|
Channing here. Airbnb and DoorDash just went public, and two camps have formed in reaction: those who are [feverishly investing](https://techcrunch.com/2020/12/12/investors-double-down-on-tech-stocks-in-massive-doordash-airbnb-ipos) in the tech compa
What Bootstrappers Can Learn From the DoorDash, Airbnb IPOs
Channing here. Airbnb and DoorDash just went public, and two camps have formed in reaction: those who are feverishly investing in the tech companies, and those who think these investors are out of their minds.
Why the mixed feelings? In large part because both companies have spent so much time playing the role of underdog. Especially in 2020.
And it's precisely because of this underdog status that there are lessons indie hackers can learn from their sucesss. But more on that below.
Here's what you'll find in this issue (browser version here):
-
The latest IPOs show the value of using software to solve physical problems. Are indie hackers leaving money on the table by shying away from brick-and-mortar markets?
-
No-code's got plenty of champions, but it's got haters too. An analyst argues that these naysayers are thinking about it wrong.
-
Here's what technical founders can learn about software sales from Salesforce's acquisition of Slack.
As always, you can submit a section for us to include in a future newsletter. —Channing
🕵️ After DoorDash and Airbnb IPO, Should Indie Hackers Tackle Brick-and-Mortar Problems?
from the Indie Alternatives newsletter by Bobby Burch
The pandemic is not an egalitarian force.
COVID-19 has helped a handful of industries thrive while shuttering tens of thousands of businesses in the U.S. alone.
But now that both DoorDash and Airbnb are publicly traded companies, it's worth considering lessons from their journeys building tech for problems in the physical world.
While they're both exceptional examples of startup success, DoorDash and Airbnb surmounted deep-pocketed incumbents and entrenched status quos — hotels and food delivery by restaurants themselves — to build platforms that people physically interact with millions of times a year. They were long shots that turned into juggernauts.
As DoorDash CEO Tony Xu contends, the San Francisco-based company's primary goal is to boost businesses in your neighborhood:
From the beginning, the DoorDash mission has been to help grow and empower local economies. And today, as we become a public company, that mission has never been more important.
Most indie hackers, by contrast, are building digital products for use in the digital world. And fair enough: 2020's been a less-than-opportune year for building tech for the physical world.
Yet, if Airbnb and DoorDash serve as examples, there are billions of dollars on the table for tech products that address physical needs. Certainly, the road could be harder — and more expensive — but it may be lined in gold.
And indeed, as businesses began adapting to lockdown conditions back in April, two of the indie hacker products that made headlines solved physical, and not digital, problems. Namely:
Much has been written about peoples' struggles to cut their hair in a world in which barbershops are closed due to lockdown. You Probably Need a Haircut addresses this problem by pairing these people with skilled barbers who coach them through the process via video chat. The customers pay $18, and the platform itself takes a $3.60 cut. Timely, smart, and simple.
Software products that solve software problems are the rule, and it will probably stay that way. But I'm certain there are plenty of indie hackers quietly solving physical problems that we'd all benefit from knowing about.
If this is you, or if you know of any, please share. I'd love to follow up on this down the road.
Discuss this story, or subscribe to Indie Alternatives for more.
📰 In the News
💰 After making $1M in 2020, indie hacker Pieter Levels is hiring staff. He became famous, in part, by working solo and bucking conventions.
📈 Morning Brew, a popular business newsletter, has over 2.5 million subscribers. Here's how they found their first 10,000, according to co-founder Austin Rief.
📈 A founder just shared a viral post that teaches you everything you need to know about generating search traffic.
👜 She has bootstrapped to $2.5M/year, and she's only three years in. Ask this indie hacker anything.
🛠 People Underestimate No-Code. Here's Why They Shouldn't.
from the Indie Airwaves newsletter by Nicky Milner
There's a lot of hype behind no-code. But there's plenty of hate too. Especially from developers who say that no-code doesn't scale. But these naysayers are thinking about it all wrong.
Here's the issue. Many people assess the disruptive potential of no-code by only evaluating whether no-code apps can offer the same advanced functionality as traditionally coded apps. (They can't. At least for now.)
The main problem with this? The core value proposition of no-code isn't the same as for mainstream coding languages. No-code's promise isn't in its ability to offer the exact same functionality as normal code, but rather in its ability to enable way more people to build applications in the first place.
This is a twofold disruption: not only will it open the door for far more founders to enter the market, but it will also open the door to products that address a broader audience. Why? Because many of the innovators leveraging no-code tools will come from non-tech industry backgrounds.
Tara Reed of Apps Without Code gets it, and explains this well. She began using no-code tools in 2014, before they were even called "no-code." Apps Without Code, an online school for learning no-code, just crossed the $5-million-a-year mark. But to see the evidence for disruption, you have to dig past her company's revenue numbers and look instead at the customers she's serving. Here's Tara:
The most exciting part about no-code is that it opens up the doors... not just for the traditional makers, but for people with expertise in industries like education, health care, or manufacturing. They see a really clear gap in the market that Silicon Valley is probably not that excited about, or doesn't know how to fill.
Many of these people wouldn't have considered entrepreneurism without no-code. And now, because of these tools and educators like Tara, people get to worry less about the solving complex software problems and more on solving business problems: profit, strategy, audience growth, and more. A great example: James Traf, the designer who's made over $280k using no-code to sell Apple icons.
Bottom line: There's a whole world of smart and ambitious entrepreneurs out there who aren't engineers, and an even larger number of non-tech industries and companies that need new solutions. No-code tools might just be exactly what solo founders need to test and launch the next lifestyle-friendly, multi-million-dollar business.
Discuss this story, or subscribe to Indie Hackers Stories for more.
🐦 The Tweetmaster's Pick
by Tweetmaster Flex
Yo! Every day I post the tweets indie hackers share the most. Here's today's top pick:
💸 What Slack's Acquisition Teaches Technical Founders About Sales
from the Sales for Founders newsletter by Louis Nicholls
Sales Quote of the Week:
Jason Warner, CTO at GitHub, on what the acquisition of Slack by Salesforce teaches technical founders about the importance of sales...
Bad products very often win because of great distribution. Salesforce is a great example of this. Microsoft too generally has avg products & great sales. While I am not a huge fan of either Salesforce (the product) or Slack, the combo w SFDC sales will make SFDC the stock go 📈
Sales Tip from Me:
As a founder doing B2B sales, you need to remember that companies don't buy your software... people do!
You can build a product that's 10x cheaper, more effective, and easier than whatever your prospect is currently using.
But — if just one single employee thinks that buying your product is bad for them personally — you'll likely still lose the deal.
So next time you're in a sales call, remember:
You need to sell the key decision makers — the real humans with hopes, dreams and fears — on why your product is good for them. Not (just) the company.
Or you'll keep missing out on sales that should be a slam dunk. Like this poor guy from The Office.
Question for You:
When you're trying to sell your product (or service) to a company, which employees will be affected? And in what way?
Hint: Put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself the following four questions...
- What professional dreams does that employee want to make come true?
- What professional fears do they want to avoid happening at all costs?
- What are the potential consequences (positive and negative) for that employee if they don't buy your product?
- And what are the potential consequences (positive and negative) if they do buy your product?
Discuss this story, or subscribe to Sales for Founders for more.
🏁 Enjoy This Newsletter?
Forward it to a friend, and let them know they can subscribe here.
Also, you can submit a section for us to include in a future newsletter.
Special thanks to Bobby Burch, Pete Codes, Nicky Milner, and Louis Nicholls for contributing to this issue. —Channing
|
