Featured Essays

A curated collection of my best thoughts and insights on entrepreneurship, learning, and building something meaningful.

10
Featured Essays
5 min read
Featured

Ramp and the Discipline of Obsession

Ramp began with a gap, not a grand plan. Eric Glyman turned frustration into automation, obsessing over inputs, feedback loops, and trust. Build fast, optimize basics, survive chaos—give teams back their time, and scale from real pain, not trends.

Paribus startup story
indie hacker mindset
startup lessons
4 min read
Featured

Zed Editor: The Fight for Milliseconds

Zed started with disobedience: a few devs refusing “good enough.” From Atom to Zed, Antonio Scandurra shows how obsession with speed, performance, and craft shapes tools that feel telepathic. Build for flow, guard the core, and honor invisible labor.

Zed text editor
indie hacker lessons
software craftsmanship
3 min read
Featured

The Startup Only You Are Crazy Enough to Build

Elon Musk builds worlds, not startups—Tesla, SpaceX, SolarCity. He ignores rules, challenges assumptions, and turns rejection into fuel. Indie founders: dream impossibly, endure the grind, and build what should exist. Your audacity is the edge.

Elon Musk entrepreneurship
Indie hacker mindset
First principles thinking
3 min read
Featured

Reality Distorted: Steve Jobs for Indie Hackers—Obsession, Chaos, Clarity

Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs reveals a founder who fused chaos with clarity. From garage hacks to iPhone magic, Jobs obsessed over every pixel, demanded brilliance, and reshaped culture. For indie hackers, the lesson isn’t to copy him—it’s to burn for what you build, no matter the cost.

steve jobs biography summary
walter isaacson steve jobs book
indie hacker lessons from steve jobs
4 min read
Featured

How a Side Project Became the World’s Third-Biggest Phone Brand

Xiaomi didn’t win with moonshots—it won with speed, community, and iteration. Little Rice shows how MIUI built loyalty before hardware, how flash sales replaced ads, and how copying became remix. For indie hackers, it’s proof: start scrappy, ship fast, and let users spread the story.

little rice book
indie hacker strategies
xiaomi startup lessons
3 min read
Featured

Shipping as an Indie? Build Like It’s a Letter to One Person

Voicenotes began with one voice, not a roadmap. Jijo Sunny builds like a novelist—zooming in on a single user’s pain until it sings. No bloat, no copycat energy. Just intimacy, conviction, and care so specific it scales. That’s the moat: products built for someone, not “everyone.”

indie hacking focus
building for one user
3 min read
Featured

Dancing with the Four — Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google

Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google aren’t just companies—they’re systems that rewired culture. Scott Galloway’s The Four breaks down how they tap primal drives, scale with precision, and shape identity—offering both a warning and a playbook for builders chasing lasting impact.

Scott Galloway The Four
lessons from big tech giants
primal drives in startup growth
4 min read
Featured

Betting on Yourself: The High-Agency Path from 49 Cents to $250M

From $0.49 in his bank account to leading beehiiv into a $250M company, Tyler Denk’s journey shows the power of high-agency decisions, fast execution, and relentless self-belief. His story proves growth doesn’t come from safety—it comes from betting on yourself, even in the dark.

Tyler Denk beehiiv story
high-agency startup lessons
betting on yourself in startups
4 min read
Featured

Build Loud, Launch Fast: The Branson Playbook for Indie Hackers

Richard Branson didn’t build with blueprints—he built like a pirate. From Virgin Records to Virgin Atlantic, his playbook was guts, fun, and culture over convention. Indie hackers can steal the same edge: launch weird, risk loud, and make users feel something no spreadsheet can capture.

4 min read
Featured

The $1,600 Domain That Made the Startup Inevitable

Sometimes startups don’t start with code—they start with a reckless click. Jijo Sunny bet his rent money on BuyMeACoffee.com, proving a name can be more than branding. The right domain isn’t just an address—it’s a commitment, a story, and the push to build like you mean it.

Want to read more? Check out all my essays.