IndieHacker Bubble: Why 90% Are Building for Each Other (Not Real Customers)

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Read time: 5 minutes.

Welcome to the 165th edition of The Growth Elements Newsletter. Every Monday and sometimes on Thursday, I write an essay on growth metrics & experiments and business case studies.

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One of my connections messaged me yesterday: "I've built three SaaS tools this year. All got featured on Product Hunt. Combined MRR: $247. What am I doing wrong?"

Here's what: he's building for indie hackers, not real customers.

[1] Echo Chamber Problem

The indie hacker bubble is real:

• 73% of "successful" indie hacker launches target other developers/founders

• Twitter indie hacker community celebrates tools that solve Twitter indie hacker problems

• Product Hunt becomes the validation metric instead of paying customers

Why does this kill growth?

• Fellow indie hackers don't pay for tools; they build their own

• The market size is tiny: 50K active indie hackers vs millions of real businesses

• You're competing for attention, not solving real problems

[2] What's Actually Happening

Self-referential trap:

• Build productivity tools for busy founders

• Create marketing tools for other marketers

• Design analytics dashboards for SaaS builders

• Launch "all-in-one" platforms for indie hackers

Reality check from my operator work: Companies scaling from $500K to $5M ARR don't use indie hacker tools. They use enterprise software, hire agencies, or build internal solutions.

[3] Breaking Out: What Real Customers Want

Target businesses with budgets:

• Mid-market companies ($10M-$500M revenue) have procurement processes and pay market rates

• Industry-specific problems command premium pricing

• Compliance, security, and integration requirements create switching costs

Focus on outcomes, not features:

• Reduce manual work by X hours per week

• Increase revenue by Y percentage

• Decrease operational costs by Z amount

• Measurable ROI within 30-90 days

Find customers who aren't on Twitter:

• LinkedIn outreach to department heads

• Industry conferences and trade shows

• Cold email to companies experiencing specific problems

• Referrals from existing customers (not other founders)

[4] Operator Framework for Real Customer Discovery

Step 1: Pick an industry, not a function

• Healthcare practices need different tools than law firms

• Manufacturing has unique workflows vs professional services

• Vertical solutions command 3x higher pricing than horizontal tools

Step 2: Talk to people who write checks

• Department heads with budgets

• Operations managers with purchasing authority

• CFOs who approve software spending

• Not founders tweeting about productivity hacks

Step 3: Validate with money, not praise

• Pre-sales before building

• Paid pilots instead of free trials

• Annual contracts, not monthly subscriptions

• Revenue metrics, not vanity metrics

[5] What Winners Do Differently

They solve boring problems:

• Compliance reporting for mid-market companies

• Inventory management for growing retailers

• Payroll processing for service businesses

• Problems that hurt when unsolved

They charge real money:

• $500-$5000 per month per customer

• Annual contracts with implementation fees

• Enterprise pricing that reflects business value

• Customer success that drives expansion revenue

They build moats:

• Data integration that's painful to replace

• Workflow automation that becomes essential

• Industry expertise that's hard to replicate

• Customer success that drives referrals

Bottom Line:

Stop building for your Twitter feed. Start building for people with budgets.

The indie hacker community is a great place to learn and network. It's a terrible place to find customers.

Real businesses pay real money for real solutions. Find them where they work, not where they tweet.

That's it for today's article! I hope you found this essay insightful.

Wishing you a productive week ahead!

I always appreciate you reading.

Thanks,
Chintankumar Maisuria