This Indie Life Transistor (https://transistor.fm) https://feeds.transistor.fm/this-indie-life Dagobert spent 5 years and $100K+ to bootstrap a startup and failed with a massive burn out. Every week he invites a new founder to talk about the dark side of entrepreneurship. © PodPanda 2022 fbeaf4cf-5fe9-57c7-874e-1cad602c9c23 yes Dagobert Renouf James McKinven en Wed, 23 Jul 2025 16:35:41 +0200 Fri, 06 Mar 2026 18:11:55 +0100 https://img.transistorcdn.com/qDzGCNRD7MxrHGcV3sYwuWOmcVKfD9NJgFDdMjxPbYo/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS84YmYz/ODU4NDVmMmZkYzA0/ZjcwNzAxZTliYmM5/YWNkOS5qcGVn.jpg This Indie Life episodic James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf Dagobert spent 5 years and $100K+ to bootstrap a startup and failed with a massive burn out. Every week he invites a new founder to talk about the dark side of entrepreneurship. Dagobert spent 5 years and $100K+ to bootstrap a startup and failed with a massive burn out. entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups James McKinven No No 33: Mattia's burnout gave him confidence 33 33 33: Mattia's burnout gave him confidence full b7834cb5-6582-4653-b267-4d5461ea62c3 https://indielifepod.com/episodes/33-mattias-burnout-gave-him-confidence He burned out only 3 months after starting his indie startup. But one year later found a deeper confidence and became unstoppable. My chat with @heymattia is out 💪

---

Subscribe to THIS INDIE LIFE podcast
Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-indie-life/id1648517057
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6QoeR2odVYQPYnfiTC5Egg
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@indielifepod
Everywhere else - https://indielifepod.com/subscribe

Show notes
His twitter - twitter.com/heymattia
His newsletter - themakerjourney.com
His new product: blacktwist.app

Show links
Call the indie hotline - https://indielifepod.com/indie-hotline
Sponsor us - https://indielifepod.com/sponsor

]]> He burned out only 3 months after starting his indie startup. But one year later found a deeper confidence and became unstoppable. My chat with @heymattia is out 💪

---

Subscribe to THIS INDIE LIFE podcast
Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-indie-life/id1648517057
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6QoeR2odVYQPYnfiTC5Egg
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@indielifepod
Everywhere else - https://indielifepod.com/subscribe

Show notes
His twitter - twitter.com/heymattia
His newsletter - themakerjourney.com
His new product: blacktwist.app

Show links
Call the indie hotline - https://indielifepod.com/indie-hotline
Sponsor us - https://indielifepod.com/sponsor

]]> Fri, 30 Aug 2024 09:34:08 +0200 Dagobert Renouf Dagobert Renouf 5519 He burned out only 3 months after starting his indie startup. But one year later found a deeper confidence and became unstoppable. My chat with @heymattia is out 💪

---

Subscribe to THIS INDIE LIFE podcast
Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-indie-life/id1648517057
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6QoeR2odVYQPYnfiTC5Egg
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@indielifepod
Everywhere else - https://indielifepod.com/subscribe

Show notes
His twitter - twitter.com/heymattia
His newsletter - themakerjourney.com
His new product: blacktwist.app

Show links
Call the indie hotline - https://indielifepod.com/indie-hotline
Sponsor us - https://indielifepod.com/sponsor

]]> entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No Dagobert Renouf 32: Dominik finds peace in the grind 32 32 32: Dominik finds peace in the grind full 60b864d5-81c8-4d97-b787-0d2005a8c601 https://indielifepod.com/episodes/32-dominik-find-peace-in-the-grind He hustled for years and only started relaxing when he reached $8K MRR. My chat with fellow indie hacker @sobedominik is out 🎙

You can listen to THIS INDIE LIFE podcast anywhere
Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-indie-life/id1648517057
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6QoeR2odVYQPYnfiTC5Egg
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@indielifepod
Everywhere else - https://indielifepod.com/subscribe

Show notes
His twitter - https://twitter.com/sobedominik
His main product - https://www.helpkit.so
His side project - https://www.filmtypes.com

This week's sponsor
https://microassets.co by @socodemaker - sell and buy indie products with low fees - special price with code INDIELIFE

Show links
Call the indie hotline - https://indielifepod.com/indie-hotline
Sponsor us - https://indielifepod.com/sponsor

]]> He hustled for years and only started relaxing when he reached $8K MRR. My chat with fellow indie hacker @sobedominik is out 🎙

You can listen to THIS INDIE LIFE podcast anywhere
Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-indie-life/id1648517057
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6QoeR2odVYQPYnfiTC5Egg
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@indielifepod
Everywhere else - https://indielifepod.com/subscribe

Show notes
His twitter - https://twitter.com/sobedominik
His main product - https://www.helpkit.so
His side project - https://www.filmtypes.com

This week's sponsor
https://microassets.co by @socodemaker - sell and buy indie products with low fees - special price with code INDIELIFE

Show links
Call the indie hotline - https://indielifepod.com/indie-hotline
Sponsor us - https://indielifepod.com/sponsor

]]> Fri, 26 Jul 2024 17:05:35 +0200 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 4967 He hustled for years and only started relaxing when he reached $8K MRR. My chat with fellow indie hacker @sobedominik is out 🎙

You can listen to THIS INDIE LIFE podcast anywhere
Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-indie-life/id1648517057
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6QoeR2odVYQPYnfiTC5Egg
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@indielifepod
Everywhere else - https://indielifepod.com/subscribe

Show notes
His twitter - https://twitter.com/sobedominik
His main product - https://www.helpkit.so
His side project - https://www.filmtypes.com

This week's sponsor
https://microassets.co by @socodemaker - sell and buy indie products with low fees - special price with code INDIELIFE

Show links
Call the indie hotline - https://indielifepod.com/indie-hotline
Sponsor us - https://indielifepod.com/sponsor

]]> entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No Dagobert Renouf 31: Marie is in energy savings mode 31 31 31: Marie is in energy savings mode full ffd721e1-0277-4b38-830e-ec75840eb72e https://indielifepod.com/episodes/31-marie-is-in-energy-savings-mode My interview with Marie Ng is out 🎙

After growing her app to more than 20,000 users in 3 years, she’s often stuck working on admin tasks that kill her energy. But she found ways to recharge and keep the burnout away 🧘‍♂️ 🔋

My favorite moment is at 33:52.

---

Marie's links

This week's sponsor - Loop

Dago's links

Show links

]]> My interview with Marie Ng is out 🎙

After growing her app to more than 20,000 users in 3 years, she’s often stuck working on admin tasks that kill her energy. But she found ways to recharge and keep the burnout away 🧘‍♂️ 🔋

My favorite moment is at 33:52.

---

Marie's links

This week's sponsor - Loop

Dago's links

Show links

]]> Thu, 23 May 2024 13:21:31 +0200 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 5124 My interview with Marie Ng is out 🎙

After growing her app to more than 20,000 users in 3 years, she’s often stuck working on admin tasks that kill her energy. But she found ways to recharge and keep the burnout away 🧘‍♂️ 🔋

My favorite moment is at 33:52.

