer. Lukas Hermann leveraged Reddit for user research, which gave him a major advantage.

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It’s been a very interesting year for MrBeast, the world’s most popular YouTuber. As they say, when it rains, it pours:

• His co-host, Ava Kris Tyson, was accused of grooming a minor.

• Fellow YouTuber, Rosanna Pansino, reported him to the FBI, providing evidence that he knew all along about Ava's behavior.

• Contestants alleged unsafe conditions on the set of his Amazon show.

• He launched a Lunchables competitor with Logan Paul and KSI...that might contain mold.

Now, he's being accused of swindling $23M through a multitude of crypto scams.

📧 The best email subject lines.

🚨 Today's biggest underestimated security threat? Advanced, persistent teenagers.

💲 Link to your product here. Our most affordable ad.

🛠️ You can probably repair your own phone.

💸 Is it time to sell your company?

🎬 Amid backlash and fear, AI startups are slowly creeping into Hollywood.

Welcome to From Our Desks, where the people behind Indie Hackers share the stories behind the headlines. This week, we talk X, Y, and Z.

Courtland Allen, founder and editor: A month ago, it seemed like every indie hacker on X was building a Product Hunt clone...including us! But after running a product leaderboard for a week or two, I just don't think it's a great business.

Here's the real deal.

Strengthen your landing page with these design, development, and conversion tips!

Curate your FAQs:

A list of unsorted FAQs is not helpful to your landing page visitor, who is presumably confused at this point in their journey.

✅ Frequently asked only.

✅ Ordered by popularity.

Lukas Hermann knew his first SaaS was going to fail. So, he picked the simplest thing he could think of to start out with: A remote countdown timer for live events.

It may have been simple, but it didn’t fail. He’s now grown his user base to more than 13K accounts, and nets $20K a month in subscriptions and one-time payments.

Here's how he combats the loneliness that indie hacking can bring.

I have "academically smart" friends who don't respect entrepreneurship because deep down in their guts they think if you've taken lots of Ls in your professional life, you must be incompetent.

As a result, these friends make few things of value for others, and are usually broke. —@channingallen

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Special thanks to Jay Avery for editing this issue, to Gabriella Federico for the illustrations, and to Stephen Flanders, Darko Gjorgjievski, Rob Hope, and Katie Hignett for contributing posts. —Channing