---

Marie's links

This week's sponsor - Loop

Dago's links

Show links

]]> entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No Dagobert Renouf 30: Dmytro and Dago wonder if his product is too small 30 30 30: Dmytro and Dago wonder if his product is too small full c590f08d-f024-40be-b1ae-30bf74b8b1c5 https://indielifepod.com/episodes/30-dmytro-and-dago-wonder-if-his-product-is-too-small My interview with Dmytro Krasun is out 🎙

Even though he has a successful product, he doesn’t make enough money to escape the grind and feels trapped in his business. But he has a plan to eventually grow outside of it 💪

---

Dmytro's links

This week's sponsor - BetterLegal

Dago's links

Our links

]]> My interview with Dmytro Krasun is out 🎙

Even though he has a successful product, he doesn’t make enough money to escape the grind and feels trapped in his business. But he has a plan to eventually grow outside of it 💪

---

Dmytro's links

This week's sponsor - BetterLegal

Dago's links

Our links

]]> Fri, 10 May 2024 16:00:00 +0200 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 4844 My interview with Dmytro Krasun is out 🎙

Even though he has a successful product, he doesn’t make enough money to escape the grind and feels trapped in his business. But he has a plan to eventually grow outside of it 💪

---

Dmytro's links

This week's sponsor - BetterLegal

Dago's links

Our links

]]> entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No Dagobert Renouf 29: Lukas and Dago talk about burnout and therapy 29 29 29: Lukas and Dago talk about burnout and therapy full a7005e47-8c4e-47d6-96db-27f68ca6ad15 https://indielifepod.com/episodes/29-lukas-and-dago-talk-about-burnout-and-therapy I finally overcame my perfectionist tendencies and edited the podcast episode with Lukas Hermann 🥳

We talked about the dark stuff he’s been through as an entrepreneur: from getting betrayed by his first cofounder to a physical breakdown that will keep him scarred for life...

But we had fun the whole time 😁

---

Lukas' links

Dago's links

Our links

]]> I finally overcame my perfectionist tendencies and edited the podcast episode with Lukas Hermann 🥳

We talked about the dark stuff he’s been through as an entrepreneur: from getting betrayed by his first cofounder to a physical breakdown that will keep him scarred for life...

But we had fun the whole time 😁

---

Lukas' links

Dago's links

Our links

]]> Fri, 26 Apr 2024 15:29:46 +0200 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 4769 I finally overcame my perfectionist tendencies and edited the podcast episode with Lukas Hermann 🥳

We talked about the dark stuff he’s been through as an entrepreneur: from getting betrayed by his first cofounder to a physical breakdown that will keep him scarred for life...

But we had fun the whole time 😁

---

Lukas' links

Dago's links

Our links

]]> entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No Dagobert Renouf 28: Nico and Dago talk about the dark side of entrepreneurship 28 28 28: Nico and Dago talk about the dark side of entrepreneurship full db0fffb4-f294-4f7e-9024-0e6c794ea752 https://indielifepod.com/episodes/28-nico-and-dago-talk-about-the-dark-side-of-entrepreneurship The first guest of This Indie Life is here!

Nico and I talked about the dark side of entrepreneurship: from getting his first gray hair at 26 to being on the verge of breaking up with his girlfriend... but we had some laughs too 😁

Nico's links

This week's sponsor - BetterLegal

Dago's links

Our links

]]> The first guest of This Indie Life is here!

Nico and I talked about the dark side of entrepreneurship: from getting his first gray hair at 26 to being on the verge of breaking up with his girlfriend... but we had some laughs too 😁

Nico's links

This week's sponsor - BetterLegal

Dago's links

Our links

]]> Wed, 27 Mar 2024 17:06:38 +0100 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 3529 The first guest of This Indie Life is here!

Nico and I talked about the dark side of entrepreneurship: from getting his first gray hair at 26 to being on the verge of breaking up with his girlfriend... but we had some laughs too 😁

Nico's links

This week's sponsor - BetterLegal

Dago's links

Our links

]]> entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No Dagobert Renouf 27: James is gone; Dago is back 27 27 27: James is gone; Dago is back full 4cdd2f7d-9b03-4f1f-b431-c05efd9ac7c2 https://indielifepod.com/episodes/27-james-is-gone-dago-is-back In this episode, Dago quits his job and comes back to the indie life. Meanwhile James is nowhere to be found and the podcast is headed towards a new direction.

Dagobert links

James links

]]> In this episode, Dago quits his job and comes back to the indie life. Meanwhile James is nowhere to be found and the podcast is headed towards a new direction.

Dagobert links

James links

]]> Wed, 20 Mar 2024 17:18:34 +0100 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1583 In this episode, Dago quits his job and comes back to the indie life. Meanwhile James is nowhere to be found and the podcast is headed towards a new direction.

Dagobert links

James links

]]> entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No Dagobert Renouf 26: James gets a fancy shirt; Dago gets a divorce 26 26 26: James gets a fancy shirt; Dago gets a divorce full 3775e2d0-a28a-4cb4-98e4-de96a061448a https://indielifepod.com/episodes/26-james-gets-a-fancy-shirt-dago-gets-a-divorce In this episode, Dago has a big life event which is going to change the trajectory of his indie life. Meanwhile, I reflect on one of my best weeks in a while being on form after spending some time away relaxing.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro
00:41 James updates
12:07 Dago updates

Dagobert links

James links

]]> In this episode, Dago has a big life event which is going to change the trajectory of his indie life. Meanwhile, I reflect on one of my best weeks in a while being on form after spending some time away relaxing.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro
00:41 James updates
12:07 Dago updates

Dagobert links

James links

]]> Thu, 23 Nov 2023 15:00:05 +0100 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1543 In this episode, Dago has a big life event which is going to change the trajectory of his indie life. Meanwhile, I reflect on one of my best weeks in a while being on form after spending some time away relaxing.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro
00:41 James updates
12:07 Dago updates

Dagobert links

James links

]]> entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No Dagobert Renouf James McKinven 25: Are side projects impossible to make successful? 25 25 25: Are side projects impossible to make successful? full 19e740b7-200c-4467-a69d-2b29a2865b18 https://indielifepod.com/episodes/25-are-side-projects-impossible-to-make-successful In this episode, Dago talks about why he can’t do side projects anymore without going al in, but he does have a plan. Meanwhile, I’ve had a big week with my podcast Indie Bites, speaking to a bootstrapping legend, but having to overcome a metric shit ton of imposter syndrome.

About Dagobert (to be updated soon...)
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> In this episode, Dago talks about why he can’t do side projects anymore without going al in, but he does have a plan. Meanwhile, I’ve had a big week with my podcast Indie Bites, speaking to a bootstrapping legend, but having to overcome a metric shit ton of imposter syndrome.

About Dagobert (to be updated soon...)
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> Mon, 16 Oct 2023 07:00:00 +0200 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1574 In this episode, Dago talks about why he can’t do side projects anymore without going al in, but he does have a plan. Meanwhile, I’ve had a big week with my podcast Indie Bites, speaking to a bootstrapping legend, but having to overcome a metric shit ton of imposter syndrome.

About Dagobert (to be updated soon...)
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No Dagobert Renouf James McKinven 24: We're back and indie hacking again 24 24 24: We're back and indie hacking again full 9b98266d-11a9-4665-908a-524effe363c3 https://indielifepod.com/episodes/24-were-back-and-indie-hacking-again In this episode, Dago talks about how the honeymoon period for his job is over and how he’s going to address it with side projects. Is logology coming back? Meanwhile, I’ve been settling back into a new slightly too relaxed routine with my whale client and wonder what I need to do to make some progress with my side projects.

About Dagobert (to be updated soon...)
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> In this episode, Dago talks about how the honeymoon period for his job is over and how he’s going to address it with side projects. Is logology coming back? Meanwhile, I’ve been settling back into a new slightly too relaxed routine with my whale client and wonder what I need to do to make some progress with my side projects.

About Dagobert (to be updated soon...)
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> Thu, 05 Oct 2023 12:53:35 +0200 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1287 In this episode, Dago talks about how the honeymoon period for his job is over and how he’s going to address it with side projects. Is logology coming back? Meanwhile, I’ve been settling back into a new slightly too relaxed routine with my whale client and wonder what I need to do to make some progress with my side projects.

About Dagobert (to be updated soon...)
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No Dagobert Renouf James McKinven 23: Are we no longer indie hackers? (Dago's job update) 23 23 23: Are we no longer indie hackers? (Dago's job update) full ff3b3da5-1d29-4f33-830c-a6e32e839969 https://indielifepod.com/episodes/23-are-we-no-longer-indie-hackers-dagos-job-update In this episode, Dago has started his new job and gives an update on what it’s like now he’s joined the dark side. Is he happy? Does he regret the decision? All will be revealed in this update conversation. I, meanwhile, travel to Dago’s country, avoid him completely and drive to the furthest point away from him to do some work.

Dago updates:

  • How he's finding his new job
  • Does he regret it?
  • Pros / cons

James updates:

About Dagobert (to be updated soon...)
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> In this episode, Dago has started his new job and gives an update on what it’s like now he’s joined the dark side. Is he happy? Does he regret the decision? All will be revealed in this update conversation. I, meanwhile, travel to Dago’s country, avoid him completely and drive to the furthest point away from him to do some work.

Dago updates:

  • How he's finding his new job
  • Does he regret it?
  • Pros / cons

James updates:

About Dagobert (to be updated soon...)
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> Mon, 10 Jul 2023 07:00:00 +0200 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1551 In this episode, Dago has started his new job and gives an update on what it’s like now he’s joined the dark side. Is he happy? Does he regret the decision? All will be revealed in this update conversation. I, meanwhile, travel to Dago’s country, avoid him completely and drive to the furthest point away from him to do some work.

Dago updates:

  • How he's finding his new job
  • Does he regret it?
  • Pros / cons

James updates:

About Dagobert (to be updated soon...)
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No Dagobert Renouf James McKinven 22: Closing down Logology (Dago's startup) 22 22 22: Closing down Logology (Dago's startup) full 8282709c-a79d-4aef-8b56-026677fdec18 https://indielifepod.com/episodes/22-closing-down-logology-dagos-startup In this episode, Dago’s got a big announcement. You might have seen on Twitter, he’s closing down his startup Logology and getting a job. I’ll read his whole tweet and then we’ll discuss why he’s making such a big decision.

Read Dago's tweet.

About Dagobert (to be updated soon...)
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> In this episode, Dago’s got a big announcement. You might have seen on Twitter, he’s closing down his startup Logology and getting a job. I’ll read his whole tweet and then we’ll discuss why he’s making such a big decision.

Read Dago's tweet.

About Dagobert (to be updated soon...)
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> Tue, 13 Jun 2023 20:03:20 +0200 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1551 In this episode, Dago’s got a big announcement. You might have seen on Twitter, he’s closing down his startup Logology and getting a job. I’ll read his whole tweet and then we’ll discuss why he’s making such a big decision.

Read Dago's tweet.

About Dagobert (to be updated soon...)
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No Dagobert Renouf James McKinven 21: Where have we been? 21 21 21: Where have we been? full df539b78-ec7d-444b-9d04-ec7488241b20 https://indielifepod.com/episodes/21-where-have-we-been Dago and I have taken a break from the pod while Dago gets to the bottom of his burnout. He's spent some time meditating and figuring out what the next steps are for his indie hacking journey. I have been galavanting around the world and away from my problems, spending time in both New York and Brazil, despite still being in crippling debt.

Dago Updates:

  • Figuring out burnout
  • Should he get a job?

James Updates:

  • Trip to New York and Brazil
  • Still struggling with motivation / direction

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> Dago and I have taken a break from the pod while Dago gets to the bottom of his burnout. He's spent some time meditating and figuring out what the next steps are for his indie hacking journey. I have been galavanting around the world and away from my problems, spending time in both New York and Brazil, despite still being in crippling debt.

Dago Updates:

  • Figuring out burnout
  • Should he get a job?

James Updates:

  • Trip to New York and Brazil
  • Still struggling with motivation / direction

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> Fri, 02 Jun 2023 04:11:26 +0200 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1508 Dago and I have taken a break from the pod while Dago gets to the bottom of his burnout. He's spent some time meditating and figuring out what the next steps are for his indie hacking journey. I have been galavanting around the world and away from my problems, spending time in both New York and Brazil, despite still being in crippling debt.

Dago Updates:

  • Figuring out burnout
  • Should he get a job?

James Updates:

  • Trip to New York and Brazil
  • Still struggling with motivation / direction

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No Dagobert Renouf James McKinven 20: Dago "I am a Twitter rockstar" 20 20 20: Dago "I am a Twitter rockstar" full 3cadff4b-59bf-4433-a190-94a1e9609b45 https://indielifepod.com/episodes/20-dago-i-am-a-twitter-rockstar In this episode, Dago has decided he is a Twitter Rockstar and tries to justify himself, meanwhile, I’ve made huge progress in paying off my debts and there’s even some positive leather news.

Dago Updates:

  • Coming to terms with the fact he's a Twitter rockstar
  • Thoughts on the Twitter API price increase

James Updates:

  • New sponsor deal going well
  • Sold more wallets

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> In this episode, Dago has decided he is a Twitter Rockstar and tries to justify himself, meanwhile, I’ve made huge progress in paying off my debts and there’s even some positive leather news.

Dago Updates:

  • Coming to terms with the fact he's a Twitter rockstar
  • Thoughts on the Twitter API price increase

James Updates:

  • New sponsor deal going well
  • Sold more wallets

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> Mon, 24 Apr 2023 09:21:21 +0200 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1507 In this episode, Dago has decided he is a Twitter Rockstar and tries to justify himself, meanwhile, I’ve made huge progress in paying off my debts and there’s even some positive leather news.

Dago Updates:

  • Coming to terms with the fact he's a Twitter rockstar
  • Thoughts on the Twitter API price increase

James Updates:

  • New sponsor deal going well
  • Sold more wallets

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No Dagobert Renouf James McKinven 19: Dago is cured! 19 19 19: Dago is cured! full ff1ab4e3-8262-4904-b45f-dda1b7ac7d40 https://indielifepod.com/episodes/19-dago-is-cured In this episode, Dago’s got to the bottom of his illness and is on the road to recovery, you won’t believe what it is! After months of positivity and growth, I might be running into some mental health problems so we try and stop it from getting worse, but there is some good news from me later on.

Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/oVPOcy8Wcbg

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> In this episode, Dago’s got to the bottom of his illness and is on the road to recovery, you won’t believe what it is! After months of positivity and growth, I might be running into some mental health problems so we try and stop it from getting worse, but there is some good news from me later on.

Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/oVPOcy8Wcbg

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> Mon, 10 Apr 2023 14:14:13 +0200 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1535 In this episode, Dago’s got to the bottom of his illness and is on the road to recovery, you won’t believe what it is! After months of positivity and growth, I might be running into some mental health problems so we try and stop it from getting worse, but there is some good news from me later on.

Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/oVPOcy8Wcbg

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No Dagobert Renouf James McKinven 18: The AI skeptics embrace AI 18 18 18: The AI skeptics embrace AI full e112cb52-5d02-4f0c-bc62-6a0a3a595d09 https://indielifepod.com/episodes/18-the-ai-skeptics-embrace-ai In this episode, Dago is up and about, looking fantastic in his recording setup. We'll be diving deep into a topic that's on everyone's minds - artificial intelligence. Despite being skeptics at heart, Dago and I have both started to embrace AI in various aspects of our lives, and we're excited to share our thoughts and experiences with you.


Join us for an engaging and thought-provoking chat about the fascinating world of AI, as we explore the ways in which this groundbreaking technology is changing our lives, for better or for worse. So sit back, relax, and get ready to learn something new in this latest installment of our podcast!

Dago updates

  • Out of bed
  • Testing AI for Logology
  • Shoutouts for listeners

James updates

  • 2 episodes of Indie Bites published
  • Thinking of potential membership upgrades

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> In this episode, Dago is up and about, looking fantastic in his recording setup. We'll be diving deep into a topic that's on everyone's minds - artificial intelligence. Despite being skeptics at heart, Dago and I have both started to embrace AI in various aspects of our lives, and we're excited to share our thoughts and experiences with you.


Join us for an engaging and thought-provoking chat about the fascinating world of AI, as we explore the ways in which this groundbreaking technology is changing our lives, for better or for worse. So sit back, relax, and get ready to learn something new in this latest installment of our podcast!

Dago updates

  • Out of bed
  • Testing AI for Logology
  • Shoutouts for listeners

James updates

  • 2 episodes of Indie Bites published
  • Thinking of potential membership upgrades

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> Tue, 04 Apr 2023 12:48:22 +0200 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1295 In this episode, Dago is up and about, looking fantastic in his recording setup. We'll be diving deep into a topic that's on everyone's minds - artificial intelligence. Despite being skeptics at heart, Dago and I have both started to embrace AI in various aspects of our lives, and we're excited to share our thoughts and experiences with you.


Join us for an engaging and thought-provoking chat about the fascinating world of AI, as we explore the ways in which this groundbreaking technology is changing our lives, for better or for worse. So sit back, relax, and get ready to learn something new in this latest installment of our podcast!

Dago updates

  • Out of bed
  • Testing AI for Logology
  • Shoutouts for listeners

James updates

  • 2 episodes of Indie Bites published
  • Thinking of potential membership upgrades

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No Dagobert Renouf James McKinven 17: Where is the finish line? 17 17 17: Where is the finish line? full 7155c552-94b6-463b-ba50-bf068ba04e01 https://indielifepod.com/episodes/17-where-is-the-finish-line In this episode, Dago is still sick so records from bed and tries to find out his customer’s deepest darkest fears. Meanwhile, I’ve had a positive week having discussions about selling indie bites, or maybe finding an alternative solution to my short term money problems, but I do have to tackle a little bit of rejection along the way.

Dago updates

  • Went to doctors
  • Brain fog is clearing
  • Debating how to record next course segment

James updates

  • Enjoying momentum
  • Wary of burnout
  • Working towards a goal

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> In this episode, Dago is still sick so records from bed and tries to find out his customer’s deepest darkest fears. Meanwhile, I’ve had a positive week having discussions about selling indie bites, or maybe finding an alternative solution to my short term money problems, but I do have to tackle a little bit of rejection along the way.

Dago updates

  • Went to doctors
  • Brain fog is clearing
  • Debating how to record next course segment

James updates

  • Enjoying momentum
  • Wary of burnout
  • Working towards a goal

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> Wed, 22 Mar 2023 10:21:57 +0100 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1451 In this episode, Dago is still sick so records from bed and tries to find out his customer’s deepest darkest fears. Meanwhile, I’ve had a positive week having discussions about selling indie bites, or maybe finding an alternative solution to my short term money problems, but I do have to tackle a little bit of rejection along the way.

Dago updates

  • Went to doctors
  • Brain fog is clearing
  • Debating how to record next course segment

James updates

  • Enjoying momentum
  • Wary of burnout
  • Working towards a goal

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No Dagobert Renouf James McKinven 16: Finding joy in work 16 16 16: Finding joy in work full 6a018778-9bb8-435c-9408-e69000393437 https://indielifepod.com/episodes/16-finding-joy-in-work In this episode, Dago is coming to terms with working less and making the most of it. I’m not talking sipping mamosas, I’m talking optimizing his Twitter time. I share more details about my long term indie bites partnership, although there might be a stumbling block in the way in my quest for being debt-free.

Dago updates/reflections

  • being forced to optimize my twitter time is cool
  • a.i is cool but takes the joy of creating away

James updates/reflections

  • Indie Bites sponsorship deal
  • My big client might fall through
  • More wallet sales

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> In this episode, Dago is coming to terms with working less and making the most of it. I’m not talking sipping mamosas, I’m talking optimizing his Twitter time. I share more details about my long term indie bites partnership, although there might be a stumbling block in the way in my quest for being debt-free.

Dago updates/reflections

  • being forced to optimize my twitter time is cool
  • a.i is cool but takes the joy of creating away

James updates/reflections

  • Indie Bites sponsorship deal
  • My big client might fall through
  • More wallet sales

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> Thu, 16 Mar 2023 11:52:00 +0100 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1366 In this episode, Dago is coming to terms with working less and making the most of it. I’m not talking sipping mamosas, I’m talking optimizing his Twitter time. I share more details about my long term indie bites partnership, although there might be a stumbling block in the way in my quest for being debt-free.

Dago updates/reflections

  • being forced to optimize my twitter time is cool
  • a.i is cool but takes the joy of creating away

James updates/reflections

  • Indie Bites sponsorship deal
  • My big client might fall through
  • More wallet sales

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No Dagobert Renouf James McKinven 15: Staying positive and one-year deal for Indie Bites 15 15 15: Staying positive and one-year deal for Indie Bites full ebd87c8f-f1bc-4228-b50f-00db0fd689e4 https://indielifepod.com/episodes/15-staying-positive-and-1-year-deal-for-indie-bites In this episode, Dago is still sick so records from bed and tries to find out his customer’s deepest darkest fears. Meanwhile, I’ve had a positive week having discussions about selling indie bites, or maybe finding an alternative solution to my short term money problems, but I do have to tackle a little bit of rejection along the way.

Dago updates/reflections

  • Still sick

James updates/reflections

  • Indie Bites sponsorship deal
  • Started tracking my time
  • Lemon Squeezy

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> In this episode, Dago is still sick so records from bed and tries to find out his customer’s deepest darkest fears. Meanwhile, I’ve had a positive week having discussions about selling indie bites, or maybe finding an alternative solution to my short term money problems, but I do have to tackle a little bit of rejection along the way.

Dago updates/reflections

  • Still sick

James updates/reflections

  • Indie Bites sponsorship deal
  • Started tracking my time
  • Lemon Squeezy

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> Tue, 07 Mar 2023 11:46:18 +0100 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1401 In this episode, Dago is still sick so records from bed and tries to find out his customer’s deepest darkest fears. Meanwhile, I’ve had a positive week having discussions about selling indie bites, or maybe finding an alternative solution to my short term money problems, but I do have to tackle a little bit of rejection along the way.

Dago updates/reflections

  • Still sick

James updates/reflections

  • Indie Bites sponsorship deal
  • Started tracking my time
  • Lemon Squeezy

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No Dagobert Renouf James McKinven 14: Uncovering fears and getting rejected 14 14 14: Uncovering fears and getting rejected full 2f098f15-626b-4547-af1f-ada9da9c8dc1 https://indielifepod.com/episodes/14-uncovering-fears-and-getting-rejected In this episode, Dago is still sick so records from bed and tries to find out his customer’s deepest darkest fears. Meanwhile, I’ve had a positive week having discussions about selling indie bites, or maybe finding an alternative solution to my short term money problems, but I do have to tackle a little bit of rejection along the way.

Dago updates/reflections

  • Still sick
  • Working on landing page fears / problems
  • Bought twitter blue check for conversion rates

James updates/reflections

  • Conversations around selling indie bites
  • Finally got new wheels again
  • Guest rejections :(

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> In this episode, Dago is still sick so records from bed and tries to find out his customer’s deepest darkest fears. Meanwhile, I’ve had a positive week having discussions about selling indie bites, or maybe finding an alternative solution to my short term money problems, but I do have to tackle a little bit of rejection along the way.

Dago updates/reflections

  • Still sick
  • Working on landing page fears / problems
  • Bought twitter blue check for conversion rates

James updates/reflections

  • Conversations around selling indie bites
  • Finally got new wheels again
  • Guest rejections :(

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> Mon, 27 Feb 2023 13:15:00 +0100 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1595 In this episode, Dago is still sick so records from bed and tries to find out his customer’s deepest darkest fears. Meanwhile, I’ve had a positive week having discussions about selling indie bites, or maybe finding an alternative solution to my short term money problems, but I do have to tackle a little bit of rejection along the way.

Dago updates/reflections

  • Still sick
  • Working on landing page fears / problems
  • Bought twitter blue check for conversion rates

James updates/reflections

  • Conversations around selling indie bites
  • Finally got new wheels again
  • Guest rejections :(

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No Dagobert Renouf James McKinven 13: Getting sick and should James sell his podcast? 13 13 13: Getting sick and should James sell his podcast? full 4a409c46-d8d5-4bcb-8f59-03bc0aed347e https://indielifepod.com/episodes/13-getting-sick-and-should-james-sell-his-podcast In this episode, Dago talks about reinventing himself on Twitter, dealing with sickness as a founder and he attempts to find 50 shades of grey to wear. I meanwhile ponder just a single thing, is it worth selling my baby? (aka my podcast).

Dago updates/reflections

  • Wrote tweets for 3 weeks instead of 1
  • Got sick so can’t do logology 2 this week
  • Finally found my “lifetime” outfit

James updates/reflections

  • Did Skiing Trip, got ill, now back to work
  • Considering selling Indie Bites
  • Figuring out a cash injection and regular income
  • Wallet sales seem to directly linked to how much I work

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> In this episode, Dago talks about reinventing himself on Twitter, dealing with sickness as a founder and he attempts to find 50 shades of grey to wear. I meanwhile ponder just a single thing, is it worth selling my baby? (aka my podcast).

Dago updates/reflections

  • Wrote tweets for 3 weeks instead of 1
  • Got sick so can’t do logology 2 this week
  • Finally found my “lifetime” outfit

James updates/reflections

  • Did Skiing Trip, got ill, now back to work
  • Considering selling Indie Bites
  • Figuring out a cash injection and regular income
  • Wallet sales seem to directly linked to how much I work

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> Fri, 17 Feb 2023 20:59:27 +0100 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1397 In this episode, Dago talks about reinventing himself on Twitter, dealing with sickness as a founder and he attempts to find 50 shades of grey to wear. I meanwhile ponder just a single thing, is it worth selling my baby? (aka my podcast).

Dago updates/reflections

  • Wrote tweets for 3 weeks instead of 1
  • Got sick so can’t do logology 2 this week
  • Finally found my “lifetime” outfit

James updates/reflections

  • Did Skiing Trip, got ill, now back to work
  • Considering selling Indie Bites
  • Figuring out a cash injection and regular income
  • Wallet sales seem to directly linked to how much I work

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No Dagobert Renouf James McKinven 12: Dago gets into debt 12 12 12: Dago gets into debt full 57787acc-8119-4b47-b109-aa29a4935054 https://indielifepod.com/episodes/12-dago-gets-into-debt In this episode Dago gets himself into debt, only works 19 hours in a week, and enjoys using AI. Will we get the old Dago back, who knows? Meanwhile I manage to publish an episode of Indie Bites with my leather man, increase my prices despite my reservations and am about to hit a big milestone for the month.

Dago updates/reflections

  • Dug into a.i for Logology
  • Logology customer research
  • I could literally not do anything else but tweet and we would be good
  • Preparing the move: buy a car (aka get into debt)

James updates/reflections

  • Indie Bites episode published with my wallet man
  • Grateful to Sam and Daniel on twitter who have been very helpful in the DMs
  • Grateful to James Sowers for being a wonderful client
  • Finally shot and uploaded the new pictures of the wallets
  • Raised the prices!
  • Met up with a man in person and sold him a wallet
  • Approaching 1k in sales for the month
  • Plans for TikTok content next week
]]> In this episode Dago gets himself into debt, only works 19 hours in a week, and enjoys using AI. Will we get the old Dago back, who knows? Meanwhile I manage to publish an episode of Indie Bites with my leather man, increase my prices despite my reservations and am about to hit a big milestone for the month.

Dago updates/reflections

  • Dug into a.i for Logology
  • Logology customer research
  • I could literally not do anything else but tweet and we would be good
  • Preparing the move: buy a car (aka get into debt)

James updates/reflections

  • Indie Bites episode published with my wallet man
  • Grateful to Sam and Daniel on twitter who have been very helpful in the DMs
  • Grateful to James Sowers for being a wonderful client
  • Finally shot and uploaded the new pictures of the wallets
  • Raised the prices!
  • Met up with a man in person and sold him a wallet
  • Approaching 1k in sales for the month
  • Plans for TikTok content next week
]]> Fri, 20 Jan 2023 10:59:03 +0100 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1503 Dago has been so inspired by my debt experience, he wanted some for himself. Dago has been so inspired by my debt experience, he wanted some for himself. entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No Dagobert Renouf James McKinven 11: Burnout and bifolds 11 11 11: Burnout and bifolds full 789f1f4a-6c81-4aa1-ae49-38838abe4cbe https://indielifepod.com/episodes/11-burnout-and-bifolds Dago talks about his impromptu Twitter hiatus and shares some nuggets of wisdom from his course, James is back on his feet after a down period after selling some bi-fold wallets on Twitter and tries to convince Dago why he should exercise.

Dago updates/reflections

  • Taken a break from tweeting
  • Not feeling "in the game"
  • Should you put links in your tweets?
  • I don't understand why people exercise

James updates/reflections

  • Started making and selling bi-fold wallets
  • Difference in my mood with money vs without
  • Good week for habits - getting up early
  • Update on client pod - breaking records
  • A few new potential clients
]]> Dago talks about his impromptu Twitter hiatus and shares some nuggets of wisdom from his course, James is back on his feet after a down period after selling some bi-fold wallets on Twitter and tries to convince Dago why he should exercise.

Dago updates/reflections

  • Taken a break from tweeting
  • Not feeling "in the game"
  • Should you put links in your tweets?
  • I don't understand why people exercise

James updates/reflections

  • Started making and selling bi-fold wallets
  • Difference in my mood with money vs without
  • Good week for habits - getting up early
  • Update on client pod - breaking records
  • A few new potential clients
]]> Mon, 16 Jan 2023 10:34:46 +0100 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1432 Dago pauses from Twitter as he approaches burnout while James gets out of his post-christmas slump. Dago pauses from Twitter as he approaches burnout while James gets out of his post-christmas slump. entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No Dagobert Renouf James McKinven 10: Profit vs revenue and AI logo generators 10 10 10: Profit vs revenue and AI logo generators full 437658ed-9fae-42d3-8847-67ef947c0cb1 https://indielifepod.com/episodes/10-profit-vs-revenue-and-ai-logo-generators In this episode Dago ponders how AI will affect his logo business and is thinking of moving to another part of the country to help his indie hacking. I have a battle with the UK postal service who decided not to ship wallets to customers and find out how much profit I made on the £5k of leather wallet sales in December.

Dago updates/reflections

  • product update: A.I logo get me anxious / back in hardcore work mode
  • reflecting on the journey: audience first approach is 10x more genius. deeper than “listen to customers”
  • meme: 0 paying users from december 16th
  • personal: britany move

James updates/reflections

]]> In this episode Dago ponders how AI will affect his logo business and is thinking of moving to another part of the country to help his indie hacking. I have a battle with the UK postal service who decided not to ship wallets to customers and find out how much profit I made on the £5k of leather wallet sales in December.

Dago updates/reflections

  • product update: A.I logo get me anxious / back in hardcore work mode
  • reflecting on the journey: audience first approach is 10x more genius. deeper than “listen to customers”
  • meme: 0 paying users from december 16th
  • personal: britany move

James updates/reflections

]]> Tue, 10 Jan 2023 13:28:58 +0100 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1548 James figures out he made $0 profit on his wallet sales because he can't stop buying stuff and Dago is on the verge of embracing AI. James figures out he made $0 profit on his wallet sales because he can't stop buying stuff and Dago is on the verge of embracing AI. entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No James McKinven Dagobert Renouf 9: Maintaining momentum 9 9 9: Maintaining momentum full c972281b-c1a3-433a-a234-2ca0a2c59a21 https://indielifepod.com/episodes/9-maintaining-momentum This episode, Dago talks about how much he’s enjoying doing a podcast and his plans for maintaining momentum for his course. I’m also thinking about momentum in the new year after crossing £5k this month in leather wallet sales in the run up to Christmas.

Dago's updates:

  • product update: so happy to do this pod
  • reflecting on the journey: audience first approach is 10x more genius
  • meme: quit software job to build a startup (december 5th) → how lucky we are as founders, can go back to a job anytime
  • personal: winter / tired AF now that make money

James' updates:

  • The sales keep coming
    • Craft fair and second biggest day of orders
    • Cost breakdown per wallet
  • My new machine arrived!
  • Updated my twitter profile - scary
  • YouTube, TikTok and IG need to happen ASAP.
  • First video recording for client done
  • England vs France

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About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> This episode, Dago talks about how much he’s enjoying doing a podcast and his plans for maintaining momentum for his course. I’m also thinking about momentum in the new year after crossing £5k this month in leather wallet sales in the run up to Christmas.

Dago's updates:

  • product update: so happy to do this pod
  • reflecting on the journey: audience first approach is 10x more genius
  • meme: quit software job to build a startup (december 5th) → how lucky we are as founders, can go back to a job anytime
  • personal: winter / tired AF now that make money

James' updates:

  • The sales keep coming
    • Craft fair and second biggest day of orders
    • Cost breakdown per wallet
  • My new machine arrived!
  • Updated my twitter profile - scary
  • YouTube, TikTok and IG need to happen ASAP.
  • First video recording for client done
  • England vs France

Sponsor

No sponsor this episode, but if you’re keen to get your product in front of hundreds of indie founders and developers, head to indielife.fm/sponsor.

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> Sat, 17 Dec 2022 13:43:24 +0100 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1467 Dago and I both ponder momentum. How does he keep regular sales coming in for his Twitter course, and how do I do the same for my leather wallets? Dago and I both ponder momentum. How does he keep regular sales coming in for his Twitter course, and how do I do the same for my leather wallets? entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No James McKinven Dagobert Renouf 8: What happens when the sales slow down? 8 8 8: What happens when the sales slow down? full 4e96a896-042b-4272-a7ed-95a510594d09 https://indielifepod.com/episodes/8-what-happens-when-the-sales-slow-down This episode, we reflect on our black friday sales and how Dago made a full-year worth of sales i a weekend, I meanwhile have a found a new lease of life thanks to my the leather wallet business but question the potential for it becoming something I spend more time on, or if it’s just a distraction.

Dago:

  • reflecting on the journey: More money 1 month vs 1 year, but the real challenge is to do the same with a product
    • product update: Recording bonus, difficult to switch context. (1 year marketing / 1 year building)
  • meme: thanks giving, guilty for late, update people
  • personal: first bad rating

James:

  • BF/CM sales update
  • Lots of excitement for wallets, future plans etc
  • Lost a client for PodPanda. Big hit. Reality of bills needing to be paid after the excitement of the past few weeks.
  • First client recording with video tomorrow

Sponsor - Statamic

Statamic is a content management system built on Laravel that is designed to make building, managing, and scaling content-driven websites and applications painless and (hopefully) fun.

Statamic is not your typical CMS. Out of the box it runs on flat files, which means there's no database required at all. Content, users, configs, you name – everything is stored in Markdown, YAML, or PHP config files, but can still be managed in the control panel like other platforms.

But it's not JUST a flat file system. Its entire data layer is driver based, and you can switch from dynamic flat file mode to static site generator to MySQL to whatever data platform tickles your fancy and makes you happy.

Start simple. Scale later. Be happy. "INDIE" for 10% off Statamic Pro. Head to https://statamic.com/?ref=indielife.

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> This episode, we reflect on our black friday sales and how Dago made a full-year worth of sales i a weekend, I meanwhile have a found a new lease of life thanks to my the leather wallet business but question the potential for it becoming something I spend more time on, or if it’s just a distraction.

Dago:

  • reflecting on the journey: More money 1 month vs 1 year, but the real challenge is to do the same with a product
    • product update: Recording bonus, difficult to switch context. (1 year marketing / 1 year building)
  • meme: thanks giving, guilty for late, update people
  • personal: first bad rating

James:

  • BF/CM sales update
  • Lots of excitement for wallets, future plans etc
  • Lost a client for PodPanda. Big hit. Reality of bills needing to be paid after the excitement of the past few weeks.
  • First client recording with video tomorrow

Sponsor - Statamic

Statamic is a content management system built on Laravel that is designed to make building, managing, and scaling content-driven websites and applications painless and (hopefully) fun.

Statamic is not your typical CMS. Out of the box it runs on flat files, which means there's no database required at all. Content, users, configs, you name – everything is stored in Markdown, YAML, or PHP config files, but can still be managed in the control panel like other platforms.

But it's not JUST a flat file system. Its entire data layer is driver based, and you can switch from dynamic flat file mode to static site generator to MySQL to whatever data platform tickles your fancy and makes you happy.

Start simple. Scale later. Be happy. "INDIE" for 10% off Statamic Pro. Head to https://statamic.com/?ref=indielife.

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> Tue, 06 Dec 2022 03:19:35 +0100 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1554 The black friday bonanza is slowing so both James and Dago have to figure out what to do next. Our dopamine levels are out of whack but we need to do something to pay the bills. The black friday bonanza is slowing so both James and Dago have to figure out what to do next. Our dopamine levels are out of whack but we need to do something to pay the bills. entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No James McKinven Dagobert Renouf 7: $2k wallet sales; $5k course sales in a day 7 7 7: $2k wallet sales; $5k course sales in a day full e5916ab8-2ee5-4fed-b7f2-815e065bfdfc https://indielifepod.com/episodes/7-2k-wallet-sales-5k-course-sales-in-a-day James has had a massive week making £1,600 in a day selling leather wallets, Dago has success with black friday sales and we finally get to the bottom of how you pronounce niche.

Get Dago's course here 👈

What we covered in this episode:

  • Dago took some time off
  • How to pronounce Niche
  • Black friday sales
  • Meme of the week
  • James’ £1,600 in one day in wallet sales
  • How to capitalise on growth
  • James' newspaper ad
  • New Indie Bites art

Sponsor - Statamic

Statamic is a content management system built on Laravel that is designed to make building, managing, and scaling content-driven websites and applications painless and (hopefully) fun.

Statamic is not your typical CMS. Out of the box it runs on flat files, which means there's no database required at all. Content, users, configs, you name – everything is stored in Markdown, YAML, or PHP config files, but can still be managed in the control panel like other platforms.

But it's not JUST a flat file system. Its entire data layer is driver based, and you can switch from dynamic flat file mode to static site generator to MySQL to whatever data platform tickles your fancy and makes you happy.

Start simple. Scale later. Be happy. "INDIE" for 10% off Statamic Pro. Head to https://statamic.com/?ref=indielife.

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> James has had a massive week making £1,600 in a day selling leather wallets, Dago has success with black friday sales and we finally get to the bottom of how you pronounce niche.

Get Dago's course here 👈

What we covered in this episode:

  • Dago took some time off
  • How to pronounce Niche
  • Black friday sales
  • Meme of the week
  • James’ £1,600 in one day in wallet sales
  • How to capitalise on growth
  • James' newspaper ad
  • New Indie Bites art

Sponsor - Statamic

Statamic is a content management system built on Laravel that is designed to make building, managing, and scaling content-driven websites and applications painless and (hopefully) fun.

Statamic is not your typical CMS. Out of the box it runs on flat files, which means there's no database required at all. Content, users, configs, you name – everything is stored in Markdown, YAML, or PHP config files, but can still be managed in the control panel like other platforms.

But it's not JUST a flat file system. Its entire data layer is driver based, and you can switch from dynamic flat file mode to static site generator to MySQL to whatever data platform tickles your fancy and makes you happy.

Start simple. Scale later. Be happy. "INDIE" for 10% off Statamic Pro. Head to https://statamic.com/?ref=indielife.

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2022 17:10:23 +0100 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1495 James has had a massive week making £1,600 in a day selling leather wallets, Dago has success with black friday sales and we finally get to the bottom of how you pronounce niche. James has had a massive week making £1,600 in a day selling leather wallets, Dago has success with black friday sales and we finally get to the bottom of how you pronounce niche. entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No James McKinven Dagobert Renouf 6: Doubt and imposter syndrome 6 6 6: Doubt and imposter syndrome full 069a1d27-bc32-4fae-a01f-6d52e46b260d https://indielifepod.com/episodes/6-doubt-and-imposter-syndrome This episode, Dago talks about how he feels one week on from his course launch and some of the new ideas he has for keeping the momentum. I on the other hand was not having a good day when we recorded this, I was feeling a little down in the dumps and wasn’t even sure if we should record.

But we want to be honest and truthful with this show, to give a real idea of what it’s like to be an indie founder, so decided to record and publish never the less. So you hear me confused talking about doubt, imposter syndrome and what to do when you’re not feeling at your best. I’m grateful to Dago here for being such a supportive co-host and friend.

Get Dago's course here 👈

What we covered in this episode:

  • Why Dago is feeling better after the launch
  • Dago’s splashing the cash on new tech
  • Why he started enjoying more success?
  • Setting up for future success and consistent sales
  • Sending physical packages to clients
  • Twitter being a perfect marketing channel for a Twitter course
  • Why Dago is hungry for more success now
  • v2 of Logology
  • Learning more marketing channels
  • James being stuck as “The Podcast Guy”
  • Having doubts and imposter syndrome
  • James’ ideas for growing Indie Bites
  • Why to think long term
  • meme: big bird going back to a job
  • Dago’s insomnia gone
  • Update on James’ work 40 hours challenge

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> This episode, Dago talks about how he feels one week on from his course launch and some of the new ideas he has for keeping the momentum. I on the other hand was not having a good day when we recorded this, I was feeling a little down in the dumps and wasn’t even sure if we should record.

But we want to be honest and truthful with this show, to give a real idea of what it’s like to be an indie founder, so decided to record and publish never the less. So you hear me confused talking about doubt, imposter syndrome and what to do when you’re not feeling at your best. I’m grateful to Dago here for being such a supportive co-host and friend.

Get Dago's course here 👈

What we covered in this episode:

  • Why Dago is feeling better after the launch
  • Dago’s splashing the cash on new tech
  • Why he started enjoying more success?
  • Setting up for future success and consistent sales
  • Sending physical packages to clients
  • Twitter being a perfect marketing channel for a Twitter course
  • Why Dago is hungry for more success now
  • v2 of Logology
  • Learning more marketing channels
  • James being stuck as “The Podcast Guy”
  • Having doubts and imposter syndrome
  • James’ ideas for growing Indie Bites
  • Why to think long term
  • meme: big bird going back to a job
  • Dago’s insomnia gone
  • Update on James’ work 40 hours challenge

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> Tue, 15 Nov 2022 18:38:40 +0100 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1498 Dago's feeling good and has splashed the cash on some new tech, while James has an existential crisis about what he wants to do with his life. Dago's feeling good and has splashed the cash on some new tech, while James has an existential crisis about what he wants to do with his life. entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No James McKinven Dagobert Renouf 5: $16k course launch, but sad? Is going viral worth it? 5 5 5: $16k course launch, but sad? Is going viral worth it? full 27d85ec5-7658-4d06-b60e-9bb54d29b0f7 https://indielifepod.com/episodes/5-16k-course-launch-but-sad-is-going-viral-worth-it This episode Dago talks about how he made $16,000 launching his course and why he’s not feeling amazing about it, I go viral on Twitter and then make a promise I might not be able to keep.

Get Dago's course here 👈

What we covered in this episode:

  • Dago's course launch
  • Post launch-depression
  • Is Dago burnt out?
  • Why James is in debt
  • How he can get out of it
  • Dago has NEVER been in debt
  • James' viral tweet
  • Why James deleted his viral tweet
  • How James can work more than 20 hours a week

Sponsor - Ramen Club

My favourite community has just got a significant upgrade as it rebrands to Ramen Club, the best community to help you get to Ramen Profitability.


Ramen club has 4 remote coworking sessions a week, masterminds, accountability calls, live AMAs, a fractional CFO, in-house VA, discounts and so much more. But most of all, the founder Charlie has done a wonderful job at cultivating a wonderfully friendly and supportive community.

To join the world's most supportive community for bootstrapped founders to reach ramen profitable and beyond, head to ramenclub.so and use code "INDIELIFE" to let Charlie know I sent you and get 50% off your first month.

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> This episode Dago talks about how he made $16,000 launching his course and why he’s not feeling amazing about it, I go viral on Twitter and then make a promise I might not be able to keep.

Get Dago's course here 👈

What we covered in this episode:

  • Dago's course launch
  • Post launch-depression
  • Is Dago burnt out?
  • Why James is in debt
  • How he can get out of it
  • Dago has NEVER been in debt
  • James' viral tweet
  • Why James deleted his viral tweet
  • How James can work more than 20 hours a week

Sponsor - Ramen Club

My favourite community has just got a significant upgrade as it rebrands to Ramen Club, the best community to help you get to Ramen Profitability.


Ramen club has 4 remote coworking sessions a week, masterminds, accountability calls, live AMAs, a fractional CFO, in-house VA, discounts and so much more. But most of all, the founder Charlie has done a wonderful job at cultivating a wonderfully friendly and supportive community.

To join the world's most supportive community for bootstrapped founders to reach ramen profitable and beyond, head to ramenclub.so and use code "INDIELIFE" to let Charlie know I sent you and get 50% off your first month.

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> Fri, 04 Nov 2022 16:09:10 +0100 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1547 Dago is now rich. By rich I mean he can now eat for 3 months before having to do it all again. James goes viral when his cat tries to wreck his $1,500 monitor but all Dago can think about was how James could afford this monitor when he's in so much debt. Dago is now rich. By rich I mean he can now eat for 3 months before having to do it all again. James goes viral when his cat tries to wreck his $1,500 monitor but all Dago can think about was how James could afford this monitor when he's in so much debt. entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No James McKinven Dagobert Renouf 4: Deadlines, disagreements and launches 4 4 4: Deadlines, disagreements and launches full 650a06fc-d559-4694-a953-ee7fd845088b https://indielifepod.com/episodes/4-deadlines-disagreements-and-launches This episode Dago talks about why he had to delay the launch of his course, we both discuss some of the disagreements we’ve had in the past few weeks and I think about how I can grow Indie Bites.

Dago's Twitter course is launched! 🎉 Grab your copy here.

What we covered in this episode:

  • Dago updates:
    • Struggling to launch his course
    • Perfectionism and all-nighters
    • Why you can’t launch on the same day as going viral
    • Are deadlines pointless? “Deadlines are not absolute”
    • Meme of the week
    • Disagreeing with a co-founder
  • James updates:
    • Sold his motorbike
    • Indie Bites with Michele Hansen published
    • Put a stop to the slippery slope
    • Pondering finding "bigger" guests for Indie Bites

Links

Sponsor - MentorCruise

Indie life is better with a mentor. MentorCruise is your trusted source to find expert mentors & industry professionals to move your career and business ahead. Head to mentorcruise.com and use code INDIELIFE for 20% off an intro session. Thanks for sponsoring, Dom!

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> This episode Dago talks about why he had to delay the launch of his course, we both discuss some of the disagreements we’ve had in the past few weeks and I think about how I can grow Indie Bites.

Dago's Twitter course is launched! 🎉 Grab your copy here.

What we covered in this episode:

  • Dago updates:
    • Struggling to launch his course
    • Perfectionism and all-nighters
    • Why you can’t launch on the same day as going viral
    • Are deadlines pointless? “Deadlines are not absolute”
    • Meme of the week
    • Disagreeing with a co-founder
  • James updates:
    • Sold his motorbike
    • Indie Bites with Michele Hansen published
    • Put a stop to the slippery slope
    • Pondering finding "bigger" guests for Indie Bites

Links

Sponsor - MentorCruise

Indie life is better with a mentor. MentorCruise is your trusted source to find expert mentors & industry professionals to move your career and business ahead. Head to mentorcruise.com and use code INDIELIFE for 20% off an intro session. Thanks for sponsoring, Dom!

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> Tue, 01 Nov 2022 06:04:54 +0100 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1478 Dago and I both struggle through deadlines for different reasons, we disagree again (but it comes from a good place) and I find out that Dago doesn't consume any content like a madman. Dago and I both struggle through deadlines for different reasons, we disagree again (but it comes from a good place) and I find out that Dago doesn't consume any content like a madman. entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No James McKinven Dagobert Renouf 3: Burnout, course launch and AI tools 3 3 3: Burnout, course launch and AI tools full df3ed292-dbaf-4025-9fd2-9ee480f0709e https://indielifepod.com/episodes/3-burnout-course-launch-and-ai-tools This episode Dago is in full-prep mode for his Twitter course launch and talks about how the early access has helped them. Both of us are no stranger to burnout, so we discuss both our approaches to avoiding it, including revealing how many hours we both work each week. I think you’ll be surprised by our answers here.

👉 Follow the pod on Twitter
💸 Sponsor the show

What we covered in this episode:

  • What we think about AI tools
  • James updates
    • Cars dying, frustrated with life problems
    • James' thoughts on New York
    • Slippery slope of falling behind on work
  • Dago’s updates
    • Dago prepping for the course launch
    • Working when movitvated from positive feedback
    • How doing early access has helped Dago
    • Doing "busy" work
    • Dealing with burnout
    • Meme of the Week
    • Does he like being known as "the meme guy"?

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> This episode Dago is in full-prep mode for his Twitter course launch and talks about how the early access has helped them. Both of us are no stranger to burnout, so we discuss both our approaches to avoiding it, including revealing how many hours we both work each week. I think you’ll be surprised by our answers here.

👉 Follow the pod on Twitter
💸 Sponsor the show

What we covered in this episode:

  • What we think about AI tools
  • James updates
    • Cars dying, frustrated with life problems
    • James' thoughts on New York
    • Slippery slope of falling behind on work
  • Dago’s updates
    • Dago prepping for the course launch
    • Working when movitvated from positive feedback
    • How doing early access has helped Dago
    • Doing "busy" work
    • Dealing with burnout
    • Meme of the Week
    • Does he like being known as "the meme guy"?

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.

About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> Tue, 25 Oct 2022 05:02:09 +0200 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1528 Dago is gearing up for launching his course while I return from a short trip across the pond. We both reveal our hours worked in the last week and you might be surprised by our answers. Dago is gearing up for launching his course while I return from a short trip across the pond. We both reveal our hours worked in the last week and you might be surprised by our answers. entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No James McKinven Dagobert Renouf 2: Disagreeing on sponsors, clients and false validation 2 2 2: Disagreeing on sponsors, clients and false validation full c7d97070-685e-4df7-9b57-e6f35c1921b9 https://indielifepod.com/episodes/2-disagreeing-on-sponsors-clients-and-false-validation This episode is a little meta, because Dago and I discuss the launch of the show and if we should accept sponsors. So I said we’d be open and honest and sometimes we may even disagree, but I thought it might take longer than the second episode. We both have kinda different approaches to monetizing the show so we hash out our thoughts in this episode We do then go into our updates, where I talk about some exciting new client developments and Dago has a rollercoaster of a beta-launch for his course.

Follow the pod on Twitter

What we covered in this episode:

  • The podcast launch
  • Should we take sponsors?
  • Why Dago isn’t too keen on sponsors
  • Why James believes in having sponsorship
  • James updates
    • He’s going to New York
    • Thinking of video for clients
    • Getting more income stability
    • Founder dinner in person
  • Dago’s updates
    • A hit to his confidence with the course
    • Pre-sales update
    • Validation when it’s not there
    • Will Dago be annoyed if the launch goes well?

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.


About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> This episode is a little meta, because Dago and I discuss the launch of the show and if we should accept sponsors. So I said we’d be open and honest and sometimes we may even disagree, but I thought it might take longer than the second episode. We both have kinda different approaches to monetizing the show so we hash out our thoughts in this episode We do then go into our updates, where I talk about some exciting new client developments and Dago has a rollercoaster of a beta-launch for his course.

Follow the pod on Twitter

What we covered in this episode:

  • The podcast launch
  • Should we take sponsors?
  • Why Dago isn’t too keen on sponsors
  • Why James believes in having sponsorship
  • James updates
    • He’s going to New York
    • Thinking of video for clients
    • Getting more income stability
    • Founder dinner in person
  • Dago’s updates
    • A hit to his confidence with the course
    • Pre-sales update
    • Validation when it’s not there
    • Will Dago be annoyed if the launch goes well?

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.


About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> Fri, 14 Oct 2022 10:12:04 +0200 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1504 Boxing gloves are out for the second episode as Dago and James go head to head on sponsor vs no sponsor. Honestly a very enjoyable open discussion which was very much needed. Boxing gloves are out for the second episode as Dago and James go head to head on sponsor vs no sponsor. Honestly a very enjoyable open discussion which was very much needed. entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No James McKinven Dagobert Renouf 1: Intros, dollars and insomnia 1 1 1: Intros, dollars and insomnia full e32badef-f386-4eb9-8f3b-810686de7be1 https://indielifepod.com/episodes/1-intros-dollars-and-insomnia In this episode, both Dago and I introduce ourselves, from there we head into our usual updates as Dago’s talks about his new Twitter course, why his most viral meme of all time is to keep him in check and we both had some deep realisations about our physical health might be more closely related to our startups than we think.

Follow the pod on Twitter

Talking points:

  • Intro to the founders
  • James construction podcasting mishap
  • Dagobert updates
    • progress on twitter course and impostor syndrome
    • feeling like i’m in danger building my startup and not sleeping / random panic attacks
    • meme about shitting on gumroad
    • long COVID killing my energy levels
  • James updates
    • Getting up early
    • Changing the Indie Feast membership
    • Raising Indie Bites sponsor price / converting to $
    • Stagnating clients / positioning

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.


About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> In this episode, both Dago and I introduce ourselves, from there we head into our usual updates as Dago’s talks about his new Twitter course, why his most viral meme of all time is to keep him in check and we both had some deep realisations about our physical health might be more closely related to our startups than we think.

Follow the pod on Twitter

Talking points:

  • Intro to the founders
  • James construction podcasting mishap
  • Dagobert updates
    • progress on twitter course and impostor syndrome
    • feeling like i’m in danger building my startup and not sleeping / random panic attacks
    • meme about shitting on gumroad
    • long COVID killing my energy levels
  • James updates
    • Getting up early
    • Changing the Indie Feast membership
    • Raising Indie Bites sponsor price / converting to $
    • Stagnating clients / positioning

About Dagobert
Previously a money-chasing software engineer, but now building his own startup with his wife, Logology (that's the name of the startup, not his wife). It took them more than two years just to build a product and had to use most of our savings just to survive. They launched it and got almost no sales, pushing him to learn marketing. Last year, after some experiments, he found a marketing channel that worked by using Twitter. Now he has 45k followers and the business is finally going. As of the start of this pod, his business is on $3k p/m, with a goal to reach $5k p/m to avoid dwindling savings and to pay themselves a salary.


About James
James left his cushty full-time job marketing job in April 2021. Since then, he's been hacking together income from his other podcast, Indie Bites, and podcast editing service, Pod Panda. The podcast does around $1k p/m in sponsor revenue and Pod Panda makes $2k p/m. But with a $4-5k burn every month, he's digging a very deep hole. James' goal is to get to around $10k per month across his products, get myself out of that hole and have fun while doing it. 

]]> Fri, 07 Oct 2022 08:00:00 +0200 James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf James McKinven and Dagobert Renouf 1545 One episode in and we're already talking about insomnia. We talk about other things too, like Dago making a course about Twitter and how podcasting and construction do not go well together. One episode in and we're already talking about insomnia. We talk about other things too, like Dago making a course about Twitter and how podcasting and construction do not go well together. entrepreneur, indie hacker, small business, startups No James McKinven Dagobert Renouf